Visitors to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site this Thursday and Friday will get a treat if they stick around to hear award-winning author Mary Peace Finley talk about the Santa Fe Trail.

Ms. Peace Finley has written several award-winning books for young readers, and will be speaking on her Trail Triology series of books -- Soaring Eagle, White Grizzly, and Meadow Lark -- as well as on her latest work, The Midnight Ridge of Blackwell Station. Her talks will be part of the La Junta Teaching Environmental-science Naturally (TEN) education course presented by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service. Though designed primarily for teachers, both programs will be free and open to the public.

On Thursday, the author will present a workshop and talk centering the Trail Trilogy books. This talk will take place in the wagon shed of Bent’s Old Fort beginning at 1:00 p.m.

On Friday, she will present a program on The Midnight Ride of Blackwell Station. It is a humorous tale of mystery, suspense, and intrigue set in 1886 as railroads were changing the face of the West. The story is based on actual events in the founding of the town of Lamar, Colorado. This talk will take place at the Otero Museum in La Junta beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Ms. Peace Finley was born and raised on the plains of southeastern Colorado, in the town of Fowler. She grew up exploring canyons, discovering pictographs, and hounding for rocks. A graduate of the University of Denver and former scriptwriter for the PBS TV nature series, Marty Stouffer's WILD AMERICA, she is the author of five historical novels set in southeastern Colorado and along the Santa Fe Trail, and four
other books.