By Mark Henderson and Rachel Preston Prinz
Historic
Narrative specific to the “Apodaca Trail”
The “Apodaca
Trail” on the Cañada de Apodaca drainage has been documented as part of the “North
Branch” of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail (Kessler, 1998; Nelson,
2003; Colville, 1996; Hafen & Hafen, 1993). The only known historical
accounts which specifically document the trail connecting Taos
to Santa Fe during the Old Spanish Trail period
of significance of 1829-1848 are related to the Insurrection Against the
Military Government in New Mexico
(McNierney, 1980). The first treatment of historic roads and trails into Taos was prepared by Helen
Blumenschein in 1968. John Ramsay has prepared two manuscripts reporting
fieldwork tracing the “winter route” or “Apodaca Trail” between Velarde and
Pilar [Ramsay, Bennett, Dickson, & Ramsay, 2002; Bennett, Dickson, Ramsay,
& Ramsay, no date]. Corky Hawk has reported on trail traces between Taos south to Pilar and
Picuris.
Mexican
Territorial (1821-1845) and early American Territorial (1846- 1875) Commerce
At the time of
Mexican Independence, the frontier trade center and commercial functions at
Taos Pueblo were being supplanted by commercial trapping, particularly for
beaver pelts harvested from the Great Basin by Spanish, English and French
speaking entrepreneurs based in the agrarian settlements in the Taos Valley.
The pre-Columbian aboriginal network of footpaths had been reorganized to
accommodate draftdraft animals including both horses and mules and for
transport of commercial items produced in new settlements based on European-style
market economies. The nature and quantity of the commodities being transported,
the centers of production (supply), the locales of consumption (demand) and the
technology for transport required different vernacular “design criteria” for
the “pack trail” and “livestock driveway” transportation technology. The Cañada
de Apodaca trail was known as a particularly difficult obstacle situated
between the impassable Rio Grande Gorge and the rugged Picuris range in the
connection between Taos on the northern frontier
and the core settlements and governmental administration at Santa Fe in the Mexican Territorial Period.
The agrarian settlement of the Taos Valley by Europeans and their mixed-lineage descendants was accelerated through the quelling of mounted Comanche and Navajo raids on the Taos trade center. The primary link from the Taos Valley to the agrarian settlements and central government services to the south was realigned from the foot trails from Picuris to the Taos Valley to a mule, donkey and horse pack trail through “El Embudo” (the funnel) on through the rugged topography on the west flank of the Picuris Range, but avoiding the impassable lava breakdown in the westward Rio Grande gorge. This route, not traversable by wagon, had been established as the “Camino Real” (Thomas 1932:139) for military purposes by Governor Anza in 1779, but by the first quarter of the 19th century had become the major, albeit challenging, route of transport for people and commercial products between the Taos Valley settlements and the core area of Mexican settlement in the Rio Grande Valley to the south. The nature of the landscape, substantially unaltered by modern intrusions, including segments of pack trail mostly unused since the last quarter of the 19th century as well as improved wagon grades, can still be observed in the dissected drainage of the Cañada de Apodaca.
Evolution of the Cañada de Apodaca Cultural
Landscape
Historical
Descriptions of the Cañada de Apodaca Pack Trail, Landscape and Conditions
Spanish Colonial Pack Trails and Commerce
(1541-1820)
1694 De Vargas. The next known
record of Colonial travel to Taos
on what is now designated as the North Branch of the Old Spanish Trail is
DeVargas’ reconquest expedition of 1694. De Vargas apparently traveled to Taos via Picuris on the
“High Road” (Kessler 1998:21).
1705 Madrid. In 1705, Roque Madrid was ordered by
interim New Mexico Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdez to lead a military
expedition against the Navajos. Madrid led a
force of 100 soldiers and militia with 300 Pueblo
auxiliaries into the contemporary core of Eastern Navajo territory in the
vicinity of Carracas (Hendricks and Wilson 1996), what would later become the
major ford of the San Juan River of the road to California, now designated as the Main
Branch of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.
