frequented as it is by the most savage tribes of Indians, was sufficient to strike dismay into the hearts of our party; but as we had not as yet encountered any of them, we felt comparatively at ease. Our mules and horses were 'staked' as usual around the wagons, and every man, except the watch, betook himself to his blanket, in anticipation of a good night's rest. The hour of midnight had passed away, and nothing had been heard except the tramping of the men on guard, and the peculiar grating of the mules' teeth, nibbling the short grass of the valley. Ere long, however, one of our sentinels got a glimpse of some object moving stealthily along, and as he was straining his eyes to ascertain what sort of apparition it could be, a loud Indian yell suddenly revealed the mystery. This was quickly followed by a discharge of firearms, and the shrill note of the 'Pawnee whistle,' which at once made known the character of our visitors. As usual, the utmost confusion prevailed in our camp; some who had been snatched from the land of dreams, ran their heads against the wagons-others called out for their guns while they had them in their hands. During the height of the bustle and uproar, a Mexican servant was observed leaning with his back against a wagon, and his fusil elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees, cocking and pulling the trigger without ceasing, and exclaiming at every snap, Carajo, no sirve! (Curse it, it's good for nothing).' "The firing still continued-the yells grew fiercer and more frequent; and everything betokened the approach of a terrible conflict. Meanwhile a number of persons were engaged in securing the mules and horses which were staked around the encampment; and in a few minutes they were all shut up in the corral a hundred head or more in a pen formed by seven wagons. The enemy failing in their principal object to frighten off our stock-soon began to retreat; and in a few minutes nothing more was to be heard of them. All that we could discover the next morning was, that none of our party had sustained any injury, and that we had not lost a single animal. "The Pawnees have been among the most formidable and treacherous enemies of the Santa Fe traders. But the former have also suffered a little in return from the caravans. In 1832, a company of traders was approached by a single Pawnee chief, who commenced a parley with them, when he was shot down by a Pueblo Indian of New Mexico, who happened to be with the caravan. Though this cruel act met with the decided reprobation of the traders generally, yet they were of course held responsible for it by the Indians. * * "We forded the Arkansas without difficulty, and pursued our journey to the Missouri border with comparative ease; being only now and then disturbed at night by the hideous howling of wolves, a pack of which had constituted themselves into a kind of 'guard of honor,' and followed in our wake. for several hundred miles-in fact to the very border of the settlements. They were at first attracted no doubt by the remains of buffalo which were killed by us upon the high plains, and afterwards enticed on by an occasional fagged animal, which we were compelled to leave behind, as well as by the bones and scraps of food, which they picked up about our camps. Not a few of them paid the penalty of their lives for their temerity." The Santa Fe trail had no greater hero than Felix Xavier Aubrey. For a wager of $1,000, the wiry Frenchman rode horseback from Santa Fe to Independence, the distance of 775 miles, in five days and nineteen hours. Before starting on this celebrated journey, he had swift horses stationed along the route for relays. Aubrey left the old town of Santa Fe in a swift gallop and he kept up the pace, stopping only to change horses, until he was taken in a faint from his foam-covered horse in the Independence public square. Friends carried the daring rider to a hotel and he remained in a stupor for two days. The feat cost the lives of several of Aubrey's best horses. Aubrey was the first trader to take a loaded wagon from Missouri to New Mexico in the winter time. It is said that he drove a herd of sheep to California and made a financial success out of the venture. A third route to Santa Fe was discovered by Aubrey in 1850. Previously there were only two routes; one by way of the Cimarron river, and the other by way of the mountains that at a later date was followed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad. Aubrey's route crossed the Arkansas river below the mouth of the Big Sandy river. The greatest distance without water on that course was thirty miles, while the greatest distance without water on the Cimarron road was sixty miles. But for various reasons the Aubrey route was not generally used. Aubrey was killed in a drunken brawl in Santa Fe. William R. Bernard, a merchant of early Westport, gave this account of the Frenchman's death in an article contributed to the Kansas State Historical society: Previous to Aubrey's trip to California, Major Richard H. Weightman, who afterwards distinguished himself as a commander in the Confederate army, had been conducting a small newspaper in Santa Fe and through its columns had cast some doubt upon the discovery of a new pass through the mountains claimed by