The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society will hold its Annual Meeting accompanied with dinner and speaker on January 14, at the Silver City Woman's Club (1715 Silver Heights Blvd). The cost of the dinner is $15 / person. Doors open at 6 PM and dinner will be served at 6:30. Please call 575-956-3294 or 575-574-2573 before January 11. Following dinner, Doug Dinwiddie will share "Boomtown. Battlefield and Broken Dreams: Pinos Altos: 1860 - 1900".
Although a Silver City student, Doug was raised in Pinos Altos and learned the history of his community from its older members long before completing his Master's Degree at WNMU under Dr. Phillip Cook and Dr. Dale Giese. As a student, he worked at the WNMU Museum under Dr. Ronald Stewart.
After receiving his PhD from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, he taught at the New Mexico State University Branch in Carlsbad. He retired from teaching history from Colorado Universities and returned to Pinos Altos with his wife, Becky. Both are very active in the Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society and members of the local Westerner's Corral.
The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society was formed in 1997 with the mission of recognizing the Centennial Celebration of the transfer of the U.S. Military Post in 1899 to the U.S. Army Medical Department. Dale Giese and his wife Jeanette were the directors of this celebration. Many of the original members continue to support the preservation of Fort Bayard. In 2004, Fort Bayard was named a National Historic Landmark. Today that nomination and the historic site are at risk. Its owner and manager, the State of New Mexico, are no longer financially able to support the restoration of the buildings or maintain its infrastructure. The time is now for the citizens of southwest New Mexico, who with other Americans are the REAL owners of the site, to support its preservation. Letters to our state and national leaders are needed. While donations are welcomed, memberships are encouraged. Action is needed! Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark with its multicultural list of officers and their wives and children, Hispanic and Native American scouts, enlisted men including Buffalo Soldiers and their bands, doctors, medics, nurses, bakers, gardeners, and laundresses must not be forgotten.