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kathleenmom
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| Posted: March 13 2005 at 4:37pm | IP Logged
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All this talk bout the Oregon Trail is intriguing, but does anyone have any suggestions for Rabbit Trails for studying the Santa Fe Trail? We are about to finish Tree in the Trail and I am at a loss for ideas?
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almamater
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Kathleen,
I am sorry, I don't know anything about the Oregon Trail or the Santa Fe Trail (though we did enjoy an outstanding trip to Santa Fe last summer). I was more taken by your daughter's name, Honoria Jane. How beautiful! What was your inspiration for this name and how does it play out in real life?
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MaryM
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OK, I love Santa Fe, the southwest and anything associated with it. Wish you could take a field trip for your rabbit trail. I don't know so much about the Trail per se but think this National Park Service link Santa Fe National Historic Trail has a lot of great information including timelines of the trail, historic figures, photos of the sites along the trail - As does this site Interactive Santa Fe Trail.
If I were doing rabbit trails off of this I would focus on the destination, Santa Fe. An awesome city with a rich Catholic heritage. It's full name is "La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis," or "The Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi." It was shortened to Santa Fe (Holy Faith). I lived in Santa Fe for a few years in junior high. My best friend lived on the Santa Fe Trail. Literally it had become a main street into town and her house was right there on that street.
A really intriguing thing to learn about in Santa Fe is the miraculous staircase in the Chapel of Loretto.
The American Girls series has books for the Josefina doll. Her character lives near Santa Fe in the early 1800s - the early years of the trail. We have done lots of Santa Fe study based on the Josefina Craft Book and the Josepfina's Cookbook
Favorite things to do when studying Santa Fe:
-make adobe bricks
-make tamales
-make tortillas
-tin art(Beginning in the late 1840s, a variety of commercial goods arrived in New Mexico via the Santa Fe Trail. Tin cans were quickly recycled into a number of utilitarian objects by the newest class of artisans in New Mexico, the tinsmiths. New data suggest that the greatest output of tinwork occurred between 1860 and 1890. Tinsmiths' family workshops produced frames, nichos, sconces, crosses, trinket boxes and other objects with beautifully executed surface embellishment reflecting a style unique to New Mexico.) We didn't use real tin when we did this. We got the poster board that is covered with asilver paint or foil and used that. Cut it into frame shapes, crosses, etc. and used leather tool punches to imprint the designs in the "tin."
-straw applique
-painting santos/retablos
A great book for studying the prairies that the Santa Fe Trail passed through is America's Prairies and Grasslands. This company has a great series which includes deserts and mountains as well.
A study of the forts along the trail would also be interesting as would the idea of trading in general. The fort that I am most familiar with is Bent's Old Fort which is right here in Colorado. For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. Build a model of this old adobe fort.
Another idea - Study famous figures that had an association with the trail, like Kit Carson, William and Charles Bent, Wild Bill Hickok.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mary G
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| Posted: March 14 2005 at 6:45am | IP Logged
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There's a great old movie (we got it for $2.50 at Wal-mart on DVD) called Santa Fe Trail -- it's got Ronald Regan, Erroll Flynn, Olivia deHaviland so you know it's old. It starts out with the pre-Civil War trailblazing by the West Point grads and ends with chasing down John Brown at Harper's Ferry -- a great lead in if you want to start Civil War stuff.
Hope this helps 
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guitarnan
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What about Holling C. Holling's book, The Tree in the Trail? I believe that's about the Santa Fe trail as well. I love his books, with their wonderful drawings and little maps and diagrams around the margins of the pages.
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JennGM
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I'm not sure this covers the Sante Fe trail specifically, but there's an excellent book called Never the Golden City by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy. It's out of print  but I found numerous copies for under $5.00 at www.bookfinder.com
It's a great book on her trip to the Southwest, particularly New Mexico. She finds the Catholic/Spanish roots there. She had no clue when she went West that she would find such rich cultural heritage. I think the book might be aimed at middle school reading, but I read it as an adult and loved it.
I had always held some personal "disdain" for the West...saying to myself that there are no roots, no culture, that the majority of people have the frontier attitude, with no respect for roots, traditions, etc. That of course is close-minded, but it wasn't until I read this book that I had some factual ideas of places and culture in the Southwest that made me want to go and see these places. I know there is so beauty in nature out West, but the combination of nature and cultural history is what gets me fired up!
