Canadian River Trails

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker along the Canadian River has to say, and friend, this one goes back a long way. A long way. Before anyone was writing things down, there were already trails worn into the earth along the Canadian River.

That's where we begin. Not in 1541, not in 1840, but somewhere before any of that. Somewhere in the deep quiet before recorded history.

These trails were already old when a Spaniard named Coronado came riding through in 1541, hunting for the golden cities of Cibola. Think about that for a moment. He was following paths that other feet had already worn smooth.

He didn't blaze the trail. He found it. That's the kind of place we're talking about.

Then comes 1840, and a man named Josiah Gregg rides out with 34 men from Missouri, carrying goods worth twenty-five thousand dollars, bound for trade in Santa Fe. Twenty-five thousand dollars in 1840 is no small wager on a road trip. They followed the Canadian.

By 1849, parties headed for the California gold rush were moving along this same corridor, this time escorted by a United States Army Captain named R. B. Marcy.

Different century, different dream, same river bending through the canyon country. And the river kept drawing people in. Through the 1870s and the 1880s, hunters came.

Cattlemen came. Settlers came. The Panhandle was being opened to what the marker calls civilization, and the Canadian River trails were the way in.

Now there's one more thing worth knowing. The name, Canadian, comes from the Spanish word for boxed-in. You look at those canyon walls closing in on either side of that water, and somehow, that makes perfect sense.

Some names just fit.

What the marker says

Trade, exploration and hunting trails along the Canadian are older than recorded history-old when used 1541 by Spaniard Coronado hunting golden cities of Cibola. Route in 1840 for Josiah Gregg and 34 Missouri men with goods worth $25,000 headed for trade in Santa Fe. Used by 1849 parties escorted by U.S. Army Captain R. B. Marcy on way to California gold rush. Hunters, cattlemen, settlers used Canadian River trails in 1870s and 80s, as Panhandle was opened to civilization. River's name,"Canadian," came from Spanish for "boxed-in." (1966)