Excellent first-hand account of experiences on the Trail & in Santa Fe

books:

	• Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail (American Exploration and Travel Series) Matthew C. Field, Clyde Porter, ... Otto Penzler Books, 1995 - 322 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Excellent first-hand account of experiences on the Trail & in Santa Fe

Matt Field, a middling actor down on his luck, sickly, rejected twice by two different women when he proposed marriage, decided in 1839 to take a trip to Santa Fe with one of the trading caravans headed to that city from Independence, Missouri. Accompanied by a few friends, he steamboated from St. Louis to Independence, where in July he joined a small (18 men) caravan and set out across the plains. Going through Council Grove on to Bent's Fort, he continued over Raton Pass after which he left the main caravan and followed a trail to Taos and then down to Santa Fe. Thoroughly enjoying his stay in Santa Fe, but fearing a winter crossing of the plains, he left the capital late in September, took the Cimarron Cutoff, and made it back to Independence by the last day in October.

Fortunately for posterity, Field kept a journal of his trip, which is included here; he was also later hired by the New Orleans Picayune to write a number of articles based on his travels and experiences (they also are included here and make up the main portion of the book). A budding poet as well as an actor, Field turned his outward-bound journal into a long epic poem (the return leg remained in typical diary form). Though his poetic skills are not very good, this poem remains a unique document in the annals of western literature. The newspaper articles are another matter; they are superbly written and fascinating to read. The articles were meant to entertain readers, and hearsay and embellishment abound, but their bases are in fact and in what Field experienced. Everything seemed to be worthy of his attention and subsequent relating, from sights along the trail to humorous anecdotes related to him by others he met along the way. There is the obligatory grizzly bear story and thunderstorm-on-the-prairie story, but also more personal items such as a funeral in Taos and a wedding in Santa Fe. The articles ran for two years in the Picayune and as they still do today must have brought much enthusiasm to their first readers. The trade along the Santa Fe Trail was in decline by 1839, and to have Field's first-hand impressions of what it was like then is remarkable. It's among the half-dozen most important original works regarding the trail and the trade and the people who were involved with both, and it's a delight to read. Highly recommended.

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