About Wheels Across the West: History and Legacy of the Santa Fe Trail
"Wheels Across the West: History and Legacy of the Santa Fe Trail" invites listeners on a fun and fact-filled adventure across time and territory to make sense of an oft-overlooked overland trail. Created, written, and narrated by students at the University of Missouri’s Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, Wheels Across the West covers a wide range of topics that intersect with the past and present of the American West: mules, military forts, missionization, Hollywood Westerns, gun culture, living history reenactors, pioneer women, Black cowboys, and so much more. Transporting listeners from Indigenous pathways, to international wagon caravans, to railroads, highways, and modern-day Main Streets, this series reveals how the infrastructure and cultural landscape of the West has been constructed atop foundations laid long ago.
Publisher
Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, University of Missouri
From old-time radio and classic Hollywood Westerns like The Lone Ranger to blockbuster games like Red Dead Redemption, the violence, peril, and romance of the story of the Wild, Wild West has been exaggerated. Modern-day perceptions of the West are rooted in mythology shaped by mass media. In this episode, we examine the impact that radio, TV, film, and video game depictions have had on how the public imagines the history of the American West and the Santa Fe Trail.
Written and narrated by: Greg Pekurney
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Laura Young, Mya Franklin, Zeb Howell, Max Kinney, Grant Pekurney, Kyle
Pekurney, Tracey Besgrove
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate
Bone
30 Apr 2024
Structures of Violence
This episode explores how violence unfolded in Dodge City, Kansas, and other small towns around the Santa Fe Trail during the nineteenth century. The rapid influx of guns, alcohol, and outsiders produced a toxic combination that fueled high homicide rates and gave the West its reputation for lawlessness. However, the mystique of gunslingers and saloon shootouts has distorted our perception of how violent these boomtowns really were.
Written and narrated by: Isaac Yontz
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
25 Apr 2024
Living History and Family Legends
In this episode, we dive deep into how people connect to the past through living history and genealogy. Interviews with Civil War reenactors Ken Irvin and Shane Seley grapple with the work of preserving history and engaging the next generation. Some say living history is a dying field—Ken and Shane beg to differ. By the end of this episode, listeners will better understand the question: What drives us to study our family history?
Written and narrated by: Katelyn Irvin
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Ken Irvin, Shane Seley (Wide Awake Films (https://wideawakefilms.com/))
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
23 Apr 2024
Black Cowboys Along the Santa Fe Trail
In this episode, we delve into the forgotten narratives of Black cowboys along the historic Santa Fe Trail. Through the stories of famous and obscure frontiersmen like James Beckwourth, “Add,” George McJunkin, and Nat Love—and an interview with contemporary horseman and historian Trae Venerable—we shed light on the challenges, resilience, and contributions of Black cowhands. From overcoming societal prejudices to leaving a lasting legacy through archaeological discoveries and autobiographical accounts, these individuals exemplify the rich tapestry of experiences that define the American West.
Written and narrated by: Zoe Wilson
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Trae Venerable (https://www.traevenerable.com/ (https://www.traevenerable.com/))
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
18 Apr 2024
Who is the Western Woman?
Recovering the stories of different types of women in the West reveals a broader spectrum of experiences in nineteenth-century North America than is typically assumed. American women traveling along the Santa Fe Trail enjoyed newfound independence that empowered them to take risks and defy gendered expectations. Hispanic New Mexican women bolstered their presence in the public sphere through courts and social circles. Native Pueblo women increased their power outside of the domestic sphere through engaging in politics. In this episode, we explore the diverse and dynamic identities of the Western Woman.
Written and narrated by: Abigail Ramirez
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Elise Milburn
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with Permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
17 Apr 2024
Trials and Tribulations on the Trail
When we look back on the emblematic historical figures of the Santa Fe Trail, we often think of a merchant traveling to find wealth in Mexico. While the trail was certainly home to such characters, this generalization overlooks the unique motivations that drove men and women to brave the hazards of the overland trails, and how these motivations shaped their roles within their caravans. By necessity, caravans functioned as tight-knit groups during the journey to Santa Fe, but they were not insulated from social divisions. This episode explores these social dynamics as they appeared in moments of hardship along the trail, and how three uniquely situated travelers made the most of their journeys across the West.
Written and narrated by: Elise Milburn
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Abby Ramirez
Archival Material: The State Historical Society of Missouri
Theme Song: Fog Holler (Used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
10 Apr 2024
A Religious Highway
This episode maps out the spiritual landscape of the Santa Fe Trail, exploring the fraught collision between Indigenous religious practices, Catholic missionization, and Anglo-American Protestantism in the Southwest. Forced assimilation and conversion efforts intensified the dispossession and dehumanization of Native peoples, as reflected in the federally sponsored reservation policy and the notorious system of Indian boarding schools.
Written and narrated by: Bobby Lee
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Theme Song: Fog Holler (used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
10 Apr 2024
Cruisin' The Fe
In this episode, listeners are invited on a journey through time and tradition. Exploring the parallels between a beloved 1990s pastime and the historical significance of the Santa Fe Trail, we get a window onto the social dynamics and enduring spirit of adventure that characterize both. Through interviews, personal anecdotes, and historical insights, listeners will uncover the rich mosaic of connections forged along the trail, from ancient indigenous pathways to the bustling trade routes of the nineteenth century to small Kansas towns in the 1990s. Join us as we navigate the intersection of past and present, looking for traces of history along the modern-day streets named after the trail and reflecting on the enduring allure of movement, community, and connection.
Written and narrated by: Lillian Williams
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview Guests: Benedict Rogers, Steve Yarnovich, Luke Ryan, Megan Leahy, Melani Keiper, Steven Hardy, Jay Sexton, Ryan Triggs
Character narrator: Kyle Jackson
Theme Song: Fog Holler (used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
10 Apr 2024
Road of Conquest
This episode focuses on the challenges and complications faced by the US Army to secure the Santa Fe Trail leading up to and during the US-Mexico War (1846-1848). Following along with the insecurities, pressures, and personalities involved, we trace how the trail gradually, then suddenly, transformed from an international trade corridor to a military supply road. It's a story intimately tied in with the violent saga of westward expansion, the US invasion of Mexico, and the series of wars against Indigenous peoples along the route.
Written and narrated by: Mathias Smith
Producer and Engineer: Kyle Jackson
Theme Song: Fog Holler
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
10 Apr 2024
The Missouri Mule: Lodestar of the American West
What made the Missouri Mule such an important part of the state’s history and identity? Solving this riddle takes us back to the very beginning of the Santa Fe Trail, through the heyday of overland freighting, and up to the present-day popularity of trail riding. What Detroit was for the automobile in the twentieth century, Missouri was for the nineteenth-century equivalent of the car—the mule. Using historical documents, oral histories, and a podcaster’s first ride, we’ll follow in the hoofprints of the animal that many historians argue built the American West as we know it.
Written and narrated by: Kyle Jackson
Producer and engineer: Kyle Jackson
Interview guests: Les Clancy (Ozark Mule Days (https://www.ozarkmuledays.us/))
Archival Audio: Missouri Mule History Project, The State Historical Society of Missouri
Theme Song: Fog Holler (used with permission)
Additional Musical Elements: Fog Holler, Casey James Holmberg, Kyle Jackson, Kate Bone
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