Trail Rider

 

June 10, 2021

By Seth McFarland

Last Wednesday afternoon, a unique character stopped for camp at the Santa Fe Trail Center. Oliver McCloskey is a mountain man, fur tanner, and adventurer. Hailing from Cedar City, Utah, he is tracing the route of the Santa Fe Trail on horseback. He began on the trail last summer when he left Independence, Missouri to travel the trails before branching off to follow the Oregon Trail. This year, he is resuming where he left off and began following the Santa Fe Trail near Canton, Kansas.

 McCloskey has been trapping and tanning since age eleven, and has been drawn to trace the tracks of the original fur traders of the nineteenth century. He has made all of his own gear and clothing from the hides he has tanned.  His lifestyle led him to become a member of the American Mountain Men, an organization whose purpose “is to establish and maintain a permanent association for research into and the study of the history, traditions, tools, mode of living, etc. of the trappers, explorers, and traders known as the Mountain Men.”

 After camping overnight, he had to find a replacement cinch for his horse, since dogs had gnawed on the original one he had made.  He then departed the Santa Fe Trail Center to continue on his journey west towards the ancient capital city of Santa Fe visiting historic sites along the journey.

 McCloskey's adventure will expose him to the same or similar risks that the original fur traders faced on the Santa Fe Trail. He will be traveling in the summer heat, always looking for safe places to camp, or looking for available water for his horse, and he will depend on his own resourcefulness or the kindness of others to meet his needs. While he will face new challenges of fences, roads, and traffic, he will face similar risks of looking for water, wildlife, bureaucracy, and certain unwelcoming characters. At the same time, he will have conveniences such as a cell phone for communication and navigation, occasional modern stores and the assistance of an occasional veterinarian to monitor the health of his equine companion.  Without the aid of a pack horse or wagon, he will be unable to carry the supplies needed to cross longer desolate stretches of the Trail.  Unlike our forefathers, many today do not have the gumption it takes to take on these challenges.  For him, it is a way of life.

 For those living or traveling on the Santa Fe Trail will undoubtedly see the lonely traveler on horseback riding towards the sunset, be sure to wave and offer him a cold drink, and maybe some hay or grain for his horse.