Network of Conquest: Military Posts and the Santa Fe Trail

Leo E. Oliva, Ph.D

Teacher and Author

The presentation will provide an overview of military posts along the Santa Fe Trail, from St. Louis to Santa Fe, and the history of when and how each contributed to the conquest of Indigenous Nations (1806-1880) and the military conquest of the American Southwest during the U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848).

Dr. Leo Oliva earned his doctarate in American Studies in 1964 and went on to teach American History at the university level for 22 years.  He is the author of a dozen books, including Soldiers on the Santa Fe Trail (1967), Fort Union and the Frontier Army in the Southwest (1993),  and six of the eight books in the Kansas Forts Network Series. As well, he has written numerous articles for historical journals and presented  more than a hundred public lectures for museums, libraries, and historical societies, Today, Dr. Oliva lives on his family farm in Kansas and continues to research and write about the Santa Fe Trail, Kansas History, and the American West.