Drusilla Claridge has combined a fascination with history and an appetite for the outdoors since coming to New Mexico 23 years ago. She has participated in reenactments of the Rocky Mountain fur trade rendezvous, wearing authentic period Cheyenne clothing, and sleeping in a teepee. She has handled horses since she was a teenager, and has travelled horseback in the Gila Wilderness. She frequents New Mexico's hot springs, and has participated in a sweatlodge ceremony conducted by a Jicarilla Apache.
Dru worked on the Gila National Forest as a fire lookout in 1979, 1988, and 1989. The journal she kept was excerpted in a piece published by Stackpole Books. The book, Go Tell It On the Mountain, an anthology of lookout writing, includes the works of Edward Abbey, Doug Peacock, Jackie Johnson Maughan and others. In the summer of 1996 Claridge went back to tower work.
Dru worked on the historic districts of Silver City, New Mexico, reading nineteenth century newspapers, conducting oral history interviews, and photographing historic adobe buildings. Her work, writing technical documents on the history and architecture of Southwest New Mexico, allowed significant properties to be listed with the National and State Registries of Historic Places.
In the late 1980s, she lived in remote Quemado, New Mexico, and reported for the Catron County Courier. She also visited every lookout tower on the Gila National Forest, photographing them for the U.S Forest Service.
Her historical novel, Peacock Ore, is now available from 1st Books Library. The book depicts two cultures and their fight over the Mogollon mining district in the 1870's. On one side was the great Apache chief Victorio, with his sister Lozen, warrior and medicine woman; on the other was Sergeant James Cooney, with his Irish miners. The Silver City Daily Press pronounced it a "must read for Southwest history buffs." To order a copy, call 1-888-280-7715, or visit www.1stbooks.com .
In addition to writing, Dru also creates desert landscape pastels.
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Cal and Nancy Thompson were innkeepers in Pinetop, Arizona, when they took on the Palace Hotel in Silver City. Their first look at it was depressing: It was in need of renovation.
"I remember telling Cal how nice it would look with lace curtains," Nancy recalls.
They were taking a break from winter in sunny Silver City at the time. Cal was not interested in historic buildings: He had always built new ones. But the price was reasonable, and with help from New Mexico's Main Street Project, they were motivated to restore the hotel. So they purchased the circa 1882 building.
Cal kept as much of the vintage plumbing and 1928 tilework as he could, as well as most of the wood trim and the original staircase. Nancy furnished each room separately, so no two rooms are alike.
"People often tell us it feels Parisian. Either that, or Old West,'" Nancy says.
They opened July 1, 1990. In their first week, they had guests from Austria, Canada, and Australia. They had never hosted foreign guests at the lodge at Pinetop.
"Silver City draws the most interesting, unique travelers," Nancy says.
Representatives from the BBC, CNN, ABC News, Newsweek, and the New York Times have stayed at the Palace Hotel. Last year a reporter from Kiplinger's magazine stayed at the Palace, resulting in an article recommending Silver City as a retirement community.
The Palace Hotel serves a continental breakfast of juice, fruit, bagels, and toast. A coffeemaker, fridge, and microwave are available to guests. Some suites have refrigerators; all rooms have a telephone. Most have large sunny windows and ceiling fans.
The Palace Hotel is located at 106 West Broadway in Silver City, New Mexico, 88061-5093. Telephone: (505) 388-1811.
Click here to obtain more information about the Palace Hotel at their web site.
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