Wagon TracksVolume 7Issue 1 Wagon Tracks Volume 7, Issue 1 (November1992)

Article 1

1993

Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November,1992)Santa Fe Trail Association

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NOVEMBER 1992

THE DIARY OF pEDRO IGNACIO GALLEGO WHEREIN 400SOLDIERS FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF COMANCHES MET

WILLIAM BECKNELL ON HIS FIRST TRIP TO SANTA FE 'by Michael L. Olsen and Harry C. Myers

[Michael Olsen is professor of historyat New Mexico Highlands Universityat Las Vegas, and Harry Myers issuperintendent ofFort Union NationalMonument. Both are acknowledgedscholars of the Santa Fe Trail andfrequent contributors to 'WT. Theirdiscovery and preparation of thissignificant document is a substantialcontribution to Trail historiography.They plan to gather more materialabout Captain Gallego and presentthat, along with the story of thediscovery oj the diary, at the 1993SFTA symposium.] .FOR over a century historians hav~speculated about the circumstancessurrounding William Becknell's jour­ney across the plains in ,1821, inClud­Ing such Issues as where he was head­ing and the route he followed into NewMexico. Almost exclusively they haverelied on Becknell's own account of histrek But other documentary evidenceexists in the diary of Militia UrbanaCaptain Pedro Ignacio Gallego, who

'with his troops encouritered Becknell'sparty near' present Las Vegas, NewMexico, on November 13, 1821. Thisdiary has lain untranslated and unap­preciated in the Mexican ArchiVes ofNew Mexico for over 100 years. It chal­lenges some preViously held views ofBecknell and his expedition. It is pre­sented here with a short Introductorynarrative, annotation of its salientpoints, and commentary on the pre­cise geographical information it pro­vides.

William Becknell has been creditedwith being the "Father of the Santa FeTrade," haVing Initiated successfultradingcoritact and the first legal com- ,merce with New Mexico from theUnited States In 1821 and, the follow­ing year, opening a wagon route laterknown as the Santa Fe Trail betweenMissouri and New Mexico. This set inmotion over a half century of com­merce and cultural exchange betweenNew Mexico and eastern trade centers

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VOLUME 7

and contributed to the acquisition ofthe region by the United States dUringthe Mexican War. Gallego's diary, pub­lished here for the first time, shedsnew Ught on Becknell's initial journeyto Santa Fe.

The summer of 1821 was a difficultone for New Mexico Governor DonFacundo Melgares. Navajo Indians be­set the territory's scattered settle­ments from the west. In August, Co­manche Indians from the easternplains raided San Miguel del Vado.There were rumors of revolution in

On Nov, 13, 1821, Captain Gal­lego recorded: "Left Ojo de Ber­nal about 9 a,m, Followed theusual formation. About 3:30p.m. encountered six Americansat the Puertocito de /a PiedraLumbre."

Mexico itself. To meet the Indianthreat, Melgares fielded several com­panies of troops. lOne was that underthe command of Pedro Ignacio Gallego

'of Abiquiu. Originally dispatchedagainst the Navajo, Gallego's companywas redirected to Investigate the plun­der of San Miguel by Comanches. Itwas on November 13, 1821, while fol­lowing the trail of these Indians, thatGallego met the Becknell party atPuertoclto, on Piedra L.umbre Creek,just south of present Las Vegas.

Several important questions con~

cerning Becknell's exploit continue tosurface. For example, did Becknellhave prior knowledge that Mexico wasabout to lift its trade restrictions (or

. knowledge of the Mexican revolutionfor Independence from Spain whichmade the removal ofhade prohibitionspossible)? Trade had been closed toAmericans and other outsiders WithNew Mexico and the rest of Spain's

(continued on page 15)

TRACKS

NUMBER 1

NEW SYMPOSIUM DATES,PLANS TAKING SHAPE

DONALD C. Hill, coordinator for the1993 symposium to be hosted byBent's Old Fort National Historic Siteand the city of La Junta, CO, recentlyannounced new dates for the confer­ence: Septem ber 23-26, 1993. Thischange resulted from conflicts withother meeting<> (which would impingeon lodging space) and requests by sev­eral SFTA members that the sympo­sium be held in late Septemberas haveall previous gathering<>. Bent's OldFort's "Indi~n Encampment" will bescheduled for the same time, providingsymposium participants with thebenefits of this special program. Allmembers are Invited to mark thesedates on their calendar and makeplans to attend.

Hill announced that the theme of the1993 symposium is "The MountainRoute: A Corridor Through Time." Hillsaid "the Mountain Route was' a cross­roads of people, where nations andcultures met, interacted and changedone another. Commerce along theSanta Fe Trail was changed by politicsand business; people along the Trailchanged through interracial mar­riages, new religions, and an exchangeof customs."

Among the topics to be explored atthe symposium Include (1) Why theMountain Route? (2) Nations of People.(3) Attitudes of Peoples in Contact. (4)Commerce and People on the Trail. (5)Politics and Peoples of the MountainRoute. (6) Significant Others: The peo­ple or events seldom talked about. (7)Life and the Land: The interaction ofpeople with the landscape. Coordina­tor Hill extends an invitation to any'individual wishing to present a paperat the conference to submit an ab­stract. Please send proposals or in­quiries to Donald Hlll, Supt., Bent'sOld Fort NHS. 35110 Hwy 194 East,La Junta. COBI050. Supt. Hill maybereached by phone at (719) 384-2596.

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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

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'ISABEL DOERR CAMPBELLI

by But PittsMrs. Isabel Doerr Campbell passed

away on September 12, 1992, atLamed, KS, at the age of 90. Mrs.Campbell was a lifetime standardbearer for the Santa Fe Trail. For al­most two decades, she was the presi­dent of the Fort Lamed Histoncal So­ciety which built and maintains theSanta Fe Trail Center at Larned. Sheand her family donated the hill wherethe Trail Center stands. The hill itselfwas the campingspot for wagon trainswaiting to cross Pawnee Fork.

Everyday Isabel drove out to the TrailCenter to check on its constructionand its growth. Her guidance andmoral support smoothed many of therough spots in the development of. theTrail Center. She and her late sister,~olly, wor~ed together on many pro­Jects relatmg to the Trail Center.

Isabel saw that the activities of theTrail Center related to activities ofcommunities all along the Trail. Underher leadership, the board created anadvisory board whose mem bers areappointed to assist the elected boardin the growth of the Trail <:enter. Theendowment fund and the biennialSanta Fe Trail Rendezvous were two ofthe projects initiated while she waspresident of the board. The member­ship grew rapidly under her adminis­tration to include members in almostevery state in the Union and severalforeign nations: She had the knack oforganiiing so that everyone involvedknew they were im portant to the busi­ness at hand. Her kind word and gen­tle persuasion will be greatly missed.She was truly a boss lady. .

Mrs. Campbell was a wnter and wasawarded a DistingUished Service.Award from the Kansas Authors Clubin 1990. She received an SFTA Awardin ~ 987 for her work concerning theTrail. In 1991 the Santa Fe NationalHistonc Trail presented a recognitionplaque to her for contributions towardthe preservation of Trail history. As theold Santa Fe Trail surrounded her inlife, it now surrounds her forever. Sheis buried beneath the ruts of the Trailin the Larned Cemetery. Memorialsmay be sent to the Santa Fe TrailCenter at Larned.

OLD ARMY SONG IN PRINTDON Rickey, author of the acclaimedForty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay:The Enlisted SoldierFighting the IndianWars (1963), published an annotatedreprint of the sheet music of "TheRegular Army OJ" in 1962, the song~hich concludes with "Forty miles aday, on beans and hay, In the RegularArmy a!" Rickey recently granted SFTApermission to reprint his repnnt whichhas long been out of pnnt. and it isavailabfe from SFTA Last ChanceStore, RR I Box 31. Woodston, KS67675, for $1.00 plus .50 postage.Quantity discounts are available.

BUFFALO SOLDIER MEMOR· -,IAL AT FORT LEAVENWORTH

by Michael E. PitelU.S. Army Gen. Colin Powell and U.S.Senators Nancy Kassebaum andRobert Dole of Kansas, dedicated amemorial to the Buffalo Soldiers atFort Leavenworth, KS, in July. Some10,000 spectators applauded the 14­foot high bronze sculpture of a BlackCavalry trooper, carbine raised, atop awheeling steed. The $850,000 sculp­ture, funded by private donations, wascreated by Texas artist Eddie Dixon.

The memorial honors the contnbu­tions of the 9th and 10th Cavalry thathelped defend the American West fol­lowing the Civil War, including theSanta Fe Trail. Gen. Powell conceivedthe idea for the monument while sta­tioned at Fort Leavenworth. About 100elderly Black m en who were among thelast Buffalo Soldiers in the U.S. Army

·aHended the ceremony, which coin­cided with a national convention ofBuffalo Soldiers at Leavenworth. Theunits were phased out after WWll.

Leavenworth's first Black museumwas also dedicated that weekend.Housed in a pre-Civil War home, themuseum features Buffalo Soldier uni­forms and memorabilia, plus other ar­tifacts of Black history going back tothe days of slavery. ForLLeavenworth..established in 1827 and still an activepost. was connected the Santa Fe Trailby several rou tes of travel. It was com­mand headquarters for troops thatguarded the Trail from 1829 until theTrail closed in 1880. It was the:pointfr~~ which supplies were shipped tomilitary posts along the Trail andmuch of the American West.

WAGON TRACKS is the official publicationof the.Sa~taF~ Trail Association, a non-profit:orgarnzatlOn IOcorporated under the laws ofthe State of Colorado. Letters and articles arewelcome, but they become the property of WTand may be edited or abridged at the editor'sdiscretion. All rights reserved. Inquiries canbe directed to the appropriate addresses below.Annual subscriptions are obtained throughmembership in the Association whose duesare fixed per calendar year. Che~ks should bemade payable to the Santa Fe Trail Associa­tion and sent to the secretary-treasurer.

Membership CategoriesBenefactor Sl.000Patron SI 00 /yearInstitutional S2S/yearFamily SIS/yearIndividual SIO/year

Editor: Leo E. Oliva, RR I, Box 31, Wood­ston, KS 67675 .

President: Bill Pitts, 7811 NE 10th #202Midwest City, OK 73110 '

Vice·President: Mark L Gardner, PO Box879, Cascade, CO 80809Secretary-Treasurer: Ruth Olson PetersSanta Fe Trail Center, RR 3 Larned KS67550 "

1993 Symposium Coordinator: Donald C.Hill, 621 San Juan Ave., La Junta, CO 81050

Publicity Coordinator: Michael E. Pitel,Tano Rd, Rt. 4, Box 240 Sanla Fe NM87501 "

November 1992

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,,- MORE ON WATROUSby Marc Simmons

THE fine article on Samuel B. Watrousby one of his desceQdants, James E.Romero, Jr. (Aug. 1992 WTl providesthe first in-depth account of this im­portant Santa Fe Trail figure. Here areoffered a clarification and some addi­tions to that valuable piece.

William B. Napton, in his Over theSanta Fe Trail, 1857 (reprinted by thelate Jack D. Rittenhouse in 1964 andby the Friends ofArrow Rock in 1991),wrote this upon leaving Fort Union:MOn the route to Las Vegas we found alarge adobe ranch house, probably ahundred feet square and sixteen feethigh, the solid walls being withoutopenings on the outside. except twolarge doms. The ventilation and Ughtwere secured through the openingsinside the hollow square [that is, theinterior courtyard!. There was an ex­tensive buckskin tailoring estab­lishment there, where they weremanufacturing quantitil::s of buckskin

'clothes of various patterns, and, I wassurprised at the skill dis'played inmaking the garments. The clotheswere made to fit with tailor-like preci­sion and exactness. Clothes of buck~skin were generally worn at that timeby the inhabitants of New Mexico. bythe natives especially."

We have never known who ownedthis house and business nor their pre­cise location. Now with Romero's refer­ence to Samuel Watrous developing Matanning business and manufactUringdeer skin clothing." it seems safe toconclude that this operation was his.and it W;lS located at La Junta. Thefamily tradition, quoted by Romero.that the tanning was carried on at "theplaces n'ear Taos" would seem to be in'error, unless Watrous started in thatbusiness even before he came to LaJunta.

In fact, the placers were not in thevicinity of Taos, bu t, rather south ofSanta Fe in the Ortiz Mountains. Muchof the gold from there was taken easton the Santa Fe Trail. An early record

- said that from the Ortiz Placers, "Wil­Uam B. Tipton helped move Mr. Wa­trous' fam ily and possession to LaJ u n ta in the fall of 184 9. " This was theman for whom Tiptonville was namedand who married Watrous's daughter.Mary.

The following article appeared in theSanta Fe Daily New Mexican. March17. 1886:

A PIONEER SVICIDESS. B. Watrous, Sr. Goes To His DeathUnder Peculiar Circumstances

S, B. Watrous, Sr. committed suicide in

November 1992

his room at his home ranch, near Watrousstation this moming at 5 o'clock by shootinghimself through the head twice with thesame weapon used by his son, who killed

, himself a few months ago, and since whichtime the father, who was about 70 years ofage, has been greatly troubled.... [He] waswell known throughout the Territory as thebusiness associate of Hon. C. W. Wilden­stein. It is said he was a believer in Spiritu­alism.

Romero's account of Watrous beingshot" in the course of a family quarrelcould well explain the Mpeculiar cir­cumstances" noted in the newspapers.In any case. Samuel B. Watrous wasan important personality on the SantaFe Trail and in New MeXico history andmore research needs to be done on hislife ... and death.

TRAIL PAVIUON DEDICATEDON September 13 the new Santa FeTrail Pavilion in Harmon Park in Prai­rie Village,. KS. was dedicated, withSFTA members Polly Fowler of Inde­pendence. MO, and Craig Crease ofShawnee, KS, participating. Creasewas the main speaker and summa­rized the history ofthe Trail in the area.The pavilion is located near ruts of theTrail in an addition to the park. It wasa major struggle to preserve this smallsection of Trail from a housing devel­opment, a battle won by a group ofMCitizens to Save the Park." A bond'Victory in 1989 permitted the pur­chase of the 3.7 acres, saving the rutsfrom destruction. The dedication wastruly a day of celebration for those whowon the fight and for everyone whosupports historic preservation.

'SFT PROMOTED IN ENGLANDby Michael E. Pitel

A vacation for two British residentsalong the Santa Fe Trail from Kansasto New Mexico was the grand prize ata six- state. seven-week MAmerican En-

.counters" promotion by London'sprestigious Harrod's DepartmentStore in September and October. TheNew Mexico Department of Tourismand the Kansas Department of Travel& Tourism participated in the high­profile overseas venture. which in­cluded tastes of native foods, sam pIesof arts and crafts, and $360,000 inadvertising.

A gala opening reception for NewMexico. which kicked off the entireaffair. attracted several London-basedinternational news media and tour op­erators. New Mexico's award-winningTrail brochures were also available forup to 30.000 shoppers each day at thestore. Britain's largest retailer. Some­time next year two travelers from Brit­ain will enjoy a free trip on the Trail.

STUDENTS PARTICIPATE INADT TRAIL-BLAZER DAY

by Linda Peters

[Linda Peters, Lakin. 1(S, is a chartermember of SFTA and a teacher at

, Deerfield elementary school.]

THE Deerfield elementary studentshelped put the American DiscoveryTrail oIl the map on Friday, September11. The students, teachers, and manyparents were bused west of Deerfieldand walked east and north on countyroads escorted by the Kearny Countysheriff and under sheriff. They walkedapproximately one mile and ended upat the grade school in Deerfield whererefreshments were served.

They were participating in the Ameri­can Discovery Trail Trail- Blazer Day,a national promotional event. The ADTis a transcontinentai hikingand bikingtrail which follows closely along theroute of the Santa Fe Trail across Kan­sas. Many other people across the na­tion were out on September 12. ac­cording to Kan~as coordinator DickDilsaver of Wichita, to celebrate Trail­Blazer Day and to publicize the ADT.Legislation has been introduced inCongress to make the ADT part of theNational Scenic Trails System. Formore information. please cmitact DickDilsaver, 304 Stratford Rd, Wichita,KS 67206.----....,..-----------.;'\

OKLAHOMA'S THIRDANNUAL TRAIL TOUR

HEAD 'em up and move 'em~ out! Thiscry waS heard but the caravan did notstart in Missouri and did not end atSanta Fe. The 26 modem wwagons" leftBoise City. OK. early on the morningof October 3, with 137 Trail travelerson the third annual Santa Fe Trail.Tour of Cimarron County. Contempo­rary "pioneers" from, Colorado. Kan­sas.Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma,and Texas braved the dust and heat tovisit Willowbar Crossing, Trujillo Sp­rings, Flag Springs (Upper Springs),Signature Rock, Autograph Rock (ColdSprings), Cam p Nichols. and. for thenrst time. the Junction of the AubryRoute and the Cimarron Route.Speakers during the day included DanSharp. Phyllis Randolph, Joan Wal­ton, Bob Kohler, Mary & Leo Gamble,and David Hutchison. They helpedbring history to life with their narra-,tions at the different sites.

As the "wagons" arrived back inBoise City after dark, the dusty travel­ers were heard to say. MHope to see youagain next year." This annual tour Isconducted by the Cimarron CountyHistoricai Society and most of the sitesseen can only be visited at this one

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time. The tour is conducted the firstweekend in October and reservationsare limited. Information may be ob­tained from the Cimarron County His­torical Society. PO Box 655. Boise City.OK 73933.

VISITOR ETHICS CRUCIAL

[The annual tour of Trail sites onprivate property in Oklahoma helpsemphasize the importance of visitorresponsibility at historic sites. SFTAmembers Mel and Mary Cottom.Manhattan. KS. sent the followingitem which originally appeared in theLaramie. WY, Boomerang. and wasreprinted in Wyoming History News(Nov. 1991). The article refers to a tourin Wyoming. but the message Is rele­vant to Trail travelers and visitors atall such properties. Our behavior isvital and could Jeopardize access tohistoric sites.]

ONE of the most popular and "looked­forward-to" events of a Laramie sum­mer is the annual Albany CountyRanch Tour. Initiated by Dr. RobertBums over 40 years ago. Currentlysponsored by the Laramie KiwanisClub and the Albany County HistoricalSociety. it has groWn steadily and thisyear included over 350 people from 22states and three foreign countries.

However. this very success mayprove its undoing due to the thought­less. if not downright ignorant actionsof a few people who gather artifacts onthe sites they visit. On the last tour afew persons were gathering so manythat they had to use plastic bags tohold them. One elderly, well-dressedgentleman was walking and stoopingover in a sort of bobbing motion pick­ing up items in both hands as fast ashe could walk, as if someone weregoing to steal one of his tidbits. Later.when I had moved closer to thespeaker, he brought his loot to a youngman near me. who put it in a plasticbag. already half full. Then the "picker"returned for more.

Aside from the impact on a historicsite. such actions are illegal. This wasprivate land andthese things belongedto the owner. (It is also illegal to removeartifacts from public land.) Many peo­ple regard open land or an unoccupiedbuilding as fair game. and feel they arejustified'in taking whatever they canfind. This is not true. in fact removal ofanything from land that does not be­long to you is. quite simply. stealing.You are a guest on that property. in­vited or not, and rem oVing artifacts isno different than taking towels oritems from a private horne you areVisiting.

