Bullwhacker Routes Activity Text

Red Junior Wagon Master Routes patch showing a mountain
The activities for the Bullwhacker Routes Section patch are below. To earn your patch, complete these activities. Use the Junior Wagon Master Story Map to read each site's supporting historical information.

You will need a notepad or extra drawing paper for several activities.

You need to choose whether you will travel the Mountain Route or the Cimarron Route. Activities for both are below.

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MOUNTAIN ROUTE

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Post Script

Reread the booklet’s introduction to this section of the Santa Fe Trail. Now, read the Kansas Historical Marker. There is a mistake on the Kansas Historical Marker. Write home, on your postcard your thoughts and opinions about what you have discovered is the correct version.


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Marker Mathematics

Find the granite DAR Santa Fe Trail marker. Read the marker.

The Santa Fe Trail officially ended in 1880 when the railroad reached Santa Fe.

Why, at this location, is the ending date of the Santa Fe Trail 1872?

a. The Santa Fe Trail ended here in 1872 because...


b. Do the math: For how many years was the Santa Fe Trail used in this location?_



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Madonna of the Trail

Commissioned by Daughters of the American Revolution, this monument at Lamar is one of twelve in the United States honoring pioneer women. This statue represents the difficulties that pioneer women had to face when traveling the Santa Fe Trail and other trails westward. If you have already completed the Central portion of this booklet, you ave seen the Madonna of the Trail in Council Grove.

Write a letter to one of your friends describing the “Madonna of the Trail” statue.



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Bent's Old Fort - Visiting a National Historic Site

Pick up a Bent's Old Fort Junior Ranger booklet. Ask one of the staff members to sign this page. Enjoy your visit to the fort and consider the completion of the Junior Ranger booklet as part of the requirement for the Junior Wagon Master Program.

Signature of Bent's Old Fort staff member:


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Multicultural Town

Pick up tour brochures from the front porch of the Boggs House.

There were three cultures influenced by the Santa Fe Trail: Anglo American, Mexican, and American Indian.

Name at least one person from each culture who lived in Boggsville.


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Toll on the Trail

In 1865, Dick Wooton built and opened a toll road for travelers through the Raton Pass and Wooton Ranch served as a stage station stop. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad purchased Dick Wooton’s ranch in 1878. The railroad was the first one to enter the New Mexico Territory. Go to the Trinidad History Museum complex and to the Santa Fe Trail Museum.

Find the framed record of George McBride and the tolls he recorded on Uncle Dick Wooten’s Toll Road. Fill in the list showing what the charges were for the kind of transportation or produce.

2 horsemen:

1 wagon:

bread:

Mexican blanket:

knife:



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Fort Union - Visiting a National Historic Site

Pick up a Fort Union Junior Ranger booklet. Ask one of the staff members to sign this page. Enjoy your visit to the fort and the Junior Ranger booklet as part of the requirement for the Junior Wagon Master Program.

Signature of Fort Union staff member:


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CIMARRON ROUTE

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Yoked Together

Oxen were the animal of choice for pulling wagons on the Santa Fe Trail. Yokes were vital equipment to guide, control, and steer these hard-working animals.

1. Look for the display of oxen yokes, both Mexican and American. What is the big difference between these two yokes?

The big difference between the two yokes is:


2. If you had to choose, which yoke do you think would work best for the animals and why?


I think the ______________ yoke would be best because:



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Point of View

At Point of Rocks, stand on the point and take a good look around.

Draw the view from the point.

Be sure to include the ruts, Cimarron Breaks, Cimarron River, trees, and any wildlife you may see. If you have drawn any modern-day items (i.e. fences, windmill, power lines, etc.), circle those.



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Camping Under Stars

Walk down to the North Canadian River crossing. Look for a good camp site.

What would you have today that the trail traveler would not have had during Santa Fe Trail days? List some differences.

Santa Fe Trail Camp Site:


Modern-Day Camp Site:



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Trader’s Tombstone

Go to the Santa Clara Cemetery. There you will find the gravestone of freighter-trader Charles Fraker.

1. Draw his stone and fill it in with the name and dates.

2. Figure out how long Fraker lived.

3. Was this a long time to live back then? Why?



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National Announcement

On the plaza, find the tall petrified log.

The wooden marker attached to it quotes Kearny’s speech to the people of Las Vegas.

Read the first paragraph of the speech and fill in the blanks.

Mr. Alcalde, and people of New Mexico…I have come amongst you by the orders of my _______________, to take _______________ of your country, and extend over it the laws of the _______________. We consider it, and have done so for some time, a part of the _______________ of the United States. We come amongst you as _______________ — not as _______________; as _______________ — not as _______________. We come among you for your _______________ — not for your _______________.


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Last updated: February 8, 2019

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