Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail

<p>In 1839 a journalist for the <em>New Orleans Picayune</em> Matthew C. Field joined a company of merchants and tourists headed west on the Santa Fe Trail. Leaving Independence Missouri early in July with a few wagons and a carefree spirit Field recorded his vivid impressions of travel westward on the Santa Fe Trail and on the return trip eastward along the Cimarron Route. Written in verse in his journal and in eighty-five articles later published in the <em>Picayune</em> Field's observations offer the modern reader a unique glimpse of life in the settlements of Mexico and on the Santa Fe Trail.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>