Wild West Podcast

Traversing the Santa Fe Trail: A Journey Into America's Frontier Expansion, Deception, and Untamed Wild

November 02, 2020 Michael King/Brad Smalley
Wild West Podcast
Traversing the Santa Fe Trail: A Journey Into America's Frontier Expansion, Deception, and Untamed Wild
Wild West Podcast +
Exclusive access to premium content!
Starting at $3/month Subscribe
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Ever wondered about the untamed wild of America's early expansion years? Buckle up and prepare for a thrilling journey along the historic Santa Fe Trail, the first commercial highway in America, as we follow William Beknell's footsteps. This daring trader embarked on an audacious five-month expedition, risking it all for a shot at prosperity in Mexico. His journey sparked the birth of the Santa Fe Trail, a lifeline for countless traders, pioneers, and the military alike. Today's episode takes us to the bustling Council Grove, a vital stopover point and trading post on the Santa Fe Trail, forever etched into the history books for its instrumental role in America's frontier expansion.

But every trail has its tales, and the Santa Fe Trail is no different. We'll dissect the ominous accounts of Peacock, a trader whose indiscretion resulted in a tragic end. Brace yourself for a gripping story of deception as we delve into the crafty ways of Satank, who fooled Peacock into meeting his doom. We'll also guide you through the perilous crossing at the Arkansas River, a notorious hunting ground for Native Americans. So, join us on this riveting voyage as we unravel the intriguing tales of bravery, adventure, and the wild splendor of America's early expansion years. Trust us; you don't want to miss it.

Support the show

Return of the Great Hunters
Cattle Drives Website
Legends of Dodge City Website
Order Books

Speaker 1:

The Wild West podcast proudly presents the second of a five part series on the early Cheyenne Indian Wars, from 1857 to the Sheridan Winter Campaign of 1868. Part two of the series, early Kansas Trails, is the historical timeline of the westward expansion of the Kansas Territory. The podcast begins with the founding of the Santa Fe Trail and the formation of multiple transportation routes across the plains. As births of living creatures at first are ill-shapen, so are all innovations which are the births of time. Francis Bacon. The history of southwest Kansas would not be complete without the trading company's expansion along the Santa Fe trails.

Speaker 1:

The founding of the Santa Fe Trail is one of the most significant contributions to the expansionist doctrine of Manifest Destiny leading to the war with Mexico that occurred on January 29, 1822. It began when crowds of people formed along the dirt streets of Franklin, missouri, as a party of four men rode in from the west. The men, led by William Beknell, had returned from five-month trading expedition. Many Americans were suffering from the depression brought on by the panic of 1819. William Beknell of Franklin, missouri was one of these men who were deeply in debt To Beknell. His only hope seemed to be found in Mexico. He risked everything to make a profit from trade goods. He and his small party arrived with calico cloth valued at approximately $300. On September 1, 1821, william Beknell's exploration party departed to find a trade route to sell merchandise in Santa Fe, new Mexico. On that day, beknell emerged not only as a hero of the Western Frontier, but as a trader destined to make his fortune. It is reported that he returned to Missouri about three months later with nearly $6,000 in silver coins. Thus began the race to Santa Fe along the roughly 900-mile trail, two-thirds of which lay within present-day Kansas borders. Successful traders returned with gold, silver coins, wool and mules. The Santa Fe Trail became America's first commercial highway.

Speaker 1:

The Santa Fe Trail served as a thoroughfare for countless traders, pioneers and the military. It played a crucial role in the westward expansion connecting Missouri to Santa Fe and New Mexico. The international trading between Mexico and the United States continued until the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848, when Santa Fe and the surrounding area became part of US territory. The focus of the trail changed after the war. Large companies of freighters now transported millions of pounds of military freight and trade items to both Western forts and the villages of the Southwest. As our nation expanded, the trail eventually extended into a mail and stagecoach route and erode to the west for settlers, gold-seekers and others. The trail officially ended in 1880 with the arrival of the Atchison, topeka and Santa Fe Railway at LeMay Station near Santa Fe. But the lure of the story lives on today.

