Santa Fe Trail Research Paper

Frontiersmen have existed throughout America’s history. According to Turner’s hypothesis, they push forwards for civilization and have shaped America. The stories All the Pretty Horses, The Gift of Cochise, and The Martian are all works of frontier literature. Each in their own way show frontiersmen during different times in America’s history with characters that interact with their respective frontiers in different ways. Through these three books one can see how the core interactions between frontiersmen and the frontiers call out the qualities of frontiersmen stated in Turner’s frontier hypothesis.

The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 is one of the most monumental land purchases in United States history. In basic terms, the Gadsden Purchase was an area of land that was acquired by the United States from Mexico in order to build a railway for the transportation of goods in the South from East to West in order to fulfill Manifest Destiny. Throughout this paper, I hope to accurately navigate through the events prior to the Gadsden Purchase as well as the early life of James Gadsden. Although many topics relate to the purchase itself, I will offer a historical view into Gadsden’s life before, after, and during the purchase as well as a more in depth look into the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. I shall also touch base on why the land was so

A Voyage Long And Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America

Over time, transportation has shown to have an incredible impact on the United States. It has revealed to bring about economic and social changes in various ways. In the late eighteenth century ancient methods of traveling were still in use in America and it was often very slow. Americans were aware that if transportation advancement occurred, it would potentially increase foreign trade, increase land values as well as strengthen the American economy. In the mid 1800s it has been determined that transportation advancement has a drastic effect on our

Beginning with the southern Chesapeake colonies, the regions of North America were classified by their founding nation and structure. Several sects from all over Europe made North America their home throughout the 17th century. After facing prosecution in England, the Puritans and Separatists traveled to the New World’s northeast aiming to establish religiously tolerant settlements, whereas the Spanish Conquistadors explored the “West Indies” with hopes to exploit the Southwest’s piñata of expensive metals and non-Christian natives. Both groups shared the goal of a new world; however, New Englanders and the Spanish Conquistadores’ differed fundamentally in their initial motivation to explore the foreign paradise. Each group’s initial motivation

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca is best known as the first Spaniard to explore what we now consider to be southwestern United States. His nine-year odyssey is chronicled within the book The Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition. His account is considered especially interesting because it is one of the very first documents that illustrates interactions between American natives and explorers. However, when examining the exploration of the modern United States, there are many arguments that have to do with the entitlement to the land and the motivations behind settling in the first place. Most explorers were obviously in favor of their own conquests and Cabeza de Vaca is of course no exception. In Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition, Cabeza de

In this paper, I will be summarizing the following chapters: Chapter 3: "A Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest”; Chapter 4: “Remember the Alamo: The Colonization of Texas”; and Chapter 5: “Freedom in a Cage: The Colonization of New Mexico. All three chapters are from the book, “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuna. In chapter three, Acuna explains the causes of the war between Mexico and North America. In chapter four, Acuna explains the colonization of Texas and how Mexicans migrated from Mexico to Texas. In chapter five, Acuna explains the colonization of New Mexico and the economic changes that the people had to go through.

The Frontier Thesis may play a heavy part in U.S. history, but there are implications for truly understanding the outlines of this thesis. Fredrick Jackson Tuner during a great meeting of American Historical Association on July 12th, 1893 in Chicago, a paper named “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” This paper introduced an innovative way of astonishment to understanding the construction of America. Turner envisioned that the history of America was not focused one the prominence of the Frontier and the America established many trades and accomplishments from this voyage. Such as Tuner laid out the foundation of his thesis, he also didn’t account for the flaws that were overlooked from his discernment of the Frontier. (Tuner, pg. 1-9)

In Harvest of Empire’s “Mexicans: Pioneers of a Different Type” Juan Gonzalez outlines how Mexican descendants contributed to U.S. prosperity and culture. Gonzalez’s assertion is that the Mexicans and their culture have been in the United States long before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the establishment of settlements and trade along the Rio Grande by Mexican pioneers, and the important factor Mexican-American workforce had in the nation. He supports his argument using historical records, individual’s stories and local papers. Respectively, Gonzales provides information that Mexicans greatly affected the economic uprising and culture of United States across the border.