It is such irresponsible actions that

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have forced many ranchers to closetheir lands to the public, often with theaid of padlocked gates. After severalyears of fruitless attempts to protecttheir land and animals from the in­roads of such heedless people. arancher does, Indeed. get "grouchy"and unpleasant confrontations result.

One of the first, and often most diffi­cult steps in organizing such an activ­ity as the ranch tour. is to get thepermission of the landowners to corneonto or cross their land. The land­owner faces several hazards not theleast of which is fire set by a carelesssmoker. Ranch barns and sheds arefull of interesting and often valuablethings and knowledge of where theyare makes the landowner vulnerable toan unwelcome return visit. A groupvisit of 350 people can also be damag­ing to the land itself.

Thus the rancher must. in effect.accept the word of the organizers thatthe mem bers of the group will conductthemselves in a responsible way andas privileged guests. Needless to say, afew incidents such as happened on thelast tour may make the landownersreluctant to give permission to visit theranches and the tours will be over.

Actually. taking artifacts from a siteis stealing from all of us. This is partof our heritage, and bits of crockery orold nails can help the archaeologist orhistorian' piece together the picture ofwho lived there and what they didthere. adding to the story of our richhistory. '

Preservation boards. historicalsocie­ties. nor corn munity organizations cando It all-it is everyone's job to helpprotect our heritage.

BALLAD OF F. X. AUBREYby S. Omar Barker

[Diana and Joe Stein, proprietors ofLa Galeria de los ArtesaflOS bookstorein Las Vegas, NM, sent this balladwritten in 1929 by the late S. OmarBarker. It has been printed in otherplaces, now out ofprint and rare. andis reprinted here as a part of Traillore. Francis Xavier Aubry. a traderwho opened the important AubryRoute of the Trail in the early 1850s.was also famous for his rapid ridesover the Santa Fe Trail. incltiding therecord he set on a trip from Santa Feto Independence in 1848. which wasnever broken and about which theballad was written. Aubry's name.was often misspelled as Aubrey andhis first name was' sometimesmistakenly given as Felix.]

A Ballad of Felix Xavier AubreyStraddle the saddle and touch and go....Many the tales that the old men know.

This is a tale that the old men tell,Grizzled old riders who know it well:

Felix Xavier Aubrey, sir,Talk of the trail and knight of the spur,Up on a horse at the dawn of day,Dusting the trail out of Santa Fe;Wolfing the miles from mountain to plain,Twelve days once and eight again,So he has ridden this trail before,No he will make it in six, no more!All for a bet of a thousand, gold,Aubrey rides out of the Plaza old.Independence is far away--Eight hundred miles, so the trail men say.

At Pigeon's Ranch and Pecos TownFreighters cheer as he gallops down.Changes of mounts all day still find himLeaving the long miles strewn behind him.Out of the hills he hits the plains,Drizzled and muddy with autumn rains.Coffee gulped at the Point of Rocks....Dolly, his mare with the slender hocks. " ..Willow Bar on the Rabbit Ear .Relay horses await him here .What? Not a horse, nor meat, nor bread?Indian tracks, and a dead man's head!Lung-spent, Dolly labors on,Far to the banks of the Cimarron.

Saddle to saddle ... his legs feel strange,Numb and dead as he makes the change.One he rides and two he drives, ...Finally only one survives.Soon it too has fallen, sick,For the mud is heavy and deathly slick.

Coyote-like he trots the trail,(Even afoot he will not fail!)Twenty miles to the Arkansas .Old men tell the tale in awe .Thew-sore, hungry, weak of bloodAubrey swims its swollen flood,Straddles a saddle where horses wait.Galloping hoofs sing: "Late . .. too . .. late!"

Dizzy with sleep till the reins drop loose,He rubs his eyes with tobacco juice.His last horse down at Big John Springs,He swaps for a mount, and uphe SWings.

Gallop and gallop and gallop to win. : ..Late in the night at Nolland's Inn,Aubrey draws and fires his gun,Signalling out that his bet is won!Down from the saddle they see him sway,Six days' ride out of Santa Fe!

Straddle the saddle ... the horseback clanTell this tale of a riding man:Felix Xavier Aubrey, sir,Wolfing the trail in the days that were!

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MARKETING THE TRAILA group of students enrolled in theAdvertising Campaigns class at theSchool of Journalism. University ofKansas at Lawrence, have taken as acourse project the promotion of tour­ism along the Santa Fe Trail. The con­cept was promoted by SFTA memberRon Wright of Emporia. who is in themotel business and is associated withthe Kansas Dept. of Travel & Tourism.The six students engaged in the exer­cise (Scott Loewen, Jason Kinzy. JonKruele. Stephanie Testinger. ScottPiper. and Yonaniko Salin) are devel­oping a plan to Kmarket the Trail." Inpreparation they traveled to CouncilGrove. visiting Trail sites along theway, interviewed people who havetraveled the Trail. and mailed a ques­tionnaire to many SFTA mem bers inKansas.

The project includes preparation of.advertising campaigns, such as bill­boards, brochures.' bumper stiCkers.T-Shirts. magazine spots•. and news­paper ads, and the development of amarketing plan to promote the Trail invarious media. When the studentsturn in the term project. however. thatwill not be the end of the story. Wrightintends to use the plan to encouragethe Kansas Dept. ·of Travel & Tourismto devote more attention to promotingthe Trail. In addition. he will presentthe design to the legislature and seekfunds to implement it.

SFTA members who receive theql:lestionnaire are encouraged to coop­erate. If anyone has suggestions orquestions, they are invited to contactScott Loewen.' 1838 Tennessee #3,Lawrence. KS 66044 (913) 841-6645.Ron Wright will rePort on the conse­quences of the project later.

POST OFFICE OAK

-LETTERS-Editor:

On a few occasions in the past I havebeen scolded for not having a signindicating the exact location of Ralph'sRu ts. A few visitors find the sign atU.S. Highway 56 directing them three­fourths mile north but have difficultyidentifying exactly where the Trail islocated.

That situation has now been reme­died. Located near the parking area.proVided by the Rice County HighwayDepartment, visitors will now see twotall posts bearing a sign which saysKSanta Fe Trail" and a walk-in gate onwhich is printed KRalph's Ruts" (photoenclosed).

Visitors now have access to the Trail

November 1992

through this gate near the parkingarea and, in most cases. we will nolonger drive vehicles into the pasture.

. The parking area is about 25 feet by150 feet and should accommodate as·many as 15 automobiles or three com­mercial buses.

Ralph HathawayRR 1 Box 28

Chase. KS 67524

1am sure everyone appreciates the im­provements, and we all thank SFTAAmbassador Ralph Hathaway for hisgenerosity in making these excellentTrail remnants accessible to the public.

EditorEditor:

I recently learned that John DickofGoessel, KS, is writing books about theTrail. .I had the opportunity to see one·of his books and discovered errorsright off. He appears to be a self-pro­claimed "expert" on the Trail. One ofhis claims, for exam pie. is that thevolume of traffic on the Trail induded1.000 wagons and 20.000 head of cat­tle per day going past any given point.What do you think ofhis book? SeriousTrail buffs might want to look at it verycarefully. I wonder if the gentlemanhas heard ofSFTA and Wagon Tracks?

John E. Wiebe911 W 4th St.

Newton, KS 671141 have not seen Mr. Dick's book. Henever sent us a review copy. ·Sofar as 1know he has never been a member ofSFTA. It would be a good ideafor you toextend an invitation to him to join.

Editor

Editor:I thank SFTA and Wagon Tracks for

supporting our annual Santa Fe TrailBike Trek. This year we had nearly 50riders from the follOWing states:Alaska. California. Colorado. Idaho.

Kentucky. Maine. Massachusetts.Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico.North Carolina. Texas, and Virginia.and one from Manitoba. Canada. Withthis kind of interest, we hope to con­tinue the project.

Willard Chilcott885 Camino Del EsteSanta Fe, NM 87501

Editor:Richard Flint presented a most inter­

esting paper at the Coronado Confer­ence in Las Vegas. NM, on August 23,1992. He pointed out that. in additionto chain mail and Coronado Signatureson rock. the following items are dis­tinctive to the 1541 Coronado Expedi­tion: copper crossbow 'boltheads re­sembling nib pen points. crossbowparts and accessories. short copper orbrass lacetips called aglets resem blingbolo tie tips, Nueva Cadiz trade glasSbeads (plain or twisted. with a squarecross section), Clarksdale brass casca­

.bel bells. greenish gold obsidian blade. .fragments and Outed columnar obsid:

ian cores.. side and basal notched pro~

jectile points resembling Harrellpoints, Oat sandstone comals or grid­dle stones, Aztec polychrome ceramicswith cherry-red interiors. and cottonarmor. bows. wicker back packs, andhemp sandals carried by his 800 to1,300 Mexican Indian allies.

SFTA members are encouraged.,(tolook over their collections for any:ofthese items and let the Coronado TrailAssociation, Richard Flint, PO Box216. Villanueva. NM 87583. know ofany possible Coronado items and theirlocation. WaldoM. Wedel would' behappy to arrange for the Lawrence­Livermore Lab. to date wrought ironchain mail. Coronado may havepassed over or very near portions oftheSanta Fe Trail.

I would like to photograph AmericanIndian rock art. petroglyphs and picto­graphs. near the Trail.

. Nancy RobertsonPO Box 1516

Raton. NM 87740Editor:

We are renewing our family member­ship for 1993. We thank you forprom ptly sending Wagon Tracks. Thisquarterly is more and more Interest­ing.

Hanna & Hermann BenderSchaumburger Str. 93. D-6230

Frankfurt am Main 80. GermanyEditor:

I recently joined SFTA and want toobtain back issues of Wagon Tracks. Iam making plans to take a leave ofabsence from myjob and backpack theTrail from Old Franklin site to SantaFe. My wife and I recently conducted

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: Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November, 1992)

Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1993

by Marc Simmons

NEW LIGHT ON JOHNSON'S RANCH

thony D. Johnson and his family.known to be strong Union supporters?Where were they while Confederatetroops occupied their property? Untilnow. the answer to that question hasnot been available.

According to the great-grandson'sbook, at the first appearance of theSoutherners, the Johnsons fled upinto the hills and camped in the coldMarch weather until it was safe' toreturn home.

In their absence, they found thatConfederate soldiers had com pletelylooted the house and ranch. Every­thing that could not be carried awayhad been piled in the yard and burned.For the family, the invasion proved aneconomic disaster.

After the war. Anthony D. Johnsonfiled a claim against the U.S. govern­ment for his looses. The listing in­cluded a horse. two oxen. 20 bushelsof corn, 40 gallons of molasses. onebarrel of whiskey worth $80, clothing.personal possessions and damage tohis ranch buildings. There is no recordto show that his claim was ever paid.

Evidently, the Johnsons recoveredand got back into business operatingtheir stage stop and cantina on the oldSanta Fe Trail. Anthony D. also' hadacquired wagons and was runniqg hisown freight service, hauling goods toand from Fort Union on the edge of theplains.

In late 1869, the family pulled stakesand m()ved to Trinidad. Colo., justnorth of Raton Pass. Later. Johnsonused his wagons and teams to haul tiesto the construction site of the advanc­ing AT&SF Railway.

In early January of 1879, Anthony D.Johnson went to Las Colonias, N.M.•on the Pecos River to make a delivery.Returning alone in his wagon. he wasattacked and killed by two highway­men at the Rock Crossing of the Cana­dian River. five miles east of Springer.

His body was hidden in the brushnear the ford and never recovered. Theculprits were captured and broughtbefore a federal judge in Santa Fe. Thetrial record has not been found. andtheir fate is unknown.

We do know. however. what hap­pened to the historic building at John­son's ranch that saw duty as a stagestation and for a few days shelteredmen of the Confederacy. In 1967. itwas bulldozed to make way for con­struction of Interstate 25 connectingDenver and El Paso. With that event,another small piece of our history dis­appeared forever.

[Simmons wrote this article for his"Trail Dust" column that appears inseveral newspapers. He has kindlyagreed to share it through WT.]

EVERY time I get to thinking thatthere's little more to be learned aboutthe Civil War in' New Mexico. the sub­ject having been written to death. somenew chunk of information unexpect­edly turns up and proves me wrong.

Just last week, for example. I re­ceived by mail from Colorado Springsa self-published book from AnthonyG.Johnson entitled "Legacy ofA Santa FeTrail Teamster." In a note. the authorinformed me thathis volume, a gene­alogy of the Johnsons. had beenpJinted mainly for family members.

I had met Mr. Johnson a dozen yearsago when we both happened to bedoing research at the New Mexico StateLibrary in Santa Fe. He mentioned thathe was searching for data on his great­grandfather, Anthony D. Johnson.Had I heard of him?

When I looked blank. he added thatAnthony D. was owner of the famousJohnson's ranch. stage station andcantina located at Canoncito, N.M., onthe Santa Fe Trail about 15 miles eastof Santa Fe. That bit of informationcaught my attention immediately. forwhile Johnson's Ranch is often notedin history books. virtually nothing hasbeen knoWn about its owner.

Johnson's trailside establishmentwas one of three ranches that figuredprominently in the action surroundingthe Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass,'March 28, 1862. The first was MartinKozlowski's Ranch, situated at theeastern entrance of the mountainpass. which served as headquartersfor the Union Army. This site has beenstudied by historian Col. Francis Ka­jencki of El Paso.

The second was Pigeon's Ranch nearthe pass sum mit where the main battletook place. The National Park Serviceis preparing to launch research here.as it will soon add the ranch to itsbattlefield preservation program.

The third site. Johnson's Ranch. atthe western end of Glorieta Pass. wasthe location of the Confederate cam p.At the time of the battle. this camp,being far to the rear, was left lightlydefended.' That proVided an opportu­nity for Union leader Col. John M.Chlvington to lead a flanking partyover Glorieta Mesa and seize and bumthe Texan supply train. He also or­dered the killing of some draft mulesthat could not be driven away.

But what about ranch owner An-

Mike Penner717 W Elm St.

Olathe, KS 66061Good luck with your venture. Pleasekeep WT informed about your plannedtrip. Back issues are availablefor $2.00each, postpaid.

an automobile reconnaissance of theeastern portion of the Trail. I canhardly wait to get started. My inten­tions are to publish two books from thetrek. a narrative and a book of photo­graphs.

Editor

CONVERSE OF THEPRAIRIES

-BOOK NOTICES-Waiting and Working: Women of theBoone's Lick Frontier. videotape (VHS).Washington: FOF Productions. 1991.$16.95 plus $3.00 shipping. Orderfrom FOF Productions Pocket Videos,1832 Kenyon St. NW, Washington, DC20010.

"It is in the little incidents of life thatthe interest in exist~nce really lies. notinjust its grand results." This conclud­ing quotation was the essence of theskillful. dramatic, and musical per­formance "Waiting and Working" pre­sented at the 1991 SFTA symposiumat Boonville. MO. Drawing upon news­.papers. letters. diaries. and contempo­rary music. talented wri ters and per­formers Carla Waaland BarbaraOliverKorner. within the framework of agrandmother reminiscing with hergranddaughter, transform themselvesinto historical characters, bringing tolife such women as Mary Easton Sibley(wife of George Sibley), MotherDuchesne (who began the first freeschool for girls west of the Mississippi).Susan Shelby Magoffin and MarianSloan Russell (travelers on the Trail).and others. They also includedvignettes of a teacher and homemaker.

Men were at times subjects of theperformers' dialogues, and they alsoportrayed several men. Thomas HartBenton defended the appointment ofAnn Hawkins Gentry. a widow with 13children, as postmaster of Columbia.MO. in 1838. George Sibley and aschoof board member were also repre­sented. This memorable performanceis available on a 55-minute video. Thehistory of the Boone's Lick area andthe Santa Fe Trail. as well as the por­trayal of Magoffin and Russell. make itof special interest to SFTA members.

-Bonita M. Oliva

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BOGGSVILLE: A TRAIL SEITLEMENTby Phil Petersen

[This is twenty-fourth in a series onhistoric sites and museums along theTrail. Phil Petersen, La Junta, CO, isa charter member of SFTA and thechairman of the Boggsville Revitaliz­ation Committee which is overseeingthe restoration of the historic com­munity.]

THE history of Boggsville began, longbefore the settlement came into exist­ence, with the story of its founder,Thomas O. BoW. Tom was the firstson of ten children born of the secondmarriage ofLilburn W. BoW. Tom wasthe descendent of famous pioneers.Lilburn, born in Decem ber 1785 inLexington; Kentucky, had served inthe war of 1812 under Governor IsaacShelby before moving to St. Louis in1815 or 1816. His first marriage in1817 to Juliannah Bent, the eldestdaughter of Judge Silas Bent and asister to Charles and William Bent,established an early connection be­tween the Bent and Boggs families.From that first marriage came twosons. Juliannah died in 1820 when theboys were very young.

Lilburn Boggs's second marriage, in1823, was to Panthea Grant Boone, agranddaughter of Daniel Boone ofKentucky. Tom was born August 21,1824, on the Neosho River among theOsage Indians. At that time his fatherwas running a trading post for theAmerican Fur Co. About 1829, theyear Charles Bent apparentlyjoined inthe commerce with Santa Fe,LilburnBoW tried his hand at trading alongthe Santa Fe Trail but apparently wasnot successful.'

Young Tom Boggs was exposed totheworld of Indian life and trading practi­cally from his life's beginning. Duringhis early years' he learned to commu­nicate with five different Indian tribesof the western Missouri region. Helived for a time with his uncle, AlbertG. Boone, near Independence, Mis­souri. There he saw many a trade cara­van outfitted for the Santa Fe Trail andwas introduced to manyofthe traders.The boy began to look forward to thedaywheri he could join a trade caravanto a distant and exciting frontier. Byage sixteen, Tom had a good notion ofwhat he wanted from life. His' fatherwas involved in state politics and hadbeen the governor of Missouri, 1836­1840, but that was not the type of lifeTom wanted. He was not even inter­ested in staying at the family fann justoutside of Independence.

In the sum mer of 1841, Tom left thefamily farm and joined James Wiley

November 1992

Tom Boggs at an early age (Courtesy ofPioneer Museum, Colorado Springs).

Magoffin's wagon train which wasbound for Santa Fe and Chihuahua. Itwas reported that the young man lefton a neighbor's fine horse. Tom sup­posedly told the neighbor that his fa­ther would pay for the horse, but Tom's'father knew nothing of the deal. Tomdid not go all the way to Santa Fe,however, but left the caravan when hemet up with a trader who was return­ing to Bent's Fort. Tom apparentlyknew the trader, for he joined him andheaded for Bent's Fort on the Arkan­sas. They soon lost their horses andhad to walk and carry their sadd les. thegreater part of the way. Tom's intro­duction to the frontier West certainlymust have convinced him that pio­neers had to be tough to survive. It wasprobably a lesson he learned well, forhe survived many challenging adven­tures.

At Bent's Fort, Tom began his train­ing as a trader. His previous experi­ences with the Indian tribes of theMissouri made it easy for him to learnadditional tribal languages of theplains Indians. It was at Bent's Fortthat Tom first met Kit Carson, whoproved to be his trusted friend, confi­dant, and kin by marriage. He un­doubtedly went on hunting trips withCarson and learned the ways of themountain man. When Tom was notengaged in trading, he worked as ateamster or stockman. It was no secretthat the grasses of the high plainsprovided excellent forage for livestock.

