The Old Santa Fe Trail By COLONEL HENRY INMAN FOOTNOTES. [1] The whole country watered by the Mississippi and Missouri was called Florida at that time. [2] The celebrated Jesuit, author of _The History of New France_, _Journals of a Voyage to North America_, _Letters to the Duchess_, etc. [3] Otoes. [4] Iowas. [5] Boulevard, Promenade. [6] Notes of a Military Reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California, including parts of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers. Brevet Major W. H. Emory, Corps of Topographical Engineers, United States Army, 1846. [7] Hon. W. F. Arny, in his Centennial Celebration Address at Santa Fe, July 4, 1876. [8] Edwards, _Conquest of New Mexico_. [9] I think this is Bancroft's idea. [10] _Historical Sketches of New Mexico_, L. Bradford Prince, late Chief Justice of New Mexico, 1883. [11] D. H. Coyner, 1847. [12] He was travelling parallel to the Old Santa Fe Trail all the time, but did not know it until he was overtaken by a band of Kaw Indians. [13] McKnight was murdered south of the Arkansas by the Comanches in the winter of 1822. [14] Chouteau's Island. [15] _Hennepin's Journal_. [16] The line between the United States and Mexico (or New Spain, as it was called) was defined by a treaty negotiated in 1819, between the Chevalier de Onis, then Spanish minister at Washington, and John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State. According to its provisions, the boundary between Mexico and Louisiana, which had been added to the Union, commenced with the river Sabine at its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico, at about the twenty-ninth degree of north latitude and the ninety-fourth degree of longitude, west from Greenwich, and followed it as far as its junction with the Red River of Natchitoches, which then served to mark the frontier up to the one hundredth degree of west longitude, where the line ran directly north to the Arkansas, which it followed to its source at the forty-second degree of north latitude, whence another straight line was drawn up the same parallel to the Pacific coast. [17] This tribe kept up its reputation under the dreaded Satanta, until 1868--a period of forty years--when it was whipped into submission by the gallant Custer. Satanta was its war chief, one of the most cruel savages the great plains ever produced. He died a few years ago in the state prison of Texas. [18] McNess Creek is on the old Cimarron Trail to Santa Fe, a little east of a line drawn south from Bent's Fort. [19] Mr. Bryant, of Kansas, who died a few years ago, was one of the pioneers in the trade with Santa Fe. Previous to his decease he wrote for a Kansas newspaper a narrative of his first trip across the great plains; an interesting monograph of hardship and suffering. For the use of this document I am indebted to Hon. Sol. Miller, the editor of the journal in which it originally appeared. I have also used very extensively the notes of Mr. William Y. Hitt, one of the Bryant party, whose son kindly placed them at my disposal, and copied liberally from the official report of Major Bennett Riley-- afterward the celebrated general of Mexican War fame, and for whom the Cavalry Depot in Kansas is named; as also from the journal of Captain Philip St. George Cooke, who accompanied Major Riley on his expedition. [20] Chouteau's Island, at the mouth of Sand Creek. [21] Valley of the Upper Arkansas. [22] About three miles east of the town of Great Bend, Barton County, Kansas. [23] The Old Santa Fe Trail crosses the creek some miles north of Hutchinson, and coincides with the track again at the mouth of Walnut Creek, three miles east of Great Bend. [24] There are many conflicting accounts in regard to the sum Don Antonio carried with him on that unfortunate trip. Some authorities put it as high as sixty thousand; I have taken a mean of the various sums, and as this method will suffice in mathematics, perhaps we can approximate the truth in this instance. [25] General Emory of the Union army during the Civil War. He made an official report of the country through which the Army of the West passed, accompanied by maps, and his _Reconnoissance in New Mexico and California_, published by the government in 1848, is the first authentic record of the region, considered topographically and geologically. [26] _Doniphan's Expedition, containing an account of the Conquest of New Mexico_, etc. John T. Hughes, A.B., of the First Regiment of Missouri Cavalry. 