He was a teenager when he ran away from home, and the saddlemaker to whom he had been apprenticed, to go West. His brother had joined a caravan bound for Santa Fe, and young Christopher decided to go too. So he borrowed a neighbor’s mule and rode the 100 miles to Independence to meet with the wagon train. His brother told him to go back home. He rode a mile or so before he turned the mule loose and walked back to camp. He was then allowed to join the caravan. It was October 1826.

AOWM – December 24