As the area around Bent's Fort becameoverpopulated with grazing stock, itbecame necessary to establish ranch­ing practices throughout the region.Tom had an opportunity to learn aboutthe harshness of the region betweenBent's Fort and Taos. He learned tounderstand the rigorous country andhow to make use of it for his ownbenefit. He worked with John Hatcherin establishing a farm east of presentTrinidad, CO, and on Ponil Creek.inNew Mexico, and he learned that Irri­gation could change this arid land.

Tom became a first-rate plainsman.In 1846 in Taos he married the fifteen­yea'r-old stepdaughter ofCharles Bent,Rumalda Luna. Rumalda was also theniece of Kit Carson's Wife, Josefa. Ru-

. maIda was with Charles Bent when the.Taos uprising took his life in January1847. During the siege, Tom was run-

. ning dispatches' for. the army whichwas engaged in the war with Mexico.During one of his trips, Tom encoun­tered a severe snowstorm on the trailsomewhere near the present Kansas­Colorado border. He suffered manyhardships before he returned to Taosto find that his father-in-law had beenkilled. A short time after this, Tom andhis family went to California where h°isfather and other mem bers of the familyhad moved to the Sonoma Valley in1846. Sometime later, Tom broughthis fani ily back to New Mexi~o, wherehe worked for Lucien Maxwell. Max­well considered BoW to be one of thebest stockmen he knew. Tom had.bynow gained much experience living onthe plains and dealing with the Indiansof the region. He always dealt withthem fairly. Tom eventually began tosearch for a place to settle down, aplace he could call home.

Tom was encouraged by his oldfriend William Bent to move to a sitenear Bent's Ranch in 1862. The ranchand stockade had been occupied byWilliam Bent since about 1858. He hadretired from trading at Bent's New Fortat Big Timbers aTid was settling at themouth of the Purgatoire. Ceran St.Vrain and Cardillo Vigil had obtaineda large grant oflandcalled the Vigil-St.Vrain Land Grant, also known as theLas Animas Grant, comprising morethan four million acres, from the gov­ernor of Mexico in 1843. Although Vigilwas an uncle to Rumalda BoW, it wasSt. Vrain who offered BoW a part ofthe grant on which to settle. It wouldbe years before BoW could perfecttitle, but he claimed more than 2,000acres of the grant.

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: Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November, 1992)

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"Boggs Ranche on the Purgatory," photograph by Alexander Gardner In 1867.(Courtesy ofMissouri Historical Societ}1

When Boggs came to the PurgatoireRiver to settle, he brought others withhim. L. A. Allen and Charles Rite andfam ily joined Boggs. Both of these menhad been involved with Boggs In Taosand had been In the mercantile busi­ness. Rite was also Boggs's brother-ln­law. The men first built log huts andcabins, or jacals. Perhaps they alsooccupied older buildings preViouslyused as stock line camps from theperiod when Boggs was stock foremanfor Bent. The firststructures they builtwere close to a sharp bend in the Pu r­gatoire on relatively low land. Aftersettling in they began at once to builda ditch to divert water from five milesupstream. By 1868 more than \,000acres was under irrigation.

When Boggs and friends came to thePurgatoire, the land which theyclaimed under the Las Animas Granthad been set aside as part of an Indianreservation for the Arapahos by theU.S. government In the treaty of FortWise in 1861. It was evident the gov­ernment did not recognize the claimsof the grant. This posed no problem toBoggs, as he lived at his new settle­ment in peace with the local Indiantribes. Boggs and friends built no for­tifications .on the site that was nowbeing called Boggsville. By the mid tolate 1860's, many new neighbors set­tled near Boggsville and a culturaJunity began to develop by people whoall had the same thing in common, adesire to survive on a hostile frontier.

Boggs and his friends were doingwell, raising mostly sheep, cattle, andforage crops. By 1866 it waS evidentthat the Purgatoire River would soontake away the banks which held thefirst settlement of cabins. Boggs builta large, adobe New Mexican-stylehouse upon higher ground to the westof the original settlement. He addedtwo separated rooms to the house inabou t 1868. This nine-room adobehouse was a mansion when com paredto the little adobe house where theylived on the first site.

In the spring of 1867, Fort Lyon (for­merly FortWise) was moved, and a newfacility was built on the north side ofthe Arkansas River about four milesfrom Boggsville. The army's movebrought more prosperity and people tothe Boggsville area. An old friend andtrader, John W. Prowers, soon arrivedfrom his ranch near Old Fort Lyon.Prowers had worked in. the vicinitysince about 1856, first taking a posi­tion With the Indian agent at Bent'sNew Fort. Prowers had been the sutlerat Old Fort Lyon and, by 1863, waswell established in the cattle business.In 1861 he married Amache Och­Kenee, the daughter of a sub-chief of

8

the Southern Cheyenne. Her fatherwas called One-Eye by the white peo­ple, and he was killed at the SandCreek Massacre in November 1864.

Prowers built a large two-story adobehouse near BoW in 1867 and movedthere, though he controlled many in­terests elsewhere. His brother-in-law,John Hough, also came in 1867 andshared the old Boggs house with KitCarson for a short while. Houghbrought mercantile goods and he andProwers set up,a trading house. Dur­ing the time Prowers occu pied his largehouse, it was used as the first court­house for Bent County in 1870. (By1874, Bent County was expanded tocover over 9,000 square miles.) Itserved as a school until the first publicschool could be built at Boggsville In1871. It may have served as the trad­ing house, or Prowers may have hadanother store building nearby.

Dr. William A. Bell, in a book writtenin 1870, described Boggsville. Bell, al­though he was a botanist, worked as aphotographer on an expedition andsurvey in search for a southern rail­road route to the Pacific Ocean. Theparty was at BoWville on July 22,1867. Bell wrote the following aboutthe settlement and the people wholived there:

"On leaVing Fort Lyon the surveyorscrossed the Arkansas River about halfa mile below the mouth of the Purga­toire, in a boat which had just beenbuilt; while the wagons, and those whowere mounted, passed over an eccen­tric ferryboat. which an energetic Yan­kee had· established four miles above[this would have been Casy's Crossingwhere the Bent's Fort Motel nowstands]. By an ingenious system ofropes and pulleys he was enabled totake advantage of the strong current ofthe river to propel his heavy boat. ineither direction, from side to side with­out assistance in this way, one by one,our train of twenty wagons and threeambulances passed over in safety.Three miles farther we crossed the

Purgatoire, to join the surveyorS on theeastern bank, over a bridge built by thesettlers who lived in this part of thevalley. It was a great pleasure to us tofind farms and settlements here, forthey were the first we had met sinceleaVing civilisation. The banks of thePurgatoire are well-timbered on bothsides, not by single rows of cotton­woods, but by groves of many kinds oftrees - boxelders, willows &c., amongstwhich the wild vine, the hop and othercreepers grow luxuriantly, ·and giveabundance of refreshing shade. Theinhabitants of this little:' settlementformed a wonderful mixture of races;and when curiosity to see my camerahad brought the inhabitants from theiradobe houses and log huts, it wouldhave been difficult to find a moie'mot­ley group.... On crossing the river wefound a large well-filled ranch on theopposite side, which had just beenbuilt by two enterprising Yankees[Boggs and Prowers]. Here we couldbuy everything - cloths and candles,bowie-knives and groceries, cannedfruits and Mexican saddles, powderand shot, boots and shoes, caps andcrinolines, Worcestershire sauce,whiskey, and drinks without end. Thiswell-stocked storehouse, raised up inthe wilds, to which every~hing has tobe carried hundreds of miles bywag­ons through Indian Country, speaksmore for the extraordinary energy andforesight of these Western traders thanany panegyric I could write. The cir­cumstances which caused these twoenterprising traders to invest their allin such a venture was simply this: ­they recognized the great fertility of the'Purgatoire valley."

The countryside surrounding Boggs­ville was in a tunnoil during the 1860s.The plains Indians were hostile, andfor good reason. Boggs and Prowerswere friends with them and alwaystreated them fairly. Others did not.Prowers's association with them,through his wife Amache, helped agreat deal. However, Boggsville wasraided in Septemher 1868 and two

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people were killed and livestock werelost.

By early 1869 the wild town of LasAnimas City was established acrossthe Arkansas River from New FortLyon. William Craig and others felt itwas time to capitalize onthe army andthe growing prosperity of the region. Anew bridge was soon built across theriver and travel on the Mountain Routeof the Santa Fe Trail, located north ofFort Lyon, made a big shift. The roadsouth of the river which passed justsouth of Boggs's house became heavilytraveled. Many a freight wagon passedBoggsvilleduringthis period. The Westwas being settled at a fast pace andpeople passing through Boggsville sawfor themselves the- success that waspossible, that which Boggs and friendshad already enjoyed for a time.

The early story of Boggsville wouldnot be complete without the mentionof one of the most famous personagesof the West. In the late fall of 1867, KitCarson moved, to Boggsville.· He wasnot new to the site, for he had claimedother lands in the Vicinity and alsokept cattle near BoW. He had recentlyretired from military service in NewMexico, where he had achieved therank of brigadier general, and movedinto an adobe house belonging toBoW in order to be near Fort Lyon.The post surgeon at Fort Lyon couldcare for CarSon's failing health, whilethe famous frontiersman was' amongfriends and relatives. Carson's wife,Josefa, was expecting their seventhchild. On April 13, 1868, she gavebirth to a daughter, Josefita, but themother never recovered. She died onApril 27. Kit was becoming more ill'daily and was soon moved to the doc­tor's house at Fort Lyon. He died onMay 23, 1868. Carson and his wifewere buried nearby, and both werelater moved to a cemetery at Taos.BoW' took six of the seven Carsonchildren Into his home and rearedthem until they went off to school orelsewhere.

BoWville served as a center of trade,culture, education, and protection in ahostile land until other towns began todevelop. In 1873 the Kansas PacificRailroad built a branch line from thetown of Kit Carson. CO, south. Theybypassed Las Animas City and BoW­ville In order to establish their owntown, West Las Animas. Prowers soonmoved to the new town to operate aforwarding business from the end ofthe track. The eastern terminus of theSanta Fe Trail was then at the newtown. Prowers kept his Interest inranching centered at Boggsville until1883. The accelerated expansion ofthe West brought a great change for

November 1992

BoWville. In a few years it returned tojust another center for farming andranching, common by the late 1870s.Boggsville served its purpose well.BoWville demonstrated that differentethnic groups could work together inharmony and prosper. Boggs left in1877 but held onto the land until1883.

John Lee, a wealthy Irishman, pur­chased Boggsville from BoW. The oldsch~)Qlhousewas crumbling and manyof the other buildings were probablyvacated, the residents moving on tobigger and better adventures. Lee pre­serVed or kept up repairs on some ofthem, but let others fall or disappearfrom the scene. In 1885 the old Trailroute was abandoned to a new roadcoming directly from the north side ofthe nearby Boggsville cemetery andentering the site between the Boggsand Prowers houses. The old Trail re­mained a farm road, but travel nolonger passed through. The grand ave­nue of trees on the old Trail that oncewelcomed the visitor from the East wasno longer a sight to attract people ofthe faster-paced society that devel­oped. Lee was gone by 1898 or evenearlier and the property became a ten­ant farm, crumbling under the lack ofcare by those who did not own andcould not afford to preserve it. Histori­cal value was not a priority dUring thefirst half of the 20th century whensoutheastern Colorado was a toughplace to survive in, let alone prosper. '

By the early 1950s, Boggsville was Inpoor shape. Most of the historic struc­tures were gone except for the Boggshouse and one-third of the Prowershouse. The Carson house and bamhad tumbled into the fickle Purgatoireafter the tum of the century and otherfloods lowered the land on which theoriginal settlement once stood. The fa­mous avenue of trees died of old age orlack of care and the site became lessrecognizable as each year passed.Many of the buildings had been re­placed over the years, serving a muchsmaller farm ing business. Most of theoriginal 2,040 acres of the derivativeMexican land-grant claim had beensold off in the 1930s. Much of the landsurrounding the settlement had beenre-Ieveled and some historic ditchesmoved. The historic Trail completelydisappeared under the plow. The mainentrance road was changed again In1926whenCoioradoHighway 101 wasbuilt. Since the late 1940s the PioneerHistorical Society of Bent County hastried to acquire the site to protect it.About all they were successful at wasthe erection of a suitable monumentnear the entrance on Highway 101.

By December 1985 their dream fi-

nally came true. Through a generousgift from the Alta Page family, 110acres including the historic site be­came theirs. But decay had taken itstoll. The Boggs house was mostly allthere, but in very poor shape. All theother early buildings, more than 20,that once graced Boggsville were gone.After the reality of the dream came thesudden shock that the Society had amonumental task ahead. We had noIdea of the amount of work It wouldtake. All we knew, however, was thatwe wanted the job done right.

The Society formed the BowvilleRevitalization Committee (BRC) tooversee preservation of this importanthistoric site. The Society had alreadyexperienced a few hard bumps on theroad to preservation by not knowingthe proper things to do. Fortunatelyand soon, however, we were directedby efforts of the National Trust ForHistoric Preservation. We soon had thesite put on the National Register ofHistoric Places in October 1986.Through the National Trust and manyothers since, we were put on the righttrack. We had a structures study madeof the Boggs' and Prowers house todetermine exactly what we had inher­Ited and what we should do to beginstabilization.

We did not do too much for the nextyear or so as far as the physical sitewas concerned except clean It up andremove about ten truck loads of trashand wire. We planned and built a kioskat the end of the existing access road.As this work was being done, the seri­ous study of researching the history ofthe Boggsville site began in earnest.From the research it was realized thatthe parking lot and kiosk were tooclose to the historic site. The historicsite had grown beyond all that hadbeen previously known by the Societyand the com m unity. So much hadchanged.

The BRC determ Ined It was time todevelop a better mechanism by whichto preserve and develop the project. Amajor grant was received through'theColorado Department of Local Affairsand other local support to begin devel­opment of a master plan. Through theUniversity of Colorado at Colorado Sp­rings, a twenty-f1ve-year-plus planwas developed. This plan, with the ex­ception of a few m Ihor changes, hasbeen the guiding tool for this project.Project goals were set and additionalinformation has been added to en­hance the final outcome. The mainthrust of this project Is to develop an'accurate participatory and historicsettlement as found during the period1866-1873 at Boggsville. Not all struc­tures are planned, but the major his-

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Bogg. Hou••, November 1991.

Bogg. Hou••, F.bruary 1987.

->been done to the BoW house exceptto refmish one room back to the origi-

. nal festive painted ceiling, white walls,and cream white trimmed woodwork.The other rooms await future funding.The BRC is not in a hurry here becausetouring the interior, as is; and review­ing the construction process itself hasproved all interesting concept in inter­pretation.

The next major challenge is the pres­ervation of the Prowers house. Thistwo-story adobe structure. with onlyone wing rem aining ofan original threewings. will be a more difficult challengethan the BoW house. The Prowershouse is leaning to the north almostthree feet at its northwest comer. Ifwehad not braced it up in 1987. thisbuilding probably would have col­lapsed by now. So far it remains stable.In addition, due to weather exposureand continued decay, it became neces­sary to completely cover the Prowershouse in the summer of 1992. Somearchaeological study has been con­ducted over the past year to determinethe location of the missing features ofthe house. As funds become available.more work will be done until the entireProwers house is completed. The BRCanticipates enough funds by the earlywinter of 1992 to proceed with resto­ration of the Prowers house.

Among other projects planned. whentime. money. and more help arrives. is

few knotholes was a challenge in itself.Many of the floors in the west portionof the house had to be redone with newlumber, though four. rooms still havethe original floors. The porch floors.columns. rafters. and sheathing had tobe completely reconstructed. The styleof construction in the original sheath­ing was qUite different than the con·ventional construction of moderntimes and proves most interestingwhen viewed today. The use of squarenails also helps maintain the appear­ance of originality in the reconstruc­tion.

The final major work consisted ofapplying lime plaster to the exterior ofthe Boggs house. Boggs did much toprotect his house when he installedlime plaster on the exterior walls. Thiswas a common practice farther east inMissouri. The common New Mexicanmethod of adobe construction was toplaster with mud. The continuedmaintenance required by mud plasterwas apparently something Boggs didnot wish to endure. None of the exte­rior was painted except the east side ofthe house. the formal entrance. On theplaster was painted a soft mauve colorand black painted ashlar lines wereadded to give the appearance of stone­work. The front porch columns werealso more ornate. tapered withcrowned woodwork.

Since its resurrection not much has

toric building;;; will be preserved andothers reconstructed.

As the planning was proceedingdur­ing 1989-1990. archaeological investi­gation of the site also moved forward.BoWville. with so much ofthe originalfeatures missing. is basically an ar­chaeological site. The pace is slow indetermining what was once on the site.mostly due to lack of funds. More so.it's the timing of the money. We neededmoney for stabilization before theBoW or Prowers house fell in. yet notmuch could be done without thoroughstudy of the archaeological aspects.While planning and archaeology pro­ceeded. the BRC erected twenty-twointerpretive signs along walking trails.through the historic site. From thesesigns. much can be learned about

·BoWville and its time. The freedom ofthe open. practically uninterruptedspace is most pleasant to the busypasserby.

By the late sum mer of 1990. theBoW house was ready for its rebirth.The architects and engineers wereready. The BRC served as its own con­tractor for the BoW house project inan effort to stretch the constructiondollar and. if failing in the reconstruc­tion. we had no one else to blame. Wehired experts for certain thing;;;. such·as laying adobe and plastering. Ourown hired crews worked under guid­ance of the architect and we got the jobdone. We began the reconstruc­tion/revitalization work in late August1990. The flooring and floor joists wereremoved. One system ofJacks held upthe ceilings and roof. while anothersystem ofjacks supported the existingwalls. The inadequate stone founda­tion was removed and a new concretefoundation poured. New stabilizedadobes were used along with as manyoriginal adobes as could be salvagedand the walls were carefully built backup to the existing original undisturbed

. walls. Some of the Interior walls hadto be repaired. and one was replacedwith its original adobes after havingfallen down. The west wing. which wasbuilt in 1868, had to be mOstly recon­structed except. for the original roofstructure. .

After the walls were completed. theroofwas reset and leveled. A newshln­gle roof was com pleted as well as thefive tall red brick chimneys (which hadcompletely disappeared) as Boggs hadoriginally built. In one protected areawhere the roofs Join. one can still seethe original pine shingles that BoWhad installed before addingon the westWing. Next. the magnificent open

·porches were reconstructed. New lum­ber had to be cut to the originaldimen­sion of 1866 and to find lumber with

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~. the reconstruction of the Carsonhouse. After archaeological workclears the way, the BRC will build areplica of that structure. The historicalintegritywill be keptin mind, but beinga total reconstruction. and probablynot on the original site, it will perhapsbe more interesting than authentic.When completed, it will be used as ahands-on interpretive center wherevisitors can come arid have dinner withold Kit. Perhaps they will be able tosleep in one ofthe rooms and wake upthe next morning to the sounds of the1860s. There visitors may relive thehistory of the Santa Fe Trail route thatonce passed BOgg'iville.

