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

To The New Mexicans.

Successful In this, His First Venture, He Returned to The Missouri

River With A Well-Filled purse, And Intensely Enthusiastic Over The

Result Of His Excursion To The Newly Found Market.

 

 

 

Excited listeners To His Tales Of Enormous Profits Were Not Lacking,

Who, Inspired by The Inducement He Held Out To Them, Cheerfully

Invested five Thousand Dollars In merchandise Suited to The Demands

Of The Trade, And Were Eager To Attempt With Him The Passage Of

The Great Plains.  In this Expedition There Were Thirty Men, And

The Amount Of Money In the Undertaking Was The Largest That Had Yet

Been Ventured.  The Progress Of The Little Caravan Was Without

Extraordinary Incident, Until It Arrived at "The Caches" On The

Upper Arkansas.  There Becknell, Who Was In reality A Man Of The

Then "Frontier," Bold, Plucky, And Endowed with Excellent Sense,

Conceived the Ridiculous Idea Of Striking Directly Across The Country

For Santa Fe Through A Region Absolutely Unexplored; His Excuse

For This Rash Movement Being That He Desired to Avoid The Rough And

Circuitous Mountain Route He Had Travelled on His First Trip To Taos.

 

 

 

His Temerity In abandoning The Known For The Unknown Was Severely

Punished, And His Brave Men Suffered untold Misery, Barely Escaping

With Their Lives From The Terrible Straits To Which They Were Reduced.

Not Having The Remotest Conception Of The Region Through Which Their

New Trail Was To Lead Them, And Naturally Supposing That Water Would

Be Found In streams Or Springs, When They Left The Arkansas They

Neglected to Supply Themselves With More Than Enough Of The Precious

Fluid To Last A Couple Of Days.  At The End Of That Time They Learned,

Too Late, That They Were In the Midst Of A Desert, With All The

Tortures Of Thirst Threatening Them.

 

 

 

Without A Tree Or A Path To Guide Them, They Took An Irregular Course

By Observations Of The North Star, And The Unreliable Needle Of An

Azimuth Pocket-Compass.  There Was A Total Absence Of Water, And When

What They Had Brought With Them In their Canteens From The River Was

Exhausted, Thirst Began Its Horrible Office.  In a Short Time Both Men

And Animals Were In a Mental Condition Bordering On Distraction.

To Alleviate Their Acute Torment, The Dogs Of The Train Were Killed,

And Their Blood, Hot And Sickening, Eagerly Swallowed; Then The Ears

Of The Mules Were Cut Off For The Same Purpose, But Such A Substitute

For Water Only Added to Their Sufferings.  They Would Have Perished

Had Not A Superannuated buffalo Bull That Had Just Come From The

Cimarron River, Where He Had Gone To Quench His Thirst, Suddenly

Appeared, To Be Immediately Killed and The Contents Of His Stomach

Swallowed with Avidity.  It Is Recorded that One Of Those Who Partook

Of The Nauseous Liquid Said Afterward, "Nothing Had Ever Passed

His Lips Which Gave Him Such Exquisite Delight As His First Draught

Of That Filthy Beverage."

 

 

 

Although They Were Near The Cimarron, Where There Was Plenty Of Water,

Which But For The Affair Of The Buffalo They Never Would Have Suspected,

They Decided to Retrace Their Steps To The Arkansas.

 

 

 

Before They Started on Their Retreat, However, Some Of The Strongest

Of The Party Followed the Trail Of The Animal That Had Saved their

Lives To The River, Where, Filling all The Canteens With Pure Water,

They Returned to Their Comrades, Who Were, After Drinking, Able To

March Slowly Toward The Arkansas.

 

 

 

Following That Stream, They At Last Arrived at Taos, Having Experienced

No Further Trouble, But Missed the Trail To Santa Fe, And Had Their

Journey Greatly Prolonged by The Foolish Endeavour Of The Leader

To Make A Short Cut Thither.

 

 

 

As Early As 1815, Auguste P. Chouteau And His Partner, With A Large

Number Of Trappers And Hunters, Went Out To The Valley Of The

Upper Arkansas For The Purpose Of Trading With Indians, And Trapping

On The Numerous Streams Of The Contiguous Region.

 

 

 

The Island On Which Chouteau Established his Trading-Post, And Which

Bears His Name Even To This Day, Is In the Arkansas River On The

Boundary Line Of The United states And Mexico.  It Was A Beautiful

Spot, With A Rich Carpet Of Grass And Delightful Groves, And On

The American Side Was A Heavily Timbered bottom.