Speaker 1:

The Santa Fe Trail ran southwest from Kansas City, located at the Missouri Bend to the Arkansas River. Several branches or feeders joined the trail from Atchison and Fort Leavenworth at various points, but the main road wound its way through the verdant prairies inhabited by Indians At Cimarron Crossing, a convenient fork beyond Dodge City, kansas. The trail divided, one branch following the Arkansas River to Bentz Fort, where it turned directly southward to Santa Fe, the other leading through the Cimarron Desert. The caravans followed the shortest line between Missouri and New Mexico that gave sufficient water for existence. As a rule. Camping places located some ten miles apart had become as fixed as the trail itself by 1850. In its latter days, the trail through Kansas became a hard, smooth thoroughfare from 60 to 100 feet wide. In token, the trail had come to stay. The ruts were so deeply entrenched that the broad-faced sunflowers sprang up on either side where the wheels had broken the sod. As far as Council Grove, about 135 miles from Kansas City.

Speaker 1:

The Santa Fe Trail was not unpleasant to follow. Council Grove was the most noted stopping place between the Missouri River and Santa Fe, new Mexico. Here a treaty with the Osage Indians was made on August 10, 1825 for a right-of-way of the trail across the plains, and for years it was the last chance to obtain supplies. Council Grove, one of the busiest places on the Santa Fe Trail, was filled with soldiers, freighters and gold seekers. Council Grove is located on the Neosho River. A significant portion of the settlement, probably 3-fourths of it, is situated on the stream's west bank. The land upon which the town is built was once part of the Ca Reservation Territory.

Speaker 1:

The first white person who settled in Council Grove was Seth M Hayes, who came in 1847 to establish a trading post to trade with the Indians. The first house built in Council Grove was by Seth Hayes, a log cabin which stood on the north side of the old Santa Fe Trail but a few rods from the river's west bank. This cabin served the double purpose of being both a dwelling and a store. In the following year, 1848, mr Mitchell came to the Grove as a government blacksmith, and with him came his wife, and to her is due the credit of being the first white woman that ever resided in Morris County. In 1850, e Mozier succeeded Mitchell as government blacksmith and he brought his family with him.

Speaker 1:

During 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852, several other traders found their way to the Grove and put up trading establishments. It was well located as a trading point, being on the great public thoroughfare known as the Santa Fe Trail and being also the last point west where parties bound for old or New Mexico or the territories further west could purchase supplies. Being the previous point westward, it was, by reason thereof, the first trading point eastward from Santa Fe, so that, in point of trade, it had a double advantage. Council Grove is where caravans formed before crossing the 624 miles of mostly treeless planes. Here, travelers would elect officers for the caravan and establish rules for travel.

Speaker 1:

From 1849 to 1854 was a very prosperous period for Council Grove, and the reputation it had acquired as a trading post made it a point well known, at least to all those who mediated a trip across the planes. It may be worth noting, before proceeding further, how the place obtained its name which, as told by the early settlers, was in the following manner People from the states who were engaged in trade with Mexico and immigrants bound for the far west would meet here and make up trains and council together as to what should be done to secure the greater safety while traveling across the planes. Hence the name Council and the fact that their place of counseling was in a beautiful grove on the bank of the river furnished the word Grove, and to these two facts the city is indebted for its name. At that time, all danger to be apprehended from Indians lay west of this point, and it frequently occurred that the distance from Council Grove to danger was not very great. During the trail's heydays, council Grove was a place of early morning racket, dust and confusion. As wagons bound for Santa Fe rattled and jockeied for position to form a train, the masters shouted catch up to the teamsters, then stretch out. As the wagons began to move.

Speaker 1:

One of the first stops along the trail was the village of Overbrook, located in Osage County. Overbrook, a famous crossing, had a saloon, toll bridge, blacksmith shop and stage station. About one and a half miles east of Overbrook was a place called Rock Creek, spring no 1. This was a campground and watering stop. A man named Daniel Walters settled the land at Rock Creek, which was later owned by VC Bryson and still called by some today the old Bryson Farm. Walters erected a large stone store and hotel building which held the post office established in October of 1858. He also built himself a two story house with a basement. Though he called his settlement and post office Walton, it continued to be known by Santa Fe Trail travelers as Rock Spring no 1.

Speaker 1:

In the summer of 1855, two hardy, experienced plainsmen, william Allison and Francis Booth, ventured to establish a Santa Fe Trail trading post at Walnut Creek Crossing on the Great Bend of the Arkansas River. The site was in the heart of the Buffalo Range at 132 miles beyond the frontier settlement of Council Grove. Located in the region of the nomadic plains tribes involved some risk. Still, allison and Booth, as former conductors of the Santa Fe Route monthly US mail, had become acquainted with the Indians and were fully aware of the hazards. One objective of these Missourians was to set up trade relations with the Kiowas and Comanches. Besides furnishing some provisions to the Indians and travelers, pleasure seeking parties were offered a rare chance to kill a buffalo.

