The Trail's Gifts

A Story by Tom

A short story about time-travel on The Santa Fe Trail. A 2020 couple, enamored with their western heritage, find themselves on the trail during the 1800's assisting 2 missionary's in their ministry.

The Trail’s Gifts

The adrenalin surged through me as I gaped at Kathryn staring wide-eyed at me. We went from confusion, to abject fear, then to trembling with excitement.

Once again, a perfectly planned and executed vacation in Colorado eased into the final leg. We were anxious to play one of our favorite golf courses in one of our favorite places as our finale. As we drew nearer to the green grass and tree lined Grandote Peaks Golf Course in Cuchara, Colorado, there was evidence of too much rain. The golf course was closed! Our perfectly planned and executed trip had hit a pothole. Crestfallen, we checked into the Cuchara Hotel. This special old west town is complete with wooden sidewalks, rocking chairs in front of various stores and a dirt main street.

Disappointed there would be no golf, we smiled as it dawned on us, tomorrow we had an unscheduled half day to play.

The next morning, after sleeping in and enjoying a lazy breakfast, we rolled down I-25 to Santa Fe, where the Marriott promised a room for the night. We were in no hurry. We rode along in the slow lane, drinking coffee and eating powdered sugar donuts, a special treat reserved just for travelling. Up ahead the sign we had seen so many times on earlier trips, read Ft. Union National Monument exit, 2 miles. Always on a strict schedule, we never had the luxury to enjoy serendipity. Kathryn said, “We have some extra time, let’s go see it.” “Excellent idea,” I said.

We took the exit and drove and drove and drove until we began to question whether a national monument was truly out there. Finally, we spotted off across the sage covered desert, what appeared to be both new buildings, old buildings, and a parking lot with an American flag waving in the breeze. This serene setting held much more than it showed and would shatter our structured lives!

Being children of the West, our interest in the pioneer days included admiration for the qualities and vagaries of the lives of people undertaking wrenching changes from their current lifestyles to “go west”. What drove them to leave all they knew and the people they loved to venture across the country to face dangers of all kinds, both human and natural? What were their hopes or were they fleeing?

At Ft. Union was a National Park building chocked full of souvenirs, books on the area and helpful park employees. In our inspection of dilapidated sod walls we discovered there had been a large Army presence and an amazingly effective hospital, both to protect the people between 1851 to 1891.

The Santa Fe Trail passed next to the fort, so closely that as we wandered through the fort, we came to the trail itself, wagon wheel ruts still very evident. As we contemplated the history, we marveled at the courage of our ancestors who had come west. We were pulled to stand between those ruts, holding hands and imagining those days. We were standing on THE Santa Fe Trail, a trail that loomed large in the history of the West. I said, “Wouldn’t it be incredible to witness life at Ft. Union in the 1800’s?”

Suddenly, we became aware we were sitting in the middle of the dusty trail. People were yelling at us to get out of the way! Wagon after wagon, pulled along by horses, oxen and mules were bearing down on our resting place. We jumped up and scurried to the side like rousted prairie dogs, overwhelmed with confusion as to what happened and why we were dressed in peculiar clothing. Looking at each other we both understood God had heard us…we had travelled back in time!

Stumbling to the side of the trail we began looking for a safe place to stop and gather our wits.

Kathryn yelled, “Caleb, what have we done, what has happened to us? Let’s get away from this trail and find a safe place to figure this out. Although I love the idea of time travel, I’m not pioneer stock!” With fear, her voice rising another octave, she demanded, “What are we going to do?”

I looked feverishly for a place to go, “I would like to say embrace the adventure, but I’m too scared.” I began limping along and said, “My biggest concern is how we can get back, if we can get back, and how we will survive while trying.”