The Pioneer Historical Society ofBent County and the Boggsville Revi­talization Committee take this oppor­tunity to thank the many supportersalong the Trail for their interest in andsupport of BOgg'iville. It takes the in­terest of the SFTA and many others tomake real dreams such as this onecome true. When the next symposiummeets in Colorado, September 23c26,1993, we hope to see many of you atBOgg'iville. Many interesting eventsare being planned. Feel free to visithistoric BOgg'iville at any time. For

. more information, contact the BRCatP.O. Box 68, Las Animas, Co. 81054.

HOOF PRINTS

-TRAIL 11081T5-Marc Simmons and Adrian Bus­

tamante flew to Spain in July, alongwith a number of Indians, to presentlectures at a conference on SouthwestIndians as part of the quincentenary.The conference was at Phillip II's 16th-

. century palace, El Escorial, and wasattended by Queen Sofia. Simmonsreported that, "following his presenta­tion, UI glanced down at the queen toget her reaction. She smiled at me andwinked!"

Fort Larned National Historic Sitewas the subject of a widely syndicatedAssociated Press article in September.In October Fort Lamed was praised inan editorial in the Wichita Eagle- Bea­con. Visitation at the site is also re­ported to be up for 1992. Planning forthe new Visitors' center is underway.

William Childress had a piece on theTrail in a recent issue of Touring Amer­ica, including mention of Fort Larned,

November 1992

Fort Union. Bent's Old Fort, CouncilGrove, Pawnee Rock, and WagonMound. He also praised Gregory Fran­zwa's work for and writings about theTrail.

Congress recently passed legislationwhich was signed by the president toadd the California Trail arid the PonyExpress Trail to the National HistoricTrails System. This action has beenpending for several years, supportedby OCTA. SFTA, and other trailgroups. The National Park Service willmark and help preserve the routes.

Norma Gene Young, Boise City. OK,has designed a handsome brochure onCimarron County Oklahoma, featur­ing the Cimarron Route of the Trail.The brochure was funded by the Ci­marron' County Historical Society.SFTA and the Cimarron Cutoff Chap­ter provided encouragement and ad­vice. '. . .

A one-hour audio tape describinghistorical sites in Council Grove hasbeen produced by the city's Conven­tion and Visitors Bureau for sale to thepublic. Written and narrated by SFTAmem ber Ron Parks, curator ofthe KawMission State Historic Site in CouncilGrove, the tape focuses on the SantaFe Trail. Other topics include theKansa Indians, Neosho River, CottageHouse Hotel. Padilla Monument, andthe stone bam east of town. The tapesells for $3.00 and may be orderedfrom the Council Grove Conventionand Visitors Bureau. 313 W Main.Council Grove. KS 66486..

Plans are now being made to cele­brate National Trails Day on June 5,1993, the 25th anniversary of the Na­tional Trails System Act. A theme ofuTrails for All Americans" has beenadopted, and all trail organizations(historic and scenic) are encouraged toplan special events for the day. Formore information. please write Na­tional Trails Day. 1776 MassachusettsAve. NW, Washington, DC 20036 orcall (202) 833-8229.

Several items from WT have beenpicked up and published in PathwaysAcross America: A Newsletter for Na­tional scenic and Historic Trails. pub­lished by the American Hiking Societyin cooperation with the National ParkService. A recent issue carried thestory about refurbishing DAR markersand an announcement of the Santa FeTrail Bike Trek. Pathways AcrossAmerica is sent free to qualified indi­viduals and organizations. The ad-

dress is PO Box 20160, Washington.DC 20041-2160. .

An hour-and-a-halfTV documentaryon the Donner Party appeared on PBSon October 28, an excellent piece ofwork produced by Ric Bums with thehelp of experts, including mem bers ofOCTA. Similar in format to KenBums's Civil War series. it was anoutstanding presentation.

OCTA celebrated its lOth anniver­sary at the August convention in RockSprings. WY. This superb organiza­tion. the model for SFTA, welcomesmembers who are interested in theOregon and California trails. Senddues, $30 per year individual or $35family, to OCTA. PO Box 1019, Inde­pendence. MO 64051-0519.

SFTA charter member Sue Richard­. son. Clayton,· NM, wrote it nice series

. of articles about the Santa Fe Trail forthe Clayton newspaper in September1992. Mrs. Richardson has long beenactive in the Union County HistoricalSociety. having served as its president

.for many years. is an active in theCimarron Cuto(fChapterofSFTA, anda m em ber of the SFNHT AdvisoryCouncil.

A theater group known as Poc!<etTheatre has been working closely withthe Kansas City Museum. presentingprograms on various topics for mu­seum visitors. Included Is a play, UOnthe Santa Fe Trail." which tells thestory of the Trail and calls attention toTrail exhibits in·the museum. The playhas been especially effective in draw­ing the attention ofyoung people to thehistory of the Trail.

Your editor and Bonita recently hadthe distinct honor to spend an eveningwith award-winning author WilliamLeast Heat"Moon. whose PralryErthprovides a close look at Chase County.KS, and nearby areas, including somematerial on the Santa Fe Trail. In ad­dition to autographing books and ex­changing compliments, a lively discus­sion of Trail and Kansas history wasthe reward.

Dave Webb. author of the excellentAdventures with the Santa Fe Trail. Iscompleting a new book entitled "Kan.­sas Characters." A number of people.associated with the Trail are included.Among the 400 plus people featured isa sketch of SFTA Ambassador PaulBentrup who 'gives special meaning tothe word character.

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: Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November, 1992)

Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1993

JAMES BRICE'S TRAIL REMINISCENCES, PART III

[This is theflnal installment ofJamesBrice's Reminiscences of Ten YearsExperience on the Western Plains.Again, special thanks are extended toSFTA member Robert Brice. Indepen­dence. Missouri. and to all the Bricedescendantsfor permission to reprintthis significant amd rare publication.The entire text will soon be reprinted.with spelling corrections and foot­note identifications, as a separatebooklet. Readers are invited to sendinformation they may have about anyof the individuals and incidentsmentioned by Brice.)

July. 1864. Cheyennes. Kiowas. Ara­pahoes and'some Comanche andHickory Apaches were camped a milenorth of Fort Larned. garrisoned withKansas troops and a section of a Wis­consin battery in charge of Lieut. Cro­ker, and Capt. Reed was commandingofficer. The combined Indian tribeswent on the warpath. commencing atFort Larned and running off a largenumber of horses and the beef cattlebelonging to the post. I lost twelve headof young cows, my private property.worth $300. that was taken with thebeef herd. I gave the claim to MajorWynecoop. Indian Agent. to present tothe Indian Bureau. When I made in­qUiry at the Indian office I was in­formed that there was no record of itand I never got anything for my cows.Two weeks before the Indians com­menced their depredations I was afraidof their treachery and warned the manthat I had herding the com pany'smules. when I signaled to him to runthe mules to the corral as fast as hepossibly could. He was on the lookoutand complied with my instructions.When I got the mules secured I appliedto the commanding officer for armsand ammunition for all the men I hadat the mail station. He gave me all Iasked for and invited ine to bring myfamily to the post. where they would beout of danger. I thanked him for hiskind invitation and told him I had asufficient force when they were armedto protect ourselves and the propertyin my charge belonging to the mailcompany. When I got the guns andammunition I started on a double­quick with the men I brought with meto carry them. When we came within ahundred yards of the mail station wesaw two Indians running the two sol­diers that were herding the beef cattle.until they came. to our corral twentyyards from our dwelling house. Seeingthat we were prepared to resist theirfurther approach, they gave up thechase and returned to their villages.

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acting as sentinels and riding back he is still enjoying good health andand forward in front of them until all happiness. ''the tepees were taken down. then they A little Mexican with his squaw andwent along with the Indians and te- papooses was camped with the bandpees, fleeing from danger as fast as of Apache Indians that had their viI-they could. It looked as if the Indians lages near Fort Larned. his wife beinghad prearranged for a general attack one of that tribe. He came to the mallalong the line of the Santa Fe Trail for station every day before the Illdians150 miles at all the points at the same went on the warpath. He told me hetime. was stolen from Chihuahua when he

While they were depredating at Fort was a baby. His name was Ta Too. HeLarned. a train loaded with flour for looked like all Indians. only he wore athe government was captured about pair of ill made canvass pants In placethe same time between Great Bend of a breech worn by all blanket Indl-and Allison's Ranch. on Walnut creek, ans. He would scrub. sweep and washknown then as Fort Zara Md garri- dishes. doing everything neatly that Isoned with troops. killing all the team- put him at. When the Indians com-sters and taking off and carrying away menced their depredations at Larnedthe wagon covers and cattle belonging Ta Too was at the mall station andto the train in sight of a government could not reach his family. Fearing thepost. The Eastern mail coach came soldiers on his way to the village wouldalong a short time after these murders :jtake him for one of the Indians and killwere committed and found one of the ynj.lim. I told him heco~withmeteamsters scalped and left for dead. j until he found a Me~n thatThe mail party put the teamster on the' would take care of him. He seemed sobaggage in the front boot of the coach devoted to his family that he would getand discovered before they reached up in the night and walk in his sleep.Larned that there was life in what they raving about his squaw and papooses.at first believed to be a corpse. He was The heavy rains and melted snow offtaken into the hospital. where he re- the mountains caused Pawnee creek tomained until he was able to return to overflow its banks at the point wherehis people in Missouri. where he mar- themail station was located. Ta. Tooried and raised a family. told me if he could get across the c'reek

I metone of his sons a short time ago, he would find his family. I got a wash-who told me his father was the only tub and put what bread and meat in itliving scalped man in the United he could handle: he took off his spareStates. His name is McGee. and he has garments, putting them inthe tub withseveral children living in this city. I his rations, andjumped into the creek.have heard him tell how the Indians swimming to dry land safely. I rolledwould put their spears between his the line into a Ball and threw it acrosstoes and stab him to see if he would the creek. He caught it and pulled themove. in order to make sure he was tub with all it contained. Placing thedead before they left him. The wagon line in the tub, I hauled it back and hetrain that the Indians captured was waved his hand UBye. bye!" I thought Ihauled to Fort Larned and the flour was through with Ta Too, but I waspiled in heaps and covered with tar- mistaken. Five or six days after he leftpaulins on the parade ground. The I noticed unusual commotion 'about.heavy rains wet the top sacks. caused the fort, horsemen riding out to meetby taking off the wagon covers. The what they believed to be an Indian. Itcommanding officer called a board of was Ta Too returning without his fam-survey. who condemned the flour and ily. He told the soldiers by signs andit was sold at public auction. A short Spanish that he was coming to see me.time after the sale Col. Foster. from the The commanding officer came to in-Commissary Department at St. Louis, quire of me about the supposed In-came to Fort Larned to investigate and dian. I told the gentleman I would likefind out why the flour was hot as- he would take charge of him. He hadsorted, keeping all that was good and him brought to the post, where theyselling what was damaged. He stopped put him to chopping wood. On my wayat the mail station three or four days to the settlers' store I had to passwhile he was examining the Commis- where he was at work and he told hesary Department at Fort Larned and me was sick and not able to work. Iinvited me before he left. if I should informed Dr. Clark, the post physi-reach St. Louis during the time he was ciano who ordered him to the hospital.stationed there, to not forget to call on where he was only a few days when ahim at the Southern hotel. That was Mexican freighter was admitted toforty-three years ago. I trust and hope have one of his limbs amputated and

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GENERAL SHERMAN TREATINC WITH THE INDIANS

'Or he was put to walt on him. When thefreighter was able to travel he tookhim along with him in his ambulance.Before he left he came to bid me "bye,"forty-three years ago.

Sitting one evening in front of themail station. a poorly clad and bare­footed man came along. I invited himto take a seat and asked him where hecame from. He replied, "Denver." "Howlong were you in Denver?" "While I wasgetting a drink of water; I got in oneend of town and out the other." "Whereare you going?" Mister, please ask meno more questions.' I apologized forbeing so inquisitive and kept a closeeye on the stranger. After a pause offifteen or twenty minutes. I asked himIf he would like to have something toeat. He said he would and that he was

. very hungry. My wife prepared somefood for him and I brought him into thedining room and remalnedwith himuntil he finished his meal. A lady fromthe post was Visiting my wife and told

. me if she knew what size shoe wouldfit him she would send me a pair to givehim. I told her the size and she sentthe shoes. I gave them to him and heexamined them as carefully as if hewas buying them from a shoemakerand returned them to me. saying thathe would not wear shoes with a doublesole. These were new shoes. the sameas those worn by the soldiers. I sentthem back to the lady with his objec­tions. Indians were not friendly inthose days. I told him I would send himon the stage to the settlements fifteenmiles north. One stage goes the SmokyHill route to Leavenworth and theother keeps the regular mail route to

. Kansas City, and I told him he couldride whichever way he wanted to go.He said he did not know which way hewould take until he came to the junc­tion and preferred walking. This poor.coatless. barefooted creature had trav­eled from Denver to this point. a dis­tance of 450 miles, carrying an emptysardine box between his two old shirtsfor use as a water cup..·and through anunsettled territory. His only chance forfood was the freighters or emigrantsthat he would meet, and it might beseveral days before he would get any­thing to eat.

Setank and Dehosin were the leadingchiefs of the Kiowa Indians when I firstbegan to run with the Santa Fe mail.The former was said to be vicious andalways inclined to the warpath. De­hosin was said to be the opposite andalwayS advised his people against go­ing to war with the government. Afterthat Santanta became a power in histribe and had a bad reputation. Kick­ing Bird was said to be a good Indianby white men that knew him and

November 1992

would some day becom~ influentialwith his people and the government. I .knew both of them personally. Indianannuities in those days were carried byfreighters with mule or ox wagontrains, the only transportation obtain­able. When they were not arrivingquick enough to suit some of the youngdesperadoes they would. talk saucy.When told if they made any trouble the

. government would chastise them. theywould reply that the government hadall it could attend to to frighten its ownpeople, referring to the Civil War atthat time. I was station agent atPawnee Fork, Kansas, (or six years forcontractors who had the carrying ofthe United States mails from KansasCity, Missouri. to Santa Fe. New Mex­ico. regulating my hours oflabar by thesound of the bugle at Fort Larned fromreville to taps. Buffalo were so numer­ous in the summers of'62 and '63 thatthe commanding officer would havesoldiers with blank cartridges detailedto drive them off the reservation inorder to preserve the grass for thestock belonging to the post. When Iwas conductor running with the mail Isaw three coyotes attack alone buffaloon the Arkansas. opposite old FortMann. One kept jum ping at this headas if trying to catch his nose and twokept jumping at this hamstrings untilthey severed them. Then he becamepowerless, falling down, and theypounced upon his body and began to

devour him.

Black Kettle. chief of the Cheyennes.Mimick. War Bonnet. Stand in theWater and many other of the Cheyennetribe were regular visitorS at the mailstation. Little Wolf, Little Raven, chiefof the Arapahoes; Boka. Granda, Navy,Knock-Knee, Left Hand~the latterthree could talk English. I knew all ofthose Indians personally. They be- .lieved they had a right to some consid­eration on account of the mail wagonrunning through their territory andthey came many a night to stop at themail station expecting the same cour­tesy as a guest at a hotel. IIi the earlypart of President Lincoln's first ad­ministration General Sherman wastreating with the Indians at FortLarned. between the post and the mailstation. The leaders of the differentbands and their squaws would assem­ble and sit on the ground in a circlethree deep, facing the commissioner.Squaws in the rear, subs next, leadingchiefs in front. The speaker wouldstand up. fasten his bufalo robearound his body. leaving his arms free,addressing the general through his in­terpreter, John Smith, and telling himhis people wanted their goods given tothem on the prairie, then they couldsee if everything was taken out of thewagons. When their annuities wereput in the store rooms the doorS werelocked and they could not tell if they

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: Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November, 1992)

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;'.1

.(

got all the goods the MGood FatherM

sent them. They agency was then lo­cated at Fort Lyon. Colorado.

In the summer of 1868 an ox trainbelonging to Pool & Owens was at­tacked by Kiowa and Cheyenne Indi­ans a short distance from Fort Lyon onthe Arkansas river. A Mr. Blynn withhis wife and baby was traveling aspassengers with the train en route forLawrence or Topeka. Kansas. Indiansmade a dash, cutting the train in two.taking the part that Mrs. Blynn andher baby were in; her husband beingin the part held by the owners of thetrain. The poor man was said to, bealmost crazy about the fate of his wifeand baby getting into the hands ofthose blood-thirsty demons and he dideverything in his power to obtain.troops to rescue them. but he couldnot get the desired for~and they re­mained in the hands of the Indiansuntil they were murdered by those sav­ages when they were attacked by thetroops of General Sheridan In his win­ter campaign of 1868. The baby wasbrained against a tree and the mothershot through the forehead. the weaponwhich no doubt brought welcome re­lease from their brutal and savagetreatment. One of the soldiers whowent through all the winter campaignwith General Sheridan's commandtold me that he killed the Indian thatshot Mrs. Blynn. Michael' and Law­rence Smith, brothers, of Independ­ence, Jackson County. Missouri. em­ployees of the Santa Fe Mail Co.. weremurdered by Kiowa Indians on theSanta Fe Trail, in October. 1859. atJones' Point. two and a half milessoutheast of where Fort Larned waslocated. and are buried at the formerpoint. Patrick H. Cahill. Washington.D.C.. one of the Santa Fe mail drivers,was murdered by Indians ten mileseast of the upper Cimarone Springs.October 15, 1859. while traveling withGeneral Fonteroy's command en routefor Santa Fe, New Mexico. and is bur­ied near the former point.

