In 1839 a journalist for the New Orleans Picayune, 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 Picayune, Field's observations offer the modern reader a unique glimpse of life in the settlements of Mexico and on the Santa Fe Trail.
- ISBN13 9780806127163
- Publish Date 15 April 1995 (first published December 1960)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Oklahoma Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 368
- Language English