THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Settled and Defied all Efforts

To Remove The Headquarters Of The Trade From There For Several Years.

Independence, However, Being The County Seat And The Larger Place,

Succeeded in its Claims To Be The More Suitable Locality, And As

Early As 1832 It Was Recognized as The American Headquarters And The

Great Outfitting Point For The Santa Fe Commerce, Which It Continued

To Be Until 1846, When The Traffic Was Temporarily Suspended by The

Breaking Out Of The Mexican War.

 

 

 

Independence Was Not Only The Principal Outfitting Point For The

Santa Fe Traders, But Also That Of The Great Fur Companies.  That

Powerful Association Used to Send Out Larger Pack-Trains Than Any

Other Parties Engaged in the Traffic To The Rocky Mountains;

They Also Employed wagons Drawn By Mules, And Loaded with Goods For

The Indians With Whom Their Agents Bartered, Which Also On Their

Return Trip Transported the Skins And Pelts Of Animals Procured from

The Savages.  The Articles Intended for The Indian Trade Were

Always Purchased in st. Louis, And Usually Shipped to Independence,

Consigned to The Firm Of Aull And Company, Who Outfitted the Traders

With Mules And Provisions, And In fact Anything Else Required by Them.

 

 

 

Several Individual Traders Would Frequently Form Joint Caravans,

And Travel In company For Mutual Protection From The Indians.  After

Having Reached a Fifty-Mile Limit From The State Line, Each Trader

Had Control Of His Own Men; Each Took Care Of A Certain Number Of

The Pack-Animals, Loaded and Unloaded them In camp, And Had General

Supervision Of Them.

 

 

 

Frequently There Would Be Three Hundred mules In a Single Caravan,

Carrying Three Hundred pounds Apiece, And Very Large Animals More.

Thousands Of Wagons Were Also Sent Out From Independence Annually,

Each Drawn By Twelve Mules Or Six Yoke Of Oxen, And Loaded with

General Merchandise.

 

 

 

There Were No Packing Houses In those Days Nearer Than St. Louis,

And The Bacon And Beef Used in the Santa Fe Trade Were Furnished by

The Farmers Of The Surrounding Country, Who Killed their Meat,

Cured it, And Transported it To The Town Where They Sold It.

Their Wheat Was Also Ground At The Local Mills, And They Brought

The Flour To Market, Together With Corn, Dried fruit, Beans, Peas,

And Kindred provisions Used on The Long Route Across The Plains.

 

 

 

Independence Very Soon Became The Best Market West Of St. Louis For

Cattle, Mules, And Wagons; The Trade Of Which The Place Was The

Acknowledged headquarters Furnishing Employment To Several Thousand

Men, Including The Teamsters And Packers On The Trail.  The Wages

Paid Varied from Twenty-Five To Fifty Dollars A Month And Rations.

The Price Charged for Hauling Freight To Santa Fe Was Ten Dollars

A Hundred pounds, Each Wagon Earning From Five To Six Hundred dollars

Every Trip, Which Was Made In eighty Or Ninety Days; Some Fast

Caravans Making Quicker Time.

 

 

 

The Merchants And General Traders Of Independence In those Days

Reaped a Grand Harvest.  Everything To Eat Was In constant Demand;

Mules And Oxen Were Sold In great Numbers Every Month At Excellent

Prices And Always For Cash; While Any Good Stockman Could Readily

Make From Ten To Fifty Dollars A Day.

 

 

 

One Of The Largest Manufacturers And Most Enterprising Young Men In

Independence At That Time Was Hiram Young, A Coloured man.  Besides

Making Hundreds Of Wagons, He Made All The Ox-Yokes Used in the

Entire Traffic; Fifty Thousand Annually During The '50'S And Until

The Breaking Out Of The War.  The Forward Yokes Were Sold At An

Average Of One Dollar And A Quarter, The Wheel Yokes A Dollar Higher.

 

 

 

The Freight Transported by The Wagons Was Always Very Securely Loaded;

Each Package Had Its Contents Plainly Marked on The Outside.

The Wagons Were Heavily Covered and Tightly Closed.  Every Man

Belonging To The Caravan Was Thoroughly Armed, And Ever On The Alert

To Repulse An Attack By The Indians.

 

 

 

Sometimes At The Crossing Of The Arkansas The Quicksands Were So Bad

That It Was Necessary To Get The Caravan Over In a Hurry; Then Forty

Or Fifty Yoke Of Oxen Were Hitched to One Wagon And It Was Quickly

Yanked through The Treacherous Ford.  This Was Not Always The Case,

However; It Depended upon The Stage Of Water And Recent Floods.

