The Santa Fe Trail - by David Dary (Paperback)

About the Book

Drawing from letters, diaries, expedition reports, business records, newspaper stories, and firsthand reminiscences, Dary fleshes out the story of the men who opened commerce with Spanish America. There are Indians and mountain men, traders and trappers, merchants, surveyors, government commissioners, Spanish people, Americans, Frenchmen, and people of almost every other nationality. A splendid recreation of an important part of American history, fully illustrated with photographs and woodcuts of the period. 110 photos, maps, drawings.

Book Synopsis

The full story of the Santa Fe Trail, from the arrival of the Spanish, the founding of Santa Fe in 1610 and the arrival of the first French and American traders, the establishment of the trail, and what happened after its glory days ended.

Here are the men who pioneered trade between Saint Louis and Santa Fe, the hardships they endured, the wonderful scenery they travelled through and wrote about, the huge amount of goods they moved, and the fun they had in Santa Fe and along the trail. Drawing from letters, diaries, reports, and first-hand reminiscences, Dary fleshes out the story of the men who opened commerce with Spanish America. There are Indians and mountain men, traders and trappers, merchants, surveyors, government commissioners, Spanish people, Americans, Frenchmen, and people of almost every other nationality.

A splendid recreation of an important part of American history, fully illustrated with photographs and woodcuts of the period.

Review Quotes

"If you are stirred by the legends that endure around the opening of the American West, then poking through the index of Dary's book will send chills down your neck. There are great names here: Jedediah Smith, the mountain man who once, famously, survived a grizzly-bear attack and had a companion sew his ear back onto his head; Kit Carson, the celebrated scout; John C. Fremont, a.k.a. 'The Pathfinder'; Zebulon Pike, the map maker, and, perhaps, secret agent; Buffalo Bill Cody. . . . But what is often missed in the story of the Western frontier is how much it was not about destiny--manifest or otherwise--but about commerce. This is a story that Dary tells comprehensively and ably."--Wall Street Journal

"Dary demonstrates a firm grasp of the terrain's history and is skilled at resurrecting the old lives of this landscape. . . . A densely populated account executed with fine historical veracity."--Kirkus

"A grand, sprawling story, populated by characters whose voices emerge loud and clear from their journals and letters . . . An unforgettable procession of dreamers and doers, losers and winners, villains and heroes (and heroines) in a well-told and carefully researched tale."--New York Times Book Review

"Rich with fascinating detail about how travelers made their way across those nearly 900 miles, what they packed, what animals they used, how much the freight weighed and what it was worth, and who those travelers were."--Washington Post

"Dary has done it again with this masterful treatment of a great American emblem."--Los Angeles Times

"Will be the standard source for the trail's history for years to come."--Booklist