Let me say here that Kathryn is the beauty and the brains of this twosome; my contribution is to lift heavy stuff. Kathryn is from the country but as a young girl she moved to a big city in the desert with her parents. She loved her formative years in the small community, close to her grandparents and cousins. Her small community ways were slammed down into the big, impersonal city. She had to grow up quickly, which shattered her confidence, but provided her a foundation for her love of American history. She did fall in love with the desert, all things of the West, and even with me. During our marriage we learned how to garden, put up vegetables and even butcher deer. Although she had these experiences and loved the 1800’s era, living in these times would challenge her, ill-prepared as she was, and she was not thrilled.

My background, on the other hand, consisted of some knowledge derived only from reading. I grew up in the big city, but I did have a romantic attachment to pioneer times. My maternal grandfather had been an avid outdoorsman and provided some mentoring, as did my own father who also had a love of the outdoors. By far, my biggest asset is my obsessive reading. Although I garden, hunt and can ride horses (even though I’ve never saddled one myself) my survival skills for the 1800’s are sorely lacking.

Ft. Union was in the middle of its normal functioning as the military headquarters for the First U.S. Dragoons, a unit of about 1300 hardy soldiers. The fort provided protection and supplies to the many travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and was the principal supply staging area for the entire Southwest. Eventually, it will become the hub for a great network of forts located in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas. The hospital has six wards, and 36 beds that will have served over 2000 patients, both military and civilian, with only two deaths reported. It was situated close to the Mountain and Cimarron branches of the Santa Fe Trail. The latter branch, a “shortcut”, wound closely to my family origins in Kansas.

In my brilliant athletic move getting out of the way of the wagons, I twisted my ankle. In need of medical attention, I hobbled along towards the big red cross on the white background hanging over the door to the hospital. With the odor of antiseptic assaulting my nose, the attendant wrapped up my ankle. He inquired as to the scars prevalent on my foot, the result of a recent surgery. “It was from an accident chopping wood” I said. I asked if he knew about room availabilities and he pointed me to the only “saloon/hotel” in the area. When I came out, I told Kathryn the “good news” about the room. As we started toward the hotel we saw a dusty, rutted main street desperately in need of shade, splitting the town with the general store, pawn shop and saloon on the left from the smithy, livery, and a couple of vacant buildings on the right. It’s a small-time town for the few hardy souls that weren’t military but chose, for whatever reason, to settle in this place.

Kathryn said, “How can we pay for this?” I said, “We will have to pawn some jewelry.”

Pawning our wedding bands was bittersweet. With money in hand, we headed out to find the saloon/hotel all the while trying to avoid the meadow muffins. We found the saloon and Kathryn stepped in, spotted the owner, and began negotiating for a room and a couple much-needed stiff drinks. She came back, “We are going to be roughing it, just like camping in the Colorado forest with the bathroom out back!” I was pleased that the saloon was not rowdy, being a small guy without a weapon. This might just work out for the short term.

Fortunately, our wedding bands contained enough gold that we were able to leave as “rich” people, compared to those around us. This caused me to worry about our safety, due to all the nefarious-looking people; I began looking over my shoulder.

I asked Kathryn, “Why do you suppose God wants us here? I mean, only God could have done this. Have we been placed here for a specific purpose, and if so, what is it?” Kathryn just shook her head and said, “All in God’s time!”

Kathryn said, “I wish our son was here, he would love this. Josh knows horses, guiding hunting parties and surviving in the wilds. He loved this era, plus he knows how to saddle a horse!”

That night we prayed for guidance as we huddled together in the small hard bed. “We don’t have much to offer the people in this area,” I said, “we do not have medical training or skills in construction or engineering, livestock or anything pioneers need.” I lamented further “God must have someone in mind that we are to help using the skills we do have.”

With the smell of fresh coffee and bacon frying, Kathryn and I descended the stairs from our room, mouths watering, into the saloon. As we ate, we noticed a young couple looking a bit uneasy, sophisticated postures but fidgety, with furtive eyes and speaking in hushed tones. I smiled as they noticed us and said hello. Looking at Kathryn, I said, “That young couple looks as out-of-place as I feel.”

