May 18-24, 2008: N.E. NEW MEXICO—Taos Pueblo and the Santa Fe Trail Country
The old trail wound its way south from Independence, Missouri, crossing the rolling plains of Kansas, the dry Panhandle of Oklahoma, through the lands of the Comanche and the Kiowa, and into the waving grasslands of northeast New Mexico and the muddy and dangerous crossings of the Sapello, Mora, Pecos, Cimarron and Canadian. As the journey neared its end, the cavalry outpost of Fort Union and villages like Cimarron, Wagon Mound, and Las Vegas offered sanctuary and comfort to the weary travelers before their final push to the vibrant Spanish American towns of Santa Fe and Taos.
As early as 1821, this was a trail of commerce more than settlement, and traffic was heavy from the 1840’s to the 1860’s as manufactured goods from the U.S. rolled west and burros, fur, gold, horses, silver, and gay colored materials from the Spanish-Mexican-Indian cultures moved east. And Green Horn and his Comanche warriors waited in ambush for travelers from either direction. History, legend, and imagination built upon each other as the ruts grew deeper along 900 miles of one of the country’s earliest and most famous “Western Roads”
Then came the cattlemen, then the settlers, then the trains, then the towns, and the land was settled. The ruts of the “Road to Santa Fe” began to fade as did the lively towns and forts along its path. Time moved on and has left northeast New Mexico a sparsely settled land, rich in history and culture, resting easily in a time somewhere between then and now. A land where the pace of life is more like that of the rural America we remember with nostalgia. A land where people still have time to live. A land of maniana.
From Taos and the vibrant native culture of Taos Pueblo to the collapsing homestead on the rolling plains, its empty windows staring blankly at the rusted out skeleton of a car in the front yard and the vine-entwined tractor that died long ago trying to turn this tough ground, this is a land of opportunity for the photographer who can feel a connection to and see the opportunities in the simple beauty of these fading images of our country’s past.
“Need help” asked the old farmer as he brought his battered old Ford truck to a stop in the middle of the dusty road and looked inquisitively at me from beneath his battered old straw hat. “Nope, just taking a picture” I replied. Looking over the battered old windmill silently guarding its rusted water tank full of tumbleweeds and the endless landscape beyond that he had looked over for so many years, he asked with a knowing smile “What in the world would anyone want to take a picture of around here?” I was deeply aware of the simple beauty of this stark, lonely land, but I have no doubt that the old farmer was far more aware than I. 
Click here to see images from this trip
Date: May 18-24, 2008
Cost: $1,385/Single Supplement: $250
Please fill out the tour application and payment options below.
Tour Application: click here
Registration and Payment: You may reserve a space (50% deposit or full payment) with your credit card or Pay Pal account (click here) or send a check to: Branson Reynolds, POB 3471, Durango,Co 81301
Arrival/Departure Point: Taos, New Mexico
Nearest Large Airport: Albuquerque
Frequently Asked Questions: click here