Michelle Obama will be on the Plaza in Las Vegas New Mexico today. Las Vegas is home of New Mexico Highlands University, a small school where my son is doing Graduate Studies. It's an interesting little town with history crashing in from all sides. Great choice for Michelle!
Be nice to the Newbie here...first diary. Follow me down the (Santa Fe)trail for a little background on a quirky jewel in the high desert.
Las Vegas is about an hour east of Santa Fe, but you have to dip south to get through the dramatically named Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Pecos national Wilderness. You'll end up on the east side of the Great Prairie. You can still see wagon wheel ruts from the Santa Fe Trail etched in the dry earth east and north of town. Totally cool.
There's a Fort nearby where traffic came, stayed, and moved on. Fort Union was only used in a warlike capacity once, and that was during the Civil War. New Mexico became involved in the Civil War because of, who else, Texas. New Mexico stepped in to stop Texas from sending supplies and money, silver I think, to the Confederacy.
The Rough Riders have history there as well. The Spaniards made a home there, as well as native Americans. The "Americans" came later on the Trail, and later still with the railroad. Each group brought architectural styles, food and traditions along with them. Germans, Jews, and most other European ethnic groups found there way there. Along with a large assortment of cowboys, gamblers, outlaws and dandies. There was even, according to their historical architecture pamphlet, a "wealthy bachellors club". Got a snicker out of that imagining how the pamphlet writers came up with that gently worded gem!
The Plaza is the oldest part of town, in the traditional Spanish Style. There is a cool historic hotel on the Plaza. A lot of movies are filmed in and around the area. Last big one I think was "No Country for Old Men".
This is where Mrs. Obama will be. On the Plaza in front of the hotel. Way to profile a dusty, old, in some ways struggling town. It's very Amerca! A riot of architectural styles, ethnic groups, economic, educational, religious backgrounds. It's truly a tale of the West with a presence of history from the oldest of times, and now the best of the present. And, Im hoping, the Future!
I think this sounds a little like a book report, but I just love that little town and love visiting my son there. I'm hoping he will be able to go to Plaza today and that his girlfriend will send me some pictures. Did I mention that she works on an alpaca ranch northeast of town?
Thanks for indulging me. Hope this adds to the Kos Community.