After breakfast Kathryn and I walked over to their table and introduced ourselves. They invited us to sit down. Their names were Daniel and Sarah Adams, missionaries from upstate New York and totally unfamiliar with the West. We asked where they were headed and about their plans. They told of their hardships traveling across prairies in wagon trains and worrying that they may not have the faith necessary to be successful; you could tell this was a heavy burden on them. Daniel said, “Once we had absolute faith that we knew what God wanted us to do, but that was then and today we are not so sure.” Despondent, they were considering turning around and going home.

I shared a bit about our faith and concerns, but I refrained from sharing our unbelievable time travel experience.

Suddenly, there were shouts and gun shots from outside. We all jumped up to see what was happening. Just then a man came stumbling into the saloon and fell to the floor, blood covering his chest. Kathryn and I ran to his aid and began applying pressure to his wounds. I yelled at Daniel to run to the hospital, find a doctor and bring him back. Just as I said that a man rushed in looking for the guy he had shot, wanting to finish him off. “Why are you trying to kill him”, I asked? He said the man had stolen his horse and his Henry rifle and that horse thieves are shot in these parts. About that time Daniel came in with the doctor. Noticing the shooter, he began trying to talk him down from his revenge. He took him aside and spoke softly, saying words no one else could hear but speaking rapidly and with great intensity.

By this time, a crowd had materialized. People were anxious to see what would happen next. The doctor had called for a stretcher and loaded the patient up with the aid of two soldiers. The sheriff, who had been at the fort and had not heard the fight, soon came rushing in to take charge of the situation. The shooter had become remorseful after the words from Daniel and gave himself up to the sheriff without a struggle.

Later, as Kathryn and I were sitting with Daniel and Sarah in the saloon, trying to come down from another adrenaline-fueled high, I asked Daniel what he said to the shooter to make him change. “I don’t know exactly,” Daniel said, “but it felt like the Lord put the words in my mouth.”

Sarah had tears in her eyes as the events unfolded, but when it was over she said, “Daniel, God revealed to you that you do have a gift, you are able to bring others to Christ and this is where we belong!”

The next day when we encountered them, I asked, “Daniel, what would you think about starting a church here at Ft. Union? I know you think you and Sarah are called to be missionaries, but maybe your call is to serve in another way.”

Kathryn caught on and said, “The two of you may be the start of a religious revival in an area that has none. You could plant the seeds of the Good News in a land in need of God’s word. I’m just saying.”

After dinner, up in our room, Kathryn and I discussed the events of the day and how happy we were to be a part of Daniel and Sarah’s lives. I said, “I really hope those two will consider what we said, this place could sure use their influence.”

“Agreed”, said Kathryn, “But now we must figure out what OUR future is!”

“Amen”, I said.

The next day Kathryn and I went out to find Daniel and Sarah at their wagon. As we were walking along in front of the general store a man rushed out with his arms full of supplies almost knocking Kathryn down. Surviving the collision, and picking up his supplies, he apologized profusely. Recognizing that we weren’t from around here he asked if there was anything we needed. He said he had to get these supplies to his wife and kids but would be glad to assist us if he could. He then stuck out his hand and said, “My name is Robert Smith, but most people just call me Smitty.” Shock showed on my face as I said, “Well, Smitty where do you hail from?” He said he was from the southwest part of the Kansas territory. He said his brother, Caleb, had headed to Arizona to be a miner, but had a calling from God to minister to the miners and their families there. Caleb sent word back to “Smitty” that he needed help, so they were getting ready to head out and join him. We told him it was great meeting him and we hoped he travelled safely.

After we were out of earshot, I said, “Kathryn, can you believe that? I am named after his brother! He is one of my relatives! My parents had told me about Caleb, but they thought he’d been a miner, not a minister. Wow! I am so thankful to learn this information.” I laughed and said, “This may be the reason I have this insatiable desire to become closer to God…it’s in my genes.”

