The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1912-06-01

| vas one reason for their lack OF the
education which the school gives.
They had the training of the west.
whic.. gave them rough, uncOuth eX-
teriors and unselfish hearts. Jim or
Maj. Bridger, born in Washington
City, left the nations capital to trav
ell "out West and become guide,
scout, map maker through the Rocky
mountains. Bridger's pass in the
Rocky mountains bears his name. Jim
Bridger, it is claimed, fiji st among the
white men of America, saw Salt Lake
in the winter of lS245. Bridger was
in the employ Of the United States
government for some years and served
under Gen. John G. Fremont as a
scout. He also gave valuable assist
ance to the surveyors OF the Union
Pacific railroad.
The Bents, ST. Vrain, Maxwell. Jim
Baker, the Coopers. the Gentrys. James
P. Beckworth, Bill Williams, Tom To-
bin. James Hobbs-these are among
the famous soldiers traders, trappers
and frontiersmen whose names are
intimately associated with the ro-
nance and history of the Santa Fe
Trail. Near Arrow Rock, Saline
county, Missouri, yet resides John D,
Turley. IS years old. who was IA
nous trader on the Trail, as was his
father before him. The lifetime Of
father and son covers the entire Pc
riod Of the Old Trail. Judge Turkeys
last trip was in 1851. when the Trail
was yet in large use.
I'VE fought Indians across the en-
tire continent and carried on a most
profitable trade in merchandise with
the Mexicans," said Judge Turley.
I'VE bought whisky from the distil-
leries In Missouri at 16 to 40 cents q
gallon. and sold 1t in Taos at SO a
gallon. 1t was terrible stuff. too. We
diluted 1t with water, making two gal
Ions out of every gallon, but even then
1t was terrible. The OK teams had
six yoke of oxen and the ordinary
load for a wagon was 1900 rounds A
load of 5000 pounds Is a good wagon
load now. We took our merchandise
to Taos or Santa Fe. opened a regu-
lar store, and would sell out our en-
tire stock in two or three months. The
remnants of our last stock my father
traded for Mexican sheep at 81
head, took the sheep to California. and
sold them at $40 a head. l sold sas-
safras root at $3.50 a pound in Taos.
We travelled about 25 miles a day.
The last trip took 40 days. We met
soonest Indian woman in the west
My father made his first trip in 1925,
and the Turkeys stayed on the Trail
until nearly the opening Of the Civil
war. Various tricks were played on
the Mexicans There was a tariff
on every load of goods brought into
Mexican territory. The tariff was
SO much wagonload. If the wagon
was empty, it was admitted duty free
Some traders would load the goods
just outside the Mexican territory into
half the wagons and drive In with half
the caravan made up Of empty wag-
ons, thus paying but half the duty. The
fandango-a kind of public dance
was the chief form Of social entertain.
ment The Spanish girls at the fan
dangoes were sometimes treated to ice
cream and whisky. 1t is a devilish
combination"
The story of the Old Santa Fe Trail
is the story Of its Bents. Carsons.
Doniphans, Bridges. Woottons, Tur-
leys and the rest. They were
men cast in heroic mold Made by
the Trail. they were makers Of the