 

 

 

While Occupying The Island, Chouteau And His Old Hunters And Trappers

Were Attacked by About Three Hundred pawnees, Whom They Repulsed

With The Loss Of Thirty Killed and Wounded.  These Indians Afterward

Declared that It Was The Most Fatal Affair In which They Were Ever

Engaged.  It Was Their First Acquaintance With American Guns.

 

 

 

The General Character Of The Early Trade With New Mexico Was Founded

On The System Of The Caravan.  She Depended upon The Remote Ports

Of Old Mexico, Whence Was Transported, On The Backs Of The Patient

Burro And Mule, All That Was Required by The Primitive Tastes Of The

Primitive People; A Very Tedious And Slow Process, As May Be Inferred,

And The Limited traffic Westwardly Across The Great Plains Was

Confined to This Fashion.  At The Date Of The Legitimate And

Substantial Commerce With New Mexico, In 1824, Wheeled vehicles Were

Introduced, And Traffic Assumed an Importance It Could Never Have

Otherwise Attained, And Which Now, Under The Vast System Of Railroads,

Has Increased to Dimensions Little Dreamed of By Its Originators

Nearly Three-Quarters Of A Century Ago.

 

 

 

It Was Eight Years After Pursley'S Pilgrimage Before The Trade With

New Mexico Attracted the Attention Of Speculators And Adventurers.

Messrs. Mcknight,[13] Beard, And Chambers, With About A Dozen Comrades,

Started with A Supply Of Goods Across The Unknown Plains, And By

Good Luck Arrived safely At Santa Fe.  Once Under The Jurisdiction

Of The Mexicans, However, Their Trouble Began.  All The Party Were

Arrested as Spies, Their Wares Confiscated, And Themselves

Incarcerated at Chihuahua, Where The Majority Of Them Were Kept For

Almost A Decade.  Beard And Chambers, Having By Some Means Escaped,

Returned to St. Louis In 1822, And, Notwithstanding Their Dreadful

Experience, Told Of The Prospects Of The Trade With The Mexicans

In Such Glowing Colours That They Induced some Individuals Of Small

Capital To Fit Out Another Expedition, With Which They Again Set Out

For Santa Fe.

 

 

 

It Was Really Too Late In the Season; They Succeeded, However,

In Reaching The Crossing Of The Arkansas Without Any Difficulty,

But There A Violent Snowstorm Overtook Them And They Were Compelled

To Halt, As It Was Impossible To Proceed in the Face Of The Blinding

Blizzard.  On An Island[14] Not Far From Where The Town Of Cimarron,

On The Santa Fe Railroad, Is Now Situated, They Were Obliged to

Remain For More Than Three Months, During Which Time Most Of Their

Animals Died for Want Of Food And From The Severe Cold.  When The

Weather Had Moderated sufficiently To Allow Them To Proceed on

Their Journey, They Had No Transportation For Their Goods And Were

Compelled to Hide Them In pits Dug In the Earth, After The Manner

Of The Old French Voyageurs In the Early Settlement Of The Continent.

This Method Of Secreting Furs And Valuables Of Every Character

Is Called caching, From The French Word "To Hide."  Gregg Thus

Describes It:

 

 

 

          The Cache Is Made By Digging a Hole In the Ground, Somewhat

          In the Shape Of A Jug, Which Is Lined with Dry Sticks,

          Grass, Or Anything Else That Will Protect Its Contents

          From The Dampness Of The Earth.  In this Place The Goods

          To Be Concealed are Carefully Stowed away; And The Aperture

          Is Then So Effectually Closed as To Protect Them From

          The Rains.  In caching, A Great Deal Of Skill Is Often

          Required to Leave No Sign Whereby The Cunning Savage May

          Discover The Place Of Deposit.  To This End, The Excavated

          Earth Is Carried some Distance And Carefully Concealed,

          Or Thrown Into A Stream, If One Be At Hand.  The Place

          Selected for A Cache Is Usually Some Rolling Point,

          Sufficiently Elevated to Be Secure From Inundations.

          If It Be Well Set With Grass, A Solid Piece Of Turf Is

          Cut Out Large Enough For The Entrance.  The Turf Is

          Afterward Laid Back, And, Taking Root, In a Short Time

          No Signs Remain Of Its Ever Having Been Molested.

          However, As Every Locality Does Not Afford A Turfy Site,

          The Camp-Fire Is Sometimes Built Upon The Place, Or The

          Animals Are Penned over It, Which Effectually Destroys

          All Traces.

