Category: article-historic
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The Santa Fe Trail, Following Becknell’s Footsteps – Preface
In 1821, the western edge of the United States was in the Boone’s Lick area of Missouri. The center was Franklin, a growing town on the Missouri River’s south bank. The financial Panic of 1819 had been hard on the frontier. A young man from Franklin, William Becknell, lost everything in the Panic. He was…
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The Santa Fe Trail, Following Becknell’s Footsteps – Introduction
Origins of the Santa Fe Trade History is not linear. It is like a spider’s web. Pull in one place, and another spot moves. Things can get complicated and tangled up. The origins of the Santa Fe Trail are one of those things. Sidebar Web of History Source: Original by Author After the Revolutionary War,…
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Bent’s Old Fort
Historical Context Throughout the long history of Europeans’ contact with native people, few interactions have gone well for the natives. It is essential to note those who bucked the trend and treated the indigenous people as equals. The Bent brothers, Charles and William, were two such people. Along with a partner Ceran St.Vrain, they built…