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David
Dary, winner of the Cowboy Hall of Fame Wrangler Award and Westerners
International Best Nonfiction Book Award, has now written a comprehensive
history of The Santa Fe Trail. The book, THE SANTA FE TRAIL: Its History,
Legends, and Lore, takes the reader on a journey through the historical
development of the trail as a trade route from New Mexico to Missouri.
This remarkable journey covers a period of almost 400 years.
In
the beginning it was hardly a trail at all. It was a mere winding
path that had alternative routes through sometimes hostile country.
Over the years the government finally came to realize the value
of a trade route and had the trail marked. Travelers were subjected
to many hardships along the way, such as a lack of water and attacks
on their caravans of wagons and livestock.
As
trade started to grow, US Troops were assigned to protect the traders.
Sometimes this worked, other times it did not. There were many who
did not live to tell of their experiences, but those who did left
behind a remarkable number of resources, and author David Dary has
uncovered them in the process of researching his book. In the bibliography
such items listed include books, government documents, pamphlets,
booklets, articles, and more. The book also contains 111 illustrations,
from maps and photos to drawings.
Dary's
ability as a journalist is what makes this historical account interesting
to read. He has made one of the most important developments in US
history available in a format for all to enjoy, with lively accounts
and biographical notes of those who were involved from the early
to the latter days of the trail.
Today
the trail is often not easy to identify unless you know where to
look. While parts have been preserved as historical landmarks, other
sections are just ruts in the ground where wagons loaded with goods
once traveled. If you read THE SANTA FE TRAIL and then go visit
the areas written about in the book, you will no doubt have a better
appreciation of those that have traveled before you. They in many
ways paved the way, and it is up to us and future generations to
understand how the trail came to be founded and to understand its
history. Dary's book is a wonderful place to start.
--- Reviewed by Dave Taylor
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