American West Program Explores Epic Confrontation Between Texan Revolutionary Forces and the Mexican Army

The 21st American West Program at Colorado State University continues its summer of events with an exploration of events surrounding the Alamo from the Mexican point of view. The discussion begins at 7:30 p.m. June 30 in Room C146 Plant Science Building on campus.

Daniel Martinez, historian for the National Park Service, will use diaries and reports of the principal Hispanic players involved to provide a different look at the battle of the Alamo. Supported by slides and contemporary observations and scholarship, Martinez will present a historic reappraisal and new perspectives for participants to consider.

Martinez, winner of the National Park Service’s Special Achievement Award in 1986, 1988 and 1995, taught history at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, Calif. He also worked as a seasonal park ranger at Custer Battlefield in Montana from 1979-85 and as a seasonal and permanent park ranger at the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu.

Martinez joins a series of speakers visiting campus this summer to explore Western expansion under the program’s theme, "Manifest Destiny and the West to 1850." Other highlights of the American West Program include a discussion on the conquest of New Mexico and the invasion of Chihuahua, Mexico, and a presentation on the relocation of Native American Indians.

All programs begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Programs will take place in Room C146 Plant Science Building.

In conjunction with the American West Program, the summer exhibit of the Curfman Gallery in the Lory Student Center will feature the artwork of William Henry Jackson.

A complete schedule of events follows.

* June 30 – "The Alamo: The Mexican View," Daniel Martinez, historian for the National Park Service.

* July 7 – "Conquest of New Mexico and the Invasion of Chihuahua, Mexico: A Forgotten Episode of the U.S.-Mexican War," Neil Mangum, superintendent of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana.

* July 14 – "Manifest Destiny and Indian Removals," Valerie Mathes, professor in the department of social science at City College of San Francisco.

* July 21 – "Los Capitalistas: New Mexican Merchants and the Santa Fe Trade," Susan Calafate Boyle, independent historian from Fort Collins.

* July 28 – "The Western Hero and Manifest Destiny – Boone, Crockett and Carson," Paul Hutton, history professor at the University of New Mexico.

For more information on the American West Program, call Harry Rosenberg in the history department at 491-5230.