The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-22

cemetery at Taos on the Trail near where am tonight.
 There was a period when the Santa Fe Trail was the only connecting link between the East and the far West. As one of the old, lingering trappers from the hills said to me today "Cap'n, there want nothin' in them days but the Santa Fe Trail, Injuns and var mints." The varmints are here, good and plenty, now. Only two nights ago a fellow on the bum pulled out of Ra- ton to foot 1t over the Range into Trinidad, twenty-five miles away. When he hit the Santa Fe tunnel. a big mountain lion disputed the right of way. My friend lost no time for he had a down-hiIl pull Into Raton. and plenty to keep him going. Ernest terial he wanted right here at Clayton, but If Roosevelt is keen to hunt big game, here's his paradise.
 Old Zebulon Pike--the man that Pike's Peak discovered in 1906 (though they claim he discovered the Peak)- is the first man that interested the world fin this highway to the West. At first the trade went by Taos-the Pueblo that hangs along the verge of the Cimarron Canyon, second only to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, the won der of the world In order to shorten distance. they afterwards blazed trail along the Arkansas River to a point where 1t takes a northward course. There they crossed it. made an air line south for Raton Pass. and on to Santa Fe. Along this dangerous highway Undiscovered teamsters brought their ladened prairie schooners from Mis- sissippi River ports into the far-away Santa Fe country on schedule time. And now. along this very trail, four great mountain railways have per- formed unthinkable feats in civil en- gineering until in all the world there Is no finer equipment to be found than right here where the thfobbing moguIs drag their string up these, mountain ways.
 For ages-centuries at Ieast--the Santa Fe trail was but the faintest trace hewn out by the hoofs of patient burros that packed their loads across the Great Divide. Upon the discovery of gold along Pacific shores. the trail became the path of an enormous piI- grimage. In the days of the pack mule 1t did not take the red skin long to learn trick. As stubborn and as pa- tient as Is the burro. yet he's a mighty timid beast. These bandits of the trail found out that all they had to do was to rattle buffalo hide. And when SAccO A0htAihB anu yCliluK In- dians poured out like painted devils from some canyon. those asses lost their bearings. As Q result-pack, mule and all-landed in the bosom of these mountain pirates.
 Among all the tribes south of the Ohio and west of the Mississippi none worked such awful havoc with the commerce of the trail as did the Co., manches, Pawnees and Arapahoes As NAn to furnish troops to guard these cara vans in their perilous pilgrimage through country crammed with turk Ing and bloody red men.
 These old lingering pioneers, so loath to give up their frontier memories, will tell you that the biggest thing that was ever pulled off on the Trail was the introduction of the wagon-"The Prairie Schooner. That's what old John Holland told me-the man who was raised on this trail. who helped to burry the bones of old Kit Carson in his Taos grave. and who now runs a gambling hell in Raton. There would be anywhere from seven to fifty of these wagons in a single caravan The big ones were pulled by from eighteen to twenty four mules: the smaller from eight to twelve. When ready to strike camps, they would swing the ledQ WdGOn inNO a. ClTcie until 1t caught up with the last wagon in the string. In this circular form, they made for themselves a barricade against the attack of the red devils. In the early morning the head wagoner would give the signal for the breaking up of camps. Soon. down the long line, the teamster would yell: "Alrs set!" Stretch out! beloved the cap tain-"Fall in!"-and the long cara van would swing out onto the trails again
 For days and days the unbroken vision of the plains was almost unen- durable The shifting sand dunes and the solitary wastes were broken only by countless buffalo that now browsed lazily on the plains, and then broke away with thunderous tread that shook the very earth. At intervals. when the sands were hot and the winds were blistering, teasing mirage would paint on the desert sky a scene of shade and fount. They sighed-and understood. After awhile the first mountain lifted its head above the horizon. There 1t stood a silent sem tinel of the plains over which 1t had kept a ceaseless watch for ages. Then came the hills, the mountains, the ranges-and the Great Divide.
 The tragic days are gone-the days when intrepid spirits pushed their conauests toward Pacific shores Many sleep In unmarked graves. Many were long since devoured by desert ghouls.