In 1868 I entered Into contract withMessrs. Barlow & Sanderson. overlandmail contractors. to cut. cure. bale anddeliver 800 tons of hay at three of theirmail stations' fifty miles apart in thethen territory of Colorado. 1 was atgreat expense buying hay presses.rope for bailing the hay. mowing ma­chines, rakes and all other utensilsnecessary to comply with my obliga­tion. Paying freight from St. Louis onthe machinery and railroad fares forthe men I brought from Kansas City tocarry out my agreement. Carrying menand machinery by wagons from theterminus of the railroad to the hayfield, 150 miles. Reaching Fort Lyon. 1

14

informed General Penrose, the com- account; that I was damaged $5.000 .;manding officer, telling him I did not over the amountofmyaccountforlosswish to intrude on the government of time and the breaking up of myreservation. He referred me to Wajor business.Quirk. quartermaster. who designated The Honorable Secretary of the Inte-the point where I could commence dor allowed $9,000 on July 21st.work. twelve miles east of the post. 1870. in care of Mr. Charles Ewing. forSeptember 12th Little Raven's band of mules and expenses. That is the entryArapahoes made a raid on my camp. on the books at the Indian Bureau. Mr.running off forty-five head of large Ewing gave me a treasury warrant forwork mules. the only means I had to $6.000. retaining $3.0qo for his serv- ,deliver 560 tons of hay which was ices. assuring me that it was only par-ready for transportation, to complete tial payment; that he gave no receiptmy contract. which was 240 tons short for the amount he received and sayingof completion. The loss, of the mules that Congress did not appropriate acaused a delay of two and one half sufficient amount to pay this class ofmonths before I could find transporta- claims in full and he had to take histion. incurring a direct and unavoid- proportion. When I applied to the In-able expense of $3.900 in wages and dian'officer to know the status of mymaintenance of the men, which was a claim, I was informed that Mr. Ewingtotal loss, having no work for them to gave no receipt for any amount. but thedo on account ofthe loss of the mules. inference was the $9.000 awarded byI had to take care of them until I could the Honorable Secretary of the Interiorfind transportation to send them to was in full for the claims. 1 did nottheir homes and families. as I agreed charge the Indians with attorney's feewhen I employed them. The only trans- or prospective earnings. I charged onlyportation I could procure in the the appraised value of the propertysparsely settled country, a long d~- and the actual money expended.tance from railroads. to deliver the caused directly by the loss of thehay, was an ox train at a cost of mules. The acknowledgement of the$3.000. caused by the loss of the Indians with my accountls on file atmules. The hay was weighed as it was the Bureau of Indian Affairs. and willdelivered and showed how much the show that the Indians lived on thecontract was short. proceeds of the sale of my property

After General Sheridan's campaign almosUwo years, while 'I was deterredagainst the combined Indian forces- from business on account of the lossKiowas. Cheyennes and Arapahoes- of the mules. The case was presentedthey were put on a reservation. Sep- to the Court of Claims June 25th.tember. 1869, I went to Camp Supply, 1891. Copies of the opinion ofthe Hon-Indian Territory. and informed Mr. orable Judge. delivered December 7th.Darlington. the Indian Agen t. of the 1896. can be obtained In the file of thedepredation. He sent to the reservation Court of Claims.after the Indians for the purpose of My friends who were familiar with thefinding out what band committed the case advised me to send a history ofdeed. They came to his office and had the claims to the Han F. M. Cockerel,his chief clerk take down their state- then Senator. 1did not know the Sena-ments through the interpreter. The In- tor. but! sent him a history of the case.dians who stole and run off the mules with affidavits of well known gentle-acknowledged that theycom'mitted the men-Hon. Robt. T. VanHorn. Hon.depredation; and that they were all John W. Henry, Hon Jules Edgar Gui-good mules and that they sold them to notte-vouching to my reputation forbuy provisions to subsist on. Mr. Dar- truth and veracity. He introduced a billlington brought me, his clerk. Inter- for my relieffor $5,250 December 7th,preter and the Indians before the ad- 1899, reducing the original balancejutant of the post and had all the facts $3.900, and advising me to send himtestified to. The mules were appraised a few affidavits of persons who saw theby well known citizens who saw them mules. 1 sent him affidavits of welland who testified that they could not known gentlemen who saw them andbe replaced at where they were stolen knew their value. Hon. John W. Moore.for less than $250 per head, or a total Hon. Wm. R. Benard, Mr. Patersonof $11,250. After carefully enumerat- Steward. Mr. Emerson Hays. sus-ing my actual losses. 1 made out my tained the judgment of the appraiser.account: Mules, $11,250; wagon train making eight affidavits, including fourfor delivering the hay. $3.000: wages on file at the Indian office. establishingand maintenance of the men, $3,90~thevalue ofTfle property. but the case---total. $18.150. I gave the account to remains in the hands of the comm itteeMr. Charles Ewing. Washington. D.C., Mr. Cockerel had it referred to. Thefor collection. instructing him not to guardians of the nation has thrown aaccept less than the full amount of my shield around its Indian wards effec-

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GALLEGO DIARY(continued from page 1)

.... tive to prevent his being subjected toany process similar to those existingagainst the whites. enacting laws mak­ing the white man pay twice the justvalue of the property taken or de­stroyed by him belonging to Indians.and ifsuch offender shall be unable topay a sum at leaSt equal to said justvalue whatever such payment shall fallshort of the said just value shall bepaid out of the treasury of the UnitedStates (1 Statutes at Large, page 470,Sec. 4). The provisions granting in­demnity to Indians Jor losses occa­sioned by the white persons havenever been repealed. It is still an exist­ing enactment and is, contained inSees. 2154 and 2155, United StatesRevised Statu'tes.

My account of$18,150 is fJ.1ed at theBureau of Indian Affairs, with thestatement of the Indians who commit­ted the depredation, and its number,748, giving the Indians credit for the$9,000 allowed by the Honorable Sec­retary of the Interior. There is still abalance due me of $9.150. My expensewas $900 more than I received fromthe award allowed by the HonorableSecretary. The $3,000 which Mr. Ew­ing Claimed as his fee will show thegentlemen who examine the evidencein the case that my expenditures were$3,900 over the balance of my accountand as yet I have received no compen­sation for my property. A former mem­ber of the House of Representatives, 'some years ago. introduced a bill formy relief, to let me see the interest hehad taken in my claims. After the ad­journment of Congress he would tellme I had a just claim but Congresswould not allow it, as it was alreadysettled by the Court of Claims.

I informed my Representative friendof, a case I saw in one of the dailypapers, where the government wassued in the Court of Claims by a ship­building company of Philadelphia andthe court decided in favor of the gov­ernment. The claimants appealed thecase to the United States SupremeCourt and that honorable tribunalsustained the judgment of the Court ofClaims; then the claimants appealedto Congress, and that honorable body,seeing the justice of the claim, allowedit. Hon. William Warner, United Sena­tor Senator, is a resident of KansasCity 42 years. I knew him almost theentire period and I have confidence inhis honesty. ability, and statesman­ship to have my claim taken up andacted on; then the honorable gentle­men who examine the case will see thelong standing injury that has beeninflicted on my by the wards of thenation and recommend to allow what­ever is justly due.

November 1992

colonies until Mexican independencein September 1821. There was a ques­tion also about the route the Becknellparty followed. especially from the AI­kansas to the vicinity of present LasVegas.

Becknell, of course, was not the firstAmerican in the opening decades ofthe nineteenth century to attempttrade with New Mexico. That earlierexpeditions had been accorded a lessthan cordial reception in Santa Fe wascommon knowledge on the Missourifrontier. Zebulon M. Pike, in 1806­1807, had been leading a militaryven­ture, so his fate may not have servedas a warning, but what of the party ofJames Baird and Robert McKnight,im prisoned in Mexico from 1812 to1821?Or of Auguste P. Chouteau andJules De Mun (also' DeMunn), whoduring the summer of 1817 spent 48days incarcerated on the plaza inSanta Fe and had $30,gOO 'worth oftheir goods confiscated? H. M. Chit­tenden, in his early landmark historyof the fur trade, surmised. "The outra­geous treatment of Chouteau and De·Munn in 1817, and the knowledge thata party of Americans (McKnight) eventhen were languishing in the dungeonsof Chihuahua, seems to have deterredfurther adventure in that direction un­til the overthrow ofSpanish power inMexico in 1821."3

In the face of such odds, why didBecknell think he would fare any bet­ter? The question of who in Missouriknew what about MeXican inde­pendence, and when they knew it, isunclear. Becknell, in 'advertising forcompanions with whom to mount anexpedition. said only that he washeaded westward. Consequently, his·torians have advanced several expla­nations. Josiah Gre!!J?:, ,in The Com­merce ojthe Prairies (1844), took Beck­nell's advertisement at face value andasserted that he actually intended totrade with plains Indians and ,"acci­dentally" fell in with "a party of Mexi­can rangers."4

Max Moorhead. who edited a lateredition of Gre!!J?:'s book, echoed Greggin New Mexico's Royal Road (1958). InMoorhead's rendition. "Becknell . . .meant only to hunt, trap, capture wildhorses, and barter with the Co­manche." After ten weeks on theplains, Moorhead stated that Becknelland his men "happened upon a de­tachmentof troops from New Mexico."This interpretation was long accepted,although Henry Inman, so notoriouslyinaccurate about so much of the lore

of the Santa Fe Trail, concluded In hislate 19th-century book that Becknell,after trading the previous year with theComanche, "determined the next sea­son toch~nge his objective point toSanta Fe."

In his Opening Ute santa Fe TraU(1971), Marc Simmons also advancedthe view that Becknell planned allalong to go to Santa Fe. In so doing heinaugurated contem porary debate onBecknell. Simmons concluded that,"an assessment of available evidenceclearly shows that Captain Becknellintended from the very first to visit theNew Mexico settlements."6 As David J;Weber noted. with this essay "Sim_mons argues ... an interesting newInterpretation that subsequent writerscannot ignore."7 ,

Weber also contributed to the inquirythrough his many'perceptive publica­tions on New Mexico'and the South­west. In one article, he attempted todetermine the dates when the Spanishgovernment in Santa Fe knew officiallyof Mexican independence and. hence,of the lifting of trade restrictions.8 Thelast in a series of revolts against Span­ish rule in Mexico came underAugustin de Iturbide early in 1821.Iturbide embodied his conservativeVi­sion of an independent Mexico in hisPlan ofIguala. February 24. 1821. We­ber noted that New Mexicans had'some inklingofnew rebellion in Mexicoand tl:?Je Plan of Iguala as early as May1821. By early September New Mex­ico had reports of widespread supportfor Iturbide, though his forces did notoccupy Mexico City until September27. Chihuahua had Joined the revoltduring the summer and, under ordersfrom Durango, Governor Melgares inSanta Fe administered an oath of loy­alty to the new government on Septem­ber 11. News of Iturbide'soccupationof Mexico City reached Santa Fe byNovember 30, but Governor Melgaresdid nothing to mark independence un­til ordered to do so in a dispatch whichhe received on December 26. Mean­while, Becknell arrived in Santa Fe onNovember 16, 1821.

Becknell's biographer, Larry M.Beachum (writing In 1982), declared,without citing any document as proof,that In 1821 "Becknell was also awarethat a new revolt had begun In Mex­ico." Beachum concluded that "Beck­nell's arrival In New Mexico seems tohave been no accident; he prepared asthoroughly as possible with that endin mind." Whether hints of Mexicanindependence circulated in Missouri

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during the spring of 1821 might bedeterm ined by a close' examination ofregional newspapers. Simmonsclaimed that "between February 24and the following June 25 when Beck­nell published his advertisement [formen to accompany him), more thansufficient time had elapsed for news toreach Missouri of the state of Mexicanaffairs."lD

Becknell, who left Franklin, Mis­souri, on September 1, was not theonly trader to set out for New Mexicothat year, suggesting some generalconception of changing conditions inSanta Fe. An expedition under JohnMcKnight and Thomas James headeddown the Mississippi from St. Louis onMay 10, and thence went up the Ar~

kansas. This group arrived in Santa Fetwo weeks after Becknell. Jacob'Fowler and Hugh Glenn, with anotherparty, left Glenn's trading house on theVerdigris River in east central Okla-,homa on September 25 and reachedsoutheastern Colorado in mid-Novem­ber; from there Glenn and four com­panions went on to Taos and Santa,Fe. 11 ,

It is interesting to note that all ofthese men, Becknell included, had fi-

'nancial difficultil';s at the time. Sim­plistically put, trade with and trappingin New Mexico may have representeda chance for them to recoup their for­tunes. They may have been desperateenough to take the risk of being re­buffed or even incarcerated in NewMexico. If that is, the case, some ofthem did find treasure at the end ofthis particular rainbow.

Beachum ascertained that "Beck­nell's financial problems culminated inat least five law suits ... in late 1821and the first months of 1822, all whilehe was on his westward journey."Thus, he concluded, "Becknell's jour"ney west was clearly an act of despera­tion. He was hundreds of dollars indebt and his salt business was in ru-,ins.... Everything he cherished wasat stake." From a financial perspective,Becknell's first venture to Santa Febrought relief. Beachum noted that"Becknell returned from New Mexicowith enough valuables to repay at leastpart of his debts."12 The profit motivemust have been an important factor inBecknell's first trip, as well as his sec­ond trip to Santa Fe in 1822. '

Weber advanced one further inter­pretation on the question of how thosethree parties that arrived in Santa Fein late 1821 and early 1822 may havelearned about Mexican independence.He suggested that all three may haveencountered New Mexicans on theplains and thereby heard of the liftingof trade restrictions. In Becknell's

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case, however, Weber may have mis­read Becknell's journal. Becknell re­ported his first encounter with NewMexicans on November 13. As the Gal­lego diary indicates, this meeting wasat Puertocito near present Las Vegas,not on the Arkansas as Weber wouldhave it. 13

Another debatable aspect of Beck­nell's first trip to New Mexico, as notedabove, has concerned the possibleroute the party followed. The Gallegodiary is qUite precise on locations con­cerning Becknell's party as far northas the Rio Colorado (Canadian River)in New Mexico. Gallego himselfmarched from Abiquiu to Bosque deSanto Domingo on the Rio Grande,then crossed to Galisteo and SanMiguel del Vado. ,From there he trav­eled to Ojo de Bernal and Puertocito dela Piedra Lumbre, where he met Beck­nell.' H~ and his men then attemptedto trace Becknell's trail. They followedit north past the Mora and Sapellorivers but lost it at the Rio Colorado.This information, along with a carefulreading of Becknell's journal, helps to .better determ ine Becknell's rou te and,perhaps, to correct an error that hasdominated Trail literature for morethan 60 years.

In 1930 Robert L. Duffus publisheda book, The Santa Fe Trail, a popularoverview of the history of the route.While Duffus summarized in excellentprose the available information aboutthe Trail, he also repeated some errorsand made some uninformed supposi­tions. One of those suppos~tionswasthat Becknell's party had entered NewMexico via Raton pass. 14 He, appar­ently asSumed that Becknell followedin 1821 what became known manyyears later as the Mountain Route ofthe Trail. Such a conclusion, however,was not consistent with either Beck­nell's journa,} or the landscape. Nor isthat conjecture consistent with the re­cently-discovered Gallego's diary.

Had Becknell crossed into New Mex­ico at Raton Pass, his journey to wherehe met Captain Gallego would mostlikely have been along the eastern sideof the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.There are several major problems withthat routing. First. where Robert Duf­fus had Becknell crossing Raton Pass,Becknell in his journal15 stated that hehad insurmountable cliffs to ascend.On his way into Santa Fe on the samejourney, Becknell says that he crossedmountainous country. Why did he, ifhe was at the Raton Mountains, say heonly had cliffs to ascend?

Becknell next said that two days laterhis band crossed the Canadian River,which also had rugged cliffs whichthey overcame with considerable diffi-

culty. Two days south of the RatonMountains would put Becknell's partyat a location east of the CanadianRiver, where the only difficulty incrossing the river with horses was thequicksand in the river bottom. PerhapsBecknell had misidentified the Cana­dian and was actually crossing a dif­ferent stream. The third problem isthat, after surmounting the cliffs andcrossing what he called the Canadian

, River, Becknell recorded that his partyencamped a night without wood andwater. That was unlikely if they didcross the Canadian, but it was possi­ble if Becknell had labeled anotherriver, as will be suggested below, as theCanadian. Given the terrain and otherinformation gleaned from' Becknell'sjournal, it is improbable that Beck­nell's party had come over Raton Pass.

When the pieces do not all fit to­gether, perhaps another route is moreplausible. Because of the general na­ture of Becknell's journal, any sug­gested alternate routing must besomewhat speculative. But the avail­able evidence strongly indicates thatBecknell and his five men, if they wereindeed headed for Sant::t Fe, ,took aroute other than Raton p~ betweenthe Arkansas River and Puertocito Pie­dra Lumbre. The following excerptsfrom Becknell's journal, accompanied

'by an innovative interpretation of theevidence of the way his party headedsouth from the Arkansas River;"'mayshed some light on Becknell's routeand, at the same time, set,the stage forthe significance of Gallego's diary.

Becknell Journal: "On the 21st wearrived at theforks ofthe river, and tookthe course ofthe llift hand one. The cl!ffsbecame immenselyhigh, and the aspectof the country is rugged, wild and,dreary."

Becknell, in preparation for his jour~ney, met with others at the home ofEzekiel Williams. When employed byManuel Lisa, 16 Williams had been out,on the Plains and could give valuableadvice. I? But perhaps the only tangi­ble and most valuable item Becknellcould take to show the way would havebeen Zebulon M. Pike's "Chart of theInternal Part of Louisiana." This mapwas published with Pike's account in1810. If Becknell's intention was toenter Santa Fe for trade, Pike's ac­count of his 1807 adventures in Mex­ico and his description of the routewould have been required reading. Infact, Jacob Fowler of the Glenn-Fowlerexpedition, hard on the heels of Beck­nell in 1821, was carrying either Pike'smap or his book which included themap.IS

. A comparison of Becknell's journalwith Pike's map shows that both par-

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.' ties crossed to the south side of theArkansas in the vicinity ofGreat Bend.Kansas; and continued up the river. Anotation on Pike's map stated: "Abovethe first Fork ofthe Arkansaw the bankbecomes very rough which altho' nar­row' (the fork) carries a quantity ofwater of a red colour. and is the leftbranch of the Arkansaw. which con­nects with the Red River of the Missis­Sippi. which is extremely easy distin­gUishable in ascending; as from a fewmiles above nearly in a paralleUine. isa high Ridge bearing off at right anglesfrom the main Rlver."19 Becknell. de­SCribing his cou rse, used terms similarto those of Pike. This first fork. or leftbranch. was the Purgatoire River. 20

Becknell headed south up the Purga­toire River. it being the left branch ofthe Arkansas. He kept to the left, fol­lowing Chacuaco Creek, a tributary ofthe Purgatoire. On October 26 the

. group saw large flocks of mountainsheep which were described in thejournal. Then they encountered the

. cliffs.Becknell Journal: "We had now some

clIffs to ascend. which presented diffi­culties almost insurmountable. and wewere laboriously engaged nearly twodays in rolling away large rocks. bfiforewe attempted to get our horses up. andeven then oneJell and was bruised todeath."

As the cliffs linin~ the creek began toclose in. Becknell realized he had to getout of the creek valley. Only the yearbefore. Major Stephen Long and hisparty. on an exploring expedition todetermine the sources of the RedRiver. went up Chacuaco Creek towhere they "arrived at a part of thevalley beyond which it Was found im­pOSSible to penetrate. "21 Long's partyhad to backtrack and were finally ablewith great difficulty to emerge from thecanyon. Becknell apparently had thesame experience.

Becknell Journal: "At length we hadthe gratification ojfinding ourselves onthe open plain; and two days travelbrought us to the CanadianJork. whoserugged clIffs again threatened to inter­rupt our passage. which we finally eJ­Jected with considerable difficulty."

Once out of the canyon of ChacuacoCreek. there is indeed a plain which isfairly level. Depending on where aparty left the creek and how manymiles it traveled per day. it was possi­ble to spend two days traveling to theDry Cimarron River. Becknell appar­ently came to the Dry Cimarron andcalled it the Canadian. an error thathad been made before. EdWin James.a member of the 1820 Stephen H. LongexplOring expedition. had called theDry Cimarron "the most remote

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sources of the great northern tributaryof the Canadian river. "22 If the Longparty misnamed the Dry Cimarron.Becknell.could have made the samemistake. John M. Tucker. in his de­scription of Long's route. related (witha quotation from the report) the diffi­culties that party had in crossing theDry Cimarron: They "arrived at the cliffbounding the southside' of the valleyat a distance of 3 miles from theircamp. This 'mural barrier' they foundimpassable 'except at particularpoints. where it is broken by raVines.One of these we were fortunate in find­ing without being com pelled to deviategreatly from our course. and climbingits rugged decliVity. we emerged uponthe broad expanse of the highplain.'"23 Thus Long's difficulty incrossing the' Dry Cimarron wasmatched by Becknell's difficulty incrossing the Dry Cimarron and eachcalled it the Canadian.24

Becknell Journal: U Nov. 1st. we ex­perienced a keen northwest wind. ac­companied with some snow. Havingbeen now traveling aboutfifly days . ..our horses are so reduced that we onlytravelfrom eight tofifleen milesperday.WeJound game scarce near the moun­tains. and one night encamped withoutwood or water. On the 4th. and !:ieveralsubsequent days. Jound the countrymore level and pleasant discoveredabundance oj iron are. and saw manywild horses."

