[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 27792-27793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      FORT UNION NATIONAL MONUMENT

 Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, I would like to honor and give 
special attention to New Mexico's Fort Union National Monument in Mora 
County. Located in the Mora Valley between the Santa Fe and Sangre de 
Cristo mountains, Fort Union established in 1851, dates back to New 
Mexico's territorial days, protecting the area's inhabitants and trade 
routes.
  This year Fort Union has initiated a new effort called ``The New 
Mexico Volunteers Living History Program.'' Volunteers in this program 
will depict the Hispanic soldiers of the 1st New Mexico Volunteers, who 
were enlisted and stationed at Fort Union during the Civil War. One of 
the current volunteers is a direct descendent of the 1st New Mexico 
Volunteers. With some training and drilling, Fort Union hopes to begin 
presenting living history programs depicting the 1st New Mexico 
Volunteers in early spring next year at Fort Union as well as other 
local venues. Fort Union has also reinstated nighttime candlelight 
tours, and also hopes to provide a public venue for night sky viewing 
while partnering with local colleges and universities to interpret the 
skies, and be used as a classroom venue complementing science 
curriculums.
  I am proud of the work being done at Fort Union to reach out to the 
community and provide a glimpse of our historic past. The upcoming 
activities at Fort Union remind us of our rich history in New Mexico, 
and I commend the staff at the Fort for their efforts and their hard 
work to further integrate the unique history of the Fort

[[Page 27793]]

into the surrounding area and expand their role as a resource for local 
students and residents. I look forward to the advancement of this 
program in the months to come.

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