By DENA WEIGEL BELL
WaKeeney Travel Blog
WAKEENEY — Two hundred years ago, a loose collection of native trails were mapped out to be used as a main thoroughfare from Missouri to the southwest territory in what was to become New Mexico. The route became known as the Santa Fe Trail and over the next century it established itself as America's first commercial highway.
On Sunday, the Trego Historical Society will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Santa Fe Trail through the experiences of three women in a presentation from Marla Matkin. She will examine the history of the trail, the daily life of a traveler, their motivations for taking the 900-mile journey, and the dangers the faced along the way.
The Santa Fe Trail
The first recorded journey on the Santa Fe Trail took place in 1821, and a year later the route was officially mapped out to connect its starting point in Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. The route followed portions of older Native American trails, the Osage Trace and Medicine Trail and eventually joined the Arkansas River, branching off to follow both sides of the river upstream to Dodge City and Garden City. West of Garden City the branch was known as the Mountain Route, and the Dodge City route became the Cimarron Cutoff or Crossing, or the Middle Crossing. The two branches reconnected near the trail's conclusion at Fort Union, New Mexico.
Today's U.S. Route 24 and Highway 56 loosely follow the trail and ruts in the earth made from the many wagons and carriages are still visible in several locations along the way, including a place near Great Bend, Kansas.
The long, arduous journey posed many challenges that are unimaginable to us today. Wild animals, dry, barren deserts and steep, rocky mountains, attacks from Comanche and Apache tribes, and scorching summers and bitter cold winter weather made every journey potentially deadly.
"Women on the Santa Fe Trail"
To get a better understanding of life on the trail the Trego County Historical Society will be welcoming back independent scholar and living history performer, Marla Matkin. Her depiction of "Women on the Santa Fe Trail" is presented through first-person portrayals of three women who spent up to three months on the trail, providing reminisces of a bygone era and sharing their adventures on the Santa Fe Trails.
Marla Matkin has spent her life studying the history of the Old West and now she shares these stories through the many characters she creates on stage. With a twinkle in her eye and a tantalizing sense of humor, she describes a world where grit and determination won the day.
Matkin traces her roots back to southwest Kansas where in 1877 her great-grandparents claimed a homestead near the legendary pillar of western lore, Dodge City, Kansas.
Today, Matkin calls WaKeeney's northern neighbor, Hill City, her home and for twenty years she has performed historical program across the United States, including at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, as well as at several National Park Service sites around the nation. She currently serves on the Society of Friends of Historic Fort Hays and the Smoky Hill Trail Association and was an appointee on the Arts and Entertainment Committee for the 200th celebration of the Santa Few Trail.
Matlin's program will be part of the Trego County Historical Society's annual Kansas Day celebration program (postponed from January due to COVID). During your visit you can also explore the museum's large collection of Western artifacts, many of which have been donated by local families to give guests of the museum deeper insight into the history of Trego County.