Mr. Ferguson (Don Benito Jueves) – Santa Fe Trail Freighter
Ferguson (called Don Benito Jueves by Mexicans) freighted over the Santa Fe Trail from West Port, Mo., to Santa Fe and on to Mexico City [1][2]. In 1842 he eloped with a beautiful girl from Durango, the daughter of a Mexican general [1][2]. Disguised as a boy, she was taken to Missouri at age 12; Ferguson’s mother raised and educated her, and at 16 she married Don Benito [1][2]. In 1852 he sold his mule train—five wagons with ten mules each—to James Magoffin at Paso del Norte, Mexico [1][2]. Among the mules was a gray animal that later returned to Santa Fe; Ferguson identified it as 44 years old [1][2].
Sources
- A BIT OF MULE LORE (1891)A BIT OF MULE LORE The New Mexican has unearthed a bit of romantic history in connection with a Santa Fe mule, as follows: Between the years 1842 and 1852 Mr. Ferguson, or Don Benito Jueves, as the Mexicans c…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-04-10 (1891)ce from the house in rear of a corral, locked in each others arms, and dead. In the right hand of each was a revolver, while a bullet hole through the heart of each, left no room for doubt as to the ca…