MY EARLYMAN GRANDFATHER

By Michael Webster Excerpts from the RedRoad       As a young boy I became aware of my grandfather's strong work ethic. I remember him going to work Monday through Friday and often on Saturdays. He would rise well before dawn with my grandmother. They would have their morning glass of Raw apple cider vinegar with some maple syrup or molasses, black coffee, eggs sunny-side up, thick well-done bacon with toast, a wedge of sweet white onion and a hot Chile pepper. The bacon cooked first in the big black iron skillet, and then the eggs cooked slowly with the bacon grease splashed over them. One of my fondest memories was the wonderful aroma that would awaken me whenever I stayed overnight with my grandparents. That early morning coffee percolating on the kitchen stove, bacon & eggs frying in the frying pan, and fresh bread in the oven toasting I thought was a great way to start a day. But even to this day, when I am on one of my early morning walks with my wife, and we pass a home with a similar aroma drifting from the kitchen, it reminds me of those wonderful days with my grandparents. I have never felt that I belonged more, was welcomed more, or was more at home than when I visited with my grandparents. Every workday after breakfast Granddad, as I called him, would journey off to the bus stop two blocks away. In 27 dedicated years on the railroad he never missed a day and was late only twice. He worked long hard hours in the hot southwest summer sun and the bone chilling cold, and sometimes snowy, and often windy winters. He was an honored member of the railroad’s work gang. The work gangs of those days repaired and built the railroad. Whatever needed to be done, they did it, be it laying the iron track or creosote wooden ties, or driving spikes using a 12 pound sledgehammer, or building wood, steel, or concrete bridges, he did all of this excruciating work with vigor and pride. My Granddad would tell me, “it’s a good job and I’m glad to have it.”   The epitome of a real rail-road-man   My Granddad was the epitome of a real rail-road-man. He wore his cream colored long johns, his Railroad bibbed Blue overalls with his red bandanna, and his hard leather boots, all as if they were his second skin. And, of course, he was never without his gold railroad “Santa Fe Special” pocket-watch with the copper chain and leather tabs. He wore that watch like a badge of honor. My granddad was a big man, nearly six-feet tall. He had a dark leathery complexion with strong features revealing his Early peoples heritage. He was a man of conviction. He was a man not afraid of hard work. He had worked hard all of his life. Even before he worked on the railroad, he worked his own Farm/ranch, raised cattle and was a blacksmith near Clayton, New Mexico. Folks would bring him blacksmith work from a hundred miles around.   The famous Santa Fe Trail and its cut-off the Cimarron Trail run right along side his farm/ranch for over a 1/4-mile. Today, as I stand their, a chilling fall wind whistles through the rusty barb-wired cedar posts and waving tall grama grass,... just tall grama grass covers the still remaining deep indentations carved into the hard weathered earth from bygone years of settlers passing in their great mode of travel, the Prairie Schooners, and early trade wagons. The prairie schooner loaded with all of there earthly belongings must have looked like a sail boat with its canvas cover blowing in the wind and appearing to be sailing across the golden prairie on wheels. Like "sails on a sea of grass." This description of covered wagons inspired the name Prairie Schooner.   The most common wagons used for hauling freight back East were the Conestogas, developed in Pennsylvania by descendants of Dutch colonists. Conestoga wagons were large, heavy, and had beds shaped somewhat like boats, with angled ends and a floor that sloped to the middle so barrels wouldn't roll out when the wagon was climbing or descending a hill. Like the covered wagons of the western pioneers, it had a watertight canvas bonnet to shelter the cargo. Conestogas were pulled by teams of six or eight horses and could haul up to five tons. Traders on the Santa Fe Trail adopted the Conestoga design for its durability and size, but they found that bullwhackers or muleskinners were preferable to teamsters -- the immense distances and scarcity of good water along the Santa Fe Trail precluded the use of horses as draft animals. Teams of up to two dozen oxen or mules were used to haul the heaviest loads. Sometimes a second wagon, or "backaction," was hitched behind the lead wagon. Overlanders on the Oregon Trail, in contrast, quickly learned that Conestoga wagons were too big for their needs: the huge, heavy wagons killed even the sturdiest oxen before the journey was two-thirds complete. Their answer to the problem was dubbed the "Prairie Schooner," a half-sized version of the Conestoga that typically measured 4' wide and 10' to 12' in length. With its tongue and neck yoke attached, its length doubled to about  These ruts that remain stretch to the east and the west horizons and are all that remain offering any evidence of my Granddad’s stories of his old place and of the first major trade route that connected New Mexico to the eastern United States.    