Santa Fe Trail, 1821: First Trail Into the West

[@doorusthewalrus6903]

Sorry for all the lost comments! KZbin decided to flag my video for "unoriginal content." A few images and notes of music were changed.

[@swhip897]

Unoriginal content... hum. Turned out fine.

[@Raylene3003]

Captain William Becknell was my great x 10 grandfather. I am directly related to him. My father has told me the tales passed down by his father before him of Captain William Becknell and the founding of the Santa Fe Trail. This video is mostly accurate :)

[@carlosm4798]

My Lord! How brave were these men? Phenomenally so

[@TheArthead]

Just homeless with nowhere to go

[@IAMSatisfied]

Thank you for creating & sharing this... it's well done & interesting. The Cimarron Route was not called a "cut-off" until sometime in the 1900s... it was known as "the Cimarron Route" by those who used the trail in the 1800s. The term "cut-off" makes it sound like it's an afterthought to the mountain route, but the opposite is true.... the Cimarron Route was the first established route and by far the most heavily traveled. William Becknell's first trek lead him through present day La Junta, Colorado, and from there he headed South through Emery Gap, next to present day Branson, Colorado, and from there he connected with the Cimarron River ~6 miles to the South (known locally as the Dry Cimarron). I've worked on several ranches in the area & know several of the pioneer families here. Raton is pronounced ra-TONE... Spanish for "rat", after the hoards of pack-rats that infested the pass. The rats were mentioned in diaries of the trail. An ancestor of mine is buried on one of the Juan Fernández islands, off the coast of Chile'... she had died on a voyage from the East coast of the U.S. to the West coast, a long journey around Cape Horn, a alternative to the rigors of the Oregon & California trails that the elderly or otherwise infirm had available to them. We, in this generation, have little idea of how cushy our lives are... privation, sacrifice & a reliance on God were the staple of many of our ancestors.

[@nobonespurs]

great post by you

[@herbschlubach]

I have fallen in love with your storytelling and sadly have already watched most of your videos. I hope to see more soon! Thank you for the interesting stories! ❤

[@warhawk4494]

Amazing job! You deserve way more subscribers

[@wes326]

Hello from Omaha. They moved the soldiers from Fort Atkinson, north of Omaha, to Fort Leavenworth because of the increased traffic on the Santa Fe Trail. Thanks, I learned a lot.

[@beverlyks]

Just rewatched your video ... still love it!!! First watched it in the spring of 2022, just before my husband an I followed the whole route, taking the Cimmaron to Santa Fe and Raton Pass on our return journey. It was an amazing experience to walk in those historic spaces and actually see the wagon ruts! We were just talking about that road trip, and had to watch your video again! ... we're Canadians (living on Lake Superior just north of Minnesota) and really enjoyed our journey into history, helped (and reminded) by your video.

[@_thomas1031]

Man, the production on these videos are great, subbed🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@racketyjack]

Excellent commentary. Thoroughly enjoyed your narrative. Amazing piece of long forgotten history.

[@Trav_Can]

I live near the Shawnee Mission. And it blows my mind the beginnings of the Santa Fe and Oregon trail are less than 100 feet from my house. I party in Westport sometimes. Wild history there. Kansas City is the real gateway to the west. Not St. Louis.

[@jj-eo7bj]

I use to live in kearney

[@carywest9256]

In Texas there is an old saying that goes: Dallas is where the East peters out and Ft. Worth is where the West begins. And if your driving on l-20 headed west from the Dallas County /Kaufman County line by the time you hit the Dallas/Tarrant County line the geography changes tremendously.

[@Trav_Can]

@@carywest9256 I'm familiar with that old Texas saying: Fool me once... shame on... shame on you? You fool me, I won't get fooled again.

[@carywest9256]

@@Trav_Can So are you from The Lone Star State?

[@adrian_21055]

​​@@carywest9256exactly. Starts just west of down town ft worth. Where comacheria started

[@arailway8809]

Great work, Doorus.

