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When the thermometer reached 107 degrees we knew it was high time for us to hit the road. Don’t get me wrong, we love Tucson, but sometimes enough is enough. The funny twist to the high temps is that they are usually required in order to bring the conditions that typify our monsoon season. According to the National Weather Service the North American Monsoon, a season of high temps, high humidity and often violent rain storms, starts in mid-June and runs through September.

That may be the official time period but many people in the Southwest anxiously watch another indicator, the dew point. If the dew point is 55 degrees or higher for three consecutive days, the potential for actual precipitation increases greatly. Though it is still not a guarantee that southern Arizona will get thunderstorms or much needed rain. Considering that the monsoon season usually delivers half of our annual rainfall you can see why it is eagerly anticipated. Last year’s monsoon season was pitiful and everyone is hoping that this year’s will be much better.

It is a bit of a bummer to leave Tucson this time of year because when the rain does roll in it is an awesome sight. The storms can be incredibly powerful filling the sky with deep, booming thunder, flashes of bright lightning and often dropping huge raindrops or even hail. Of course, the storms can be dangerous, as long-dry waterways overflow and high winds blow through. And let’s not leave out lightning’s ability to do harm, just this past week a man was killed by a lightning strike in Tucson. On average, 45 people a year are killed by lightning in the U.S. with most of the fatalities occurring during July and August.

Our journey this summer started off on a Friday evening. We chose the late departure so we could wrap up all the last minute items on our to-do list and so we could avoid driving during the hottest part of the day. Since it was shortly after the Summer Solstice we had plenty of light to see us well into New Mexico. We were headed somewhere higher and cooler: Santa Fe, at over 7,000 feet. It was definitely a relief to step outside into the cool air the next day.

It was not a new city to either of us but since our previous visits had been brief we were looking forward to some more exploring. Our home for the week was an RV park among oak, juniper, and pinyon in the rolling hills just outside of town. The location of the park was ideal for us for not only had it been used in the filming of Every Which Way but Loose but it was right along the Santa Fe Trail.

The Trail was a route that led from the western edge of the United States to the northern limit of New Spain (later Mexico). Until 1821, in an attempt to control their domain the government of New Spain had forbidden trade with any foreign powers, including the U.S. That was a pivotal year, for not only had Mexico won its independence from Spain but an indebted American hauled goods from his home in Missouri across 900 miles of prairie to Santa Fe. It was the gamble of man who had nothing left to lose, back home he was facing jail time for defaulting on a $321 loan, while in Santa Fe he could have been jailed by the Spanish governor.

It took William Becknell and his pack animals several months to reach Santa Fe by which time the change in government and law was complete. When he arrived in November, instead of being arrested, Becknell was mobbed by a throng of eager customers. He sold his supplies for ten times their value and headed back to Missouri with $250,000 worth of silver and gold. Becknell was savvy enough to determine that a wagon loaded with goods could also make the trip. Becknell’s return to Missouri caused a sensation and soon many ambitious Americans were preparing their own wagons for the trip to Santa Fe.

The following Spring wagon after wagon headed west on the Trail. The journey was fraught with dangers; Native Americans were known to attack, though nature was by far more challenging. The wagons encountered wind, rain, mud, dust, lack of forage for their livestock, lack of firewood, and worst of all, lack of water. Even the monotony of the plains posed a threat as men (and they were mostly men) would occasionally fall asleep on the wagon tongues, slip off and be run over by the fully-loaded wagon. The trip was worth it, though, since the supply starved communities of northern Mexico were desperate for goods, primarily cloth.

Though the trail split into two routes near the middle, the destination was the same, Santa Fe. Traffic on the trail soon went both ways with Mexican traders delivering sought after items to the United States where they were shipped east with some goods making it all the way to Europe. Of course, the potential of the Trail soon attracted the attention of large freighting companies and the U.S government, which established a series of outposts to provide protection for the wagon trains. For almost 60 years commercial trade flourished on the route leading to international trade and for some, great wealth.

The Trail’s demise came with the toot, toot of a train whistle. In 1880 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached northern New Mexico Territory and a trip that used to take three or more months had been reduced to two days. Estimates place the value of total trade conducted over the Trail at close to $100 million dollars (in today’s money)!

But wait, I skipped a few years of Santa Fe’s history. The area that is now northern New Mexico has been inhabited for over 12,000 years. Evidence of a more settled population near present day Santa Fe shows up in villages that were first occupied around 1050 A.D. Coronado traveled through the region in 1540 and much to the bewilderment of the indigenous peoples he proclaimed all the land for the king of Spain. The Natives, who had purposely lied to Coronado about the location of his much sought after Seven Cities of Cibola in an effort to be rid of him, were no doubt thrilled when the explorer left in disgust two years later.

The northern edge of New Spain was neglected until 1598 when Don Juan de Oñate traveled up with some settlers and established San Juan de los Caballeros. The small colony served as the capital of the province until 1610 when the capital was moved to a tiny new town called La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís (the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi). Thankfully through time the name was shortened to just Santa Fe.

When the town was laid out by the province’s third governor in 1608 it followed “The Laws of the Indies” which required a central plaza bounded on one side by the seat of government (Palace of the Governors) and on another by a Catholic church. Much of the work to build and maintain the town and provide for the settlers was shouldered by native Pueblo peoples who were coerced or forced into labor. Finally in 1680, the Puebloans had had enough. Through an amazing network of runners and informants the geographically and culturally separate Pueblos rose up on the same day and with brutal force drove the Spanish from their ancestral homelands.

It must have been a sweet victory, though it was short lived. Twelve years later Don Diego Vargas led another group of settlers up the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to reclaim the capital of Santa Fe. Though it was just a small, poor, farming town Santa Fe remained the capital through a succession of countries, from Spain to Mexico to the United States (and a brief stint under the Confederate States of America). Today, government is the leading element in Santa Fe’s economy, followed closely by tourism.

Tourism, I would argue, is responsible for the way the town looks today. The earth-toned, flat-topped adobe buildings with large wood vigas that early artists, authors, and visitors had shared with the world made an indelible image. One that in the early 1900s the town was in danger of losing as new construction sprang up. In 1912 a building code was enacted requiring a unified style called Spanish Pueblo Revival in the historic district. Later the code was modified to include the Spanish Territorial style. Of course, just because it looks like adobe doesn’t mean it is. Most of the new construction and remodeling projects are just stuccoed to resemble adobe, in a style Santa Feans call faux-dobe.

This is one of the reasons that some people actually call it Santa Fake—I did not make that up, honest. Another factoid that surprised us is that the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway never actually came to Santa Fe! The rail company decided that the town was too difficult to reach so they routed the track through Albuquerque instead (apparently, it was too late to change the name of the company). Imagine the surprise of passengers when they discovered they had to depart at the small station of Lamy and catch a stage or car to reach the namesake destination.

In 2003 we rode on the Southwest Chief, an Amtrak train that uses what is now known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. Lance remembers wondering about the tiny Lamy station, while I just remember the amazing scenery—it was beautiful. Which was what we focused on during this visit, most of our time was spent out on the hiking trails in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that tower over town. Oh sure, we did some of the typical tourist stuff: we visited the Loretto Chapel, the Palace of the Governors, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, we wandered the Plaza and we dined on famous New Mexican chilies. It was while enjoying the latter that we overheard the following sentiment twice, “You’re in Santa Fe. Shut up and try it, you’ll like it.”

Which I think sums it up quite nicely.

Photos: View our photographs from Santa Fe, NM.

Dates: We stayed in Santa Fe, NM from 06/26/10 to 07/03/10.