Event Details
The 200th Celebration of the Santa Fe Trail has taken us on a grand journey along its rugged and colorful vistas, as well as given us the opportunity to reflect on the people and their stories who traveled the trail. The presentation Women on the Santa Fe Trail focuses on the women, who were by no means silent bystanders, but active participants in the trail experience. It is through their efforts that we have such well documented and detailed information concerning travel and life on the trail.
You will meet three of these women – Susan Shelby Magoffin, Doña Tules, and Marion Sloan Russell – through insightful and informative first-person portrayals. Their reminisces, not only reflect a bygone era, but create a song in prose. These pioneering women are true storytellers, revealing the hidden mysteries of the trail, while at the same time arousing our adventurous minds and spirits to wonder what it would have been like to have traveled the old trail.
Marla Matkin: A native Kansan, and the descendant of homesteaders, Marla is a former teacher as well as a respected historian and scholar. Best known for her portrayal of Elizabeth “Libbie” Custer, wife of General George Armstrong Custer, she utilizes her love of history and theatre to inspire and entertain her audiences. Along with her numerous historical programs, she writes and directs plays reminiscent of the old-time farces and melodramas, which take you on a rollicking romp through history.
Sponsored by the Friends of Libraries and Literacy