Madrid’s account for
the vicinity of Picuris follows (Hendricks and Wilson 1996:13-15):
On 1 August of
said year [1705], I left the banks of the river [Rio del Norte
near Embudo] for the Pueblo of Picuris.
On the second
day of said month and year, I set off, marching with my company, struggling
through a land of very difficult terrain because of the many rocks and woods.
Arriving at a spring called La Cieneguilla [modern Pilar],
On the third of
said month and year, my company departed, traveling with much greater
difficulty up the gorge in a northerly direction, to a point where it was
necessary for all the mounted squadron to dismount. This was in order to lead
the horses through the difficult terrain and because of the steepness of the
climb. I continued in the direction of the campsite called Piedra del Carnero [modern Tres
Piedras]. I halted there and set up my
camp, at a distance of ten leagues from the river gorge.
Madrid’s account
provides insights into conditions in El Embudo and the Taos Valley.
Picuris Pueblo and Taos Pueblo are inferred to be the gateway settlements on
the northern frontier. Madrid
returns from his Navajo campaign via the western frontier settlement of Zia
Pueblo.
1776 Dominguez. The Catholic
Friar, Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, who later in 1776 made an attempt to
establish a route from New Mexico to the
Missions of California, earlier that same year conducted an inspection of the
missions of New Mexico including Taos and Picuris.
Dominguez, in his usual careful fashion, describes the routes to the Missions
of Picuris and Taos
in some detail (Adams and Chavez 1975:101-102):
San
Jerónimo de Taos. Going north
from Picuris across the sierra to the north of the pueblo there are about 4
leagues of rough going [Camino Medio a Picuris] before one comes out on a very beautiful plain. Three leagues’ journey
along this (which make 7) bring one to the pueblo and mission of San Jerónimo
de Taos, which is near the nook where two sierras meet. I shall describe its
location better later. There are two roads [to Taos
from Santa Fe] just as there are from the capital to
Picuris, and likewise two distances depending on the road used. And so, going
from Santa Fe straight along the sierra by the first route to Picuris which I
mentioned, the distance from the said villa to Taos will be about 22 leagues
(according to the number of leagues noted). By the lower road through San Juan and Embudo,
taking the cañada named Apodaca I mentioned in my account of the latter, the
distance will be 25 to 30 leagues because of the frequent bends in the road. In
relation to Santa Fe, Taos lies to the northeast in latitude 37° plus minutes
north, longitude 271° 40’.
The
Dominguez visitation is particularly revealing regarding the Embudo area, whose
settlers were attached to the Mission at San Juan (Adams and
Chavez 1975:91):
Embudo is 5
leagues to the east-northeast in relation to the mission [at San Juan]. Three leagues to beyond Moya [La
Joya, modern Velarde] are flat, and 2 are
uneven, turning eastward [to Embudo
Pass]. The Rio
del Norte does not reach this Embudo, as the great bend described shows. It is
in a beautiful cañada that comes from the Sierra Madre in the east and runs
west for nearly 3 leagues where it ends in mesas at the Río Grande Canyon.
I should like to fly, but I cannot hasten over the dullness of this place, for
although I entered quickly as in a Funnel, I do and will come out slowly
through the little canyon that goes to Picuris.
This place is
not entirely populated by settlers, but somewhat less than half. They live in
the lower part. The remainder up above belongs to the Indians of the pueblo I
have just mentioned [Picuris]. The boundary line is a twist of the river
that runs from east to west (this river is that of Picuris which comes here
after it has been joined by others as we shall see there) and enters the Río
del Norte far downstream. It comes through the cañada above, providing the
Indians with good arable land on both banks. Below the mid-point it makes a
very short turn to the north, and then, returning to its natural course, flows
almost at the foot of some hills that are south of it. Therefore the settlers
do not have many lands on this bank, but it does leave them more on the other
side.