Traveling southwest from the cross­ing of the Dry Cimarron. Becknell andhis party would have passed throughan area of old volcanoes. lava flows.and intrusive peaks. Such featureswould include Sierra Grande. CapulinVolcano. Laughlin Peak. Palo BlancoPeak. Eagle Tail Mountain .. TinajaPeak. Sugar Loaf Mountain. and John­son Mesa-Raton Mountains in thenorthern background. In this areathere are piacl:;s where wood wasScarce and. in November. some creekswere dry. They probably crossed theCanadian River north of the RockCrossing (or possibly at the RockCrossing itselO. heading for the Sangrede Cristo Mountains which would havebeen in sight for several days. Themountains would have been a naturaltarget. since Becknell and his menknew they would have to cross thisrange to reach Santa Fe. It is also likelythat they were looking for the "gap" inthe mountains and the trail whichwould lead them to Taos and on toSanta Fe.

Becknell Journal: "AJterseveraldays' descent towards Rock river. onMonday the 12th we struck a trail. andJound several other indications whichinduced us to believe that the inhabi-

tants had here herded their catUe andsheep. Timber. consisting qf pine andcottonwooc1. is more plentiful than wehaveJound itJor some time."

Becknell's 'Rock River was mostlikely the modern Canadian River. Hedoes not mention crossing Rock Riverin 1821, butthe next year. when bring­ing wagons across the Trail. he re­ported that the "greatest difficulty wasin the Vicinity of Rock river. where wewere under the necessity of taking ourwaggons up som e high and rocky cliffsby hand." Gregg's 1844 Map of theIndian Territory. which was includedin Commerce oj the Prairies. shows therouting of ~e "First wagon Route toSanta Fe."2 That route cut south fromCold Spring. passed south of RabbitEars. crossed Ute Creek. and crossedthe Canadian in the Vicinity of what isnow Conchas Lake. There are deepcanyons along both Ute Creek and theCanadian. However. the most likelycandidate for Becknell's "Rock River"

.is the Canadian. And. although Greggis not always completely accurate. acrossing' here was indicated b~ theMarmaduke Journal of 1824.2 Thecrossing in the Vicinity of present Con­chas Lake was a traditional gateway tothe plains long before Becknell camethrough. and a road crossed there aslate as 1877.27 That he crossed it far­ther upstream in 1821 was. perhaps.an indication that Becknell. as :theshould have. recognized the Canadianboth above and below its great canyon.

The corridor through which Becknelltraveled between the Arkansas Riverand the point where he met Gallegohad been used before. In 1706. Juande. Ulibarri on his way to El Cuartelejocrossed the Dry Cimarron in the sameVicinity as did Long and Becknell. In1804 and again in 1805. Pedro Vial onhis way to the Pawnee Villages fordedthe Dry Cimarron in the same vicin­ity.28 The Hugh Glenn-Jacob Fowlerand Thomas James expeditions.'

. which arrived in Santa Fe in 1821 onthe heels of Becknell. joined togetherto journey home in 1822. They leftfrom Taos. passed through the Sangrede Cris to Mountains. and headednortheast. They skirted the mesas atthe head waters of the Dry Cimarron.forded the PurgatOire. and camped onChacuacb Creek. before headingnortheast across the country. Thus. ifBecknell asked Ezekiel Williams howto get to Santa Fe (which he surely didif he intended to go there!. Williamsmight have told him to follow the Ar­kansas River. take the left fork andkeep to the left branch. cross the Ca­nadian (Dry Cimarron) fork and headsouthwest to the mountains. follow acreek to the gap in the mountains, and

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cross over to Taos. The corridorthrough which Becknell and his menprobably passed into New Mexico hadbee'n in use for over a hundred years. 29

By November 13, 1821, Becknell, adesperate man with dreams of richesin Santa Fe, had brought his smallparty of tired, dirty, and discouragedmen into the province of New Mexico.On that day they met New Mexicantroops under command of Militia Ur­bana Captain Pedro Ignacio Gallego.Gallego's brief diary of his activities, solong buried, reveals a new perspectiveand additional details on that historic'encounter and the opening of theSanta Fe trade.

30Diary of Pedro Ignacio Gallego

A dia~ kept by Captain of the MilitiaUrbana, Don Pedro Ignacio Gallego,32 ofan expedition undertaken at the com mandof the political chief of the Province of NewMexico, Governor Don Facundo Melgares,commencin£ at,the Plaza of San Raphaelde Abiquiu, from the day indicated in thepresent year, November 2, 1821.

2 ... At about 3 a, m. on this morning, inobedience to superior orders, the horses,'kept according to instructions, wererounded up and prepared for the march,with the company of 148 men under mycommand. These men include those whosh'ould observe general written ordersgiven by the commanders of the variouscompany divisions, and men appointed forservice, assigned as follows: Company No.1, militia men and citize'ns from Canada,34to guard the cattle, under the command ofSecond Lieutenant Don Jose Manuel Sala­zar; Company No.2, 25 men from thecentral Rio Arriba,35 acting as vanguard.

'The com~a~ha~ted at the Cuesta del <?u­erpo Espln3 a little after 5 p.m. Nothing'further occurred. At 6 p.m. the Alcalde, Don.Jose Jaramillo, appeared with 63 men.Nothing more happened.

3 ... Departed from the Cuesta del CuerpoEspin at about 5 a.m. The company pro­ceeded in the accustomed manner untilabout 6 p.m. and halted at the Vallecito delos Indias.37 Nothing further to report.

.4 ... Began marching from the Vallecito delos Indios about 4 a.m. Traveled in theusual formation to the Pueblo of Xemez,38stopping at about 5 p.m. Nothing further toreport. A soldier, Jose Francisco Sanchez,ofthe militia company from San Buenaven­tura,39 presented himself with an officialcommunication from Governor DonFacundo Melgares, 40 requesting that I pro­ceed to EI Vad041 with my company.42Nothing more to report.

5 ... Began marching from the Pueblo of

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Xemez in the direction of EI Vado in com­pliance with the order from Governor DonFacundo Melgares, dated October 29,1821. Halted afthe Bosque of Santo Dom­ing043 a little after 3 p.m. About 4 p.m.Manuel Chavez, commander of the com­pany from Rio Arriba, informed me that amember of his company, Diego Gonzales,wounded Jose Lucero by throwing a hat athim. I sent the Second Lieutenant of theMilitia Urbana, Don Jose Manuel Salazar,and the Corporal of the company of volun­teer militia, Miguel Quintana, to look at thewound. They swore to me and said thathaving thrown the hat, Diego Gonzalesthen punctured Jose Lucero in the chestwith the point of a flint. Diego Gonzalesturned himself in to the Sergeant Jose Ma­ria Sandoval and was arrested and impris­oned.

6 ... Began marching from the Bosque ofSanto Domingo about 5 a. m. Left behindtwo sick people, the citizen wounded byDiego Gonzales and an Indian from SantaClara who is ill. Turned them over to DiegoMartin, a citizen of Canada, with orders tokeep them in his care or turn them over tothe Alcalde44 of Canada. Halted at Galis­teo45 at about 4 p. m. Nothing further toreport.

7 ... Left Galisteo at about 4 a.m. in theusual manner and with the usual arrange­ment of the company. Halted at about 8a.m. in the Canon de San Cristobal deSortiada. 46 Resumed marching at about 2p.m., stopping at the Mesa del Ojo de laBaca.47 Nothing further to report.

8 ... Left the Mesa del Ojo de la Baca atabout 6 a.m. and halted at about 2 p.m. atPoblacion del Vad048. Nothing further toreport.

9 ... At Poblacion del Vado. About noonwe were reunited with companies from Je­mez, Alameda49-with 77 men, and SantaFe-with 45 men. Nothing further occurredthe rest of this day. Later we were reunitedwith 50 cavalrymen of the garrison.

10 ... At Poblacion del Vado. On this dayI relieved from duty 20 men of the cavalrygarrison.

11 ... Halted this day at Poblacion del Vadoawaiting orders. Nothing further to report.

12 ... About noon I ordered all the caval­rymen to assemble in the Plaza, to marchinto the wilderness50 with my company,consisting of a force of 445 men: 123 armedwith guns and the rest with bows and ar­rows. [We had] 356 pack animals. I gavegeneral orders to the com manders of thevarious companies. Halted at Ojo de Ber-

of'

nal51 at about 4 p.m. Nothing further oc- '.curred.52

13 ... Left Ojo de Bernal about 9 a.m.Followed the usual formation. About 3:30p.m. encountered six Americans at thePuertocito de la Piedra Lumbre:53 Theyparleyed with me and at about 4 p.m. wehalted at the stream at Piedra Lum,bre.54

Not understanding their words nor any ofthe signs they made, I decided to return toEI Vado, in the service of your excellency.55At this point Vicente Villanueva56 pre­sented himself. Nothing further occurred.,

[Becknell Journal: "On Tuesday morn-ing the 13th, we had the satisfaction ofmeeting with a party ofSpanish troops.Although the difference oJour languagewould not admit ofconversation. yet thecircumstances attending their receptionof us, fully convinced us of their hospi­table disposition andfriendlyfeelings.Being likewise in a strange country, andsubject to their disposition. our wisheslent their aid to increase our confidencein their manifestations ofkindness. Thediscipline of the officer~ was strict, andthe'subjection of the men appeared al­most servile. We encamped with them ,,;that night, and the next day about 1 ..""o'dock, arrived at the Village of st. Mi- : i.~;

chael, the cOnduct ofwhose inhabitantsgave us gratliful evidence ofcivility and .,', '-"i'welcome.")

14 ... This day about 1:30 a.m. Vicente ,Villanueva presented himself to me with ­five citizens of EI Vado, to'serve as aninterpreter. Learning nothing new I left them[the Americans] with him, t? present them- .,:,.;

. selves to your excellency.5 Then, at about6 a.m. I resumed my march, separating aparty of 100 men under Corporal Lucero,58with the intention of following the trail of theAmericans. Halted at about 3 p.m. at theCanon del Peccis59 and at about 4 p.m. theparty under Corporal Lucero retumed, hav­ing lost the trail of the Americans at the fallsof the Rio del Sapello,60 Nothing furtheroccurred~

15 ... Left the Canon del Pecos at about 5a.m. in good order, detaching a party of 100men under Corporal Lucero with orders tofollow the trail of the foreigners. Halted atabout 4 p.m. at the point where the RioSapello joins with the Mora.61 A little after4 p. m. the party under Corporal Lucerorejoined us; he traced _the trail of the for­eigners to a point below the Sierra de laGallina. 62 The trail of the "hostiles' [I ndians)who threaten us runs in a northerl~ directionto the gap in the Sierra de Taos. 3 Nothingfurther occurred.

16 ... Began marching this day about 6a.m., separating.the party of 100 men under

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..' Corporal Lucero with orders to follow thetrail ofthe foreigners. Halted at about 4 p.m.at the Rito del Capulin,64 where CorporalLucero was camped with his detachment.He lost the trail at the Rio Colorado.65 Atthe ford of the Rito del Capulin I noticedtraces of the Indians who attacked EI Vado.

17 ... Left EI Rito del Capulin at about 5a.m., dividing the men with the horses un­der Sergeant Antonio Garcia, with ordersto cut across the land to where the foreign­ers might have come through.66 Halted atEI Aguague del Lobo67 at about 4 p. m.,where I again encountered traces of thesame Indians who plundered EI Vado. Atabout 5 p.m. we reunited with the detach­ment under the Sergeant mentionedabove, who did not find evidence ofthe trail.Nothing further occurred.

18 ...Left EI Aguague del Lobo at about 6a.m., dividing a party of 150 infantry underJuan Lucero, ordering him to go up theMesa de Rayad068 to identify all the placeswhere the Indians might hide. Halted at EIOjo de la Mesa de Rayad069 about noon.About 6 p.m. we reunited with the party.under Corporal Lucero, who did not find anysign of the Indians on the mesa. Nothingfurther to report.

19 ...Left EI Ojo de la Mesa de Rayado atabout 5 a.m. Reunited the whole companyand halted on the Rio Coiorad070 at about4 p.m., where I encountered the trail oftheIndians. Nothing further to report.

20 ... Left the Rio Colorado at 6 a. m. in thedirection of the Sierra Grande,71 followingthe trail of the Indians, and halted at LosCerritos del Aire72 about 4 p.m. Nothingfurther to report.

21 " .Left Los Cerritos delAire about 5 a.m.Traveled one league; about half way theSergeant of the rear guard came and re­ported two animals were worn out. About 2H leagues further on the com mander of thecompany from Rio Abajo,73 Don EutivioReal, presented himself, asking permissionto hunt some buffalo which could be seenat the edge of the river.74 Forty men wenton the hunt and provided the camp royallywith meat. After traveling about 4 leagues,we lost the trail halfway between the SierraGrande and the Jicara75

The remainder of the diary is missingfrom the Archives.

NOTES

1. John P. Wilson, Milita/y Campaigns in the NaVajoCountry, Northwestern New Mexico, 1800-1846(Santa Fe: Museum of New Me><ico Press, 1967),12-13. .

2. Frank B. Godley, "James Baird, Early Santa Fe

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Trader," The Bulletin of the Missouri Historical Sod­.ely, 3 (April 1959): 171-193; & George S. Ulibarri,"The Chouteau' DeMunn Expedition of New Me><ico,1815-1817," New Mexico Historical Rel'iew (hereaf­ter NMHRj, 36 (Oct 1961): 263·273.

3. Hiram M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of theFar West (2 wis.; reprint; New York: R. R. Wilson,1936), II, 148.

4. Josiah Gregg, The Commerre of the Prairies, ed. byMilo M. Quaife (Lincoln: University of Nebrasl<aPress, 1967.) 6-7.

5. Max L Moorhead, New Mexico's Royal Road, Tradeand Travel on the Chihuahua Trail (Norman, Univer­sity of Ol<lahoma Press. 1958), 60; & Henry Inman,The Old santa Fe Trail, the Story ofa Great Highway(Topeka: Crane & Company, 1899).38. Inman, char­acteristically, had the date of Becknell's e><peditionwrong. having him depart in 1812.

6. Marc Simmons, Opening the Santa Fe Trail (Cerril­los: Galisteo Press, 1971),3.

7. Da-';d J. Weber, ed., "William Becknell as a MountainMan: Two Letters," NMHR, 46 (July 1971): 259 fnl.

8. David J. Weber, "An Unforgettable Day: FaamdoMelgares on Independence," NMHR, 48 (January1973): 27-44.

9. Ibid., 29.

10 Larry M. Beachum. William Becknel/: Father of theSanta Fe Trade (EI Paso: Texas Western Press,1982), 21~ 22; & Simmons, Opening the Santa FeTrail,3.

11. Thorn as Jam es, Three Years Among the MexicansandIndians (Chicago: The Rio Grande Press, 1962);& Harry R. Stevens, "A Company of Hands andTraders: Origins of the Glenn- Fowler Expedition of1821-1822," NMHR, 46 (July 1971): 181-221.

12. Beachum, William Becknel/, 22·23, 33.

13. David J. Weber, The Taos Trappers, the Fur Tradein the Far Southwest, 1540-/846 (Norman: Univer­sity of Oklahoma Press, 1971), 53; & Weber, TheMexican Frontier, 1821-1846, the American South­west under Mexico (Albuquerque: University of NewMexico Press, 1982), 1'26, 128.

14. Robert L Duffus, The Santa Fe Trail (New York:Longmans, Green and Co., 1930),68. Duffus wasapparently the first to propose that Becknell crossedover Raton Pass. Almost all others who have writtensince have accepted this routing Without question.Duffus's book remains an excellent overview of theTrail.

15. Becknell's Journal has been published several tim essince its first appearance in the Missouri Intel/i­genrer, April 22, 1823. These indude Missouri His­torical Soaely Col1ections, 2, 57-75; [William Beck­nell), "The JournalS of Capt. Thomas Becknell fromBoone's Lick to Santa Fe, and from Santa Cruz toGreen River," Missouri Historical Review, 4 (January1910): 65-84; & Archer Hulbert, ed., Southwest. onthe Turquoise Trail, the First Diaries on the Road toSanta Fe (Colorado Springs: Stewart Commission ofColorado College and Denver Public Library, 1933),56-68. The quotations from the journal induded hereare from the Missouri Historical Review (1910), al­though the other editions contain the same journalentries.

16. Manuel Lisa was an early fur trader and partner inthe Sl Louis-Missouri Fur Company. Among manyother activities, he attempted to open trade withSanta Fe in 1812. Ezel<iel Williams was part of theparty Lisa sent toward Santa Fe. Along the wayIndians attacked them and killed all except William s.

17. Beachum, William Becknell, 19; & Weber, The TaosTrappers, 44.

18. Fowler, while traveling up the Arkansas on Novem­ber 13, passed a fork in the river and in his journalcommented that he supposed it to be "Pikes firstfortle." Unless he had the map memorized, this isstrong evidence that he had the map in hand. ElliottCoues, ed., The Joumal of Jacob Fowler (Lincoln:University of Nebrasl<a Press, 1970),47.

19. Donald Jackson, ed., The Journals ofZebulon Mont­gomery Pike with Letters and Related DOC1Jments,Vol. I (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,1966), map between 388 & 389.

20. Ibid., 349 fn 132.21. John M. Tucker, "Major Long's Route from the Ar­

l<ansas to the Canadian River, 1820: NMHR, 38(July 1963): 195-196, quoting from the acoount ofEdwin James who acoompanied the expedition.

22. Ibid.• 202.23. Ibid., 205.24. In all fairness it must be noted that both Jacob Fowler'

and Thomas James in 1821 and 1822 identifiedcorrectly the Canadian River. Both started from theArl<ansas River generally between Fort Smith andFort Gibson. This is the area where the CanadianRiverl10ws into the Arkansas River. James identifiedthe river early in his journey to Santa Fe, and Fowleridentified it in 1822 coming over the mountains justwest of Rayado. Each may have had the correctinformation by virtue of being or residing near itsmouth and. information from various Indians. Coues.Journal ofJacob Fowler, 117; & James, Three YearsAmong the Mexicans and the Indians, 106.

25. "Map of the Indian Territory, Northern Texas, andNew Mexico showing the Great Western Prairies, byJosiah Gregg," in Josiah Gregg, Commerce of thePrairies, also published separately by the Santa FeTrail Association, 1990.