Speaker 1:

Wolfkilling was the principal winter activity at Walnut Creek Ranch, according to James J Webb. Dick Wooton stated the gray wolf was an animal which followed the buffalo. Their skins were valuable and Allison was taking them by the hundred by what he called the strick-nine method, as Wooton described it. This involved no more than the thorough poisoning of a buffalo carcass. Webb indicated a more sophisticated technique was required. They would kill a buffalo and cut the meat in small pieces and scattered about in all directions a half a mile or so from camp and so bait the wolves for about two days. Then small chunks of poisoned meat, which all hands meantime had been preparing, were put out. Webb says one morning the ranchers picked up 64 wolves within a mile and a half of camp and that the proceeds from that winter's hunt year not specified were over $4,000. Booth and Allison were probably the first-dude ranchers. In September 1857, the Allison and Booth partnership ended abruptly. Booth was murdered by a Mexican whose split his head open with an axe. Allison continued to run the Walnut Creek Ranch.

Speaker 1:

Events at Walnut Creek Ranch on September 9th 1860 were briefly stated by Bervette Major Henry W Wessels riding from Pawnee Fork on the 12th. Mr George Peacock and two other persons were treacherously murdered at Walnut Creek on Sunday last by a party of ten Indians. The other persons were Peacock's clerk Myers and a Mexican herder. What Wessels failed to say was that the Kiowa's war chief, satank, planned the attack and personally killed Peacock in revenge for a trick the traitor had played on him. An account in the Westport Border Star gave some details of the murders. Mr George H Peacock, formerly of Independence, was killed on last Sunday week by a Kiowa chief named Satank. Satank and two or three others of the tribe reconnoitred around Peacock's ranch until an opportunity offered when they fired on him one ball, entering his left temple, killing him instantly. They then fired upon a man named Myers, a German, also from Independence, and wounded him so that he died in a short time. There was another man in the house laying sick, but he was not molested. The Indians then loaded themselves with considerable plunder and left.

Speaker 1:

Peacock's indiscretion that cost him his life was explained as follows in the Western Journal of Commerce Sometime last spring, satank applied to Mr Peacock for a letter of recommendation to any whites that he might meet as to his character and honorable conduct. Mr Peacock, knowing the treachery and cunning of the old Redskin, instead of commending him to whoever he met, gave him a piece of writing warning all who might be called upon to read to be aware of the bearer, as he was treacherous and dangerous, presuming that, as the old fellow could not read it, he would never know what it contained. Some Mexicans to whom it was shown, translated it for him and told him what it read. He swore vengeance against Peacock, with the latter being on good terms generally with the Kiowas and paying little attention to the bravado of old. Satank thought nothing of it. Even a few days before his death he had intervened to protect him, satank against a sergeant and corps who sought to arrest him while on Peacock's premises and take him to the fort.

Speaker 1:

Two colorful latter-day versions of Peacock's murder written by Frontiersmen contain inaccuracies but add details that embellish the story and are in general accord. Robert M Wright, in 1901, stated that Peacock supplied the Indians with whiskey and had to hide his stock of this illicit item when troops came by. Satank knew this and, as a ruse to get Peacock to the top of his lookout, told the trader that soldiers were coming. Peacock got his field glasses, climbed to the lookout and the instant he appeared as Wright, satank shot him full of holes, exclaiming as he did so goodbye, mr Peacock, I guess you won't write any more letters. Then they, the Kiowas, went into the building and killed every man present except one, a sick individual who was lying in one of the rooms, gored through the leg by a buffalo. James R Mead in 1908, stated Peacock had a tall lookout built on top of his trading house. Satanta ie Satank was. Some of his men came to the store and told Peacock that there was a lot of soldiers coming. Peacock climbed to the top of his lookout to see when Satanta shot him. The Santa Fe male party, which reached independence Missouri September 23, had no news from the plains of importance but reported that the ranch where Peacock was killed had been abandoned and the goods not taken by the Indians moved to Council Grove. We hear no more Indian difficulties on the road since the murder of Peacock, said the Council Grove press in late September. They seem to have become frightened at their own acts and have left Santa Fe Road altogether Due to the frequent Indian attacks in the area.

