Susan Shelby Magoffin
Susan Shelby Magoffin (1827-1855) was an American woman known for her unique perspective on life during her travels along the Santa Fe Trail in the mid-19th century. Born into a wealthy family in Kentucky, she married trader Samuel Magoffin in 1845 and began documenting their journeys shortly thereafter. Her journal, which she kept from 1846 to 1847, offers a rare view into the experiences of a woman of her social standing engaging with cultures and communities she encountered, including the Mexican people, with whom she formed friendships.
Despite facing significant hardships, including a traumatic carriage accident that led to a miscarriage, Magoffin's account reflects her evolving views on race and identity, moving from initial prejudice to a deeper understanding of the individuals around her. After a series of personal tragedies, including the loss of her newborn son and her own declining health, she returned to Kentucky, where she later gave birth to a daughter. Magoffin's diary, published posthumously in 1926, serves as a significant historical document, providing insights into both the physical and emotional landscapes of her journey, as well as challenging the stereotypes of her time regarding Mexicans and Native Americans.
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Subject Terms
Susan Shelby Magoffin
Writer
- Born: July 30, 1827
- Birthplace: Arcadia (family plantation near Danville), Kentucky
- Died: October 26, 1855
- Place of death: Missouri(?)
Biography
Susan Shelby Magoffin was born in 1827 in Kentucky on her family’s plantation. Her family was wealthy, and Susan enjoyed a privileged childhood. In 1845, at the age of eighteen, she married Samuel Magoffin, a Santa Fe trader several years her senior. In 1846 Susan Magoffin began to keep a journal of her travels with her husband. She learned Spanish and befriended the Mexican people with whom she and her husband worked, a rare experience for a woman of her class and background. She optimistically recounted her travels of what most considered a harsh life.
Magoffin suffered difficulties and hardships traversing the trail. One incident in particular caused Magoffin much suffering: her carriage overturned on a steep bank, causing her to miscarry and triggering a decline in her health. After this event, Magoffin’s journal entries became more serious in tone, and she often wrote of her spiritual faith and emotional distress. Magoffin ended her journal in September of 1847 after a period of protracted despondence. Shortly thereafter, she fell ill from yellow fever, during which time she gave birth to a son. Unfortunately, the child died soon after birth. After this traumatic experience, Magoffin and her husband returned to Kentucky, where they settled in Lexington. In 1851, Magoffin gave birth to another child, a girl. Four years later, at the age of twenty-eight, Magoffin succumbed to her lingering ill health and died.
Magoffin’s diary, Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico: The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin, 1846-1847, provides not just insight into life on the Santa Fe Trail but also records the inner journey of an upper-class woman as she begins to question the stereotypes placed on Mexicans and Native Americans. In the beginning of her journal, she writes of the non-white people she encounters with some contempt, but over time she comes to discover them as individuals and friends rather than savages and heathens. The book was published in 1926, nearly forty years after Magoffin’s death.