Southwest High School - Sachem Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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l Y THE TRADERS VISIT SANTA FE By NANCY NICKLES The town of Santa Fe, at irst sight, was not particularly pleasant. Many people were and others would have been thoroughly displeased with it. It was, however, a welcome sight to the traders who had traveled some forty days over the dry, waste lands. As visitors entered the gates of Santa Ee, they were greeted warmly by girls with jet-black hair, flashing eyes: in turn flirtatious and haughty. The soldiers in their ill-fitting uniforms came running from all directions, while the Indians watched hopefully as the traders unloaded their wares from the East. Because all goods had to go through the customs house, there was keen competi- tion to get through this ordeal speedily. Often the men would race into town and have their business done before the rush of the day began. The town was centered about the plaza which, incidentally, was entirely without foliage. The principal building was the Palacio, the government seat, on the north. It was architecturally a part of the Presidio originally built as a fort. On the south of the plaza was a large military chapel. Those parts of the streets facing the plaza which were not occupied by oflicial buildings, churches, or the residences of the priests, were filled with the homes of wealthier inhabitants. La Panda, which marked the end of the trail, was not so finished a structure as were the hotels, but when traders were in town, the drama which it sheltered was to be matched in no other hostelry on earth. From the plaza radiated the smaller and poorer streets. On these streets the architecture was extremely simple, but not stilted. All the houses were whitewashed and offered a refreshing sight to the dirty, weary traveler. Though some of the homes were richly furnished, the vast majority were plainly alike. The floors were adobe, the walls were plastered with adobe and covered with an easily removed substance, gypsum. The ceilings were mostly uncovered beams, though some were covered with muslin and a few were painted. Every home had a fireplace, but most of the cooking was done in outdoor ovens. The furniture was as crude and simple as could be and still be called furniture. No system of education existed. Few could read, fewer could write. The only news was brought into town by caravans and the center of social life was the church. In spite of the fact that the people were wretchedly poor, they tossed aside cares easily and seemed perfectly happy and contented. The people of the time were noted for their never failing hospitality. The girls dressed in silks and satins, ginghams and lawns, embroidered crepe shawls, and many ornaments such as huge necklaces and jeweled combs. Even the poorer people, though they didn't have silks and satins, wore gaudy clothes and cheap jewelry. The girls painted then, and not sparingly with Hour paste for powder and Vermilion coloring for lips and cheeks. The men, also, with their silver spurs and colored sashes, were as lurid as their wives and sweethearts. Despite the free and easy manner of these Mexicans, the young people were strictly under the surveillance of their parents. Marriages were arranged by the parents and the feelings of their children were regarded as of minor importance. There were many types of dances. Some were thoroughly respectable: some less so. The fandango was for the common people, the baile for the more pretentious. There were also the ordinary waltz, a slow waltz and the cuna, in which two beautiful figures danced with arms locked and heads thrown back. Twenty-nine

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until October 21, when they turned up the left fork of the river. A little later the small band was struggling through Raton pass where for several days it labored at removing great boulders which blocked the Pass to the wagons and horses. Finally it got across and descended to the plateaus on the other side, reaching the turbulent Canadian River, and on November 12, Rock River. The following day Becknel1's party sighted a small band of horsemen who turned out to be a body of Mexican troops. Immediately they prepared for battle but were pleasantly surprised when they discovered the Mexicans were a friendly band who encouraged them to continue on to Santa Fe. Towns became more and more frequent in the path of Becknel1's men until finally on November 16, 1821, they entered the town of Santa Fe. Here they sold their limited stock of goods at very profitable prices. Early in December, with well filled money bags, they began their homeward trek. Seventeen days later they were back on the Arkansas and in thirty-one days after this they were home again. Never before had the people heard such tales of the unsettled wilderness. One of the men severed the thongs on his money bag. Large silver coins rolled out of the bag and into the street. The people saw these coins, not only as coins, however, but also as wheels rolling, rolling toward the West where riches, land, and new trade were to be found and possessed. On May 22, 1822, a year after the first expedition Becknell and a party of twenty-one left Arrow Rock on a second journey. This time they followed the former route to a point about Hve miles west of Dodge City. Here they left the Arkansas River route, striking off to the southwest across the Cimarron Desert, Although this route was somewhat shorter, the journey proved to be much more hazardous than the previous one. After days of suffering and hardship, Becknell and his followers reached Rock River where they joined the earlier trail and soon reached Santa Fe safely. Becknell had opened the trail which numerous others followed, some to riches, many to oblivion, and hundreds to their deaths! But all contributed to make a wilderness road which will live in the minds of our people as long as our country exists. The Santa Fe Trail is but a thread in this vast thundering loom on which history is being woven. Yet, there it shines, if we look closely, like a streak of light in a past of unsettled darkness. nur' L i Ji 1 Jack Hai:-Icy N , Twenty-eight

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EQ 4 6.5 . ,.a , T , itie r .u . l Jack Haisleg From the governor down to the poorest ranchero, gambling was only a matter of course. Men imbibed excessively but there was very little drunken- ness. On Sunday afternoons their main entertainment was cock-fighting. This sport was enjoyed tremendously and because of the rivalry between the owners, street brawls often resulted. The traders usually stayed in Santa Pe for some four or five weeks disposing of their goods. Some stayed longer and waited to go back with the next group of traders, A few fell in love with the beautiful, untamed country of roving hills and plains. Others found it easy to fall in love with the alive beauty of the Mexican girls. With such a beginning this unattractive, though romantic town of the frontier has become a leading metropolis of the great Southwest. THE WATER FRONT By PHYLLIS CROW The rippling waves on a foggy night, The voice that echoes to and fro, The fog horn's solemn, distant moan- This is the water front I know. The churn of a big boafs stern Shakes the dock on which I stand. The ocean stirs, mighty, strange, Carrying ships to stranger land. And through it all the captain's voice Issues orders through the night. lVhile overhead the cool, damp Fog, has blocked the stars from sight. The last big ship glides in, With the help of a tugboat's grunt, flnd all is shrouded in darkness On the still, cool, water front. Thirty