Speaker 1:

Camp Dunlap was established two miles east of present-day Great Bend, kansas, in July 1864. Situated at the point where the Santa Fe Trail crossed Walnut Creek, it was initially little more than a camp of tents and dugouts near the old Wrath Ranch trading post site. In February of 1865, under the command of General Samuel R Curtis in the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was put to work, building an octagonal blockhouse of stone. The post renamed Fort Zara for General Curtis's son, major H Zara Curtis, who was killed at Baxter Springs Massacre while serving on the staff of General Blunt. In 1866, the post was replaced by a more substantial fort about half mile up Walnut Creek, built of sandstone, moved from the bluffs. About three miles away, the fort was 116 feet long and about 50 feet wide and cost about $100,000 to build.

Speaker 1:

25 miles up the Arkansas River from Walnut Creek is Pawnee Rock, a landmark and stopping place for travelers. The rock was considered the midpoint of the long road between Independence, missouri, and Santa Fe, new Mexico. Lying between long stretches of dry plains, water provided by the nearby Arkansas River and fresh meat obtained by plentiful game was vital to the survival of the wagon trains. Here many conflicts with lurking Indians occurred. The rock was 100 feet high and it covered nearly four acres until settlers quarried stone from its sides for fences. The Indians called it a gift of the Great Spirit, but to traders it was just another camping ground and a bronze limestone slate on which their names could be added to those of Kit Carson and others. The Santa Fe Trail divided five miles east of Pawnee Fork. The long route followed the Arkansas River to Fort Dodge, while the dry route left the river a few miles to the southwest, joining with the other about 100 miles upriver. The two branches merged near the location of what became Fort Dodge in 1864, only to divide again at Cimarron Crossing. One branch ascended the Arkansas to Bent's Fort, while the other crossed the river at two more places and ran southwest across the Cimarron tomorrow. At that place, the Bent's Fort or Ratone Branch joined it.

Speaker 1:

The wagons which crossed the Arkansas River at the Fords, either 17 or 25 miles above Fort Dodge or at Bent's Fort, often experienced great difficulty. The swift stream swept the bottom as level as a floor at one time, while the next minute the shifting sand assumed their proportions of huge boulders. One freighter probably voiced the sentiments of many when he called it a contemptuous stream sprawled out in the middle of the plains. The bed of the river was about one half mile wide. At Cimarron Crossing, the streak of muddy water was subdivided into many rivulets by small sandbars tufted with willows To allow a loaded wagon to stand still in the shallow stream, which one teamster said he could wade anywhere if he had a pair of boots, was to see the sand swallow it up. Oxen were doubled up, perhaps 10 or 15 yoke, with a bullwacker on each side, swearing and whipping, and kept the oxen continually moving until the shallow bank was reached.

Speaker 1:

After the Cimarron Crossing of the Arkansas, the freighters penetrated the Indian Territory. The south side of the Arkansas River was the sacred hunting ground of the Native American people. The buffalo on the south side of the river were rapidly diminishing. These were the buffalo upon which the Indians relied to supply their physical needs. The tautness may explain why the plains Indians gathered at the Arkansas River crossing each year to harass the passing wagon. Trains Mounted on horses, armed with bows and arrows, spears and guns. No traveler was free from their attack or night prowlings. One such attack at the Cimarron Crossing occurred in January of 1863. During the coldest time of January 1863, nine freight wagons left Santa Fe, new Mexico, on their way east, a few miles before they reached the nine-mile ridge, they encountered a band of almost famous Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who hailed with delight the freight wagons, thinking they could get some coffee and other provisions. The nine-mile ridge was a high elevation above the Arkansas River Road running close to the river on top of the ridge. This was one of the most often used crossings of the Arkansas River in southwest Kansas.

Speaker 1:

In this lonely part of the world, 75 miles from Fort Launat, kansas, and 175 miles from Fort Lyon, colorado, without even a settler between it, was uncomfortable to even an Indian to find himself without rations. The Indians followed the wagons several miles, imploring the wagon boss to give them something to eat and drink, which request he steadily refused in no uncertain voice. When the red men knew that the wagon boss was refusing their prayers for sustenance, they knew of no other method to enforce division other than to take it from the wagons. The band leader went around to the oxen's heads and demanded them to corral, stop and provide some provision. During the trains corraling, one wagon was tipped partly over and the teamsters shot an Indian in his fright. Then the Indians picked up their wounded warrior, placed him on a horse and left the camp determined to return and take an Indian's revenge upon the caravan.