Aubrey. Some time thereafter Aubrey returned to Santa Fe, and meeting Major Weightman the two adjourned to a neighboring saloon. Both men called for brandy. Aubrey raised his glass to his lips and then putting it down inquired: "What has become of your paper?" "Dead," replied Major Weightman. "What killed it?" asked the other. "Lack of support," the major said. "The lie it told on me killed it," retorted Aubrey. Without replying Major Weightman threw a glass of brandy in the Frenchman's face and while he was blinded by its effects, stabbed him to death. Major Weightman afterwards said that Aubrey was angry and was drawing his pistol and that he stabbed him in self-defense. The Road to Santa Fe, as it appears now, was a long line of historic places. After a lapse of forty years, it is realized that the old highway had a most interesting part in the settlement of the West, and that its heroes are worth remembering. Now it may be seen that the Santa Fe trail was as important in the development of the West as the "Wilderness road" was in the opening of the west. It was in a spirit of appreciation that the suggestion came that the course of the old trail, as much of it as possible, be preserved to future generations by a series of monuments or "markers." The Kansas City council appropriated $20,000, November 6, 1905, to pay for markers to define the line of the Santa Fe road through the city. In Kansas a legislative appropriation of $20,000 was made for markers to outline the Santa Fe trail through the state. The amount was not sufficient and it was supplemented by contributions from the school children. Each school child in the state was asked to contribute one penny to the fund, and 369,166 responded. The markers, purchased and prepared by the Daughters of the American Revolution in Kansas, have been set in place. Four or five markers were erected in each county where the later highways crossed the old trail. In the towns through which the roads passed, bronze markers were placed on the sidewalks and buildings. This is the inscription on the granite monuments: The Santa Fe Trail, 1822-1872. Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the CHAPTER VIII. CIVIL WAR PERIOD. In presenting a history or a historical period, it is necessary to set down. step by step the several facts that the events may unfold by degrees and thus present a picture of the whole situation. The history of the Civil war conditions in Kansas City and its effects cannot be understood without a clear conception of the causes and events of the Civil war. Virginia ceded to Congress its claims to land in the northwestern territory, March 1, 1784, and the same day Thomas Jefferson as chairman of a committee reported to Congress a plan of government for the new acquisition. Congress adopted Jefferson's plan, April 23d, 1784, but it did not become effective and was abrogated by that "immortal prohibition of slavery," the "Ordinance of 1787." From the introduction of Jefferson's ordinance in 1784 until the final Ordinance of 1787, of which it was said, "no act of American legislation has called out more eloquent applause," various other ordinances were submitted to Congress. Master minds of the North and the South framed the Ordinance of 1787 on a basis of enlightened statesmanship. It was presented to and rejected by Congress several times in different forms. At its first presentation, in 1784, the clause prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern territory, inserted by Jefferson, was stricken out by Congress. The ordinance, however, seemed only to gain strength from each rebuff. Men, broad of intellect, strong of will, forgetful of self, a majority from the slaveholding states of the South, labored harmoniously to provide for every emergency. Parcels of land were set apart for schools and churches for the pioneers who braved the hardships of the wilderness. The northwest territory to which the Ordinance of 1787 applied included an area of about 265,878 square miles, from which the following states were formed: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. George Bancroft, writing of the final peaceful adoption of the ordinance, said: "Before the federal convention had referred its resolutions to a committee of detail, an interlude in Congress was shaping the character and destiny of the United States of America. Sublime and humane and eventful in the history of mankind as was the result, it will not take many words to tell how it was brought about. For a time wisdom and peace and justice dwelt among men, and the great ordinance, which could alone give continuance to the Union, came in serenity and stillness. Every man that had a share in it seemed to be led by an invisble hand to do just what was wanted of him; all that was wrongfully undertaken fell to the ground to wither by the wayside; whatever was needed for the completion of the mighty work arrived opportunely and just at the right moment moved into its place.” Five of the eight states that voted for the ordinance in peace and harmony were slave states and three were free. Of the eighteen votes cast, eleven were slave state delegates, seven free state delegates. Daniel Webster said of this ordinance: "We are accustomd to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." |