Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
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Leasburg Dam, Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM, January 22, 2009
The view from here
Part of the view anyway. The part to the northwest overlooking the Rio Grande River and Leasburg Dam. That white streak in the picture is a huge geo-thermally heated greenhouse across the river from Radium Springs belonging to Masson Farms of New Mexico. There's a picture of it on their website; it's quite impressive.
Night camp
Site 9 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs NM
- Verizon cell phone service - good signal
- Verizon EVDO service - good signal
- Go to Leasburg Dam State Park website
- Locate Leasburg Dam State Park on my Night Camps map
- 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.