The old trail to Santa Fe

the long version

"The trail experience begat a fierce passion for prairie travel," wrote Josiah Gregg after journeying overland on the Santa Fe Trail in the 1840s. That same appeal is evoked anew in the pieces by Marc Simmons collected in this volume. Drawing upon his own many trips along the Trail, Simmons re-creates trail life as experienced by the original travelers. He begins with an overview of the Trail's history to conjure up images of the journey west in rumbling wagons. He further kindles our imagination with twenty vignettes of people, places, and events. Still visible today, especially in northeast New Mexico, are ruts cut by wagon wheels carrying America's pioneers to the Southwest. These tracks remain as sentinels, forever guarding the past and the memory of those who journeyed over the Trail; for Simmons they are a link to the adventure, discovery, and tragedy faced by everyone making the six-week trip to Santa Fe. His recreation of life in a wagon train, the trip, and the travelers brings all these vividly and memorably to life.