I said, “If Daniel and Sarah stay and form their own church here, maybe that is God’s will and we were to plant the seed in their hearts. We can work with them and give as much advice and direction that we can, but their faith and dedication will ensure that it all gets done; I am positive about that.”

We walked along, noses filled with the scent of sage brush and hints of fresh manure and arrived at Daniel and Sarah’s wagon. With a warm welcome they invited us to sit and have coffee. I said, “Have you given any more thought to the idea that maybe God would want you to stay here and start His church?”

Daniel and Sarah smiled and said “Yes” in unison. Daniel said, “It has been the only thing we’ve been thinking about! We were wondering if you, unless you must be somewhere else, would be interested in giving us a hand with all of this?”

I looked at Kathryn wondering how much I should share, and said, “Well since we are not sure what our immediate future holds, I would say yes, we would love to help.” Daniel then asked the question that I did not want to answer… “Why are you two here?”

I started and stopped, hemmed and hawed and then Kathryn spoke up. “We have experienced something you might have great difficulty understanding, because we don’t even understand it.” She began at the beginning and divulged the entire story up to this point. When done, the bulging eyes of her audience told her that processing this was indeed going to be difficult.

Daniel and Sarah looked at each other and both said at once “You don’t really expect us to believe this, do you?”

Kathryn said, “We know it is unbelievable, but we only ask that you judge us by the things we do.”

Daniel said, “I’ll consider it, but right now your story is crazy!”

The next day over a lunch of biscuits, gravy and sausage patties, Daniel raised the issue again saying, “You want us to believe that you are from the future and you don’t know why you were placed here?”

“Remember,” I said with a laugh, “God works in mysterious ways!”

Daniel said, “It seems to me that God’s plan, unbelievable as this sounds, was for you to meet and help us; something I have total faith in.”

Sarah, on the other hand said, “I cannot believe in time travel, the Bible doesn’t mention it anywhere and if it isn’t there I hesitate to be convinced!”

I smiled and said, “I don’t blame you at all, Sarah. I would feel the same, but all we ask is that you accept our help if you are comfortable. We believe we must have been sent to help you, but we were unsure until we saw your handling of that shooter the other day. The Holy Spirit certainly worked through you resulting in a soul being comforted, accepted, and brought to Christ, even though he will have to pay for his actions. This showed us just how special you two are!”

Daniel laughed and said “Special, well not compared to you two!”

“What was it like, traveling through time?” asked Sarah skeptically. Kathryn explained that the sensation of feeling an intense vibration, like hearing a very loud, deep musical note.

I said, “Mentally, you just can’t grasp it at the time, too many mixed sensory experiences! I think God takes over and quiets the mind overload and helps with reasoning it all out. It will be interesting, if we go back, to see if we remember all of this or not.”

We all sat down to plan out where a church might best be located and how to begin reaching out to the community. Sarah said, “I will search out the young ladies and mothers, telling them what we are planning. I will also ask them to help us spread the word to others. In the meantime, Daniel and I began the search for a suitable site or vacant building to house the new church.

Later that evening, after the events of the day, I said to Kathryn, “I think we’ve made excellent progress and I feel comfortable they know how to proceed. Daniel and I met the owner of one of the vacant storefronts and he was excited about Daniel’s idea. He said he knew a lot of people who desperately wanted a church.”

Kathryn said, “I think we should donate some of the money we have because they will need it.”

I said, “I’m ecstatic to hear you say that. After Daniel and I talked to the guy with the vacant building, I took him aside and told him we would pay for it, but not to tell Daniel. It will take about half of what we have, but well worth it.” Tired from an emotionally draining day, we agreed to have an early dinner and head up to our room.

