The Speakers Bureau PDF application can be printed out and filled in by hand and mailed to: The Santa Fe Trail Association, 1349 K-156 Hwy, Larned, KS 67550
Using research and diary entries, A Taste of the Trail tells the story of foods of the trail era and of meals prepared under difficult conditions. From sourdough bread to buffalo liver seasoned with a dash of gall, trail travelers dined on food from three sources--food they brought with them, food hunted or gathered along the way, and food provided by others. Join us as we enjoy a tasting of trail foods and the stories of how the fare was prepared. (Exhibit items, and handouts, will be available.)
Alice can speak on a variety of topics related to the Santa Fe Trail and the American West in the post-Civil War period, and is an authority on the life of Sister Mary Alphonsa Thompson, S.L, a nineteen-year-old missionary teacher who died July 24, 1867, while en route to Santa Fe. Dr. Thompson is the author of the non-fiction work American Caravan, a history of one of the last great wagon trains to cross the American West during the post-Civil War era. She is also the director of a research team focused on locating the burial site of the central character of American Caravan, Sister Mary Alphonsa. Alice has traveled the Santa Fe Trail and the western United States extensively on her research projects.
First-person historical programs on various trail personalities, including:
• “California Joe Milner,” who went down the trail in 1846 with the Army of the West. Joe was also on the plains when the Kansas railheads, Hays and Sheridan, were the terminals of the Santa Fe Trail
• Army of the West and Doniphan's Expedition: an account of the journey down the Trail to Santa Fe as a volunteer soldier.
• Santa Fe trader: a first-person account of a trader on the Trail.
• Indian trader from Bent's Fort: first-person account of employee of George Bent.
• Buffalo Hunter; the hide business and the railroad, cities of Dodge, Granada, etc.
Inez Ross will present dramatic monologues in costume based on the Santa Fe Trail experiences of Marian Russell, who took five trips in covered wagons from Kansas to New Mexico in the 19th century. Marian Russell was an amazing frontier lady who knew Francis Aubry and Kit Carson, married Richard Russell at Fort Union, had nine children, and with him ran the trading post at Tecolote, New Mexico, for five years. Her niche in history is preserved by the book Land of Enchantment, her memoirs which she dictated to her daughter-in-law when she was in her eighties. Her extraordinary memory for details and the emotional descriptions make her book the outstanding non-fiction account of life on the Santa Fe Trail. Inez, as a member of the Santa Fe Trail Association, has studied Trail history first hand by hiking with four women along the entire Santa Fe Trail from Santa Fe to Franklin, Missouri, where the Trail began in 1821. The eight-year treks on the Cimarron Route generated two books: Without A Wagon, the compilation of journal entries and newspaper articles of the expedition, and Perilous Pursuit on the Santa Fe Trail, a humorous novel a la Sherlock Holmes. Both books will be available at the programs. Presentations last from twenty to thirty minutes, followed by time for questions.
Drs. Thierer and Birney offer first-person interpretations of women in a variety of historical venues:
• Santa Fe Trail traveler Julia Archibald Holmes, who climbed Pike's Peak in 1858
• "Grower" of the Earth Lodge People (On Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery)
• Calamity Jane
• Amelia Earhart
• Cattle Tales told by Georgiana Jackson, cattle drover and rancher.
• Rachel Carson, environmental pioneer
• "Settling in the Territory" by Mary Fix
• "Fighting Beside My Brother" Civil War Veteran, JO
John portrays one of the most pivotal figures in the history of the Santa Fe Trail and the American West as one of the Bent brothers in “The Life and Times of William Bent.” William Bent operated Bent’s Fort on the Upper Arkansas from 1833 until 1849. William, along with his brother Charles and Ceran St. Vrain, managed a vast fur trading empire rivaling that of the American Fur Company to the north. Bent’s Fort was the only place of refuge and comfort on the Santa Fe Trail between the settlements of Missouri and the Mexican outposts of Taos and Santa Fe. Most of the famous people of the period passed through Bent’s Fort. William Bent destroyed the adobe fort in 1849, and built Bent’s New Fort downstream. John portrays William Bent as Bent might have reviewed his colorful life in the days before he died. “William Bent” will share stories of his eventful life, including and the successes, failures and frustrations of trying to bring together three diverse cultures. He will also provide some little known facts about Bent’s third wife, Adalina Harvey, and the recent relocation and marking of her grave.
The Gum Springs Serenaders
Carl Anderton
5816 Perry Lane
Merriam, Kansas 66203
(913) 722-3870 andertonj@yahoo.com
“Our program is focused on music of the mid 19th century. We bill ourselves as "music from the front porch of mid-19th century America," so many of the songs we play could have been heard in Territorial Kansas. This includes old minstrel tunes and various traditional tunes dating back to the 18th & 19th century. We dress in period civilian clothing and play on instruments commonly used in that time period (mostly reproductions ex. fiddle, fretless banjo, bones, tambourine, guitar). In addition, we use the playing techniques that musicians of that time period used - this helps recreate that unique sound.”
Using research and diary entries, A Taste of the Trail tells the story of foods of the trail era and of meals prepared under difficult conditions. From sourdough bread to buffalo liver seasoned with a dash of gall, trail travelers dined on food from three sources--food they brought with them, food hunted or gathered along the way, and food provided by others. Join us as we enjoy a tasting of trail foods and the stories of how the fare was prepared. (Exhibit items, and handouts, will be available.)
Leo will speak on most Santa Fe Trail topics of interest to the particular audience.
Inez Ross will present dramatic monologues in costume based on the Santa Fe Trail experiences of Marian Russell, who took five trips in covered wagons from Kansas to New Mexico in the 19th century. Marian Russell was an amazing frontier lady who knew Francis Aubry and Kit Carson, married Richard Russell at Fort Union, had nine children, and with him ran the trading post at Tecolote, New Mexico, for five years. Her niche in history is preserved by the book Land of Enchantment, her memoirs which she dictated to her daughter-in-law when she was in her eighties. Her extraordinary memory for details and the emotional descriptions make her book the outstanding non-fiction account of life on the Santa Fe Trail. Inez, as a member of the Santa Fe Trail Association, has studied Trail history first hand by hiking with four women along the entire Santa Fe Trail from Santa Fe to Franklin, Missouri, where the Trail began in 1821. The eight-year treks on the Cimarron Route generated two books: Without A Wagon, the compilation of journal entries and newspaper articles of the expedition, and Perilous Pursuit on the Santa Fe Trail, a humorous novel a la Sherlock Holmes. Both books will be available at the programs. Presentations last from twenty to thirty minutes, followed by time for questions.
Drs. Thierer and Birney offer first-person interpretations of women in a variety of historical venues: