The Van Buren press., 1859-07-20
For the Ian Bayea PYe,s.

IL
The following article win be made up Of extract.
from the valuable little work mentioned in the pre
eeed:ng one. This wofk, !" Commerce Of The Pra;.
ries." should be in the possessesion Of every one
Who is in any measure interested in the lucrative
Santa Fe trade II is aguide The trader and is the
most faithful expedition Of the advantages and dis
advantages of the two rpu.es, which We have had
under consideration. Mr.. Gregg made one trip
through by the Independence route and several BIZ
the Van Buren route, and his opinioa u decidedly
in favor Of the Latter and whilst he does complete
justice to both routes, he represents the advantages
Of the Van Buren route far exceeding those of
the Indepen dencc route s5.s--ss
In my last article noticed the fact, that the
ruute along the 35th parallel made but slight
northins. and Mr.. Gregg Informs us that " at Gyp-
sum Creek our latitude was 36 10. being the ut
most novtag tee hadm made. As We were about 30 miles
north of the parallel Of Santa Fe We had to steer,
henceforth few degrees South Of west in order to
bring up on our direct course" Thus we see that
the train went only 10 north Of sc the latitude
Of Van Buren is IS > 36, while tina. Of Indepen-
dence is 80 8. both on about the same meridian !;
of course the distance from the former place to San
ia Fe is much shorter than from the latter Van
Buren is within few miles of being IN . direct
line with Santa Fe. On the first trip made by Mr.
Gregg, he arrived in Santa Fe on the 9Th Of July
Casting his thocghts over the trials of the com
Pleted trip he rsmarks considering the charac-
ter and our ignorance Of the country over which
We had Travelled, We had been exceedingly success
fus- Instances arc certainly Of hosvily laden
wagons hsving been conducted, without guide,
through an unexrlored desert and yet We per-
formed the trip without any important accident
without eneeaasering any pery difcuh passes-sciaa
out su6erin7 70, fuel scatey After arriving at
Santa Fe hs had to undergo many little imros'.ons
from the Governor, Arniio. (who was Governor Al
that time.) Better regulations having been .dopt-
ell the trader has pleasant time in disposing Of
After making trip e chihuahua. Mr. G. started
honaeward, having realized pretty large amount
Of cash in spite Of Armijo's imposition of $50
per wagon. In returning he determined to make
an experimental trip south Of the Canadian. Leav-
ing San Miguel he stecred little South Of East,
until he reached about the 10th meridian when he
shaped his Course about due East striking the Dor
ders Of Llano Estacado at about the l}3i meridian
on The 10Th of March, The second night after as
c dia; this bleak and drsary plain the train ex-
perltnced one ii those terrible North resers" du-
ring which they lost great many Of their animals
which fed h{ter skeitsr, seeking place Of refuge
from the storm of sand. that almost cloked and
blinded the poor creatures. These. storms are of
frequent "ceurr and always u!t iisastrously
caravans that happen in their range, At some sea-
sons they regular and uncessing the trade
winds - Of the blowing perfect hurricane
for nd a.
Cessation. Descen ding from this perlous region the
caravan made northern direction until they struck
the Canadian at the mouth o. Bluff Creek thence
down the Canadian in latitude 25 81 30 passing
to the south of The then calel Boundary Mounds,
now. think Antelope Hills - crossing the Can
adian near the y9th meri iian they formed juno
ton with the out trail little above Spring Val
ley, having travelled over twenty days without
guide or trail From that point (their trail going
out being plainly visible.) all misgiving. were
banished and the caravan proceeded carelessly and
joyfully on their way.
In compapeing the route from Van Burcn with
the one from Independence. Mr. Gregg says As
60 ~sasusreHS IOutes TO Santa re. al
though Missouri. for various reasons which it il
needless to explain here. doubtless retain the
raonopiy Of the Santa F. ira e the route from Ar
kansas POSSESSES many advantages. Besides its be-
ing some davs frar shorter is less iatersectcd ri
large streams; there ecey sandy Stystches and
greater ray;efy Of rood skirei tyooks, afiarding
throughout the journey very sgr cable camping
places. Also, the grass springs up nearly a
month earlier than in upper Missouri caravans could
start much sooner. and the prorrietors would have
double the time to con!uct their mercantile trans
actions. Moreover. the return companies would
6nd better rasturage ON their way back, and reach
their homes before the of frost had far ad-
vanced. Again, such should desire TO engage in
the stock trade would at once bring their mules
and horses into a more congenial clims.e-vne more
in accordance with that Of their nativity for the
rigorous ,eiters Of Missouri often prove fatal to the
unacclima.ed Mexican animals. Commerce Of Pyoi-
ries, p. l55-'6l
The raasons why Missouri should "retain the
monopoly of the Santa Fe trade " do not know,
nor can form a plausible conjecture. The ativan-
tags Of navigation to Independence arr not supe-
r;or 10 those up the Arkansas river to Van Buren.
We are nearr the status Of the graf commercial
artery Of the Americah country almost q the
line Of the great Pacific Rail Road-the Overland
stages from St Louis to Carifcrnia pass directly
cut-"S nave me SUCK RAISING cOU0-
try and all we need is Market for the stock or
produce of the western portion Of the State and there
obstacle in the way Of establishing lucrative
trade between Arkansas and New Mexico A fine
grazing country all the way from this place to San
ta Fe, and however gool it may be from Indepen-
dence, the seetlers in Kansas declare their unwil
ingness to permit the stock Of caravans to Craze
upon their broad acres. Under all the crcumstanc
es, the advantages Of both starting points and
routes. where is the ground for supposng that
Missouri will retain the monopoly of the Santa
Fe trade II those nov engaged in this trade, and
living at Westnort.o Independence fni that trou-
bic in Kansas will greatly injurs their trade. we
would be glad to have as many as choose. come and
settle in this place We have room enough and bu-
siness enough. and will have trade enough with
Santa F. to pay them and all others who may en-
gage in this business 35th
IMPoRTANr If TRUE.-We find the fol-
lowing g Cure for Hog Cholera" in late
number of the shelbyville True Union,
without credit. The remedy is a simple one,
at least and it can do no harm to trv il