FCHS Field Trips & Adventures
Field Trips & Adventures, Hikes, and Workshops are for members only. Join us!
2023
Experience Air Travel in the 1920's!!
Fascinating Field Trip - April 22
Imagine boarding a nine-passenger airplane that has no radar, no GPS, no radio, and flying coast to coast using Airway Beacons sited every 10-15 miles with a 51-foot tower with a beacon that is visible from 40 miles out.
For daylight navigation, the towers were built on an arrow-shaped concrete slab. The route and site numbers were painted on the generator hut roof. This is the Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc. of 1939 rated by world famed experts, headed by Colonel Lindbergh.
There’s much more to this fascinating story, but to hear it, join us for a tour of a beacon hut at the Airways Museum in Milan, NM. In addition, find out where you can find a concrete arrow pointing the way to the next airport.
And, for a change of scene: We will then visit the N.M. Mining Museum in Grants. Uranium mining in New Mexico is an essential part of New Mexico history. New Mexico had a boom of uranium mining in 1950’s and then coal mining in 1984. We will tour a simulated uranium mine which takes tour-goers underground for a view into the way hard workers spent their time in the tunnels.
January 27 - Field Trip to the Gutierrez Hubbell House history & Cultural Center - a unique opportunity for a docent tour and an opportunity to see the unique heirloom wedding dress exhibit at the Hubbell House before the exhibit closes in February.
Located along El Camino Real, the oldest continuously used European roadway in North America, this property is listed on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places. . It was originally the private residence, built in 1868, of James L. (Santiago) Hubbell, a merchant and trader; his wife Julianita Gutierrez-Hubbell; and their twelve children, all of whom were born in the house. The Gutierrez-Hubbell house later served as a trading post, a stagecoach stop, and the local post office.
Location: 6029 Isleta Blvd. SW, Albuquerque
Feb. 11 - Tour of the home of Dr. Frank Hibben, archaeologist
Dr.Hibben was a professor at UNM and has a building named after him (Hibben Center forArchaeology Research). He has a history of being a big game hunter and was on 36 African safaris. He also had an important role in the military in World War 2. It is said that he was the inspiration for Indiana Jones.
He earned his PhD from Harvard in one year, he excavated Pottery Mound in NM, and there is controversy about his excavation of the Sandia Man Cave. He built his house from 1935-1936 and lived in it for 13 years. The home houses taxidermized animals from some of the 36 African safaris including the elephant that a room was built to accommodate.
2022
Field Trip to the School of Advanced Research (SAR), Santa Fe
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
A morning Docent visit to the School Advanced Research (SAR), a research center for anthropologists, archaeologists, and artists. Learn about the past and present of SAR—Exploring humanity. Understanding our world
Saturday, April 23, 2022 --A Spring Field Trip for FCHS Members to Los Luceros Historic Site
The Los Luceros Historic Site is one of New Mexico’s most scenic and historically significant properties located north of Espanola along the Rio Grande. Our "Behind the Scenes" tour will be led by Interpretive Ranger, Rebecca Ward.
We will see the beautiful grounds (the apple orchards will be in bloom), the Historic District, visit the restored chapel, a hacienda, River House and see the barn area with bottle-fed lambs. Bring your lunch to sit by the Rio Grande and binoculars to view the birds and see the petroglyphs across the river.
Santa Fe Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, March 13, 2022:
Clearly Indigenous Native Visions Reimagined in Glass.
The exhibit embodies the intellectual content of Native traditions express in glass. The artists have melded the aesthetics and properties inherent in glass art with their cultural ways of knowing, whether re-interpreting traditional stories and designs in the medium of glass or expressing contemporary issues affecting Indigenous Nations.”
In addition, we will see a new exhibit which opened last week featuring ancestral pueblo pottery (800-1100) with fascinating isometric designs. This walk-through exhibit will provide the “old”, and “Clearly Indigenous” provides a wonderful modern contrast.
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2021
3-Day Chaco Canyon Adventure, September 14 - 17, 2021
Have you ever been to Chaco Cultural National Historic Park and wished you had more time to see and experience it all? It’s not possible to get there, see everything, and return home in one day. Now you can join the Friends of Coronado Historic Site for 3 days of Chaco immersion to learn more about the culture, livelihood, and beliefs of the people who lived there.
This program will have 2 full days and 2 half-days of outdoor workshops, hikes, and lectures by experts in photography, archeology, astronomy, and natural history. In addition, meals will be homestyle cast-iron cookery with commentary by our professional Chef.
This fund-raising program runs from September 14 to 17, 2021. Participation is limited to 25 people and participants must be FCHS members who have been fully vaccinated. The cost is $325 per person. All fees, camping sites, instruction, and meals are provided.
Attendees will furnish their own transportation to and from Chaco along with personal camping and outdoor gear. We will be situated at the group campground, in tents or under shade structures. There are no facilities at Chaco aside from the campground and 2 restrooms (that do have potable water). There is no store - no ice, food or drink, gasoline, electricity, or cell phone service. One RV site, without hookups, is available to our group for an additional $60.
Local Field Trip, August 21, 2021: Richard and Shirley Flint talk about their newest book, Overhaul, a Social History of the Albuquerque Locomotive Repair Shops. This will be followed by a tour of Wheels Museum, at 1102 2nd St. SW, Albuquerque.
The talk will be a social history talk about the repair shop. During the peak of World War II, the repair shops ran 3 shifts a day and had 2,000 employees and turned out 40-43 overhauled steam locomotives a month. The Flints interviewed former workers to get firsthand stories. When AT&SF first set up shop in Albuquerque, they found it was mainly a farming community. They brought in skilled machinists and boilermakers from the eastern US and Europe. It took several decades for other people to train for technical jobs. Besides a lot of injuries, there was friction between the workers. Books will be available for sale.
Bird Watching and Photography Get-Away” at the Los Pinos Ranch
July 31,2021
The Friends of Coronado Historic Site are planning a “Bird Watching and Photography Get-Away” at the beautiful Los Pinos Ranch in the mountains of the Santa Fe Forest.
We will be spending the morning outside with birding and photography, then at noon we’ll have a gourmet lunch at the lodge before returning to Albuquerque. Make your reservations soon, this trip usually fills up fast.
Ma Pe Wi murals at a ranch in Eastern NM, July 16, 2021
The Friends of Coronado Historic Site have arranged to see the Ma Pe Wi murals at a ranch in Eastern NM.
It will take about 2 1/2 hours to drive to the ranch. We plan to have a picnic lunch first and then see the murals.
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