 

 

 

After The Close Of The War With Mexico, The Freight Business Across

The Plains Increased to A Wonderful Degree.  The Possession Of The

Country By The United states Gave A Fresh Impetus To The New Mexico

Trade, And The Traffic Then Began To Be Divided between Westport

And Kansas City.  Independence Lost Control Of The Overland Commerce

And Kansas City Commenced its Rapid Growth.  Then Came The Discovery

Of Gold In california, And This Gave An Increased business Westward;

For Thousands Of Men And Their Families Crossed the Plains And

The Rocky Mountains, Seeking Their Fortunes In the New El Dorado.

The Old Trail Was The Highway Of An Enormous Pilgrimage, And Both

Independence And Kansas City Became The Initial Point Of A Wonderful

Emigration.

 

 

 

In Independence May Still Be Seen A Few Of The Old Landmarks When

It Was The Headquarters Of The Santa Fe Trade.

 

 

 

An Overland Mail Was Started from The Busy Town As Early As 1849.

In An Old Copy Of The Missouri _Commonwealth_, Published there Under

The Date Of July, 1850, Which I Found On File In the Kansas State

Historical Society, There Is The Following account Of The First Mail

Stage Westward:--

 

 

 

          We Briefly Alluded, Some Days Since, To The Santa Fe Line

          Of Mail Stages, Which Left This City On Its First Monthly

          Journey On The 1St Instant.  The Stages Are Got Up In

          Elegant Style, And Are Each Arranged to Convey Eight

          Passengers.  The Bodies Are Beautifully Painted, And Made

          Water-Tight, With A View Of Using Them As Boats In ferrying

          Streams.  The Team Consists Of Six Mules To Each Coach.

          The Mail Is Guarded by Eight Men, Armed as Follows: Each Man

          Has At His Side, Fastened in the Stage, One Of Colt'S

          Revolving Rifles; In a Holster Below, One Of Colt'S Long

          Revolvers, And In his Belt A Small Colt'S Revolver, Besides

          A Hunting-Knife; So That These Eight Men Are Ready, In case

          Of Attack, To Discharge One Hundred and Thirty-Six Shots

          Without Having To Reload.  This Is Equal To A Small Army,

          Armed as In the Ancient Times, And From The Looks Of This

          Escort, Ready As They Are, Either For Offensive Or Defensive

          Warfare With The Savages, We Have No Fears For The Safety

          Of The Mails.

 

 

 

          The Accommodating Contractors Have Established a Sort Of

          Base Of Refitting at Council Grove, A Distance Of One

          Hundred and Fifty Miles From This City, And Have Sent Out

          A Blacksmith, And A Number Of Men To Cut And Cure Hay, With

          A Quantity Of Animals, Grain, And Provisions; And We

          Understand They Intend To Make A Sort Of Traveling Station

          There, And To Commence A Farm.  They Also, We Believe,

          Intend To Make A Similar Settlement At Walnut Creek Next

          Season.  Two Of Their Stages Will Start From Here The

          First Of Every Month.

 

 

 

The Old Stage-Coach Days Were Times Of Western Romance And Adventure,

And The Stories Told Of That Era Of The Border Have A Singular

Fascination In this Age Of Annihilation Of Distance.

 

 

 

Very Few, If Any, Of The Famous Men Who Handled the "Ribbons" In those

Dangerous Days Of The Slow Journey Across The Great Plains Are Among

The Living; Like The Clumsy And Forgotten Coaches They Drove,

They Have Themselves Been Mouldering Into Dust These Many Years.

 

 

 

In Many Places On The Line Of The Trail, Where The Hard Hills Have Not

Been Subjected to The Plough, The Deep Ruts Cut By The Lumbering

Concord Coaches May Yet Be Distinctly Traced.  Particularly Are They

Visible From The Atchison, Topeka, And Santa Fe Track, As The Cars

Thunder Rapidly Toward The City Of Great Bend, In kansas, Three Miles

East Of That Town.  Let The Tourist As He Crosses Walnut Creek Look

Out Of His Window Toward The East At An Angle Of About Thirty-Five

Degrees, And On The Flint Hills Which Slope Gradually Toward The

Railroad, He Will Observe, Very Distinctly, The Old Trail, Where It

Once Drew Down From The Divide To Make The Ford At The Little Stream.

 

 

 

The Monthly Stages Started from Each End Of The Route At The Same Time;

Later The Service Was Increased to Once A Week; After A While To

Three Times, Until In the Early '60'S Daily Stages Were Run From Both

Ends Of The Route, And This Was Continued until The Advent Of The

Railroad.

 

 

 

Each Coach Carried eleven Passengers, Nine Closely Stowed inside

--Three On A Seat--And Two On The Outside On The Boot With The Driver.

