Richard Melzer – Children on the Santa Fe Trail

Description

Richard Melzer is originally from Oyster Bay, New York (hometown of Teddy Roosevelt) but has lived in New Mexico since 1973. He earned a Ph.D. in History at the University of New Mexico and taught history at the school’s Valencia Campus from 1979 until his retirement last December after 37 years of teaching.

A past two-term president of the Historical Society of New Mexico, Melzer is the author, co-author, or editor of 27 books as well as over a hundred articles and chapters about New Mexico history. Nine of his books have won major book awards. His biography of Captain Maximiliano Luna has just received first place, Arizona/New Mexico Book Award for Best Biography, and second place, International Latino Book Award for Best Biography.

Among the many awards he has received for writing, teaching, and service to his profession, he is most proud of receiving the University of New Mexico’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

Historians have written many studies of the merchants, soldiers, doctors, and even killers that traversed the Santa Fe Trail from its opening in 1821 to its demise in 1880. But, while they are sometimes mentioned in passing, the children who traveled the trail have yet to be studied as a group.

There is a simple explanation for this lack of attention. While there were exceptions, the vast majority of American families who chose to migrate to the West took other trails to their destinations. In contrast, few families headed for New Mexico.

Although few in numbers, children were important, interesting voyagers on the inland sea, better known as the American Great Plains. By studying the experiences of nine young travelers, we can begin to imagine what life was like for the others who have yet to be identified and may remain forever silent.