26. Hulbert, Southwest on the Turquoise Trail, 74. Hul­bert staled that, on July 22, Marmaduke was at LasVegas because he mentioned being at Juan Peno's.Las Vegas had no permanent residents in 1824, buta Juan Pino was having sheep herded on the landfor which he applied for a grant. The area of the grantwas to the west of the crossing and present~ay

Conchas Lake, near Pino Spring and Pino Creek inSan Miguel County. G. Emlen Hall, 'Juan EstevanPino. 'Se Los Coma': New Mexico Land Sperulationin the 18205: NMHR, 57 (January 1982): 31.

27. Wheeler Map, sheet No. 78 (A), which essentially isthe Las Vegas sheet

28. James H. Gunnerson, "Documentary Clues andNortheastern New Mexico Archeology," New MexicoArcheological Counal Proceedings, VI, 48-56, 68'72. gives convincing evidence of the route of Ulibarriand Vial. Vial's journals are more accessible in NoelM. Loomis and Abraham P. Nasatir, Pedro Via/~and

the Roads to Santa Fe (Norman: University of OWa­homa Press, 1967), 428-438, & Abraham P. Nasatir,"More on Pedro Vial in Upper Louisiana," The Span­ish in the Mississippi Val1ey, 1762-1804, ed. by JohnF. McDermott (Urbana: University of' Illinois Press.1974),100-119.

29. While this seems conVincing evidence of BeCknell'sroute, the authors would like to hear differing -';ews.

30. The diary is found in the Mexican Archives of NewMexico (MANM), Twitchell Collection, #3 & 120, New.Mexico State Reoords Cenler and Archives (NMS­RCA), Santa Fe, New Mexico. The editors expresstheir sincere thanks to the translation team of MichaelOlsen and Charles Truxillo, New Mexico HighlandsUniversity, Las'Vegas, NM; Jan Garcia, Las Vegas.NM; Lucy Romo, Fort Union National Monument;and Richard Salazar, New Me><ico State ReoordsCenter and Archives, Santa Fe, NM.

31. The "Urban Militia" was an elite unit, "theoreticallycontrolled and funded by the national government,[which) functioned as a reserw force for the regulararmy." Weber, The Mexican Frontier, 116. For thisexpedition, the militia was joined by other New Meld­can and Indian volunteer units, which was the usualprocedure. Wilson, Military Campaigns, 12-13.

32. Gallego was Alcalde of Abiquiu at least from 1816to 1832. In early 1822, Gallego was chosen as anelector to help choose the first legislative body ofNew Me><ico, and in 1826 he was elected a memberof the Territorial Deputation. Malcolm Ebright,"Manuel MartInez's Ditch Dispute: A Study in Melli­can Period Custom and Justice," NMHR, 54 (Janu­ary 1979), 27; Spanish Archives of New Me><ico

. (SANM) I. Twitchell No. 1061, SANM II, Twitchell No.2688, NMSRCA; & Rev. Lansing Bartlett Bloom,"New Mexico under Me><ican Administration 1821­1846," Old Santa Fe, I (Oct. 1913 & Jan. 1914): 146,246.

33. Abiquiu is located in Rio Arriba County, on theChama River, about 40 miles northwest of Santa Fe.

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34. A 1779 map shows a jurisdiction (Alcaldia) ofCanada and a town named Santa Cruzde Ia Canada.It is likely thatthese troops were from the town. whichwas the second established in New Mexico by DeVargas in 1695. Miera y Pacheco map of 1779 inAlfred B. Thomas, Forgotlen Frontiers: A Study of theSpanish Indian Policy ofDon Juan Bautistli de Anza,Governor of New Mexico 1777-1787 (Norman: Uni­versity of Oklahoma Press, 1932), 86.

35. "Central Upper River" would have been in the vicinityof the Rio Grande north and west of Santa Fe. Ibid.

36. Porcupine Hill or Peak.

37. "Little Valley of the Indians." is 13 miles northeast ofJemezPueblo. T. M. Pearce, ed., New Mexico PlaceNames (Albuquerque: University of New MexicoPress, 1965), 174.

38. Jemez Pueblo is about 50 miles directly west ofSanta Fe. .

39. Chimayo (east of Espanola) was known as SanBuenaventura de Chimayo. The militia unit was prob­ablyfrom there, perhaps comprising part of the groupfrom central Rio Arriba. San Buenaventura was alsothe name of the church at Cochiti Pueblo, and thevolunteers could possibly have been from there.

40. Facundo Melgares, a native of Spain, was nostrangerto the Great Plains and American incursionsinto New Mexico. In 1806, in anticipation of ZebulonMontgomery Pike's e>;>edition, Melgares led a de­tachment of 500 troops and over 2,000 horses andmules which ranged as far north and east.as thePawnee nations· between the Kansas and Platterivers. Melgares also ultimately commanded thetroops who accompanied Pike to Chihuahua. Pikehad a high opinion of him, as did Becknell, who foundhim "to be well informed and gentlemanly in man­ners; his demeanor was courteous and friendly."Melgares was governor (or interim governor) of NewMexico from 1818 to 1822. Ralph E. Twitdiell, Lead­ing Facts of New Mexico History, 2 vols. (CedarRapids: Torch Press, 1911), I, 458, 469. 480; &Zebulon Montgomery Pike, An Account of Expedi­tions to the Sources of the Mississippi. and throughthe Western Parts of Louisiana (Philadelphia: C. &A. Conrad, & Co., 1810), 228-229, 250; BecknellJournal, 77.

41 .. "The Ford" was San Miguel del Vado located on thePecos River. This "ford" was used long before Coro­nado first entered the country in 1540. San Miguel,as ~ is better known, was settled by Indians andMestizos in 1790 and, in 1821, was the easternfrontier town of New Mexico.

42. A search of the SANM and MANM at thtl NMSRCAhas not produced this document. There is, however,a document which is attributed to Melgares, datedOdober29, 1821. which seems to be only a secondpage.

43. "The Bosque of San Domingo" was undoubtedly atthe Santo Domingo Pueblo on the Rio Grande, 25miles southwest of Santa Fe.

44. Alcaldes headed municipal districts, or alcaldias, ofwhich there were fourteen in New Mexico in 1822.Weber. Mexican Frontier, 19. .

45. Galisteo is about 20 miles south of Santa Fe.

46. "San Cristobal Canyon" runs east from Galisteo.

47. "Vaca Spring on the mesa" is about 20 miles south­east of Santa Fe.

48. The command marched from V;j,ca Spring over Glo­rieta Mesa to the present-day town of Rowe, andfollowed the Pecos River Valley to the "frontier town"of San Miguel del Vado.

49. Alameda is about seven miles north of Albuquerque.It was a Spanish settlement at the time.

50. The "wilderness" was the eastern plains of NewMexico.

51. Bernal Spring is about 25 miles southwest of LasVegas, present town of Bernal, New Mexico.

52. Becknell reCorded that on Nov. 12, "[W]e struck atrail, and found several other indications which in­duced us to believe that the inhabitants have hereherded their cattle and sheep:" There were no settle­ments east of San Miguel in 1821, though pastoral­ists from there tried but failed to establish a newcommunity on the GaUinas River near present-day

20

Las Vegas that year. "The meadows" of the variousriver bottoms throughout this area were frequentedby herders, as illustrated in the diary of CaptainFrancisco Salazar, whose company of troops wascamped near the confluence of the Mora and Sapellorivers during the second week of May 1821. They,too, were tracking Indians. Salazar encountered bothwandering cattle and cattlemen in this vicinity. Diaryof Captain Francisco Salazar, SANM II, Tw~chell No.2978. NMSRCA. Santa Fe.

53. "Puertoc~o" is known today as Kearny Gap, abouttwo miles south of Las Vegas. "Piedra Lumbre" ~Iint

stone) creek is called today Agua lara through thegap. There has been much speculation about thesize of Becknell's group. Ralph E. Tw~chell thoughtthere were five men altogether, while MarcSimmonshas put the number as high as thirty. Twitchell,Leading Facts, II, 103; & Simmons, Opening theSanta Fe Trail, 2. With only five other men, Becknellwas lucky he did not encounter Indians. This isanother point which emphasizes that Becknell wasbound for Santa Fe. Ezekiel Williams undoubtedlywould have warned Becknell about the danger to hissm all party from Indians who could easily overwhelmthem. .

54. Gallego probably moved east through the gap andmet Becknell and his party on the plain·s. If theyreturned to the gap to cam p, ~ was probably on thewestern side where there was wood for fires andshelter by the Crestone.

55. With these words, Gallego was probably disobeyingan order from Melgares, thinking that this was impor­tant enough to do so and .that he would be forgiven.

56. Vicente Villanueva was Alcalde at San Miguel delVado in 1818. SANM II, Twitchell No. 2755, NMS­RCA.

57. Becknell found a "Frenchman" in San Miguel whocould interpret for him and accompanied the groupof Americans into Santa Fe, where Becknell arrivedon the 16th. He had an interview w~h GovernorMelgares who said he would like to see more Ameri­can trade.

58. Corporal Juan Lucero was no ordinary soldier. Heaccompanied Pedro Vial to Natchitoches in 1788 ata young age, perhaps 15 or 16. He was with Vial onhis attempted expedition to the Pawnees in 1805,was sent to make peace-w~h the Kiowas in late 1805,returned to the Kiowas twice in 1806. met with theCuampe and Flecha Rayada tribes in 1807 nearpresent-day Colorado Springs, Colorado, was on ane>cpedition to the Ar1<ansas Riverfrom November 25,1808, to March 5, 1809, aocompanied e><peditions tothe Comanches in 1810, 1816,iand twice in 1818,and made a trip to the "Indians" in 1819. He was'described in 1806 as a native of New Mexico, "of verygood. conduct, of spirit and demonstrated valor, ofknowledge in the f.ield and of a disposition su~able ofcommand; his height, 5 feet, 1 inch; 17 years, 20days of service. He knows how to read." It is esti­mated he was 49 or 50 in 1821. Lucero was not onlya good soldier, but an excellent frontiersman by anystandards. Loom is and Nasatir, Pedro Vial. 449-454;& Alfred B. Thomas, "Documents Bearing upon theNorthern Frontier of New Mexico, 1818-1819'­NMHR, 4 (April 1929): 156.

59. "Pecos Canyon" is present Pecos Arroyo just eastof Las Vegas. Gallego probably accompanied Vil­lanueva part way back to San Miguel and then re­turned to Las Vegas. The reason to choose presentPecosArroyo for Gallego's "Canon del Pecos" is that,during his expedition, Gallego and the troopsmarched an average of 16.8 miles a day or approxi­mately 1.17 miles an hour. It would be totally out ofline to march from the rivervalleyofthe Pecos, doseto San Miguel, to La Junta in the next day's travel, adistance of about 38 miles in one day.

60. The diary reads: "las caidas del rio del Sapeyo.·"Caida'can be translated as "falls, drop, or descent""Rapids" might be the best translation, even thoughthe location on the Sapello River cannot be pin­pointed. The Sapello River heads in the Sangre deCristo Mountains near Rociada, New Mexico, andjoins the Mora at prese'nt Watrous, New Mexico.

61. Present Watrous, New Mexico, known as La Juntaduring Santa Fe Trail days. The Mora River heads in

t,

the mountains above Mora, New Mexico. Its valley ,..was used to travel from Picuris Pueblo over themountains and out onto the Plains.

62. The "Turkey Mountains" are about 10 miles north ofWatrous.

63. The "gap in the Taos Mountains' is where the Ray·ado River comes' out of'the mountains west of Ray­ado, New Mexico. for most Spanish exped~ions tothe plains, this was where they came out of themountains from Taos and headed for Laughlin Peak.A trail also ran from here to Point of Rocks, NewMexico, which was used by Cibolleros and laterSanta Fe Trail travelers.

64. Based on past distances traveled, "Chokecherry. Creek" had to be within 20 miles of La Junta. There

are a couple of possibil~ies, but present VermejoCreek, south of Wagon Mound, New Mexico. is thebest candidate based on the neJd: two days' travel.

65. "Red River" is the present Canadian River. Althoughwe do not know exactly where Becknell crossed thisstream, it was likely between present-day Springerand Maxwell, New Mexico.

66. In essence, Sg\. Garcia was sent across the Cana­dian River in the direction of Laughlin Peak, which isabout 13 miles southeast of Capulin, New Mexico.

67. The location of "Wolf Spring (flowing)" is not known.Based on the travel of the next day, it could be placedabout 10 miles south of Rayado on what would laterbe called the Mountain Route of the Santa Fe Trail,at the mouth of what today is called Aguaje Canyon.

68. Rayado and Gonzalitos Mesas are prominent land­marks southwest of Springer, New Mexico, with Ray­ado Mesa dosest to the mountains.

69. "The Spring of Rayado Mesa" is at present MiamiLake, about 3.5 miles southeast of Rayado.

70. They were at a crossing of the Ca!ladian essentiallysomewhere between Springer and Maxwell.

71. "Big Mountain." known as Sierra Grande today isabout 5 miles slightly southwest of Des Moines, NewMexico. They were following the corridor of the In­dian-Spanish trail to the plains.

72. "Windy hills' are the Chico Hills, just north of. Chicoand south of Laughlin Peak. ../

73. "lower River" of the Rio Grande, means this com­pany came from the vicinity of Albuquerque, Belen,or was perhaps the group from Alameda

74. No matter which way traveled, the river has to bepresent Carrizo Creek, which was known as RockCreek in the lime of the Santa Fe Trail.

75. The "Jicara' was probably a reference to the Jicarilla.River, which is probably present Ponil Creek. Gun­nerson, "Documentary Clues," 57.

CAMP TALES,......-CHAPTER REPORTS­

Cimarron CutoffPresident David HutchisonWest Star Route Box 35Boise City, OK 73933

Guest speaker at the fall meeting wasJerry Cline of the Elkhart office of theNational Forest Service, Cimarron Na­tional Grassland. Mem bers and guestsmet at the Morton County historicalmuseu m in Elkhart on Oct. 26. Clinetold of NFS work at Point of Rocks,where three interpretive signs, a park­ing area, and steps were placed on theside of the Rock and a trail laid to thebase. The recreation area for touristshad new picnic tables and other con­veniences added this summer. Lime:stone posts mark the Trail across theGrassland. Future plans include acompanion walking trail along side theTrail ruts. Use ofthe picnic area is free,

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·' but overnight campers must pay a fee.Chapter President David Hutchison

conducted the business meeting fol­lowing the program. It was voted toraise chapter dues to $2.50 per year,the increase will cover expenses ofprinting and mailing a quartedy news­letter.

Edgar White reported on the mu­seumand that the NFS would like tohave an addition for its use. Leo Gam­ble told ofwork on a new Baca County,CO, museum located in the court­house, a small area formerly occupiedby the sheriff and his family. Paul Ben­trup read from a document signedbyBill Pitts, president of SFTA, and JohnCook, NPS executive, concerning theCimarron Cutoff Chapter and Cimar­ron County (OK) Historical Society Un­cluding an apparent commitment toraise money for Trail projects). Thepresident of the latter organization hadnot been notified of its involvement inthe matter. Ambassador Bentrup willseek clarification of this document.Bentrup also announced the change indates for the 1993 symposium atBent's Old Fort and La Junta to Sep­tember 23- 26. The next chapter meet­ing was set for Boise City, OK, onJanuary 18, 1993.

Texas PanhandlePresident Charles H. Pitts3316 Palmer DrAmarillo, TX 79106

No report.

Wagonbed SpringPresident Edward Dowell521 W.]aniceUlysses, KS 67880

The fall meeting at Hugoton on Octo­ber 8, 1992, was attended by 30 mem­bers and guests. President Dowell re­ported on a visit by NPS personnelJohn Conoboy and Lisa W. French andKansas State Historical Society ar­chaeologist Martin Stein, who are con­sidering whether to enlarge the site ofthe National Historic Landmark atWagonbed Spring and if Stein shouldconduct an archaeological dig there~Dowell and several other chaptermembers met with the visitors includ­ing landowner Harry Joyce.

Paul Bentrup read a communicationSigned by Bill Pitts concerning futureplans of the NPS for development ofOklahoma Panhandle Trail sites. Healso told of the first meeting ofSFTA inTrinidad in September 1986. Cimar­ron Cutoff Chapter member EdgarWhite reported at length on work oftheNational Forest Service on the Cimar­ron National Grassland at Point ofRocks in Morton County. Some of thechanges were placing of more picnictables and fencing part of the area. He

November 1992

said that Ramon Powers, executive di­rector of the Kansas State HistoricalSociety and state preservation officer,had recently visited the site. MaIjbriePersinger, secretary, gave a report ofthe Trail tour on October 3 conductedby the Cimarron County Historical sO­ciety in Oklahoma. Several chaptermembers were on the tour. The nextmeeting was scheduled for January14, 1993, at Ulysses.

Heart of the Flint HillsPresident Donald B. CressRR IBox66Council Grove, KS 66846

No report.

.End of the TrailPresident Carlton R. Damonte7221 Vivian Dr NEAlbuquerque, NM 87109

On August 29, 50 mem bers con- .vened at Pecos National Historic Parkfor a field trip and picnic, followed bya business meeting. After watching afilm on the Pecos area, narrated by·Greer Garson, the group drove tonearby Kozlowski's Ranch. ParkRanger John K. Loleit served as guide.

Kozlowski was a Polish immigrantwho established this site sometime af­ter 1846. For years it served as a stagestation on the Trail. It was also a foragestation for the army. During the CivilWar it served as Union headquartersduring the engagement at GlorietaPass in 1862.

At the site, Loleit used an aerial pho­tograph to orient mem bers to the sur­rounding area, shOWing the location ofTrail ruts and a large pool of freshwater. The availability of water was thereason Kozlowski chose this spot forhis ranch. An unexpected treat for thegroup was the presence of Marc Sim­mons, renowned Trail historian andchapter member. In front of the build­ing that served as Kozlowski's ranchhouse is a DAR marker that was placedin 1910. Marc captivated his audiencewith a 20-minute talk on the signifi­cance of the marker and the story ofDAR markers in New Mexico and theirlocations. After viewing the sites atKozlowski's ranch, the group returnedto the Pecos NHP picnic area for lunch.Plans were made for the final field tripof 1992.

On September 13 chapter membershosted a reception for visiting tourismrepresentatives from states along theTrail. The representatives were attend­ing a conference sponsored by the NewMexico Tourism Dept. and headed byMike Pitei. The event was held at thehistoric home of Jean and Ed Cook.The group enjoyed a pleasant eveningof conversation and food. Specialthanks are extended to the Cooks for

Marc Simmons at KozlowskI's Ranch,pointing to the DAR marker beside theranch headquarters while speaking tothe End of the Trail Chapter in August.

their hospitality and to the memberswho provided food and refreshment forthe occasion.

The final field trip for 1992 took placeon October 3. Mike Pitel guided 37members .on a 2'I'2-mile trek throughthe Camino Corrales section of Trailruts within the city of Santa Fe. T;hehigh point of the tour was the ruts,onthe land of Mr. & Mrs. Sam Ballen. Mr.Ballen also gave a guided tour of hisbeautiful estate. The Ballens are own-ers of the La Fonda Hotel. .

After seeing the article in the lastissue of(\VT) on the "Route of the TrailThrough Glorieta Pass," we contactedBurt Schmitz in California. We nowhave a dialogue going with this "Trailauthority." Schmitz plans to come toSanta Fe sometime next summer. Wehope to schedule afield trip, with himas our guide, and invite other chaptersto participate. More on this later.

