OVER THE SANTA FE TRAIL TO MEXICO

Dr. Rowland Willard was the first U.S. physician to travel the entire distance of the Santa Fe Trail from Saint Charles, Missouri, to Chihuahua, Mexico. His diaries and autobiography provide a written record of his wilderness journeys over the Santa Fe Trail and down the Chihuahua Trail portion of El Camino Real. His pocket diaries chronicle his daily experiences on a wilderness journey from his home in Saint Charles, Missouri, beginning in May 1825. Sometime after he retired in 1867, Dr. Willard penned a descriptive autobiography that expanded on his diary entries--writings that were hurriedly written while en route or later during brief lulls in his daily practice.