Accomplished Historian to Keynote Ft. Bayard Historic Preservation Society’s Annual Membership Dinner

The Ft. Bayard Historic Preservation Society will host its annual Membership Dinner on Saturday, January 19. The event will be held at Cross Point Church, located at 11600 Hwy 180 East in Silver City. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:30, program to follow.

The keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Richard Melzer, who will be speaking on Captain Maximiliano Luna, a celebrated member of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Dr. Melzer recently published a biography of Captain Luna, that has won critical acclaim from other historians. According to author Mark Lee Gardner, an expert on the Rough Riders, “Richard Melzer thankfully gives us Luna’s vibrant story for the first time in this thoroughly researched and important biography.” Noted western historian Paul Hutton writes in the book’s introduction, “Maximiliano Luna deserved to be rescued from historical obscurity—his legacy was indeed fortunate to be placed in the talented hands of Richard Melzer.”

Dr. Melzer is a Regents professor of history at the University of New Mexico's Valencia campus. A former president of the Historical Society of New Mexico, he is the author of two dozen books and over a hundred articles on New Mexico history.

Cost of the dinner is $20 per person, and reservations are required. To make reservations, call Dr. John Bell at 575-574-2573, no later than Wednesday, January 16.