A Basic Reading List For The Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Trail
Basic Reading List Prepared

Marc Simmons
Plus Other Good Books

Gary & Margaret Kraisinger
The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail
Documentation and accounts which have been gathered over many years of research. Included in the 392 pages are some eighty maps, forty vintage photos, and fine artwork. The extensive bibliography shows the depth of research that the authors have done to bring to the reader an account of the trail-driving days from 1874 to 1886.
A DIRECTORY OF SANTA FE TRAIL SITES
David Clapsaddle
Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail - 1999
The "Directory of Santa Fe Trail Sites" has been updated and added to with maps, site photos, areial photo's, GPS readings, driving instructions and other historic data researched and collected by the history buffs who make up the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail in Central Kansas. This research project started in 1989 when the Chapter began to mark the Fort Hays/Fort Dodge Road at ten locations along it's route. Now the Chapter is adding an Auto Tour Guide to be used if you wish to visit the 125+ sites the Chapter has marked. More historic sites will be added as they are marked. This major study of the Santa Fe Trail can now be viewed on the WWW through the link above.
Inez Ross
Forward to Franklin on the Santa Fe Trail
In l996 Inez Ross and two other semi-retired women looking for a challenge decided to hike the Santa Fe Trail, the first trading route in 1821 that linked the state of Missouri to the city of Santa Fe in what was then a foreign country. This is the story of their continuing endeavor to hike the entire 800 miles via the Cimarron Route of the Trail from west to east as told in the log of their six-times-a-year hikes and in the articles published in the local newspaper. All outdoor people, especially history buffs and Trail aficionados, will enjoy this account of their adventures.
Jack D. Rittenhouse
THE SANTA FE TRAIL: A HISTORICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971)
Lists and describes 718 books, pamphlets and articles on the Trail
Robert Duffus
THE SANTA FE TRAIL
(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1979)
A general survey history of the subject
Col. Henry Inman
THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL
(Topeka: Crane & Co., 1899;and a new paperback edition)
Also a survey, livelier than Duffus but not as reliable
Stanley Vestal
THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1939)
Out of print, available in libraries
Hobart E. Stocking
THE ROAD TO SANTA FE
(New York: Hastings House, 1971)
Handbook for retracing the Trail today; with much history
Josiah Gregg
COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979)
First published in 1844, it remains the standard account of Trail life by a participant
M. Morgan Estergreen
KIT CARSON: A PORTRAIT IN COURAGE
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980)
Good biography of the most famous frontiersman associated with the Trail
David Lavender
BENT'S FORT
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979)
Detailed saga of the most famous outpost along the Trail
Marian Russell
LAND OF ENCHANTMENT, MEMOIRS ALONG THE SANTA FE TRAIL
(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1981)
Highly readable
Stella M. Drumm, ed.
DOWN THE SANTA FE TRAIL AND INTO MEXICO: DIARY OF SUSAN SHELBY MAGOFFIN
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
Classic account by an 18 year old girl. Nebraska Pbk
Lewis H. Garrard
WAH-TO-YAH AND THE TAOS TRAIL
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1955)
Exciting story by a 17 year old on the Trail
Howard Louis Conrad
UNCLE DICK WOOTTON: PIONEER FRONTIERSMAN OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978)
Life of a salty character closely associated with the Trail's history
Lina F. Browne, ed.
TRADER ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL: MEMOIRS OF FRANZ HUNING
(Albuquerque: University of Albuquerque, 1973)
Activities of a German-born merchant in the latter days of the Trail
Morris F. Taylor
FIRST MAIL WEST: STAGECOACH LINES ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL
(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971)
Scholarly
Seymour V. Connor and Jimmy M. Skaggs
BROADCLOTH AND BRITCHES, THE SANTA FE TRADE
(College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1977)
Most recent general survey of the Trail
George Frederick Ruxton
RUXTON OF THE ROCKIES
(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980)
The Southwest as seen by an extraordinary young Britisher in 1846. Must reading for understanding the end of the Trail
Following the Santa Fe Trail, A Guide for Modern Travelers, New Revised Edition
Marc Simmons
(Ancient City Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1986)
An indispensable guidebook, with specific routes, landmarks, and markers precisely identified and located
On the Santa Fe Trail
edited by Marc Simmons
(University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Ks., 1986)
A collection of narratives and reports by Trail travelers from the 1840's through the 1860's
Along the Santa Fe Trail
photographs by Joan Myers and essay by Marc Simmons
(University of New Mexico Press, 1986)
Murder on the Santa Fe Trail, An International Incident, 1843
Marc Simmons
(The University of Texas at El Paso, 1987)
Soldiers on the Santa Fe Trail
Leo E. Oliva
(University of Oklahoma Press, Norma, 1967)
The Santa Fe Trail: The National Park Service 1963 Historic Site Survey
William E. Brown
(The Patrice Press, 1988)
The Santa Fe Trail Revisited
Gregory M. Franzwa
(The Patrice Press, 1989)
This is a guidebook for those wishing to retrace the route of the Santa Fe Trail
Beginning of the West
Louise Barry, 1972
Kansas State Historical Society
Santa Fe Trail: Voyage of Discovery
Murphy & Hucko
KC Publications, 1994
Santa Fe Trail: National Historic Trail
Gardner
SPMA, 1993
The Road to Santa Fe: The Journal & Diaries of George C. Sibley
Gregg,
U.N.M. Press, 1995
Trading in Santa Fe: John M. Kingsbury's Correspondence with James J. Webb, 1853-1867
Elder & Weber
SMU Press, 1996
Fort Union & The Frontier Army in the Southwest
Leo E. Oliva
Southwest Cultural Resource Center, 1993
Commerciantes, Arrieros, Y Peones? The Hispanos & The Santa Fe Trail
Boyle
Southwest Cultural Resource Center, 1994
Maps of the Santa Fe Trail,
Gregory M. Franzwa
(The Patrice Press, 1989)