CIVIL WAR to COLD WAR, New Mexico
with Neil Mangum: October 1-6-2019
check out the full itinerary and registration info here
I
am especially excited about this one, for a number of reasons. I love
New Mexico—its history, people, and landscape—and though we could spend a
week devoted to any number of subjects, this military history/war theme
allows us to take a comfortable loop beginning and ending in
Albuquerque, while time-traveling through very distinct eras of New
Mexico history.
In one picturesque, clockwise journey we’ll take in
Civil War battles from the Confederate invasion of New Mexico—Valverde,
and the Battle of Glorieta Pass, with a cast of colorful characters. Pat
Garrett and Billy the Kid, et. al., will feature prominently in our
coverage of the Lincoln County War. Likewise, we will literally visit
Ground Zero of the Cold War at the Trinity Test Site—where the United
States detonated its first atomic weapon (this site is only open to the
public on TWO days per year). Filling out our Cold War education will be
visits to Manhattan Project National Historic Park, and the National
Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque. When we return to
Albuquerque, the city's famous Balloon Fiesta will be getting underway—so come for the history, and stay for the balloons.