 

 

 

Father Hennepin[15] Thus Describes, In his Quaint Style, How He Built

A Cache On The Bank Of The Mississippi, In 1680:

 

 

 

          We Took Up The Green Sodd, And Laid It By, And Digg'D A Hole

          In the Earth Where We Put Our Goods, And Cover'D Them With

          Pieces Of Timber And Earth, And Then Put In again The Green

          Turf; So That 'Twas Impossible To Suspect That Any Hole Had

          Been Digg'D Under It, For We Flung The Earth Into The River.

 

 

 

After Caching Their Goods, Beard And The Party Went On To Taos,

Where They Bought Mules, And Returning To Their Caches Transported

Their Contents To Their Market.

 

 

 

The Word "Cache" Still Lingers Among The "Old-Timers" Of The Mountains

And Plains, And Has Become A Provincialism With Their Descendants;

One Of These Will Tell You That He Cached his Vegetables In the Side

Of The Hill; Or If He Is Out Hunting and Desires To Secrete Himself

From Approaching Game, He Will Say, "I Am Going To Cache Behind

That Rock," Etc.

 

 

 

The Place Where Beard'S Little Expedition Wintered was Called

"The Caches" For Years, And The Name Has Only Fallen Into Disuse

Within The Last Two Decades.  I Remember The Great Holes In the

Ground When I First Crossed the Plains, A Third Of A Century Ago.

 

 

 

The Immense Profit Upon Merchandise Transported across The Dangerous

Trail Of The Mid-Continent To The Capital Of New Mexico Soon Excited

The Cupidity Of Other Merchants East Of The Missouri.  When The

Commonest Domestic Cloth, Manufactured wholly From Cotton, Brought

From Two To Three Dollars A Yard At Santa Fe, And Other Articles At

The Same Ratio To Cost, No Wonder The Commerce With The Far-Off Market

Appeared to Those Who Desired to Send Goods There A Veritable Golconda.

 

 

 

The Importance Of Internal Trade With New Mexico, And The Possibilities

Of Its Growth, Were First Recognized by The United states In 1824,

The Originator Of The Movement Being Mr. Thomas Hart Benton Of Missouri,

Who Frequently, From His Place In the Senate, Prophesied the Coming

Greatness Of The West.  He Introduced a Bill Which Authorized the

President To Appoint A Commission To Survey A Road From The Missouri

River To The Boundary Line Of New Mexico, And From Thence On Mexican

Territory With The Consent Of The Mexican Government.  The Signing Of

This Bill Was One Of The Last Acts Of Mr. Monroe'S Official Life,

And It Was Carried into Effect By His Successor, Mr. John Quincy Adams,

But Unfortunately A Mistake Was Made In supposing That The Osage

Indians Alone Controlled the Course Of The Proposed route.  It Was

Partially Marked out As Far As The Arkansas, By Raised mounds;

But Travellers Continued to Use The Old Wagon Trail, And As No

Negotiations Had Been Entered into With The Comanches, Cheyennes,

Pawnees, Or Kiowas, These Warlike Tribes Continued to Harass The

Caravans When These Arrived in the Broad Valley Of The Arkansas.

 

 

 

The American Fur Trade Was At Its Height At The Time When The Santa Fe

Trade Was Just Beginning To Assume Proportions Worthy Of Notice;

The Difference Between The Two Enterprises Being Very Marked.  The Fur

Trade Was In the Hands Of Immensely Wealthy Companies, While That To

Santa Fe Was Carried on By Individuals With Limited capital, Who,

Purchasing Goods In the Eastern Markets, Had Them Transported to

The Missouri River, Where, Until The Trade To New Mexico Became A

Fixed business, Everything Was Packed on Mules.  As Soon, However,

As Leading Merchants Invested their Capital, About 1824, The Trade

Grew Into Vast Proportions, And Wagons Took The Place Of The Patient

Mule.  Later, Oxen Were Substituted for Mules, It Having Been

Discovered that They Possessed many Advantages Over The Former,

Particularly In being able To Draw Heavier Loads Than An Equal Number

Of Mules, Especially Through Sandy Or Muddy Places.

 

 

 

For A Long Time, The Traders Were In the Habit Of Purchasing Their

Mules In santa Fe And Driving Them To The Missouri; But As Soon As

That Useful Animal Was Raised in sufficient Numbers In the Southern

States To Supply The Demand, The Importation From New Mexico Ceased,

For The Reason That The American Mule Was In all Respects An Immensely

Superior Animal.

 

 

 

Once Mules Were An Important Object Of The Trade, And Those Who Dealt

In Them And Drove Them Across To The River On The Trail Met With

Many Mishaps; Frequently Whole Droves, Containing From Three To

Five Hundred, Were Stolen By The Savages En Route.  The Latter Soon

Learned that It Was A Very Easy Thing