September 10, 2009

September 10, 2009

Aimee didn’t sleep well last night. All she could think about was the 1959 “Crime of the Century” we read about in the book, “In Cold Blood”. This true story of a family massacre took place on a farm just west of here.

From Garden City, KS we continue our Santa Fe Trail adventure following the Arkansas River west. After crossing the border into Colorado we make a short detour north to Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. (Apparently this is gruesome murder day.) The last eight miles down a dirt road are a little hairy. If I drive slowly, the washboard surface shakes the RV violently; so I drive fast hoping I don’t slide off into the deep sand lining the road. Once at the site, we spit the dust out of our mouths and we are immediately greeted by a ranger. He gives us a mini talk on the history of the massacre. Discovery of gold in Colorado caused an influx of whites and increased friction with the Indians. After the murder of a Denver family, a volunteer regiment from Colorado was sent by the governor to exterminate all hostile Indians. Whether looking for glory or revenge this troop attacked a “peaceful” Indian group here in the middle of the prairie. Initially hailed as heroes they were later vilified when it was learned they also killed and scalped women and children. This massacre ignited the southern Plains Indian Wars. In listening to the story, I see parallels with the soldiers in Vietnam and Iraq who struggled with the difficulty identifying “terrorists” hiding among civilians.

From Sand Creek, we make our way back to the Santa Fe Trail arriving at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. This adobe fort was built in 1833 when the Arkansas River formed the international border with Mexico. The Bent brothers setup this trading post to barter for valuable buffalo skins from the local Indians. The business flourished until almost 1850. It faltered with the drastic decline in the buffalo population and the rise of Indian hostilities. We tour the recreated fort. It is very impressive. The Park Service did an awesome job rebuilding and restocking the fort. It is a real treat to explore every room. Visitors are greeted by a leather clad descendent of Kit Carson. There are horses and oxen stabled in the rear. Even the picnic area near the park entrance is made to look like a rest area on the Santa Fe Trail.

From Bents Fort the Santa Fe Trail goes thru a very desolate stretch of scrubland before it hits Trinidad, CO. There the trail enters a beautiful stretch of pine forested foothills where it climbs up steep Raton pass. What a change from the flat as far as you can see prairie of this morning. As the RV struggles upward I envision the struggle the wagon trains of old would have endured. On the south side of the pass we retire for the evening in Raton, NM.