In 1821 the Santa Fe trade may be said…
source date: 1891
availability: public-domain

traffic of just 100 per cent over the preceding year. In 1821 the Santa Fe trade may be said to have become a business propositon. Captain Glenn, Mr. Bicknell and Stephen Cooper were the pioneers of that commercial enterprise, al- though small parties of trappers and traders had previously visited Santa Fe. In 1815 Au- guste P. Choteau and Julius de Mun formed a partnership and went with a large party to the Upper Arkansas to hunt, trap and trade with the Indians. The following year they visited Taos and Santa Fe, and were well received by Governor Mainez. But there was a change of policy the following year on the part of the Mexican government, perhaps for the reason that the “gringos” were becoming too numerous, monopolizing the fur trade, killing the buffa- loes for their skins, and making merchandise of buffalo tongues, a luxury in the states, and even then in the frontier village of St. Louis they commanded a dollar each.