These lands are
especially good and are irrigated by the said river, which at this point must
be considered quite abundant with good crystalline water, and every crop yields
a plentiful harvest... On the north bank toward the middle of the cañada
belonging to this place a wide cañada, called the Cañada de Apodaca, opens, and
the best highway leads through it to Taos.
The route to Picuris is to the east above the cañada in which Embudo lies.
Much
of Dominguez’ description of the Embudo
Valley settlements and
orchards applies today. What is different is the route of the main road to Taos.
Mexican Territorial Pack Trails, Livestock Driveways
and Commerce (1821-1848)
With
Mexican Independence, Taos
had become the primary northwestern frontier settlement and port of exchange
for. Taos was the knowledge center for
multi-national guides, packers and outfitters and a burgeoning grain alcohol
distilling industry: it was far enough from government scrutiny to avoid easy
enforcement of taxes and permit requirements, but close enough to negotiate
business arrangements with Santa Fe
entrepreneurs.
Many of the individuals important in the
commerce on the Old Spanish Trail (including Kit Carson, Antoine Robidoux,
Isaac Slover, and William Workman) were expatriate businessmen who built on the
business and family friendly policies of the Mexican government in Taos and
Santa Fe as trappers. There are few written accounts authored by these
independent businessmen, resulting in an absence of specific trail and trade
conditions. The accounts that do exist tend to emphasize the incidents of
travel when the route was not well established and exploration resulted in
particular danger and not the daily routine of travelling established routes.
In
the winter of 1847, George A. F. Ruxton, who had a lifelong passion for the
indigenous people of north America from reading the Leatherstocking Tales of
James Fenimore Cooper and who had been a military hero in several nations, left
military service and embarked upon a voyage to explore the frontier territory
in what is now New Mexico and Colorado. He describes his trip from Santa Fe to Taos,
which, by his description, was almost certainly following the Cañada de Apodaca
trail (1847:197-199).
The next day,
passing the miserable village of La Cañada [eastern portion of present day
Española], and the Indian Pueblo of San Juan, both situated in a wretched,
sterile-looking country, we reached El Embudo – the funnel – where I put up in
the house of a Canadian trapper, who had taken to himself a Mexican wife, and
was ending his days as a quiet ranchero. He appeared to have forgotten the
plenty of the mountains, for his pretty daughter set before us for supper a
plate containing six small pieces of fat pork, like dice, floating in a sea of
grease, hot and red with chile colorado.
We crossed, next
day, a range of mountains covered with pine and cedar; on the latter grew great
quantities of mistletoe, and the contrast of its bright green and the somber
hue of the cedars was very striking. The snow was melting on the ascent, which
was exposed to the sun, and made the road exceedingly slippery and tiring to
the animals. On reaching the summit a fine prospect presented itself. The Rocky Mountains, stretching away on each side of me, here
divided into several branches, whose isolated peaks stood out in bold relief
against the clear, cold sky. Valleys and plains lay between them, through which
the river wound its way in deep cañons. In the distance was the snowy summit of
the Sierra Nevada, bright with the rays of the setting sun, and at my feet lay
the smiling vale of Taos,
with its numerous villages and the curiously constructed pueblos of the
Indians. Snow-covered mountains surrounded it, whose ridges were flooded with
light, while the valley was almost shrouded in gloom and darkness.
