THE SANTA FE TRAIL

From Missouri West to New Mexico,
From Independence on down to Santa Fe.
For more than 800 weary miles it wound,
Filled with risks and danger all the way.

Around the homefires, in saloons, at school,
Young and old would harken to hear a tale;
Told by hardy souls that had made the trek
Along that passage West, The Santa Fe Trail.

It started inEighteen Hundred and Twenty One.
Early traders set out in May each year,
To return in August before the winter cold.
The wagons West were loaded with Eastern goods,
And returned with wool and silver, furs and gold.
Shipments of half a million, sometimes more,
Were not uncommon... so the tale’s been told.

To raid the caravans, every now and then,
Marauding Indians would, in ambush, lay.
But those few attackers would be soon repelled,
And the wagons continued on their way.

Through meadow, grassland and wooded hills;
Through a swollen river or a muddy creek.
Coronado had traveled along this route,
And it helped Zebulon Pike find his famous peak.

On to Colorado through the Kansas plains,
Acrossthe Arkansas River near Bent’s OldFort.
Then down to Raton Pass through Trinidad.
The Sangre De Cristos and the Spanish Peaks,
Were a welcome sight that made them glad.

When they saw that hill called Wagon Mound,
Las Vegas was next, then Glorieta Pass.
Their arduous journey would be over soon,
And there in the distance:  Santa Fe, at last.

That path took thousands to the untamed West,
But soon rails of steel would cross the lone prairie,
And in 1880 the mighty Iron Horse
Would make the Santa Fe Trail fade into history.