Wagon Ruts on the Cimarron   The Cimarron Cut-off was the main trade route to the southwest and cut off more than ten days of the trip. But it meant crossing a 60-mile chunk of the feared Llano Estacada. Some of the hazards they had to contend with were not only the weather, hunger and the hard going of the trail but also the roving bands of Kiowa, Apache, Comanche, Pawnee and Ute Indians who roamed across the vast grassland, hunting buffalo but leaving no evidence of any permanent settlements. The Athabascans probably passed through the area during their fourteenth century migrations from Canada whom later was to become known as the Navajo people.   From the turn off the Santa Fe Trail continued on into Colorado where their were fewer hostel Indians, but more water, and where firewood was more plentiful and where their were many trading posts to buy, sale and trade their goods. The story of the Santa Fe Trail is a story of business - international, national and local. In 1821, William Becknell, bankrupt and facing jail for debts, packed goods to Santa Fe and made a profit. Entrepreneurs and experienced business people followed - James Webb, Antonio José Chavez, Charles Beaubien, David Waldo, and others.     The Santa Fe trade developed into a complex web of international business, socail ties, tariffs, and laws. Merchants in Missouri and New Mexico extended connections to New York, London and Paris. Traders exploited legal and social systems to facilitate business. Partnerships such as Goldstein, Bean, Peacock & Armijo formed and dissolved. David Waldo "converted" to Catholicism - and also became a Mexican citizen. Dr. Eugene Leitensdorfer, of Missouri, married Soledad Abreu, daughter of a former New Mexico governor. Trader Manuel Alvarez claimed citizenship in Spain, the United States and Mexico. After the Mexican-American War, Trail trade and military freighting boomed. Both firms and individuals obtained and subcontracted lucrative government contracts. Others operated mail and stagecoach services. Trade created other opportunities. From New York, Manuel Harmony shipped English goods to Independence for freighting over the Santa Fe Trail. New Mexican saloon owner Doña Gertrudis "La Tules" Barcelo invested in trade, and trader Charles Ilfeld ran mercantile stores. Wyandotte Chief William Walker leased a warehouse in Independence and his tribe invested in the trade. Hiram Young bought his freedom from slavery and became a wealthy maker of trade wagons - and one of the largest emloyers in Independence. Blacksmiths, hotel owners, muleteers, lawyers, and many others found their places along the Trail. In 1822, trade totaled $15,000; by 1860, $3.5 million, or more than $53 million in today's dollars.       As I looked around in a whipping wind I could see brown specks of cattle in the distance in a broader landscape which I envisioned the Cimarron, Canadian and Pecos rivers, which are the longest of the waterways. They snake through the sprawling plains of northeastern New Mexico, a land known as the Llano Estacada, stretching north to southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. Also known as Wild Indian Territory.   You can see that time, weather and erosion have not erased the deep wagon ruts stretching across this vast country. I was sensing the stark isolation of prairie travel and was able to glimpse the subtle prairie tapestry that was savored by countless Trail travelers. I was Stepping back in time and enjoying virtually the same prairie vistas and unspoiled beauty that travelers encountered more than 120 years ago. The Santa Fe Trail on the Kiowa National Grassland affords an almost three-mile stretch of exceptionally well-preserved wagon ruts. This area is reserved for hiking, backpacking, horseback riding and camping. Several windmills along the route provide ample water. The trail is well marked with limestone "Kansas fence posts." One homestead ruin is located at the end of the hiking path. The Trail across the Kiowa lies between McNees Crossing and Turkey Creek, both resting and watering areas for weary trail caravans. Rabbit Ears Mountain and Round Mound can be seen looming to the west.