Rendezvous 2008

September 18-20

This year's theme, "The Evolution of Freighting on the Santa Fe Trail" will examine how freighting developed during the nearly 60 years that goods were carried over this historic transportation route. It will also focus on economic, social and cultural backgrounds of those who participated in the trade back and forth between Missouri and Santa Fe.

If you have any questions, please contact the Santa Fe Trail Center at
620-285-2054 or museum@santafetrailcenter.org

Schedule of events

Thursday, September 18 - Santa Fe Trail Center
8:00 am	Santa Fe Trail Association Board Meeting (Public Welcome)
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Rendezvous Registration at Santa Fe Trail Center
4:30 pm	Presentation by Dr. Alice Anne Thompson, Golden, CO, on her book American Caravan dealing with Santa Fe Travel in 1867 (SFTC Auditorium)
5:30 pm	Dutch oven biscuit baking demonstration - Alice Clapsaddle, Larned, KS (SFTC near the Sod House)
6:00 pm	Opening Event at SFTC - Dinner and Program SPEAKER: Dr. Leo Oliva, Historian, Woodston, KS TOPIC: "Eating on the Santa Fe Trail"

Friday, September 19 - Larned Community Center
7:00 am - 6:00 pm	Registration at Larned Community Center (1500 Toles Ave.)
8:00 am	Welcome, Announcements and Introductions
8:15 am	SPEAKER: Harry Myers, SFTA Manager, Santa Fe, NM TOPIC: “As the Wheel Turns……”
9:00 am	SPEAKER: Dr. Michael Olsen, Historian, Colorado Springs, CO TOPIC: “Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe? – The First Twenty-five Years of Freighting on the Santa Fe Trail, 1821 – 1846”
10:00 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am	SPEAKER: Dr. Leo Oliva, Author and Historian, Woodston, KS TOPIC: “The Army’s Attempts at Freighting during the Mexican War, 1846 – 1848”
11:30 am	Santa Fe Trail Association Membership Meeting
Noon	Lunch on your own
1:30 pm	SPEAKER: Dr. Susan Calafate Boyle, National Park Service, Santa Fe, NM TOPIC: “Hispano Culture and Transportation”
2:30 pm	Coffee Break
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm	"Circle the Wagons! It's Movie Time!" - Scholarly introduction by Dr. Michael Olsen with audience discussion afterwards Film: "Fighting Caravans" - A 1931 movie based on a novel by Zane Grey.
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm	Dinner at Larned Community Center
7:00 - 9:00 pm	"It's Movie Time!"...continued - Scholarly introduction by Dr. Michael Olsen with audience discussion afterwards FILM: “Jubilee Trail” – A 1954 movie from a novel by Gwen Bristow.

Saturday - September 20 - Larned Community Center
8:00 am - Noon	Registration at Larned Community Center
8:45 am	Welcome and Introductions
9:00 am	SPEAKER: Craig Crease, Historian, Shawnee, KS TOPIC: “Boom Times for Freighting on the Santa Fe Trail: 1848 – 1866”
10:00 am	Coffee Break
10:30 am	SPEAKER: Dr. David Clapsaddle, Historian, Larned, KS TOPIC: “The End of the Trail: Railroads, Commission Houses, and Independent Freighters: 1866 – 1880”
11:30 am	WRAP UP SESSION: Panel with all of the speakers from Rendezvous
Noon	Lunch on your own
Seminar moves to Fort Larned National Historic Site (6 miles West of Larned on KS-156)
2:00 pm	Afternoon at Fort Larned NHS with demonstrations and activities related to wagons and freighting (see program description)
5:45 pm	Retreat Ceremony
6:00 pm	Dinner in historic Quartermaster Storehouse PROGRAM: Military Music of the 1860s