David Miller – Randolph Marcy: Explorer, Road Builder, and Guide.

Description

In 1849 Captain Randolph Marcy laid out a wagon road from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, via Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.  Several parties of 49ers accompanied  Marcy’s road builders.  After reaching Santa Fe, Marcy realized that he could shorten the route considerably by eliminating the route down the Rio Grande from Santa Fe to southern New Mexico, by laying out a direct route across Texas from Fort Smith to Dona Ana or Las Cruces.  He laid out that route in the fall of 1849.

Marcy also conducted surveys of Texas rivers, and in December, 1857 led an army expedition from Fort Bridger, Wyoming, to Fort Union, New Mexico, crossing over the continental divide along the North Branch of the Old  Spanish Trail.

He published important works on the overland trails, including The Prairie Traveler, a Handbook for Overland Expeditions (1863) and Thirty Years of Army Life on the Border (1866).

David H. Miller holds a Ph.D. in southwestern history from the University of New Mexico. As a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Cologne, he researched archival materials relating to German artists and explorers who visited the American West. Having received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities he researched the first artists to paint scenes of the Grand Canyon for an exhibit at the Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.  He has published books and articles on the fur trade, as well as southwestern exploration and travel.  He has served two terms as president of the Southern Trails chapter of OCTA. He is currently working on a manuscript relating to the use of camels in the Southwest.