LARNED — The Santa Fe Trail Center Museum is busily preparing for the 18th biennial Rendezvous, a history seminar to be held in Larned Sept. 18-20.
Eleven knowledgeable speakers from New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas will deliver a variety of presentations during the three-day event.
The 2014 theme “Hispanics and the Road to Santa Fe” was chosen as a way to examine the interaction and blending of cultures that occurred along the Trail with particular emphasis on how the Hispanic society was affected and in turn influenced other cultures. The seminar is open to the public.
Principal funding for this program is provided by the Kansas Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Rendezvous will open Thursday, Sept. 18 with a dedication of the Melgares monument south of Larned. Following will be dinner and program on the grounds of the Santa Fe Trail Center Museum.
Dr. Leo Oliva will discuss the expedition of Lt. Facundo Melgares and his Spanish troops from New Mexico to the Great Plains.
Friday morning, Sept. 19, Rendezvous will reconvene at the Larned Community Center with Dr. Michael Olsen introducing the theme. Dr. Susan Boyle from Santa Fe will address “Traders and Merchants: The Early Years of the Santa Fe Trail.”  Dr. Robert Torrez’s speech, “Mexican Trade Laws,” will focus on 1821-1846.
Friday afternoon features a bus tour to Lyons that will include a stop at the Chavez Marker which commemorates the murder of a Hispanic trader killed along the Trail. At Coronado Quivira Museum, Anthony Juarez, a descendent of Chavez, will continue his ancestor’s story. Participants will tour the museum.
After dinner at Larned’s Community Center, the performer, historian, and humanities scholar, VanAnn Moore will present her one-woman musical performance of Dona Tules — the most colorful, independent, wealthy and influential woman in New Mexican history. Adding to her performance is accompanying guitar music performed by Raul Gomez from Topeka.
Rendezvous continues Sept. 20 at the Community Center with Dr. Doyle Daves presenting “They Came Over the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri and Established Families in New Mexico,” focusing on the direct melding of Mexican and American cultures.
Marcus Gottschalk’s topic, “Trade During the American Era of the Santa Fe Road,” will explain the economic hub of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Attendees will move to Fort Larned National Historic Site for lunch and an educational trunk presentation entitled “El Hombre” given by Ellen Jones.
A multi-media program, “Hispanic Women and the Santa Fe Trail,” by Dr. Alice Ann Thompson follows.
Dr. Michael Olsen will give an overview of the Hispanic presence with an emphasis on developments since the 1920s titled “Hispanics on the Central Plains — Then and Now.”
A retreat ceremony at Fort Larned will be followed by dinner and a program in the Quartermaster Storehouse at Fort Larned.
The event will end with Dr. David Sandoval discussing the nature of the presidio soldier from reports in the New Mexico archives and other academic work, leading to a multi-cultural understanding of the international trading system as well as the history of the Hispanic military along the Santa Fe Trail.
In 1998, the Santa Fe Trail Association became a partner. The Kansas Humanities Council has provided principal funding for every Rendezvous.
Additional assistance for the 2014 Rendezvous is also provided by the National Trails System Intermountain Region of the National Park Service through their partnership with the Santa Fe Trail Association. All support is appreciated.
A schedule is at www.santafetrailcenter.org. For  information, or to request a registration packet, call 620-285-2054; or email museum@santafetrailcenter.org.