Another tangent: If you haven't found out about this author, that would be an author study in itself. She was a Dominican nun, famous for her scissored paper cuttings, but she was also a prolific writer. I read her Shepherd's Tartan in seventh grade and it made a positive memorable impression. There are some works that are in print, some not.
Some links about her
Sister Mary Jean Dorcy - The Nun With a Scissors - by Dan Paulos
Dan Paulos site, the man who took over her work
I can get my book and get more details if anyone is interested.
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teachingmom
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We have a beautiful picture book that I picked up on our last trip to the Southwest called Lewis and Papa: Adventures on the Santa Fe Trail. I highly recommend it.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Kelly
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Well, there is "The Santa Fe Trail" by Samuel H. Adams for ages 9 to 11 or so. This is a Landmark book and is pretty good. Another one is "The First Book of the Santa Fe Trail" by Marian Place (for about the same age group). Most books about the Westward Expansion will talk about the various trails west and have maps showing their exact routes, as well as general information. Another resource is "Cobblestone" magazine (www.cobblestonepub.com) It has an entire issue dedicated to the Santa Fe Trail (catalog #0382404149).
For Mom, a MUST READ is Willa Cather's wonderful book about Santa Fe, "Death Comes for the Archbishop". It is the real story of Santa Fe's Archbishop Lamy, who came to Santa Fe back during the gun-slingin' days of the Santa Fe Trail. You can still find Archbishop Lamy's statue in front of the cathedral he built in Santa Fe, and visit his small chapel out at the resort built around his old orchard, now called (fittingly) "The Bishop's Lodge". Lamy lived thru exciting times, and was friends with Kit Carson and other notables of Santa Fe Trail days. Although Cather changes his name slightly in the book, the story is all based on historical information about Lamy's life and is superb. I think Cather won a Pulitzer Prize for this book and she deserved it. If it's not my favorite book in the whole world, it's definitely in the top three.
Kelly in FL
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Kelly
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Oops, I forgot to add that an interesting rabbit trail would be to study the life of Kit Carson. A little-known fact about him is that he was a Catholic convert.
Kelly in FL
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JennGM
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Kelly wrote:
| For Mom, a MUST READ is Willa Cather's wonderful book about Santa Fe, Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is the real story of Santa Fe's Archbishop Lamy, who came to Santa Fe back during the gun-slingin' days of the Santa Fe Trail. |
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Oh yes, what a GREAT book!!!   I seem to remember there's a movie on this, but of course, the book is better. Willa Cather does a great job portraying this saintly man. She wasn't Catholic, yet that isn't betrayed in the book. It's a MUST READ. Hmmm...I'd like to pull out my copy again...
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Kelly
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Willa Cather always portrayed Catholics very positively in her books. "Shadows on the Rock", about early Quebec, is one such book. Another is "My Antonia", about settlers in Nebraska.
Kelly in FL (with roots in Nebraska!)
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JennGM
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I forgot to mention if you're visiting Santa Fe, you must visit the Loretto Chapel, home of the Miraculous Staircase. This staircase is attributed to St. Joseph. What's not in the description is that the wood and type of carpentry work can be traced back only to the Middle East and timeline of Jesus' time. My mother visited as a child and it made a huge impression. Unfortunately, it's a privately owned chapel, but it's still open to see!
Guess my above tangent traces back to here. My post for Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy included the link to Dan Paulos site, and he has an article on the staircase!
If you Google miraculous staircase St. Joseph you can find all sorts of stories.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MaryM
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I just read the book,Lewis & Papa: Adventures on the Santa Fe Trail that Irene had recommended. It's a coming of age story set on the trail. Beautifully illustrated, with text portion written like it is on old, torn parchment. Very vivid art work throughout. Includes inset maps showing were they are at the time and a complete map of trail in the front and back cover pages.
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Mary M. in Denver
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momwise
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Another great read for the adults and older kids is At the End of the Santa Fe Trail by Sister Blandina Segal. It's her actual letters to her sister after being sent from the east into Trinidad CO. It's so witty and a quick read. She eventually was transferred to Santa Fe but her order was not the first there.
I have Never the Golden City but haven't read it yet! 
Speaking of Trinidad, there is a great Santa Fe Trail museum there.
Come HolySpirit!
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momwise
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Here's an Interactive Santa Fe Trail site. I haven't had time to check it out yet but I'm bookmarking it. It looks great.
Come Holy Spirit!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Santa Fe Trail Suggestions?