Corazon de los CaminosPresident LeRoy LeDouxPO Box 94Wagon Mound, NM 87752

The August meeting was attended by24 members and 9 guests. PresidentLeDoux and the chapter were honoredwith two plaques from the SouthwestRegional Office of the National ParkService for "invaluable assistance inpromoting public interest in the SantaFe National Historic Trail and ...efforts to help preserve the Trail re­sources in New Mexico for the enjoy­ment of future generations." NormanQuillin of Albuquerque gave a presen­tation on Kit Carson's armory. Heshowed four antique rilles and ex-

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This plaque was placed at the base ofthe Isaac Allen gravestone at Point ofRocks in July. (Photo by Leo Gamble.)

plained their history. Following histalk, the history of Watrous was pre­sented by Alfredo Paiz, Jose Lopez, andHarry Myers. It was an interesting andinformative program.

In September 18 members and 9guests gathered in a beautiful fail set­tin.g in the foothills of the Sangre deCnstos near the Mountain Route of theTrail for a barbecue and meeting atSan Juan Bautista de Los Hueros, achurch built in the 1860s and recentlyrestored by the descendants of theoriginal five founding families of thevillage: Chavez, Vigil, Arguello, Pache­co, and Salazar. These settlers wereblond, hence the name "Los Hueros." .The Jicarilla Apaches respected thesettlers, and the settlement prospered.Today 15 families still live in Los Hue­ros. When they were renovating thechurch floors, they discovered severalgrave mounds.

On October 18 the chapter met at theBueyeros; NM, church in the beautifulUte Creek valley. Fifteen members en­joyed a potluck lunch with churchmembers in honor of the priest whowas leaving. Mr. & Mrs. Manuel Gon­zales told the history of the church andthe area. It was noted that Major .Stephen Long and his party camedown Ute Creek in 1820. Titian Peale,a member of that party, sketched ablack-tail deer with one of the fourlocal buttes in the background. It wasalso noted that William Becknellcrossed Ute Creek nearby in 1822,bringing the first wagons across theplains to Santa ,Fe. After the meetingmem bers went to one of the four butteswhich has a grave atop it and a view of

. the butte that Peale sketc hed. After avisit to a second butte, where a massof renewal is held each year, the mem­bers journeyed home on a pleasantautumn afternoon.

Wet/Dry RoutesPresident Joanne VanCoevem

. 4773 N. Wasserman WaySalina, KS 67401

No report.·

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Mountain BranchPresident Roberta Cordova202 East SixthSt.Trinidad, CO 81082

No report.

Dodge City/Fort Dodge

No report.

Missouri River OutfittersPresident Roger Slusher1421 South St.Lexington, MO 64067

On August 8 the chapter met at theRice~Tremonti house in Raytown, MO.Roberta Bonbowitz, an active local his­torian, told about the 1840s housewhich was built by· Archibald Rice.That prosperous farmer sold goods tomany travelers on the Santa Fe Trailwhich passed nearby.

On October 18 Polly Fowler led a trekalong the route of the Trail from Buck­~er, MO, to Independence. Some high­lights were the cernetery at Sibley nearFort Osage, the site of the Blue Millsbuilt by the Aull brothers of Lexington,and the old Independence landing,which was an active warehouse andoutfitting center in the 1B30s.

The Outfitters would like to extend acordial invitation to any SFTA mem­bers living in Missouri and easternKansas to join our chapter. Annualdues of $10 should be sent to ourtreasurer, Glenda Sours, 629·N. Ma­haffie, Olathe, KS 66061.

QuiviraPresident Wayne SmithRR I Box 44Raymond, KS 67573

The newly-formed Quivira Chapterhas applied for official recognition andafHliation with SFTA. At an organiza­tional meeting at Lyons, KS, on Sep­tember 21, representatives from Bar­ton, Rice, and McPherson, wishing tohelp preserve, protect, and publicizethe portion of the Trail crossing thethree counties, adopted articles of in­corporation and bylaws, and electedofficers and directors. This portion ofthe Trail was preViously not covered byany local chapter. The action was theculmination of informational illld pro­motional meetings held during thesummer at Ellinwood, McPherson, andLyons.

Officers are President Wayne Smith,Raymond; V-P Duane Embers,McPherson; Secretary Carol Near,Lyons; Treasurer Betty Romero,Lyons; and the directors are Robert

. Yarmer, Ellinwood; Robert Button,Great Bend; Nancy Martiney, Lyons;Pat Hall, Hutchinson; Bruce Palmer,Lindsborg; and Britt Colle, McPher­son. Evelyn Miller, Ellinwood, is the

reporter.All members of SFTA, regardless of

residence, are eligible for mem bershipin the Quivira Chapter upon paymentof annual dues of $10.00, which maybe sent to Betty Romero, CoronadoQuivira Museum, 105 West Lyon,Lyons, KS 67554;

DAR ESSAY CONTESTKANSAS DAR State Regent, Ruth KeysClark, .wants to focus more attentionon the Santa Fe Trail dUring her termin office. As part of this effort, DARState Historian, Mrs. Charley L. Shoe­make, has announced a Santa Fe Trailessay contest for siXth and seventhgraders in the state. She said, "I wantto create more interest in the historicalTrail that is so much a part of theheritage of Kansas." Eligible studentsare invited to send an original essay ofnot more than 600 words on any phaseof the Santa Fe Trail. An award will begiven to the winning essay. Teachersand librarians may be consulted to

. help locate information. Dave Webb'sAdventures with the Santa Fe Trail: AnActivity Bookfor KidS and Teachers isrecommended as a res,ource. Thedeadline for entries is J.anuary 15,.1993. Please send essays to Mrs.Charley Shoemake" 121 Ave C West,Kingman, KS 67068. Wcigon Trackshas offered to print the winning e~say.

COUNCIL TROVe;;'

-DOCUMENTS­BECKNELL'S PREPARATIONS

William Becknell's plans for a ven­ture "westward" in 1821 were printedin the Franklin Missouri Intelligencer.Two items that appeared over his namefollow, taken from Cordell Tindall'sspecial issue of the Intelligencer pre­pared for the 1991 symposium.Issue of June 25, 1821:

An article for the government of acom­pany of men destined.to the westward forpurposes of trading for Horses & Mules,and catching Wild Animals of every de­scription, that we may thi,nk advantagiousto the company.

Sec. 1. Every man will fit himself for thetrip, with a horse, a good rifle, and as muchammunition as the company may think nec­essary for a tour or 3 months trip, & suffi­cient c10athing to keep him warm and com­fortable. Every man will furnish his equalpart of the fitting out for trade, and receivean equal part ofthe product. 1fthe companyconsist of30 or more men, 10 dollars a manwill answer to purchase the quantity of mer­chandise required to trade on.

No man shall receive more than anotherfor his services, unless he furnishes moreand is pointedly agreed on by the company

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.' before we start. If any young man wishesto go the trip and is not in a position to equiphimself, if he chooses to go for any personthat may think proper to employ and equiphim with every necessary required by thisarticle, the employer Shall receive an equaldividend of the benefits arising from ourtrade. There will be no dividend until wereturn to the north side of the Missouri river,where all persons concerned shall havetimely notice to attend and receive theirshare of profits. It shall be necessary thatevery man shall be bound in a penalty offifty dollars, to be recoverable in any courtin the state, and the money appropriated tothe use of the company. If he signs anddoes not perform the trip, unless someunavoidable accident occurs; in such acase timely notice must be given to anyofficer belonging to the company,and itshall be the duty of the officer to dischargesuch a man n his giving satisfactory proofthat it is not in his power to comply with thisarticle and the officers shall fill the vacancy.as soon as possible.

It is requisite that every 8 men shall havea pack horse, an ax, and a tent to securethem from the inclemency of bad weather.

I think it necessary for the good order ~-n(r­regulation of the company that every manshall be bound by an oath to subm it to suchorders and rules as the company whenassembled shall think proper to enforce. Itshall be my business to apply to the gover­nor for permission to proceed on as far aswe wish to go. Signers to the amount of 70will be received until the 4th of August,'when every man wishing to go is requestedto meet at Ezekial William's on the Mis­souri, about five miles above Franklin,where we will procure a pilot and appointofficers in the company. .

Issue of August 14, 1821:A company of 17 men met at Ezekial

William's farm on the 4th of August des­tined to the westward. W. Becknell waschosen unanimously as Captain of thecompany. On 18th inst. we are all to meetat Mr. Shaw's in Franklin, where two Lieu­tenants will be elected. We have concludedthat thirty men will constitute a' companysufficiently strong to proceed as far as wewish to go. All those who signed theirnames to the first article, and did not appearon the 4th of this month, are excluded fromgoing in this company, and excused frompaying any fine. On the first day of Septem­ber, the company will cross the Missouri atArrow Rock. Any persons who wish to gowill do well to meet at the plain appointedon the 18th. No signers will be receivedafter that day.

IRA CLAFLIN ON THE BATTLE OFGLORIETA PASS, MARCH 28, 1862Professor Michael Olsen, New Mexico

Highlands University at Las Vegas, re­cently found the following report of the

November 1992

Battle of Glorieta Pass at the NationalArchives. Lieutenant Ira W. Claflin,Third U.S. Cavalry, authorofthe letter,commanded a Union artillery batteryduring the engagement. The letter,dated May 18, 1862, was addressed toCaptain Gurden Chapin, Assistant Ad­jutant General. So far as can be deter­mined, this letter has not been pub­lished before. The original is located inDept. of New Mexico Misc. Records,1849-1866, Box 1, Record Group 393,National Archives. The original spell­ing has been preserved, but somepunctuation has been added for clari­fication.

I have the honor to submit the followingreport ofthe action of my Mountain Howit­zer Battery in the engagement at Pigeon'sRanch on the 18th of March 1862.

Upon leaming that the enemy was pre­pared for our advance I was ordered byColonel Slough to take a position a fewhundred yards in front of Pigeon's, which Idid, and opened and continued a fire forseveral minutes. At this point two of mycannoniers deserted to the enemy - Jonesand Miller of the Col. Vols.

Receiving an order from Captain ChapinI next took a position on a hill near anddirectly opposite the Ranch, which positionI maintained till in the afternoon ascertain-

. ing that the enemy was preparing to chargemy battery in such force as would render itscapture certain. I relieved and joined Cap­tain Ritter in the canyon below with whom Ioperated until the close of the engagement.I did not get an order to retire from Col.Slough but was advised rather than or­dered by Captain Chapin 7th Infantry to doso, Col. Slough not being present on thatpart of the field.

At this, the third position,one man waskilled, one Sergt. and two privateswounded.

From this position we retreated and keptup an active fire till the force was concen­trated and the train moved, when the wholeforce retired to.Kozlowski's.

My detachment behaved with the great­est coolness and courage. I cannot expresstoo warmly my admiration ofthe conduct ofLieut. Shoemaker and Mr. Dalton, whowere serving with the Battery as well asCaptain Thompson. The enthusiasm dis­played by Captn. Robbins. of Co. K, 1stRegt. Col Vals. and his men, in saving oneof my pieces when the carriage was bro­ken, attracted the attention of all who wit­nessed it.

The conduct of Lieut. Harding and aboutforty of his men, especially while protectingthe batteries before retiring to our last po­sition, deserves the highest praise and wonfor him a reputation with his comrades ofwhich his regiment and company may wellbe proud. By himself and about forty of hismen I am convinced the safety of Captain

Ritter's Battery, as well as my own, was atleast secured while preparing to retreat tothe last position we occupied.

} HELP WANTED

I need help in documenting SimpsonEverett (Jack) Stilwell's presence onthe Santa Fe Trail during the years1863 through 1866. Stilwell gave tes­timony in the SupremeC6urtcase, TheUnited States vs Texas, in 1894 (thecase made the South Fork of the RedRiver the boundary between Texas andOklahoma). Stilwell stated. ~In 1863, Iwent out to New Mexico from KansasCity over the Arkansas route to a pointabove Fort Dodge, there crossed andtook what was known as the Cimarronroute which went past Wagon moundsinto Las Vegas, Las Vegas being thefirst town we struck. ... I made severaltrips from New Mexico to Kansas Cityand Leavenworth in 1864, 1865. 1866.wintering in New· Mexico. In the win­tertime we used to come down on buf­falo hunts, down the Canadian Riverand in on the head of Wolf River andthrough that country. over the Beavernorth of there so I became pretty fam il­iar with that country.~

Stilwell stated that he visited SantaFe several times and, during his stayin New Mexico, learned to speak the"Mexican language." He described'three routes across the plains; the"Northern Route" (Mountain Route),"Middle Route" (Cimarron Route), andthe ~SouthernRoute" (Crooked CreekTrail): "The first route that I shall de­scribe is what we call the 'SouthernRoute.' Leaving Santa Fe, coming inthrough Apache Canyon. pass the oldruins of the church; pass San· Jose.San Miguel to Tocalotel [sic) just westof Las Vegas about eighteen miles;then to Anton Chico: then to GallenasSprings: then to old Fort Bascom onthe Canadian, or whaUs in that coun­try called Red River - Rio Colorado,down the river on the south side to aplace called Atascosa; there crossingto the north side traveling almost par­eHel [sic) to the river bearing a little to

.the north to the creek on which AdobeWalls is situated to the north and alittle east to the heads of Wolf River:the same direction over to Beaver: fromthere to the Cimarron; then CrookedCreek; the Mulberryand the Arkan­sas, crossing the Arkansas and con­necting with the main trail from Kan­sas City and Leavenworth west. ... Myacquaintance and knowledge of thesedifferent routes was gained from trav­eling them: also it was perfectly natu­ral we discussed every route as towhich was better, shorter, more con­venient, and above all the safest fromIndians."

23

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23

: Wagon Tracks. Volume 7, Issue 1 (November, 1992)

Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1993

~~N;.;.E_W_S_F.;.,TA_'_M_E,;;,,;.M~B;;.,E;;.;R;.;.S~_I I~__T;;..;R.;;;A..;.;I;,;;;L~C;,;,A..;.;L;;.;;E;.;,N~D;.;,A..;.;R~_

I would appreciate help with docu­menting Stilwell's presence on theTrail from the New Mexico end or theKansas City end. Jack signed his name"S. E. Stilwell." He was born in 1850and would have been a teenager in the1860s. He later served as a guide andscout for the army on the southernplains.

Clint E. Chambers5104 18th Place

Lubbock. TX 79416

I am seeking information or anysources of information on Rabbit EarsCreek Camp located on the CimarronRoute of the Santa Fe Trail. Any pho­tographs ofthe cam p and area descrip­tions would be appreciated. My great­great-great-grandfather. AlexanderMorgan. died (cause of death un­known) and was buried at this campon Aug. 23. '1847, while serving in theMexican War with Capt. B. W. Smith­son's and Capt. D. D. Stockton's Co. K,Third Regiment Missouri MountedVolunteers. I will be grateful for anyhelp.

Terry J. Rawe420 Butchart Dr.

Edm unton. AlbertaCANADA T6R 1R1

1 am in the process of cataloging allthe DAR markers in Kansas. going toeach site. taking pictures, determiningoriginal and current locations, etc. 1use the book by Mrs. T. A. Cordry ofthe DAR and an article in the1907/1908 publication of the KansasState Historical Society, both of which'describe the placing of the 96 markersin Kansas. So far 1 have been quitesuccessful, but a couple have mestumped.

Do any readers know what becameof marker #36 in McPherson County?It was located in the middle of the west

boundary of Sec. 10. Township 20South, Range 3 West, which is nowjust south of McPherson and west of1-135. There is a marker just a milesouthwest in Sec. 9, but it is on theoriginal location. Also. what became ofmarker #39 in McPherson County?Cordry lists it as located at Windom,the KSHS placed it at the' northwestcorner of Sec. 20, T 20 S. R 5 W, andMargaret Long gave a different locationin her book. Is this the maker that isnow located on the McPherson/RiceCounty line along road #443 five milessouth of U.S. 56? Any help will begreatly appreciated.

Steve Miner7432 RockwoodRdWichita, KS 67206

This list includes' new membershipsreceived since the last issue. Thosereceived after this printing will appearin the next issue. If there is an error inthis information, please send correc­tions to the editor. We thank you foryour support.

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPSCity of Prairie Village, Attn: Mayor, 7700

Mission Rd, Prairie Village KS 66208

FAMILY MEMBERSHIPSAnnie & Arthur Hodgson, PO Box 666,

Lyons KS 67654Michael Metzger, RR 1 Box 276, Council

Grove KS 66846Dale E. & Donna J. Oliver, 1822 Apollo,

Great Bend KS 67530Lori & Kent Thomas, 3100 McCormick Ave,

Wichita KS 67213

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPSAlexandra Aldred, Bent's Old Fort NHS,

35110 Hwy 194 E, La Junta CO 81050Robert S. Allen, PO Box 939, Raton NM

87740Jay S. Arnold, PO Box 18842, Baton Rouge, LA 70893

Nelson L. Bond, 18050 S Tamiami Trail·#11 , Fort Myers FL 33908

Charlie Cashion 7656 S Centaur, Ever­green CO 80439

Ruth Keys Clark, PO Box 153, WinchesterKS 66097

Helen M. Geer, 101 W Marcy St #203,Santa Fe NM 87501

Mary Jo Hays, Rt 9 Box 69A, Santa Fe NM87505

Kathryn Myers, 10 Wilmar Orchard, QuincyIL 62301

Leon K. Olsen, 1825 E Dunkerton Rd, Wa­terloo IA 50701

Michael J. Penner, 717 W Elm St, OlatheKS 66061

Judy Sutton, 12116 W 93, Lenexa KS66215

Russ' Yeager, 1719 Kent PI, Topeka KS66604

Everyone is invited to send notices .forthis section. Please provide location,date(s). time(s). activity, and addressand/or phone number for more infor­mation. Remem ber this is a quarterly.The next issue should appear in Feb­ruary. so send information for Marchand later to arrive by January 20.Thankyoll.

Dec. 11-12, 1992: Traditional HolidayCelebration, Bent's Old Fort NHS.

Dec. 12, 1992: Christmas Open House,Fort Larned NHS.

Jan. 14, 1993: Wagonbed Spring Chaptermeeting at Ulysses, KS, 7:00 p.m.

Jan. 17, 1993: Wet/Dry Routes Chaptermeeting at either Offerle or Kinsley. LeoE. Oliva will be guest speaker. ContactJoanne VanCoevern at (913) 825-8349.

Jan. 18, 1993: Cimarron Cutoff Chaptermeeting, Boise City, OK.

Jan. 20, 1993: Deadline for next issue of. Wagon Tracks.Sept. 23-26,1993: Santa Fe Trail Sympo­

sium, Bent's Old Fort and La Junta, CO.Contact Don Hill, Bent's Old Fort NHS,

. 35110 Hwy 194E, La Junta CO 81050(719) 384-2596). .

WAGON TRACKSSanta Fe Trail AssociationRR 1, Box 31Woodston, KS 67675

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

FORWARDING POSTAGE GUARANTEED

oWf­a:o<1lwa:Q.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. '

POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 2

WOODSTON, KS 67675 .

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24 November 199224

Wagon Tracks, Vol. 7 [1993], Iss. 1, Art. 1

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wagon_tracks/vol7/iss1/1