1850. [27] Deep Gorge. [28] Colonel Leavenworth, for whom Fort Leavenworth is named, and who built several army posts in the far West. [29] Colonel A. G. Boone, a grandson of the immortal Daniel, was one of the grandest old mountaineers I ever knew. He was as loyal as anybody, but honest in his dealings with the Indians, and that was often a fault in the eyes of those at Washington who controlled these agents. Kit Carson was of the same honest class as Boone, and he, too, was removed for the same cause. [30] A narrow defile on the Trail, about ninety miles east of Fort Union. It is called the "canyon of the Canadian, or Red, River," and is situated between high walls of earth and rock. It was once a very dangerous spot on account of the ease and rapidity with which the savages could ambush themselves. [31] Carson, Wooton, and all other expert mountaineers, when following a trail, could always tell just what time had elapsed since it was made. This may seem strange to the uninitiated, but it was part of their necessary education. They could tell what kind of a track it was, which way the person or animal had walked, and even the tribe to which the savage belonged, either by the shape of the moccasin or the arrows which were occasionally dropped. [32] Lieutenant Bell belonged to the Second Dragoons. He was conspicuous in extraordinary marches and in action, and also an accomplished horseman and shot, once running and killing five buffalo in a quarter of a mile. He died early in 1861, and his death was a great loss to the service. [33] Known to this day as "The Cheyenne Bottoms." [34] Lone Wolf was really the head chief of the Kiowas. [35] The battle lasted three days. [36] Kicking Bird was ever afterward so regarded by the authorities of the Indian department. [37] Lorenzo Thomas, adjutant-general of the United States army. [38] Kendall's _Santa Fe Expedition_ may be found in all the large libraries. [39] A summer-house, bower, or arbour. [40] Frank Hall, Chicago, 1885. [41] The greater portion of this chapter I originally wrote for _Harper's Weekly_. By the kind permission of the publishers, I am permitted to use it here. [42] These statistics I have carefully gathered from the freight departments of the railroads, which kept a record of all the bones that were shipped, and from the purchasers of the carbon works, who paid out the money at various points. Some of the bones, however, may have been on the ground for a longer time, as decay is very slow in the dry air of the plains. [43] La Jeunesse was one of the bravest of the old French Canadian trappers. He was a warm friend of Kit Carson and was killed by the Indians in the following manner. They were camping one night in the mountains; Kit, La Jeunesse, and others had wrapped themselves up in their blankets near the fire, and were sleeping soundly; Fremont sat up until after midnight reading letters he had received from the United States, after finishing which, he, too, turned in and fell asleep. Everything was quiet for a while, when Kit was awakened by a noise that sounded like the stroke of an axe. Rising cautiously, he discovered Indians in the camp; he gave the alarm at once, but two of his companions were dead. One of them was La Jeunesse, and the noise he had heard was the tomahawk as it buried itself in the brave fellow's head. [44] This black is made from a species of plumbago found on the hills of the region. [45] The Pawnees and Cheyennes were hereditary enemies, and they frequently met in sanguinary conflict. [46] A French term Anglicised, as were many other foreign words by the trappers in the mountains. Its literal meaning is, arrow fender, for from it the plains Indians construct their shields; it is buffalo-hide prepared in a certain manner. [47] Boiling Spring River. [48] For some reason the Senate refused to confirm the appointment, and he had consequently no connection with the regular army. [49] Point of Rocks is six hundred and forty seven miles from Independence, and was always a favourite place of resort for the Indians of the great plains; consequently it was one of the most dangerous camping-spots for the freight caravans on the Trail. It comprises a series of continuous hills, which project far out on the prairie in bold relief. They end abruptly in a mass of rocks, out of which gushes a cold, refreshing spring, which is, of course, the main attraction of the place. The Trail winds about near this point, and many encounters with the various tribes have occurred there. [50] "Little Mountain." [51] General Gatlin was a North Carolinian, and seceded with his State at the breaking out of the Rebellion, but refused to leave his native heath to fight, so indelibly was he impressed with the theory of State rights. He was willing to defend the soil of North Carolina, but declined to step across its boundary to repel invasion in other States. [52] The name of "Crow," as applied to the once powerful nation of mountain Indians, is a misnomer, the fault of some early interpreter. The proper appellation is "Sparrowhawks," but they are officially recognized as "Crows." [53] Kit Carson, ten years before, when on his first journey, met with the same adventure while on post at Pawnee Rock. [54] The fusee was a fire-lock musket with an immense bore, from which either slugs or balls could be shot, although not with any great degree of accuracy. [55] The Indians always knew when the caravans were to pass certain points on the Trail, by their runners or spies probably. [56] It was one of the rigid laws of Indian hospitality always to respect the person of any one who voluntarily entered their camps or temporary halting-places. As long as the stranger, red or white, remained with them, he enjoyed perfect immunity from harm; but after he had left, although he had progressed but half a mile, it was just as honourable to follow and kill him. [57] In their own fights with their enemies one or two of the defeated party are always spared, and sent back to their tribe to carry the news of the slaughter. [58] The story of