Talks

The Santa Fe Trail brought change, some of it unwelcome. The Jicarilla Apache resisted, closing the Santa Fe Trail three times cutting New Mexico off from the Union. In the end, they lost the war, becoming the last tribe to have land reserved to them because everyone was afraid to have them nearby. They lost the war but were heroes not victims. Learn their story, their amazing and overwhelming victories against the odds and learn of their trials and defeats. 

They came up from Texas driving cattle to Cochise County, Arizona, where they got paid off and spent their money on wine, women, song, and gambling, totally wasting the rest finding themselves with no way to get back. So, they took to herding other folks’ cattle . . . without permission and then went after stagecoaches. Soon they discovered that three of the largest and wealthiest towns in the West, Tombstone, Bisbee, and Silver City, were prime pickin’s. Take a close look at the outlaws and gunfighters who emerged in droves from southeast Arizona. 

From November 1860, when Lincoln was elected, until the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. The Federal government and the Southwest were in confusion. Officers were resigning from the Army to “Go South,” one taking with him six-months payroll. Other officers were unsure if they wanted to fire on another American or fire the first shot. Indian raiders were not pursued. In this environment the 7th Infantry and seven former Butterfield Overland Mail employees, Union men from the North, found their lives threatened and had to Escape from Mesilla.

Grant Wheeler was a top hand, a rodeo hero, a roper, and a gunfighter who decided to earn retirement cash by robbing trains. With his friend, Joe George, he demonstrated how to blow up an express car inspiring Butch and Sundance. They escaped pursued, on foot, by Sheriff C.S. Fly, you know, the famous photographer. They robbed a second train overlooking the most important part of the job and were pursued by Southern Pacific Railroad detective Billy Breakenridge, you know, from the movie Tombstone, “That’s the prettiest man I ever saw.” This is your chance to learn how retirement worked out for Grant and Joe. 

Learn the history of Arizona from the time the United States took possession in 1856 until 1861 when the disruption of the Civil War caused everyone to leave heading back to the Rio Grande. The story focuses on the confrontation between Lieutenant Bascom and Apache leader Cochise over the return of a stolen boy. The story told in magazines, newspaper articles, Hollywood, and popular histories goes back to one sergeant who made himself the hero although he wasn’t there. Learn what happened from the accounts of eyewitnesses. 

The Last Trail Drive: Empire Ranch to Temecula In 1892, the southwest had been in drought for several years. Cattlemen knew they had to sell their cattle at rock bottom prices or ship them to other range. The Southern Pacific Railroad raised their rates 25% often making even rock bottom sales impossible. The Empire Ranch was the largest outfit in Arizona. Borther Ned had an idea. He’d drive the cattle across the desert to Temecula, California, in the last great cattle drive. This is his story.   

Bill Sublette was a mountain man who has almost as many things named in his honor as Kit Carson. His brothers, too, were mountain men. Unlike Kit, Bill was educated and a businessman who was among those who bought out General Ashley’s Rocky Mountain Fur Company challenging the Astorians, the Hudson Bay Co., and the Blackfoot for dominance of the beaver trade. It wasn’t just men’s hats at stake.

There was water at Doubtful Canyon, and it was on the road used by the Overland Mail and by the Chiricahua Apache. Men were slain and some disappeared. Battles were fought and ceremonies observed. Doubtful Canyon was bloody ground.   

 In 1849 the Jicarilla Apache had been at war with the United States for two years. That year massacred the men of a wagon train and kidnapped a woman and her child. Kidnapping Mexican and Pueblo women was a commonplace, but Mrs. White was an Anglo and a lady, almost the only one in New Mexico. Pursuit came from all directions but it took Kit Carson to find and follow a trail already a month old. This is the historic background to the historical novel, Massacre at Point of Rocks, the real story. 

Author Doug Hocking  grew up among the Jicarilla and can tell their story in a way that few can match.

In 1858, seven men worked at the Dragoon Springs Station of the Overland Mail, colloquially known as the Butterfield Mail. In the night as the men slept, three Mexican employees attacked the other four. They lay wounded and dying for many days in the Arizona sun until relief came. Only Silas St. John, horribly mutilated, survived. The other three lie buried in two cairns along with Silas's arm. In 1862, near Dragoon Springs Cochise attacked a crew of Confederate soldier/herdsmen accompanied by Union prisoners. Union and Confederate fought side by side against Apache. Some of them fell. 

An interactive talk with many questions for young people. Takes the children back to what it was like to live in the first half of the 19thcentury. It addresses the importance of the trail to the United States, the peoples along the trail and their contributions. Looks at the dangers and hardships along the trail. Supported objects to be passed around including Rio Grande blankets, trail food, Indian artifacts, hats, skins. Period weapons – knives, pistols, rifles, tomahawks available when permitted.