Voice of the Past: Moonlight Tours Bring Historic Fort Selden Alive

October 2nd, 2017

(Santa Fe, NM) – Meet historic characters and hear ghost stories and legends of New Mexico by a cozy fire during Voices of the Past: Moonlight Tours at Fort Selden Historic Site. The fun begins at 6:00pm through 9:00pm on Saturday, October 21. Fort Selden is located 13 miles north of Las Cruces, exit 19, off I-25, Radium Springs.

Guests will meet historic figures from the past as they tour the ruins. Meet a trader on El Camino Real, a brave cavalry soldier, a school teacher, a laundress, a rancher, an infantryman coping with the challenges of frontier duties, an officer’s wife, and others as you tour the ruins in the moonlight. Before your tour, our storyteller will mesmerize you with traditional New Mexico stories of ghosts and spirits. Group tours leave every 15 minutes beginning at 6 p.m. 

Tickets for Voices of the Past: Moonlight Tours are sold at the door; cash or checks only. Admission is $5 for adults, kids are free. The entire event is outdoors so dress accordingly. The event is sponsored by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.  For more information call (575) 526-8911.

Fort Selden was established in 1865 to bring peace to the south-central region of present day New Mexico. Built on the banks of the Rio Grande, this adobe fort housed units of the U.S. Infantry and Cavalry. Their intent was to protect settlers and travelers in the Mesilla Valley. The adobe ruins, a visitor center, and site walking tours offer visitors an opportunity to learn about the area, frontier and military life. 

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 About New Mexico Historic Sites:  http://nmhistoricsites.org/ 

On March 14, 1931, the New Mexico Historic Site system was established by an Act for the Preservation of the Scientific Resources of New Mexico, to "declare by public proclamation that historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the State of New Mexico, shall be state monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof such parcels of land as may be necessary to the proper care and management of the objects to be protected." Under the direction of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, six of seven sites are active and open to the public: Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial, Coronado,  Fort Selden, Jemez, Fort Stanton and Lincoln. The El Camino Real Historic Trail Site was closed in 2016 until further notice. In 2004, the historic Taylor, Barela, Reynolds, Mesilla House and Property in Mesilla, were designated a state historic site upon its donation to the state by the John Paul Taylor family. Mr.& Mrs. Taylor will retain a life estate on the property and it will not be open to the public until their deaths. Events, news releases and images about activities at New Mexico Historic Sites, and other Department of Cultural Affairs divisions can be accessed at media.newmexicoculture.org.