Speaker 1:

The wagon boss went to the camp well satisfied, but not long was his satisfaction to last. After the Indians departed, several teamsters, who thought they knew what was desired by the Indians, reproached their wagon boss for not complying with their request to give them food. His action in refusing food resulted in a mutiny on the part of the teamsters, and after the oxen were turned out to graze, the dispute between the teamsters and the wagon boss became so intense that if a few peaceably inclined drivers had not arraigned themselves on the side of the wagon boss, he would have been lynched Before daylight. The Indians returned and attacked the wagons and killed all the whites but one man who escaped the bank. He drifted down the river until he was out of hearing range of the Indians. When he was almost worn out and half frozen, he got out of the river, rung the water from his clothing and started for Fort Larnard 75 miles distant. After leaving the water he noticed a fire and knew instinctively that the Indians had set fire to their wagons and wondered how many, if any, of the company had escaped, as he had so far done. Late in the afternoon of the next day, a troop of soldiers discovered this man several miles from Fort Larnard in an almost exhausted condition, dropping down and getting up again. The commanding officer sent out some soldiers and brought him to the fort. I talked with this man and he told me that if the wagon boss had given the Indians something to eat, entertain them a little or given them the smallest hospitality, he believed they would have all been saved from that massacre. He said the Indians played with the wagon boss for food and he thought if the team sure had not lost his composure and made that first luckless shot, the nine-mile ridge massacre would never have become a thing of history. The tragedy created a great fright and made traveling across the plains difficult. The Indians were hostile only because they did not know the white man's minds and their attitude toward them if they were not always prepared to defend themselves.

Speaker 1:

The Mountain Route. The Mountain Route officially began near the Arkansas River Crossing area. Instead of crossing the river, the Mountain Route took the trains along the river westward to Bentz Fort. Most wagons traveled on the north side of the river. Beyond the Cimarron crossing was about 65 or 70 miles of treeless, waterless desert. This route was the journey of the dead because of the presence of so many bleaching skeletons of oxen that had died of thirst. The soil changed to sandy loam, blue stem grass, crown grass, buffalo grass, two heath varieties and several kinds of weeds were observed. Between the Cimarron Crossing and Bentz Fort was nothing but monotony the trail to Bentz Fort exceeded as a dull monotony of the journey along the Arkansas.

Speaker 1:

Bentz Fort, located near the Purgatory River's mouth, had long served as a trading post. Bentz Fort, also known as Fort William, was initially built on the Arkansas River's north bank in 1833. The trading company was owned by William Bentz and his brother Charles Bentz and Saren St Vrain. The fort began as a fur trading stop for mountain men, settlers, teamsters and plains Indians, but it quickly became a respite location for those traveling the Santa Fe Trail. When disease and misfortune struck Bentz Fort in 1849, bentz and company abandoned it and later destroyed it. The story goes, bentz loaded 16 wagons with goods, fired the fort and drove away as the powder within the building exploded and laid waste to the walls. In 1853, a new trading post was built, called Bentz New Fort. On a bluff further downriver, at Big Timbers In 1854, the government located a military post above the old fort. Ten years later, fort Lion was erected on the Arkansus a few miles east of the Purgatory River. The trail crossed the Arkansus west of the Purgatory's mouth and then followed this river to the Ratone Mountains. A freighter who went over the route in 1857 testified that the water was more scarce and the sand deeper than on the Simeron River.

Speaker 1:

In many ways the Santa Fe Trail was a microcosm of westward expansion and a study of its history is a study of much of the early frontier west. The west's expansion is all in the past, but that past is still close to those now alive. At points in northeastern New Mexico you can look out across a vista that appears today, as it did to Coronado in 1541, to Pedro Vial in 1792, to Kit Carson in 1826, and to the wagon masters of Alexander Majors in 1858. Frame your view precisely and you will see not a house, a fence or a sign of man's passing. Historians know that dates are only convenient match-barks on a map of time. In one sense it is correct to say that the Santa Fe Trail began with the 1821-22 expedition of Becnole and his men. But Becnole was not the first on the route. He was only the first to start regular commerce over an already beaten path.

History of the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail Indiscretion and Murder
The Santa Fe Trail