On descending I
was obliged to dismount and lead my horse, whose feet, balled with snow, were
continually slipping from under him. After sunset the cold was intense, and,
wading through the snow, my moccassins became frozen, so that I was obliged to
travel quickly to prevent my feet from being frostbitten. It was quite dark
when I reached the plain, and the night so obscure that the track was perfectly
hidden, and my only guide was the distant lights of the villages. Coming to a
frozen brook, the mules refused to cross the ice, and I spent an hour in
fruitless attempts to induce them. I could find nothing at hand with which to
break the ice, and at length, half frozen, was obliged to turn back and retrace
my steps to a rancho, which the Indian boy who was my guide said was about a
mile distant. This I at length reached, though not before one of my feet was
frost-bitten, and my hands so completely numbed by excessive cold that I was
unable to unpack the mule when I got in. To protect the poor animals from the
cold, as there was no stable to place them in, I devoted the whole of my
bedding to cover them, reserving to myself only a serape, which, however, by
the side of a blazing wood fire, was sufficient to keep me warm. The good lady
of the house sent me a huge bowl of atole as I was engaged in clothing the
animals, which I offered to Panchito as soon as the messenger’s back was
turned, and he swallowed it, boiling hot as it was, with great gusto.
The next
morning, with the assistance of some rancheros, I crossed the stream, arrived
at Fernandez, which is the most considerable village in the valley.
Ruxton
continues on to describe the setting and economy, most notably the several
distilleries mostly owned by “Americans, who are generally trappers and
hunters, who have married Taos
women” [Ruxton 1847:201]) just prior to the “Taos Rebellion” of 1847.
Early
US Territorial Wagon Roads, Livestock Driveways and Commerce (1849-1875)
Related to Transportation between Santa Fe and Taos?
One
historical description (W.W.H. Davis, March 1856[?]) of the main pack route
between Santa Fe and Taos (75 miles) bears quoting at length.
Davis, a decorated officer from the Mexican War, had been appointed to the New Mexico Territory as US Attorney. As part of his
work and with a great curiosity about the territory and its people, he traveled
around the state, keeping a prolific diary. During his travels, he documented
one trip to Taos from Santa Fe. He noted, in great detail, his trip
from Santa Fe to Los Luceros, which took one day’s journey, referred to
hereafter as a ‘jornada’ and then, his travels from Los Luceros to Taos in a
second ‘jornada.’ We pick Davis
up in Los Luceros:
We were in the
saddle betimes the next morning and on the road to Taos, yet forty miles distant. We continued
up the valley for six or eight miles, when the road inclines to the right to
pass the mountains, while the river turns to the left and is soon lost from
view. The wagon-road winds round through the depressions in the mountains,
while the river turns to the left and is soon lost from view. The wagon-road
winds round through the depressions in the mountains, while the bridle-path,
which we followed, leads in a more distant route over some of the highest
peaks. The first four miles of the way was through a little valley, until we
arrived at the village of El Embudo [now Dixon],
when we commenced the ascent in earnest, here steep and difficult. The distance
across is about six miles by a single mule-path; and, in many parts of the way,
a slip of two or three feet would send the unfortunate wight tumbling headlong
hundreds of feet below. The path is winding in its course, and in some places
too steep for the rider to keep to the saddle.
From the summit
of the peak we crossed the view is neither romantic nor picturesque, but dreary
and forbidding in the extreme. All around lie piled rugged mountains, then
covered with snow, and the wind howled in dismal and piercing blasts through
the dwarf pines. We found the descent much more difficult than the ascent, the
path being filled with ice, and very slippery; and not feeling safe in the
saddle, we dismounted, and led our horses down the slope. We reached the valley
below in safety, and halted to lunch on the bank of a small stream that flows
through it [Rio Cieneguilla?].
As we descended
the mountain we had an extensive view to the north, and could plainly see the
white houses of Taos, nearly twenty miles
distant [vicinity of current highway pullout at “Rio Vista”
benchmark].
After
several days in Taos attending Court duties, a fandango and a visit to Taos Pueblo to
observe administration of small pox vaccinations, Davis returned to Los Luceros over the same
route describing the trip as follows (319-321):
The governor and
myself started off in advance of the balance of the party, who were not yet
ready to leave town. We missed our way riding out of Taos, and for more than an hour were
wandering through the valley, crossing arroyo after arroyo, and uncertain in
what direction to turn, when at last we struck the main road, and journeyed on
without interruption. We were soon overtaken by three Mexicans, who traveled
with us, whose accession was quite welcome, in as much as the road was
considered dangerous, being within the track of the Jicarilla Apache Indians.
