Hit the Road and Learn

By Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School

As a kid growing up, I was obsessed with the history of the Chiricahua Apache. My geologist father did most of his research in southeastern Arizona along the Mexican border and I spent a lot of time as a child and young adult exploring the mountains and canyons of that amazing country.

 

During this past holiday break, I read one of my favorite historian’s recent works on this history of the Chiricahuas and hiked to the top of the peak in southeastern Arizona where I could look out and survey the territory that figures like Cochise, Geronimo, Ulazana, Victorio, and Mangas Coloradas roamed before they were unjustly removed from their beloved land.

 

I found myself grateful for the encouragement my parents gave me as a young boy to want to read and understand this history. From being given books on the subject to being taken along on my dad’s mapping trips to places like Cochise’s Stronghold and Apache Pass, there was a deliberate effort to nurture this passion. In elementary, junior high, and high school, I had teachers who gave me leeway to write reports and research papers. I had a high school history teacher who encouraged me to do my first archival research into the famous story of Cochise and a pioneer Tom Jeffords who developed a unique cross-cultural friendship in the midst of the Apache Wars of the 1860-70s (a story made popular and bastardized in the Jimmy Stewart film, Broken Arrow.) This all led to my career as a historian and teacher.

 

In the depths of the winter, I know that many parents (and, yes, even our students) are dreaming about spring break and summer plans. There is a natural inclination to think of warmer climes, hot afternoons at Waterworld (well, maybe parents are NOT dreaming of this location), or lounging by the pool with friends and family. I want to use my “bully pulpit” to challenge all of our families to think about organizing a family vacation that promotes a deeper understanding of human history and culture, math and science, world languages, or the arts over your spring break or summer vacations. If you have teenagers, I know you can, at this moment, envision them rolling their eyes when you announce your grandiose plans to have an educational vacation. Obviously, we are talking about waging “intellectual” guerilla warfare — so avoid telegraphing your punches. I could write a book on the number of times my dad would stop at road cuts in the highway to talk about the geology — it never went over well. In retrospect, what worked better were those efforts that didn’t feel as obvious — when he announced we were going to a cool location and the teaching and learning was more subtle and organic. The key factor: a location with such beauty and fascination that it invites conversation.

 

This doesn’t have to have a big price tag. It can be something local and in state. My parents gave me a gift by developing in me a sense of place—of understanding of my home region of southeastern Arizona. It fed my curiosity about the history of the region, as well as the ecology of the southwest (I was fascinated to learn about how the Apache and Tohono O’odham lived off a land that most Anglos viewed as barren and devoid of life). Understanding the “Apache Wars” from a cultural perspective gave me insight into the complicated diplomacy of the Apaches and the disagreement among the Chiricahua about how to effectively respond to American encroachment on their lands. Only a few culturally astute American military officials ever really understood how divided many Apaches groups were over how to respond to the expansion of white ranching and mining in Arizona and New Mexico.

 

Had military leaders listened to those voices rather than adopting their narrowly racist understanding of southwestern Americans, violent war might have been averted. My insights into this took years to develop, but that understanding was rooted in those family vacations in Apacheria, and informed my own scholarship into different subjects.

 

So, here are some ideas of places you might check out all within driving distance of Denver.

 

Of course, there is a whole world out there. There is the arts and theater scene in New York, our nation’s history in Washington, DC, or even marine biology in a place like the Dry Tortugas National Park near Key West, Florida. There are so many places to be discovered and explored. I encourage you to challenge yourself and your students to do something different. Even if at the end of a long day’s drive you may wonder why you decided to take that road trip, these experiences can be powerful and formative and create lifetime memories. See you on the road!