March 14 - Over the Santa Fe Trail to Taos 1825

Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Speaker: Joy Poole

Topic:  Over the Santa Fe Trail to Taos 1825

Having recently finished in 1825 his medical apprenticeship in St. Charles, Missouri, Dr. Rowland Willard gathered his guns, threw his saddle over his horse, and set off for Taos with the annual caravan. Hear about this journey through Dr. Willard's diary and following autobiography edited an copiously annotated by Joy Poole. He spent two months in Taos detailed in the diary and following autobiography before going on the El Camino Real to Chihuahua, Mexico.

Joy Poole is a career public servant who has been with the State Library for nine years – first as the Public Services Bureau Chief and currently as the Deputy State Librarian. For fifteen years, Poole was a museum director for various sites including the Colorado Historical Society – Trinidad Museum Properties, where she was instrumental in helping the Santa Fe Trail become designated as a National Historic Trail after receiving a national award from the American Association of State and Local History. Prior to joining the State Library, Poole achieved a career goal when she oversaw the construction project for the newest of New Mexico’s historic sites, El Camino Real International Heritage Center for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.