Sunday, March 30, 2008 - Silver City NM
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Dawn along Mule Creek Road, Guthrie AZ, March 30, 2008
Today I spent the day camped along Mule Creek Road and washed the rig before setting off late in the day on my journey toward Rockhound State Park southeast of Deming NM to meet friends.
Night camp
Wal-Mart Parking Lot in Silver City NM
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Silver City NM
Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #1357, 2501 Hwy 180 East, Silver City, NM 88061 - (575) 538-2222
- Good level parking [update - NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING sign at entrance]
- Verizon cell phone service- Very good
- Verizon EVDO Broadband service - Very good
- Find other Wal-Marts in the area
- Check the weather here
Heliograph routes of the 1890 Practice
The date was May 15th, 1890, and the Army's Department of Arizona had just completed a major heliograph practice; it was, in fact, the largest the world had ever seen. I call it the "Volkmar Practice", after the man responsible for it, Col. Wm. J. Volkmar, the Assistant Adjutant General and Chief Signal Officer for the Department of Arizona. Although the practice lasted only sixteen days, preparations for it took months of reconnaissance and preparation. Involved in the long range signaling maneuvers were twenty-five heliograph stations stretching from Whipple Barracks near Prescott to Fort Stanton near Ruidoso, New Mexico. My guess is that close to two hundred men were involved, both cavalry and infantry.