There was a terrible massacre in the American Southwest in 1846 known as the Santa Fe Trail Murders or the Kuykendall Massacre. A group of settlers and merchants, led by Captain Philip St. George Cooke, were making their way from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail in June of that year.

A tribe of Jicarilla Apache Indians ambushed the party as they approached the eastern region of modern-day New Mexico. At least nine people in the group, including women and children, were killed, while others were taken hostage by the attackers. Because of this incident, the United States government launched the “Jicarilla War,” an offensive to crush the Jicarilla Apache.

Conflicts between American settlers and traders and Native Americans were common as they advanced westward into Native American territory, and the Santa Fe Trail Murders and subsequent military actions brought this to light. This tragic event reminds us of the intricate and often tragic relationships that occurred between different cultures throughout the age of westward expansion.