We lunched beside the same stream, near La Cieneguilla, and then commenced the
passage of the mountains. We found the road less difficult than before. The
weather had moderated meanwhile, and thawed away much of the ice and snow; we
made the ascent without difficulty, and by the middle of the afternoon had
safely descended into the valley
of El Embudo. The day was
more propitious than before, and as we crossed ridge after ridge, we caught
sight of some views among the distant peaks not altogether unpleasing. Looking
to the southwest, we had occasional glimpses of the Del Norte, like a small
thread of silver glittering in the sun and winding its lone course through
narrow openings in the mountains.
I had better
opportunity on my return trip to notice more particularly the mountains, and
amid the almost universal desolation that presented itself, I saw some things
that were very interesting. They exhibit many signs of having, in past time,
undergone great changes. In some places there are the remains of large craters
of extinct volcanos, with scoria and lava lying round about; at other points
were strong indications of eruptions, where the primary formations had been
thrown up upon the surface. At one place clay slate – an early formation – had
been disrupted, and the strata now lie at every possible angle to the horizon.
Some of the highest peaks are covered with boulders great and small, besides
other water-washed stones, which indicate a previous submergence, or else these
stones were cast up by volcanic action from a lake beneath. Here is a rich and
interesting field for the skillful geologist, and as yet wholy unexplored.
In the immediate
vicinity of El Embudo [modern Dixon]
there are found some curious sandstone formations, caused by the action of the
rain and atmosphere, and similar to those near La Cañada. On the right of the valley,
passing south, stands a natural sandstone pillar, near a high ledge of the same
material. It appeared about forty feet in height, circular, at least six in
diameter, and from the road resembled a piece of chiseled work. The main ledge
has been worn away at least fifty feet from the pillar, and there it stands,
solitary and alone, like a giant sentinel watching over the destiny of the
quiet little valley that spreads around. From this point the road runs through
deep arroyos some two or three miles until you arrive at the little turn of La
Hola [modern Embudo], at the head of the valley of the Del Norte. Here this
stream, one of the longest in America, is not much larger than a bubbling
brook, and is clear as crystal, and not until it has flowed more than a hundred
miles through loose and rich soil does it assume that thick, muddy appearance,
which makes it distinguished above all other rivers on the continent.
US
Territorial Wagon Roads and Commerce (1876- 1880)
In
1876 Lieutenant George Ruffner of the US Army Corps of Engineers describes the
situation of the Embudo [Dixon]
to Cieneguilla [Pilar] section of the road as follows:
Taos to Santa Fe´. Between Taos
and Santa Fe´ there formerly existed a very disagreeable passage by a steep and
bad road over a mountain spur reaching from the main chain to the cañon of the Rio Grande. Freight,
except such as could be carried by burros, was almost prohibited.
Now, however,
through the munificence of the General Government, a new road has been
constructed down the cañon of the Rio Grande, and a level route, straighter
than either of the old roads, can accommodate all possible travel. (1876:9)
The
Railroad and Reorganization of the Commercial Network (1881- 1940)
The
wagon road network for long distance commerce was reorganized with the building
of the railroad along the west side of the Rio Grande gorge, dropping into
“Embudo Station” and on to Española by the last day of 1880 (Myrick 1970:96).
Local
Commercial Activities, the Commons, Wage Work and Getting Products to Market in
the Twentieth Century (Highways and County Roads)
El
Embudo Land Grant map:. Though undated, the map postdates the construction of
the Military Road
along the Rio Grande
in 1876, which it indicates, and apparently pre-dates the coming of the
railroad in 1881, which is not indicated. This map distinguishes between
trails, which it notes with dashed lines, and wagon roads which it notes with
double lines. The map clearly marks the “Old Santa Fe and Taos” road travelling up the unlabeled Cañada
de Apodaca.