American Caravan - Alice Anne Thompson, Ph.D.

American Caravan is a true history of one of the last great wagon trains to cross the old Santa Fe Trail during the post Civil War era, written in the tradition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

"The tragic tale of the death and burial of 19-year old Mary Alphonsa Thompson, Sister of Loretto, on the Santa Fe Trail in present western Kansas in the summer of 1867 is one of the greatest mysteries as well as one of the most touching human interest stories in the six-decade history of that famous route of commerce and conquest between the Missouri River valley and New Mexico.  This is a story that has waited nearly a century and a half for someone to present to the public with all the componets described."
Leo E. Oliva, PhD.

1. The members of Bishop Lamy's 1867 caravan started their overland journey from Leavenworth, Kansas on June 14. While in Leavenworth
they were housed in the hospital and school buildings to the left of the cathedral, shown during construction. Alexander Gardner Collection KSHS.

2. Lamy's caravan made a brief stop at St. Mary mission complex along the Kansas River on the Military Road from Leavenworth to Fort
Riley. The mission served the Potawatomi Indians of Eastern Kansas. Note the tracks of the Kansas Pacific RR on the left. Alexander
Gardner Collection KSHS.

3. A group of Potawatomi Indians at the St. Mary's Mission. The Potawatomi Indians were the first American Indians whom the caravan
members encountered during their two month overland journey during the summer of 1867.  Alexander Gardner Collection KSHS.

4.The Big Blue River landing leading to the main street at Manhattan Kansas. In 1867 the village was a booming mercantile center for the
farmers of Eastern Kansas. Note the wagon ruts leading from the river. Alexander Gardner Collection KSHS.

5. This lithograph by Mills Engraving of Denver shows the line of march for a large wagon train. Scouts and caravan captains ride in advance
of the four columns. Courtesy of New Mexico Museum of History, neg. #87450.

6. A rare photograph from 1895 shows the width of the Arkansas River at Garden City in Finney County before damming altered the natural
flow of water. The view is from the south bank looking north. In 1867 Lamy's caravan followed the north bank of the river from central
Kansas to Las Animas Colorado. Courtesy Finney County Historical Society.

7. "Lost Springs", a rendezvous site along the eastern section of the Santa Fe Trail in Marion  County, Kansas

8. Storm clouds move across the vast plains of McPherson County, Kansas, where Santa Fe Trail wagon wheel  ruts are still visible.

9. In the vicinity of the Cimarron Crossing of the Arkansas River, approximately twenty-five miles west of Dodge City, Kansas.

10. A limestone post marks the location of the "Mountain Route" of the Santa Fe Trail, north of Trinidad, Colorado.

11. "Point of Rocks" a geological marker along the Santa Fe Trail in Finney County, Kansas.

12. Railroad tracks constructed over old Santa Fe Trail in Finney County, Kansas.

Photos