Initiative and Memoir
Borderlands
The story of our borderlands is one of endurance, belonging, culture, and deep connection to the land. Yet, these stories — and the people who shaped them — are at risk of being forgotten.
That is why Ken and Hope Salazar have partnered with History Colorado to create the Salazar Borderlands Initiative. History Colorado is the premier state history museum founded in 1879 to preserve the State's history, stories, places and material culture through statewide activities that support tourism, historic preservation, archaeology, education, and research related to Colorado’s past at its museums and sites throughout Colorado.
From its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Rockies, the Rio Grande flows through landscapes rich in scenery, culture, and history, connecting people and nations across time and borders. Borderlands: A Salazar and History Colorado Initiative will encourage greater connection to the human stories and landscapes that define these borderlands through exhibitions, programs, and experiences.
Through the Initiative, History Colorado will offer a comprehensive program that examines and shares the history of the Southern Borderlands region of the United States. Building upon History Colorado’s existing Borderlands of Southern Colorado program, the Initiative will focus on Southern Colorado and wider geo-political history, exploring shifting territories and the colliding or merging of distinct worlds, cultures, and spaces, and addressing additional topics such as the relationship between the United States and Mexico, land policy, historic preservation, conservation, and cultural resources.
The Initiative is inspired by Ken Salazar life and work, and his family, which began farming and ranching in the San Luis Valley before Colorado was a state, and who carried the lessons and wisdom of the borderlands with him through a career as Colorado Attorney General, United States Senator, Secretary of the Interior, and Ambassador to Mexico. A wide range of programming, including lectures, exhibitions, publications, educational offerings, historic preservation, and community engagement opportunities to connect with multiple audiences is envisioned as part of this Initiative. Starting in 2026 and extending through at least 2050, History Colorado will on an annual basis create opportunities for patrons to encounter, engage with, and focus on the history and themes of the Borderlands, including US-Mexico relations, the Rio Grande watershed, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and their connections to the San Luis Valley and Colorado.
As part of the Initiative, History Colorado has established the Salazar Borderlands Fund through the statewide Colorado Gives Foundation and its year-round ColoradoGives.org fundraising platform. Attached is information regarding the Borderlands Fund.
Borderlands.
The Memoir.
Borderlands is a personal memoir with a window into the struggles and joys of my life journey. It is about the United States and Mexico, our shared history, broken borders, immigration, and security. And it is about the Mexican American experience as told through Ken’s life and work.
Borderlands insists that diversity is America's superpower. It makes the urgent case for a new North American Alliance Treaty in the face of Trump’s project of erasure and decades of neglect and political malpractice where it concerns our borders and immigration.