Amazing Women of the Wild West: Territorial New Mexico

One of the most dramatic eras of New Mexico's rich history is the Territorial period when the United States first raised the American flag on August 18, 1846 over the plaza of Santa Fe for the first time. This program examines the territorial women through living history portrayals of Doña Tules (Gertrudes Barcelo), Susan Shelby Magoffin, and Lydia Spencer Lane. These women represented what it took to survive and thrive during very colorful and extremely challenging times in New Mexico's Territorial Era. It brings history into an understandable and personal reality. Doña Tules opened Santa Fe and New Mexico to America; through Susan Magoffin's detailed journal we understand the beginning of New Mexico as a Territory; and through Lydia Spencer Lane we experience frontier military life and the beginning of the American Civil War out West.

VanAnn Moore is a Chautauqua performer and researcher who has brought a dozen historical characters alive for NMHC for over 14 years. She has performed internationally.

Funded project of the New Mexico Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.