Santa Fe Trail - Softcover

William E. Hill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0870043544 ISBN 13: 9780870043543

Publisher: Caxton Press, 2002

Synopsis

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press
Originally developed as a trading route between Mexico and the fledgeling U.S., The Santa Fe Trail quickly became one of the most important routes to California for those seeking fortune and land.  This travel guide provides the reader with history, current reference points, and maps that allow both the armchair, and the roadside, explorer to find their way through story of this important western trail.

About this title

About the Author:

William Hill is the author of several books on historic, western trails including The Oregon Trail, Yesterday and Today; The Lewis and Clark Trail, Yesterday and Today; and The Santa Fe Trail, Yesterday and Today all published by Caxton Press.  He is now retired from teaching and living in New York state.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The Santa Fe Trail, Yesterday and Today by William E. Hill

Copyright 1992 By William E. Hill All Rights Reserved

Preface

Scarcely a day passes without my experiencing a pang of regret that I am not now roving at large upon the western Plains.

Josiah Gregg

There have been many things in my life that I have striven to forget, but not those journeys over the Santa Fe Trail. My life as I look back seems to have been lived best in those days on the trail.

Marian Russell

WHAT WAS IT THAT SO MOVED THESE PEOPLE TO WRITE?

Of the three great trails that headed west from the Missouri area, the Santa Fe Trail seems to have had the strongest influence on the many people who have traveled it, both yesterday and today. This book is the third in a series of books about the trails west. My first was about the Oregon Trail; the second, the California Trail; and now, the third, the Santa Fe Trail. As with Josiah Gregg, Marion Russell and Susan Magoffin who, a century and a half ago traveled and wrote of their Santa Fe Trail experiences, the Santa Fe Trail also has had a strong beckoning call and a romantic association for me. For almost twenty years the western trails have summoned me back to them nearly every summer. Like Susan Magoffin, my wife Jan and I spent part of our honeymoon traveling down the Santa Fe Trail. Whereas Susan continued on to Chihuahua after a short stay in Santa Fe, Jan and I continued on to California after a short stay in Santa Fe. For Josiah Gregg, his first trip down the Santa Fe Trail was recommended for medical reasons. For me, my trips west provide a healthful break from the hectic schedule and pressures of teaching in the crowded, fast-paced east. All of us have memories of experiences which could never be forgotten.

My head is filled with stories about the Santa Fe Trail. Events from the past often would come alive as my family and I drove along the trail with a diary in hand. In her diary Susan Magoffin was describing the beautiful Kansas prairie with all its pretty flowers. Within minutes of reading that passage, the prairie along the side of road was full of yellow flowers. We stopped to take a picture and then re-read the diary. Later, while crossing the Raton Mountains we saw a large brown bear rambling down the mountain crossing the trail. It reminded me of the story of Wild Bill Hickock's encounter and fight with a grizzly bear while he was crossing the Raton.

As with my two other books, this is written as an introduction to the Santa Fe Trail experience. It is for the tourist, the armchair traveler, and the history buff. It provides the reader with basic information and an overview of the whole period of the trail, from its birth with William Becknell to its final days with the completion of the railroad. Various topics are discussed and examined and a unique pictorial section is included. Read about what the traders and emigrants experienced as expressed in their own words. See the sites as they were recorded and as they appear today.

Come along now and relive the Santa Fe Trail experience.

About this edition

• Publisher: Caxton Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0870043544
• ISBN 13: 9780870043543
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232