The Omaha Chief Big Elk commented on the effect of the white migration to the West across the Overland Trails while visiting Washington D.C. He stated eloquently, “there is a coming flood which will soon reach us, and I advise you to prepare for it.” An estimated 500,000 people made the journey West to California and the Willamette Valley between the years 1840 – 1870. However, much like the first rains in a wet season, benefits were found in the first storm of white emigrants heading west. Native people were able to cooperate with white emigrants and benefit from trading with them. But the storms continued, emigrants as plentiful as rain drops came through the Indian lands and eventually, the prophecy of a great flood Chief Big Elk spoke of came true. Overtime, whites used up the limited resources of the plains tribes, depended on one another instead of Indians for help, and used force rather than compromise to clear the way for the expansion of the West.

Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso 1880-1920 analyzes and discusses the Mexican immigrants to El Paso, Texas. The most western city of the vast state of Texas, a city in the edge of the Chihuahuan desert; a place too far away from many regions of the United States, but as Mario García explains a very important city during the development of the western United States. He begins explaining how El Paso’s proximity to different railroads coming from México and the United States converged there, which allowed El Paso to become an “instant city”, as mining, smelting, and ranching came to region. (García 2)

In an attempt to answer these questions, Horwitz embarks on a voyage. As he retraces the footsteps of the early European explorers and settlers, he was surprised to disclose how much history Americans have forgotten, bowdlerized, and commercialized. In Part II of Horwitz’s book, he focuses on the European explorers as they travelled through the Gulf Coast, the Southwest, the South, and the Mississippi regions of the United States. I found Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca’s personal story quite interesting, “Between 1528 and 1536, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca took a cross-country trek that made Lewis and Clark’s expedition, three centuries later, look like a Cub Scout outing by comparison.” He, like many of the other early European explorers, ventured to the New World in search of gold and glory. His efforts proved to be unsuccessful, as numerous obstacles stood in his way. Threats for survival, including the warm climate, the landscape, and shortage of food greatly

The political dangers of the Santa Fe Trails are not unique to a time period; they were however differed in severity only shared across the timeline. Throughout the nineteenth century, the Southwest faced a range of challenges, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which was fought over the disputed boundary of Texas after it was annexed in 1845. The Mexicans and the Native Americans continued to cause problems for political agents in the Southwest. Challenges in the Southwest such as the relations with the Mexicans and Native Americans continued through to The American Civil War, 1861-65. James Silas Calhoun (b.1802) was made Indian Agent in 1851 by President Fillmore. His political history begins in 1825 working within Georgia Legislature, starting as a Democratic he became a Whig in the early 1830’s. He died in Independence Missouri in 1852. James Calhoun’s correspondence illustrates a wide range of circumstances from which the political situation can be deduced. The correspondence covers the period of his time in office: 1849-52. Alongside other contemporary accounts the details of the political situation can be concurred across the timeline, although the situation adapted over the time period of this study. Accounts from Captain William Becknell and William Ryus give further details of the Santa Fe Trail before and after James Calhoun’s correspondence. Becknell and Ryus travelled the Trail in 1821 and 1860 respectively; Becknell was the first one to travel

The New Braunfels region is contemporarily marked by heavy social and trade activity just as it was during its early establishment. The trade trails that crisscross Texas and New Braunfels originated from the dragging of teepee poles by the tribes traversing the area. The new European settlers, the French and Spanish, used and further developed these trails. The journeys around New Braunfels were further enabled by the allowance to travel offered by the existing rivers traversing the area. By allowing the Anglo immigration, Texas opened its land to new settlers who established cities such as New Braunfels. The diverse settlers, including the German’s who founded New Braunfels, provided a new culture and an interesting history about the area. Indeed, the Germans adapted to the existing native cultures of African, Indian, and Mexican decedents. Much has changed since the establishment of New Braunfels. However, the fundamental principles and values laid down by the founders that included family devotion, civic pride, progress, and hard work have endured to the contemporary New Braunfels

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