[@BenSHammonds]

good program, William Becknell is buried not far from me on west side of Clarksville TX here in northeast TX, Davy Crockett was at his place and visited him for a time on his way into Texas on Dec 1835

[@TheMewiya]

Raton is pronounced "Ra.tone". Bents Fort area is about a hundred miles from the nearest mountain, altho Pikes Peak can be seen to the west depending on viewing point.

[@tpe54]

I followed a large portion of the Santa Fe Trail [RT #50] on a bicycle tour from Buffalo New York to Santa Fe NM. It made me reflect on the perils they went thru. In Kearney County KN they have a stop off where you can see part of the wagon wheel ruts.

[@doorusthewalrus6903]

Epic!

[@Garydigsit]

thats awesome I subbed ya, good job my friend

[@swhip897]

Glad you covered this. I always hear about the Oregon.✌

[@doorusthewalrus6903]

I'm doing a series on the westward leading trails. Santa Fe, Oregon, Mormon, California are done (need to re-edit the Oregon one). A new video on the Gila Trail will be out in a couple days.

[@StevenDietrich-k2w]

According to all of the pronunciation guides that I checked on the internet, they pronouce it as rah-tone, not ratton. Other than that small point, I really enjoyed your summary of the Santa Fe trail.

[@californiadreamin8423]

From across the pond, really enjoyed this video. Now where did I put my fiddle so I can play Arkansas Traveller !!

[@STho205]

Great job

[@Eggo_waffles123]

good job

[@Sandbarfight]

Thank you

[@TheresaLawrence-wx4mq]

Good video ! The pronunciation of Raton Pass is Rah - tone with a long O .

[@GeographyCzar]

It always boggles my mind that there's no Kansas City (neither of them, actually) on these old maps. So, Kansas City didn't exist 200 years ago, but there was all this activity and many small towns scattered about the region! A history of where Kansas City came from would be interesting...

[@monstersdad67]

West Port was KC

[@pietkonijn5522]

I read somewhere that the Chouteau's from St. Louis were the first to journey towards Santa Fé ? (Chouteau's Island in the Arkansas were they held of a force of Arapaho)

[@gstlb]

If there are any plant enthusiasts here who have seen small flowering plants named xxxxx greggii in your local nursery, those are named for this Josiah Gregg, who made notes about the plants he came across in his wanderings. There are maybe a couple dozen such plants.

[@robertgiles9124]

In the very first drawing; the Ox Horns were sharp as spikes. Would they not have cut those down some or filed them just for safety? Seems working close to these animals might lead to dangerous opportunities.

[@LearnwithJanice]

Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸

[@dorianwolf2198]

Goodbye 😮

[@rockinbeck881]

What source did you use for the sketch of William Becknell? How do you know it's a sketch of him?

[@nobonespurs]

Overall a great video - 1 drove over Raton pass (rah-tone as others said) at 7,800 ft is little higher than Monument hill to Denver) 2 images dont match dialogue. .

[@allenantonio4389]

👍👍👍

[@mfriestad]

Raton = Rah-tone

[@nobonespurs]

roll your Rs

[@howardmunro5464]

May well have been easier routes than the Hastings Cutoff or the Routes through Donner Pass.

[@williamcrawford7982]

The west that would depend on the year,and where you were,ie new Jersey then Pennsylvania?,Pennsylvania then Ohio, Ohio then Illinois, just saying.

[@doorusthewalrus6903]

Very true. My preference for the beginning of the American "west" is the 100th Meridian, where the Great Plains begin.

[@tomgrimes8379]

Rat-TONE Pass and Ar-KANSAS River.

[@jamescrawford988]

Raton pass NM is Spanish, Pronounced rat tone

[@nobonespurs]

no - its rah-tone with the R rolled

[@skye7690]

Suggest check how to pronounce location words correctly. Taos, Raton Pass etc.

[@chicagogyrl4846]

Too many ads! I can’t listen.

[@GeraldMiller-mp8fc]

There never was a railroad in Santa Fe.

[@doorusthewalrus6903]

I believe it's called the Atchinson, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad.

[@GeraldMiller-mp8fc]

@@doorusthewalrus6903 It is called this but ever went to Santa Fe

[@Cquoya]

Bullwacker,Lol