Action Reports
- 10/07: Las Golondrinas
- 08/07: ABQ Old Town
References
- Google's Mexican-American War Directory
- U.S. Army's 1839 Uniform Regulation
- Clark's Battalion Page
- Military Laws of the US (1846)
Las Golondrinas Harvest Festival
October 6-7, 2007
El Rancho de las Golondrinas is a living history museum located south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Original colonial buildings on the site date from the early 18th century. Villagers clothed in the styles of the times show how life was lived in early New Mexico when this part of the United States was ruled by Spain and Mexico.
Over the Harvest Festival weekend, the New Mexico Company participated with members of the 1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry in interpreting for visitors military uniforms and equipment of the Mexican War and staging a short skirmish near the museum's church.
(Click a photo for a larger view - All photographs by Bob Mountain, Durango, CO)
Bvt. CPT. Blaine Bachman (USMB) and PVT. Michael Garrett (1st NM Vol. Inf.) wait in ambush for unsuspecting Mexican troops.
Nearby, CPL. Michael Kots of the 1st NM reloads following the inital volley.
PVT. Garrett lies wounded as the Mexicans, led by Roberto Valdez (1st NM member in Mexican impression), surge up the hill towards the church.
Hand-to-hand combat is stopped short by a Mexican bullet.
A Mexican soldier (Tony Campisi of the 1st NM in Mexican impression) guards the wounded PVT. Garrett.
In a last act of defiance the Captain gets off a final shot with the Hall Carbine borrowed from Tim "Kurly" Kimball (seen in the background in his Missouri Volunteer uniform). This sort of coöperation would be quite rare as there was much animus between Mormons and Missourians due to the mob violence suffered by the Mormons during their Missouri sojourn several years prior.
Other participants from the 1st NM Vol. Inf. not captured on film were Mike Bilbo and Dave Poulan, both doing Mexican soldier impressions.
The Harvest Festival was a lot of fun and the location is quite interesting to anyone with even a moderate sense of history. Generally, the crowds seemed delighted with all the shouting and the gunfire, and there was no shortage of question-askers or picture-takers. Hopefully, some synergy between Las Golondrinas and the 2008 Battalion Trek reenactment will occur.