Neta Pope is the scheduled speaker for the next Westerners meeting, with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation provided by Andrea Jaquez. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. at the Glad Tidings Church Fellowship Hall. Glad Tidings Church is located at 11600 Highway 180 East, 1.1 miles east of the Walmart entrance on the south side of the highway. A full dinner will be catered.

Pope and Jaquez will give a presentation on the Skinner family, who were crossing New Mexico on their way to California for the 1849 gold rush. Pope became interested in the family's story after seeing the Skinner parents' headstone while visiting the Dona Ana Cemetery near Las Cruces. She has followed many clues and paper trails to try to discover the outcome of the 6 children that were left behind. The children's story involves a madam and business owner named Sarah Bowman, nicknamed "The Great Western", who rescued the orphans.

Pope is no stranger to uncovering obscure and interesting stories. Pope and Jaquez have found many stories and hidden information about Fort Bayard, the people associated with it, and the greater area surrounding it. They have included these stories and a great deal of historical information in their titled The Fort Bayard Story 1866 - 1899.

Pope has also compiled some booklets related to the history of Santa Clara and its people. One of the booklets, documenting the lives of many of the people buried in the Santa Clara Cemetery, has led to a new research project. The Village of Santa Clara has recently conducted a ground penetrating radar survey project which discovered 497 additional unmarked graves. Pope is assisting Santa Clara with further research and documentation of the cemetery.

Andrea Jaquez grew up in southern California, and relocated to Silver City in 1998 with her husband and children. Her husband's family has been in the Silver City area for at least four generations. She became interested in the history of Fort Bayard when driving through the site, where the old houses caught her attention. Jaquez later joined the Fort Bayard Historical Preservation Society where she has been an active member for many years.

Neta Pope arrived in Silver City around 2004 from Missouri. She had retired from a 37 year career as an educator and had been travelling around the country in her motor home. She discovered Silver City as she followed the trail of an interesting story she had been told of Cathy Williams, the female Buffalo Soldier who served in the 38th Infantry at Fort Bayard disguised as a man. At a tour of Fort Bayard, Pope was introduced to Jaquez by Cecilia Bell, another of the determined advocates for preserving Fort Bayard. After this chance meeting, Jaquez and Pope became friends and began researching Fort Bayard history, which soon evolved into a seven-year project of researching and writing to compile their book.

Westerners International is an international group dedicated to sharing and preserving the history of the American West. The local chapter meets on the third Tuesday of every other month throughout the year, except for December, when the meeting is held on the second Tuesday. Dinner is served at the meeting, and the cost is $12.00 per person for members and $15.00 per person for non-members. The public is invited to attend the meeting, and should make reservations with Mary Margaret Soule at 538-2888 by Sunday, December 6.