I started the day early this morning to try and get a little more research done on the Anza project.

I was in the directory on my computer last night where I store notes from the book I’d been reading on the man, and I had four different documents there where notes from the four different phases of his life were supposed to go. I thought I had actually completed notes for each of those phases, but when I clicked open the document for the fourth phase, it contained nothing. I was wrong. I was missing notes on the end of his life. Which makes sense, because I don’t remember taking notes on that key period of his life- the period from which I foresee the name of the script coming from. It’s the period of the last major gig of his life, and the one which the script really circles around.

Anyways, I got a few paragraphs of notes written into document four from the first chapter in the book touching on this part of his life.

The developing questions I anticipated from reading about a man’s life and wanting to tell his story begin to arise. What is he really about- what parts and pieces about his life should be told and are worth remembering? And why is he heroic and worth talking about at all?

Which is where having one source for all of the details about his life is a bit flat. More source material needs to be found which lets us hear the voice of the man, or lets us see how he comes to make the decisions he has.

I learned today that there is other source material out there which should be very useful in seeing Anza a little more up close. During his expeditions to California, not only did one of his party keep a journal of transpiring events, but Anza himself also kept a diary of events. And copies of those journals are available at UNM in the Special Collections library.

So, tomorrow morning, about the time Zimmerman library opens, I’ll head down to UNM and visit the library and pick up an alumni version of the university’s library card, so I can at least see what the school has on Anza, if not also check an item or two out for closer reads.