Tom Sutak – Traveling to the Gold Fields Along the Southern Route

Description

Tom Sutak is a retired criminologist and business executive who has been investigating historic western trails for almost two decades. He is the author of Into the Jaws of Hell, a book that discusses the travels and adventures of Jefferson Hunt, who pioneered wagon travel to California through New Mexico and over the Southern Route and also along the southern section of the Old Spanish Trail/Mormon Road.

In addition, Tom has written several journal articles and has given presentations to many groups including OCTA, the Old Spanish Trail Association, Death Valley History Conferences, the Mormon History Association, and several state and local historical societies.

In 1849, 20,000 gold-seekers hoping to find wealth in the goldfields of California traveled through New Mexico on their way West. Unfortunately, much of the historical record has focused on the California Trail (the Northern or Humboldt River Route) and the 40,000 travelers who went that way. Little attention has been paid to the many routes and thousands of people who traveled through New Mexico. Sutak will discuss Gold Rush travel through New Mexico and will present evidence that these routes were much more heavily traveled than many people acknowledge.