The Fare To Santa Fe Was Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars, The Allowance

Of Baggage Being Limited to Forty Pounds; All In excess Of That Cost

Half A Dollar A Pound.  In this Now Seemingly Large Sum Was Included

The Board Of The Travellers, But They Were Not Catered to In any

Extravagant Manner; Hardtack, Bacon, And Coffee Usually Exhausted

The Menu, Save That At Times There Was An Abundance Of Antelope And

Buffalo.

 

 

 

There Was Always Something Exciting In those Journeys From The

Missouri To The Mountains In the Lumbering Concord Coach.  There Was

The Constant Fear Of Meeting The Wily Red man, Who Persistently

Hankered after The White Man'S Hair.  Then There Was The Playfulness

Of The Sometimes Drunken Driver, Who Loved to Upset His Tenderfoot

Travellers In some Arroya, Long After The Moon Had Sunk Below

The Horizon.

 

 

 

It Required about Two Weeks To Make The Trip From The Missouri River

To Santa Fe, Unless High Water Or A Fight With The Indians Made It

Several Days Longer.  The Animals Were Changed every Twenty Miles

At First, But Later, Every Ten, When Faster Time Was Made.  What Sleep

Was Taken Could Only Be Had While Sitting Bolt Upright, Because There

Was No Laying Over; The Stage Continued on Night And Day Until

Santa Fe Was Reached.

 

 

 

After A Few Years, The Company Built Stations At Intervals Varying

From Ten Miles To Fifty Or More; And There The Animals And Drivers

Were Changed, And Meals Furnished to Travellers, Which Were Always

Substantial, But Never Elegant In variety Or Cleanliness.

 

 

 

Who Can Ever Forget Those Meals At The "Stations," Of Which You Were

Obliged to Partake Or Go Hungry: Biscuit Hard Enough To Serve As

"Round-Shot," And A Vile Decoction Called, Through Courtesy, Coffee

--But God Help The Man Who Disputed it!

 

 

 

Some Stations, However, Were Notable Exceptions, Particularly In the

Mountains Of New Mexico, Where, Aside From The Bread--Usually Only

Tortillas, Made Of The Blue-Flint Corn Of The Country--And Coffee

Composed of The Saints May Know What, The Meals Were Excellent.

The Most Delicious Brook Trout, Alternating With Venison Of The

Black-Tailed deer, Elk, Bear, And All The Other Varieties Of Game

Abounding In the Region Cost You One Dollar, But The Station-Keeper

A Mere Trifle; No Wonder The Old Residents And Ranchmen On The Line

Of The Old Trail Lament The Good Times Of The Overland Stage!

 

 

 

Thirteen Years Ago I Revisited the Once Well-Known Kosloskie'S Ranch,

A Picturesque Cabin At The Foot Of The Glorieta Mountains, About Half

A Mile From The Ruins On The Rio Pecos.  The Old Pole Was Absent,

But His Wife Was There; And, Although I Had Not Seen Her For Fifteen

Years, She Remembered me Well, And At Once Began To Deplore The

Changed condition Of The Country Since The Advent Of The Railroad,

Declaring It Had Ruined their Family With Many Others.  I Could Not

Disagree With Her View Of The Matter, As I Looked on The Debris Of

A Former Relative Greatness All Around Me.  I Recalled the Fact That

Once Kosloskie'S Ranch Was The Favourite Eating Station On The Trail;

Where You Were Ever Sure Of A Substantial Meal--The Main Feature

Of Which Was The Delicious Brook Trout, Which Were Caught Out Of

The Stream Which Ran Near The Door While You Were Washing The Dust

Out Of Your Eyes And Ears.

 

 

 

The Trout Have Vacated the Pecos; The Ranch Is A Ruin, And Stands

In Grim Contrast With The Old Temple And Church On The Hill; And Both

Are Monuments Of Civilizations That Will Never Come Again.

 

 

 

Weeds And Sunflowers Mark The Once Broad Trail To The Quaint Aztec

City, And Silence Reigns In the Beautiful Valley, Save When Broken

By The Passage Of "The Flyer" Of The Atchison, Topeka, And Santa Fe

Railway, As It Struggles Up The Heavy Grade Of The Glorieta Mountains

A Mile Or More Distant.

 

 

 

Besides The Driver, There Was Another Employee--The Conductor Or

Messenger, As He Was Called.  He Had Charge Of The Mail And Express

Matter, Collected the Fares, And Attended generally To The Requirements

Of Those Committed to His Care During The Tedious Journey; For He

Was Not Changed like The Driver, But Stayed with The Coach From