News and Events
News
May 16-- The Territorial Daughters of Colorado, Southern Chapter, today dedicated the newest trail marker on the Taos Trail. Located on Huerfano County Road 520, just south of County Road 69 and the remains of the historic town of Badito, the bronze marker is the second the group has placed at a cost of approximately $4,000. Attempts to further mark the historic trail will progress as funds allow. A number of TDC members attended the ceremony. County Road 520 is right on a portion of the famous trail. The trail was used for centuries by explorers, military, immigrants, traders, Native Americans, and later stage lines. The first known white man to use the trail was 100 years prior to Zebulon Pike in the early 1700's, General Juan de Ulibarri.The author attended the event as the guest of Gary E. Stephens of TDC.
Members of all four Colorado Chapters of the Territorial Daughters of Colorado, unveil the latest Taos Trail Marker.
The Taos Trail marker on County Rd 520.
Betty and Gary Stephens of Alamosa spearheaded the effort for the trail marker program for TDC.
Events
Zebulon Pike National Trail Association Annual Meeting in Canon City, CO April 23, 24, 2010. For more info about the organization, please go HERE.Old Spanish Trail Association National Conference April 29-May 2, 2010.
Place: Fredonia, AZ and Kanab, UT
Agenda will include lectures, field trips and banquet dinner.
Themes: 1829 Armijo Route, Southern Paiute Culture, 1776 Dominguez-Escalante Expedition, and Arizona Strip History
Meet others who share your interest in the Old Spanish Trail. Details HERE
Pony Express Trail The National Pony Express Association will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the creation of the Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The National Pony Express Association will conduct its annual Re-Ride over the 1,966 mile route of the Pony Express National Historic Trail from California to Missouri, June 6 to 26, 2010.
It is the longest event held annually on a historical trail in the nation.
Normally, this Re-Ride is a 10-day, 24-hour a day, non-stop event by over 500 riders and horses. In 2010 the Annual Re-Ride will divert to all daytime hours in most places giving the Divisions and other entities/communities a chance to hold a celebration.
The schedule for the Colorado leg and all other locations can be found at:
www.xphomestation.com/2010-ReRide-Schedule.html
Oregon-California Trails Assoc.(OCTA) Annual Conference in Elko, NV beginning August 10, 2010. For information, go HERE
For information about OCTA's new award-winning movie, In Pursuit of a Dream, go HERE.
Smoky Hill Trail Association 4th Annual Conference October 15-17, 2010.
Limon Heritage Museum & Railroad Park, Limon, Colorado
Conference Theme: The Smoky Hill Trail: Transportation Corridor of the High Plains. For further information, go HERE.
Santa Fe Trail Association Rendezvous 2010 - September 16-18, 2010, Larned, KS.
The 2010 theme is "Communication on the Santa Fe Trail", with a focus on the evolution of the U. S. Mail Service. The program will start on Thursday September 16, with a 6:00 pm dinner at the Santa Fe Trail Center, Larned, Ks and a program afterwards on the Letter of Isadore Douglas, wife of the post commander at Fort Dodge, Ks. The program will continue on Friday and Saturday with talks at the Larned Community Center and Saturday afternoon activities and dinner at Fort Larned. A highlight of the program will be Faye Gaines on Friday evening talking about her life on the Santa Fe Trail at the Point of Rocks Ranch in New Mexico.
Registration materials will be available in late spring or early summer. For more information please contact the Santa Fe Trail Association at THIS LINK.
Bent's Fort Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration June 4-5, 2010.
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site features a reconstructed 1840’s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail where traders, trappers, travelers, and Plains Indian tribes came together in peaceful terms for trade. Today, living historians recreate the sights, sounds, and smells of the past with guided tours, demonstrations, and special events.
Bent’s Old Fort became part of the National Park Service by an Act of Congress on June 3, 1960. The site came from ruins to reconstruction to one of the most recognized and premiere living history sites in the U.S. Archeologists, planners, builder, masons, volunteers, and park staff will tell their stories of how the fort and its story have been brought to life. Activities will include talks, living history demonstrations and portrayals. Click HERE for more info.
October 9, 2010: Fur Trade Encampment at Bent's Fort.
The park’s main living history event again takes place in the fall, and this year celebrates the traders, trappers and tribes furn trading at Bent's Fort. Their camps, set up near the fort, will be open for touring. All together over 40 living history volunteers bring the post back to life during this major event! For more information, call (719) 383-5023.