The next morning dawned cold, dark, and rainy. Kathryn and I had finished our breakfast and decided to head over to Daniel and Sarah’s to continue planning. As we hurried along to get out of the rain and mud, we noticed a woman through the veil of rain frantically waving at us to join her. Neither of us recognized her. We turned around to see if there was anyone else she could be waving at, but there was no one. By her gestures she seemed to be quite upset, so we hurried towards her. She was on the other side of the Santa Fe Trail, where the fort was situated, just down from the entrance. Daniel and Sarah had looked in on their horses at the livery and as they were coming out they saw us running toward the trail. They could not see the woman frantically waving at us, so wondering where we were going in such a hurry, they rushed to catch up. Just as they got up to us, they saw me grab Kathryn’s hand, to keep her from slipping, as we ran across the trail, when suddenly…

We woke up on the ground to loud yelling from other tourists bent over us asking if we were okay. Totally confused, we sat up and began to collect our thoughts, but we knew immediately we were now in the present.

Once we had gotten a cup of coffee in the visitor’s center and had begun to utter the nonsense in our minds, we began to laugh. I said, “Kathryn do you remember what we’ve been through; I mean, do you remember everything we did?”

Kathryn, eerily quiet for a few minutes, tried to gather her thoughts. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to understand. She said, “We found ourselves on the Trail in the 1850’s, we got a room at a saloon, we met a nice couple, there was a shooting. We felt called to help the nice couple, I think their names were Daniel and Sarah, there was something about a church, and wham, here we are.”

“Yep, I said, that about sums it up for me as well. Kathryn, look down at your finger. We are both missing our wedding bands, isn’t that physical proof that it did happen?” The color drained from Kathryn’s face.

It would be a day and a half drive home, so we found our car and got on the road. After many miles of quiet we began to talk it through. I said, “why were we the ones to go back in time?”

Kathryn, being the more logical and “in-tuned” one, said “I have been going over that question since we got back. I believe God wanted us to meet Daniel and Sarah and to provide them encouragement and financial assistance. Also, you learned a bit more about your family’s history, what a blessing that is. Was that it or were WE to learn something?”

“Hmm” I said.

On the slow drive home, still processing our adventure, we started assimilating it into our current lives. We had been struggling with the direction of our current church. Secularism, focused on pleasing the world, had become the rudder for our church instead of a traditional Biblically based foundation; we were disillusioned. We talked about the unpleasant task of finding a new church, something neither of us were looking forward to.

Arriving safely back in Phoenix, we unpacked, and settled back into our routine. By Sunday, we were still trying to figure out exactly what had happened as we made our way to church. Once there, the evidence of what we feared and disapproved of was everywhere. We looked at each other, got up and walked out during the sermon. Arriving home, Kathryn said, “I’m going to start dinner.” I proceeded into the office and began researching churches. One church piqued my interest. It was called the Pioneer Church and promised a Biblically based theology. I started to dig a little deeper into its history, and I was floored! “Oh, my gosh they did it” I whispered. This church was originally started in 1854 in New Mexico by two young missionaries, Daniel and Sarah Adams. I almost fell out of my chair. I yelled for Kathryn and stammered, “get in here, you aren’t going to believe this!”

Kathryn yelled back “can it wait?”

I yelled “GET. IN. HERE!”

Kathryn came in, a bit miffed at my manner and said “WHAT?”

“Look at this,” I said. “Daniel and Sarah did it.” They not only started their church but by the Grace of God it has really grown. There is even one here in Phoenix!” Kathryn was stunned. We looked at each other and I said, “God used our love of the West to help Daniel and Sarah start His church.”

The next Sunday we attended the Pioneer Church and were pleased with the pastor and all the members who greeted us so warmly. We were ecstatic to find this church which we had a small part in creating. Not only had God used us to help Daniel and Sarah, He used them by giving us a new church to call our own.

As we were driving home, I said, “Wow, how amazing is this?” With eyebrows lifted and looking at Kathryn out of the corner of my eye, I said, “So, how would you feel about taking a trip to see the Alamo…?”

The End