On the Santa Fe Trail , a collection of first-hand accounts by nineteenth-century overlanders, offers an intensely personal view of that arduous trip. In retrospect, the history of the Santa Fe Trail--crossing forests, prairies, rivers, and deserts--seems overlayed with the gloss...
'One of the great strengths of this collection is its diversity; included are writings by an army major, Indian agent, German immigrant woman, and a New Mexican drover.... These travelers offer a wide and enlightening range of perspectives regarding the demanding conditions of...