Interviews with noted Black Range personalities and presentations of general interest. Our interviews are with Federico Antonio Chavez Luna, Harley Shaw, Melody Sears, and Jim Laupan. A presentation by Sherry Fletcher is also included in this section.
HARLEY SHAW and his beagle, Toasty, share their experiences as Harley researches prey-predator interactions east of Hillsboro, New Mexico. In this video, the focus is on cottontail rabbits. This presentation features video by Emmy Award winning Mike Abernathy and Bob Barnes, narration by researchers Harley Shaw and Megan Pitman, camera trap photographs from the Furman Cougar Research Program, and Toasty the Beagle! Click the title, above, or watch the embedded file below.
HARLEY SHAW is one of the premier Mountain Lion researchers in the United States. In this interview he recounts some of the events in his long career of research in Arizona. He covers the use of trained dogs to tree Mountain Lions so they could be tranquilized and his role in the development of modern telemetry (radio tracking) technology and techniques. Harley Shaw resides in Hillsboro in the Black Range of New Mexico. Click the title, above, or watch the embedded file below.
“AN INTERVIEW WITH FEDERICO ANTONIO CHAVEZ LUNA”
FEDERICO ANTONIO CHAVEZ LUNA was born in Hillsboro, New Mexico in 1919. He attended school, worked, and grew to adulthood in Hillsboro. Later he was a miner on the west side of the Black Range in the area around Hurley. In this interview, conducted in February 2015, he describes growing up in Hillsboro and his work as a miner in the Hillsboro and Hurley areas. Click the title, above, or watch the embedded file below.
”PASTEL PAINTINGS OF THE SOUTHWEST”
Hillsboro artist MELODY SEARS talks about her art, the techniques, the motivation, the joy. Videoed on-site in the Black Range of New Mexico. From her site: “Although I love grand vistas and beautiful views, it is the more intimate landscapes that thrill me the most. Light makes the statement, colors add magic, and composition anchors the fullness of the experience of a particular place and a particular time where I have been.” Click the title, above, or watch the embedded file below.
JIM LAUPAN has grown succulents since he was a young boy. In recent years he has developed a method to replicate objects in high quality plastic. His “Rock Modules” make for beautiful presentations of succulents and other small plants. He has used the same methods that he uses to make rock modules to make dramatic pieces of wood, arrowheads, seashells, “silver” ingots, a variety of props for The Fountain Murder Trial play presented in Hillsboro - and now rattlesnakes. In this interview, “Cactus Jim” discusses succulents, rock modules, and explains and demonstrates the molding innovations he has developed, while “Making Rattlesnakes”.
A presentation by SHERRY FLETCHER of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She covers the Historic Markers of Sierra County and adjacent areas and discusses the lives of two of Kingston's early female residents (Sophie Hansen and Margaret Reid-Armer). The presentation was part of an effort to encourage the recognition of the roles of women in the history of the Black Range. The video was made at a presentation in the Hillsboro Community Center, Hillsboro, New Mexico. Click the title, above, or watch the embedded file below.