Children and the Old Spanish Trail

Children and the Old Spanish Trail. . , Few children traveled with the regular Spanish Trail caravans. The journey was long and dangerous. Young children were a burden and older ones were needed at home. Before 1841, families with children rarely moved to California. Those who mode the trip brought the games they played in New Mexico, some Indian-based., Mormon children traveled by wagon with their families across the Old Spanish Trail beginning in 1851. These settlers came to Utah from eastern states or foreign countries just a few years earlier. Stories, songs, and games brought from Europe and Utah moved with them to California. All the children found ways to have fun. Fun could be dangerous - some rode the rails - the extra axles and tent poles stored underneath a wagon-or stood on the tongue of a moving wagon. Mormon children liked to bounce on the bloated carcasses of dead mules, horses, or cows. Dancing, singing, and hide and go seek were played by Mormon and New Mexican children. They all brought along string balls, checkers, clay marbles, dolls and slingshots., Many other children who joined the New Mexican trading caravans were not free to play. Native American children, captured along the trail, were sold in California or New Mexico. They traveled one way only and had no time for games.