In the year 1830 a party of young men, well…
source date: 1889
availability: public-domain

In the year 1830 a party of young men, well known in St. Louis, Mo., left that city on a peri- lous journey of adventure across the trackless desert to Mexico. Their names were : Hugh Stephenson, Lewis Dutton, Henry Dorlew, Lucas Doan, Joshua Sledd, James Kirker, Robert Mc- Knight and Esteven Cushie, a Frenchman. The two last mentioned were moneyed adventurers; the others were vigorous men of muscle and resolution to fight the battle of life to the bitter end. They were the first “old timers,” the ad- vance guard, who made the Santa Fe trail and marked the route traveled by thousands in after years; all honorable men, they never returned to their native country ; they were married here, raised respectable families and died in the land of their adoption.