Preservation: Indians on the Internet
By: Mark Boardman 05/01/2009
Indians on the Internet
The National Museum of the American Indian houses three Smithsonian museums, in Washington, DC and New York City, under one umbrella. Now there’s a fourth museum. A virtual one.
The online museum already features 5,500 items. The collection totals 800,000 objects, and it will take four years to post it all on the Internet. The caveat? Some artifacts will not be photographed due to tribal beliefs. The initial cost: $750,000.
The archive includes artifacts, photos and documents from all North American tribes. Museum Director Kevin Gover says the project is a chance to expose Indians to their heritage. “We know most native people will never visit any of our three museums,” he concedes. “We wanted to provide this experience to them.”
800-242-6624 • NMAI.si.edu
Hold the Fort
In our Jan/Feb. 2009 issue, we reported a hospital project promised to inject new life into Fort Bayard in southern New Mexico. The 1866 compound has ties to the Buffalo Soldiers, Indian Wars and the fight against Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa.
In late January, an arson fire almost destroyed a two-story residence at the fort; only the foundation remains.
Leaders of the volunteer Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society say other structures are in bad shape due to squatters. Graffiti covers the walls. Most buildings are deteriorating at a rapid pace.
New Mexico officials estimate the annual maintenance cost is $500,000. The state, which owns the fort, doesn’t have the money. Neither do local governments. Unless something is done, Fort Bayard may literally fall to the ground.
575-388-4477 • FortBayard.org
Cliff Dwellings Reopen
More than 750 years ago, Pueblo Indians built cliff dwellings just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. They lived there until drought drove them away around 1580.
In modern times, people have toured the Puye Cliff Dwellings, which became a national historic landmark in 1966. But a massive fire forced their closure in 2000.
In May, the cliff dwellings reopened to the public. The Santa Clara Pueblo, descendants of the cliff dwellers, own and run the site. They’re now providing tours of the ruins—with the starting point at an early 1900s Harvey House, the only one ever built on an Indian Reservation.
505-753-7330 • IndianPueblo.org
A Scrap of History
An 1836 order to print the Texas Declaration of Independence and circulate it throughout Texas and the rest of the U.S. has been recently discovered in the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University.
Houston author James P. Bevill found the five-by-eight-inch scrap of paper. He says the note reveals investors in New Orleans had demanded Texas pass the declaration before they would provide money to carry out the war with Mexico. Publishing and distributing the declaration was the key to the cash.
This particular paper has had a long, strange trip. It was first placed with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office and then moved to the state archives in the early 1900s. At some point, somebody stole it for a private collection.
Collector John N. Rowe III bought it 20 or 30 years ago. Then he donated it and other documents to DeGolyer. Bevill rediscovered it. The order has been returned to the Texas archives.
512-463-5455 • www.tsl.state.tx.us
The Price of History
In March, we noted that the Roy Rogers Double R Bar Ranch was up for sale. In the 1960s, the singing cowboy bought the Victorville, California, spread to train his Palominos.
Family friends, who purchased the ranch in 2002, put it on the market last October, with an asking price of $12.5 million. By March, that had dropped to $8.5 million. Now it’s down to $4.5 million. Land and houses just aren’t selling—even those with historic ties.
760-843-7888 RoyRogersRanch.com
For the Library
If you’ve been looking for a layman’s guide to historic preservation, pick up the second edition of Historic Preservation.
Written by Norman R. Tyler and Ted J. Ligibel of Eastern Michigan University and architect Ilene R. Tyler, the book covers the philosophy and history of the preservation movement, the role of government and the designation of historic properties. This revised edition includes new material on heritage tourism and partnering with the environmental community
212-354-5500 • WWNorton.com
Beyond Book Learnin’
Arizona State University is offering a field class on archaeology taught by Michael O’Hara from June 1-July 10 in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument north of the Grand Canyon—specifically at West Bench Pueblo, an Anasazi village dating to 1050 AD.
Students will learn about surveying, excavation, mapping, artifact analysis and cultural resource management.
480-965-6213 • shesc.asu.edu
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