Harvesting Historical Riches

Old Stories, New Voices Program Climbs to Glory

”Climb to glory!  To the top!”  This past August almost fifty children shouted these battle cries as they neared the summit of the largest dune in the Great Sand Dunes National Monument.  And make it to the top they did.  All of them.  For some the hike was tough and demanding, but the analogy to life was clear to everyone.  One participant said, “Climbing the sand dunes was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I got help from my friends and the counselors and now I know I can do a lot more than I thought I could.”

The fifty children, ranging in age from nine to twelve, participated in the Old Stories, New Voices intercultural camp held annually at Fort Garland Museum.

This unique weeklong educational program teaches the importance of preservation, history, and conservation to under-served youth from Denver and the San Luis Valley.  The State Historical Fund has sponsored this collaboration between the Colorado Historical Society and the National Park Service since 1998.

Fort Garland Museum itself teaches the kids to appreciate and to take pride in the role of their own culture in Western history while gaining respect for the contributions of others.  American Indians, Hispanos, African Americans, and Anglos populate the fort’s record books.  Established in 1858 to protect early settlers in the San Luis Valley, Fort Garland was once commanded by Kit Carson and quartered the Hispanic First New Mexico Volunteers and the African-American “Buffalo Soldiers” from the Ninth U.S. Cavalry.

The fort’s preserved adobe buildings and historic parade ground provide the perfect setting to experience history.  The children sleep in the barracks, eat meals in the mess hall, raise the flag each morning to reveille, and dress in a t-shirt and matching cap uniform.  Counselors schedule a variety of activities that teach history, preservation, archaeology, and teamwork.  New sessions on archaeology, journal writing, and chili ristra making (chilies preserved on a string) were incorporated into the schedule with great success this year.  Also, kids learned how to piece together a Hispanic grandmother’s life story using artifacts found in a trunk.

The Society works with organizations such as Denver Kids, Inc., I Have a Dream Foundation, and the Alamosa Social Services Department to recruit children for the camp each year.  Counselor Denise Flanders from Denver Kids, Inc., said, “I sent six girls to this camp and every one of them absolutely lit up when I asked them how they liked it.  They loved the horseback riding, sand dunes, drill team, crafts, and the specialized days,” such as Hispano day and Buffalo Soldier day.

Lee Coffee, Jr. has been the camp’s director for the past five years.  A licensed vocational nurse, emergency medical technician, motivational speaker, and Buffalo Soldier historian, Coffee has led numerous youth camps in the West.  “I know what we do is important,” says Coffee.  “It might take weeks, months, or years, but one day a child from the camp is going to wake up in the middle of the night and say, ‘I got it.’ At that moment the seeds we planted will have taken root and that child’s life will progress for the better.”

Fort Garland Museum Director Rick Manzanares shares Coffee’s optimism.  “In learning about history and other cultures,” he said, “the kids learn to appreciate their place in the world.  They learn that they have a past and that they can affect their future.”

BY BOBBE HULTIN, OSNV Camp Administrator and CHS Tour Director