President of the newly founded Old Spanish Trail (OST) National Association, Kessler states, "The OST may be the most important trail of all. Perhaps neither the Santa Fe nor the Oregon Trails would have developed had the means of transportation not been made available. It was the horse & mule trade on the OST that brought these animals from California to Missouri to facilitate the settling of the West." The OST wove through six states, linking Santa Fe, NM to Los Angeles, CA. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell has noted the trail's importance by promoting (in 1995) a bill to designate the OST as a National Trail. This traveler's guidebook gives an exciting & detailed look at this lesser-known portion of the OST. RETRACING will specify highways that parallel the OST & visit sites where wagon ruts are still visible. Stories & legends abound with many suggestions for "things-to-see!" Whether a weekend or an extended outing is planned, RETRACING can help fill every moment. To order contact: Adobe Village Press, P.O. Box 510, Monte Vista, CO 81144. 719-852-5225.

This classic history is filled with colorful pathmarkers like Jedediah Smith, John C. Främont, and Kit Carson; with packers, home seekers, and mail couriers; and with horse thieves and enslavers of Indian women and children.