DEDICATION


This story of the old Santa Fé Trail would do honor to the memory of
those stalwart men who defied the desert, who walked the prairies
boldly, and who died bravely--_vanguards_ in the building of a firm
highway for the commerce of a westward-moving Empire.





CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PART I

CLEARING THE TRAIL

I. THE BEGINNINGS OF A PLAINSMAN
II. A DAUGHTER OF CANAAN
III. THE WIDENING HORIZON
IV. THE MAN IN THE DARK
V. WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
VI. SPYING OUT THE LAND
VII. "SANCTUARY"
VIII. THE WILDERNESS CROSSROADS