A long lush memory is embedded
in the windswept plains, on the mesa tops and in the secluded mountain canyons
of northeast New Mexico. The land has kept a careful record of tracks and trails
to present a multi-generational morality play, the ultimate American Western.
Northeast New Mexico is a history lesson of what happens when two empires meet.
The older north-south Spanish Empire ended in Santa Fe and the younger, brasher
east-west American Empire reached no further than Independence, Missouri. A grand
600-mile prairie lay in between, with mountains to pass and rivers to ford. Wagon
after wagon would follow the Santa Fe Trail, leaving a legacy of tracks that can
still be seen today.
The rumble of freight wagons, the shout of the bullwhacker, the snap of the whip,
the bellow of oxen, the quiet conversations in Spanish and English. These are
the trail sounds that evoke the pioneer spirit.
After all these years, the Santa Fe Trail still stirs the emotions. A flawless
sky of deep blue, as big as an A.B. Guthrie novel, above a prairie that seems
to roll forever. Caravans of commerce plodding westward to river crossings of
rushing torrents and dry washes. The choking, blinding dust and sudden chill of
the wind. The throaty thunder of approaching storms. The furtive glances for the
lurking presence of Pawnees and Comanches. The blare of bugles, the crack of rifle
fire, the endless brown seas of buffalo.
Today, the remnants of the trail await the traveler at scores of sites, great
and small, across five states and much of Northeast New Mexico's Union, Colfax,
Mora and San Miguel counties. Private landowners, nonprofit groups and federal,
state and local agencies manage most Trail resources. Look for the distinctive
signs that mark the auto tour that parallels the Trail.
How It All Started: When William Becknell left Old Franklin, Missouri, on September
1, 1821, heading west to trade with the Indians, he had little luck. But in New
Mexico he encountered some Spanish dragoons. Instead of taking him prisoner for
having entered Spanish Colonial Territory illegally, the soldiers urged him to
bring his goods to Santa Fe.
Becknell arrived there on November 16, quickly sold his wares and hurried back
to Missouri, his mules laden with silver coins. Mexico had declared its independence
from Spain, and American traders were now welcome in Santa Fe.
Within weeks, Becknell had organized another expedition. This time he took wagons
crammed with $3,000 worth of trade goods. His profit in Santa Fe was 2,000 percent.
The Santa Fe Trail was born, and a new era of prosperity began. For New Mexico,
the trail brought ever-increasing supplies of less expensive goods from the eastern
United States. As the caravans of commerce rolled west, they brought to New Mexico
not only new people, but a new language, skills and customs.
The trail at first led 909 miles through five states to Santa Fe, the capital
of New Mexico. As the American frontier crept westward, it became progressively
shorter.
Although the trail at first attracted adventurers and mountain men, its typical
travelers were businessmen. They financed hundreds of caravans of freight wagons
hauled by thousands of mules and oxen.
Often travel was just 12 to 15 miles a day. Yet merchants risked wagon accidents,
disease and Indian attacks. They weathered drought, storms and floods. After all,
there were profits to be made.
When the United States declared war against Mexico in 1846, U.S. troops took the
trail to declare New Mexico a United States Territory. In the following years,
as trade grew, several forts were built to protect trail traffic.
Trail trade flourished. In 1866, traffic peaked at 5,000 freight wagons. But the
railroad had reached eastern Kansas and as its tracks crept westward, trail traffic
dwindled. In 1879, when the first locomotive steamed into New Mexico, the Santa
Fe Trail was history. |
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