the way in which this name became corrupted into "Picketwire," by which it is generally known in New Mexico, is this: When Spain owned all Mexico and Florida, as the vast region of the Mississippi valley was called, long before the United States had an existence as a separate government, the commanding officer at Santa Fe received an order to open communication with the country of Florida. For this purpose an infantry regiment was selected. It left Santa Fe rather late in the season, and wintered at a point on the Old Trail now known as Trinidad. In the spring, the colonel, leaving all camp-followers behind him, both men and women, marched down the stream, which flows for many miles through a magnificent canyon. Not one of the regiment returned or was ever heard of. When all hope had departed from the wives, children, and friends left behind at Trinidad, information was sent to Santa Fe, and a wail went up through the land. The priests and people then called this stream "El Rio de las Animas Perditas" ("The river of lost souls"). Years after, when the Spanish power was weakened, and French trappers came into the country under the auspices of the great fur companies, they adopted a more concise name; they called the river "Le Purgatoire." Then came the Great American Bull-Whacker. Utterly unable to twist his tongue into any such Frenchified expression, he called the stream with its sad story "Picketwire," and by that name it is known to all frontiersmen, trappers, and the settlers along its banks. [59] The ranch is now in charge of Mr. Harry Whigham, an English gentleman, who keeps up the old hospitality of the famous place. [60] "River of Souls." The stream is also called Le Purgatoire, corrupted by the Americans into Picketwire. [61] Pawnee Rock is no longer conspicuous. Its material has been torn away by both the railroad and the settlers in the vicinity, to build foundations for water-tanks, in the one instance, and for the construction of their houses, barns, and sheds, in the other. Nothing remains of the once famous landmark; its site is occupied as a cattle corral by the owner of the claim in which it is included. [62] The crossing of the Old Santa Fe Trail at Pawnee Fork is now within the corporate limits of the pretty little town of Larned, the county-seat of Pawnee County. The tourist from his car-window may look right down upon one of the worst places for Indians that there was in those days of the commerce of the prairies, as the road crosses the stream at the exact spot where the Trail crossed it. [63] This was a favourite expression of his whenever he referred to any trouble with the Indians. [64] Indians will risk the lives of a dozen of their best warriors to prevent the body of any one of their number from falling into the white man's possession. The reason for this is the belief, which prevails among all tribes, that if a warrior loses his scalp he forfeits his hope of ever reaching the happy hunting-ground. [65] It was in this fight that the infamous Charles Bent received his death-wound. [66] The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad track runs very close to the mound, and there is a station named for the great mesa. [67] The venerable Colonel A. S. Johnson, of Topeka, Kansas, the first white child born on the great State's soil, who related to me this adventure of Hatcher's, knew him well. He says that he was a small man, full of muscle, and as fearless as can be conceived. [68] The place where they turned is about a hundred yards east of the Court House Square, in the present town of Great Bend; it may be seen from the cars. [69] See Sheridan's _Memoirs_, Custer's _Life on the Plains_, and Buffalo Bill's book, in which all the stirring events of that campaign--nearly every fight of which was north or far south of the Santa Fe Trail--are graphically told. [70] A grandson of Alexander Hamilton; killed at the battle of the Washita, in the charge on Black Kettle's camp under Custer. [71] This ends Custer's narrative. The following fight, which occurred a few days afterward, at the mouth of Mulberry Creek, twelve miles below Fort Dodge, and within a stone's throw of the Old Trail, was related to me personally by Colonel Keogh, who was killed at the Rosebud, in Custer's disastrous battle with Sitting Bull. We were both attached to General Sully's staff. [72] It was in this fight that Colonel Keogh's celebrated horse Comanche received his first wound. It will be remembered that Comanche and a Crow Indian were the only survivors of that unequal contest in the valley of the Big Horn, commonly called the battle of the Rosebud, where Custer and his command was massacred. [73] Now Kendall, a little village in Hamilton County, Kansas. [74] Raton is the name given by the early Spaniards to this range, meaning both mouse and squirrel. It had its origin either in the fact that one of its several peaks bore a fanciful resemblance to a squirrel, or because of the immense numbers of that little rodent always to be found in its pine forests. [75] In the beautiful language of the country's early conquerors, "Las Cumbres Espanolas," or "Las dos Hermanas" (The Two Sisters), and in the Ute tongue, "Wahtoya" (The Twins). [76] The house was destroyed by fire two or three years ago.