"On the Santa Fe Trail," a collection of first-hand accounts by nineteenth-century overlanders, offers an intensely personal view of that arduous trip. In retrospect, the history of the Santa Fe Trail--crossing forests, prairies, rivers, and deserts--seems overlayed with the gloss of romance and chivalry. It is set off by heroic attitudes and picturesque adventures. And it has left a deep imprint on one region of the American West.

The trail crossed parts of five modern states--Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico. From the perspective of the overland trade, those five are forever bound in historical communion. The route began in Missouri and ended, after almost a thousand miles, in New Mexico. But it was Kansas that claimed the largest share of the trail: from a beginning point at either Kansas City or Fort Leavenworth it angled across the entire state, exiting over four hundred miles later in the southwestern corner. It would be no exaggeration to say that trade and travel on the Santa Fe Trail derived much of its special flavor from the Kansas experience and that, in turn, the presence of the trail went a long way toward shaping the early history of the state.

Many participants in this story, overlanders of various kinds, wrote down what they saw and learned on the way to Santa Fe. It is with that in mind that Marc Simmons has here collected a dozen narratives and reports from the middle years of the trail's history--from the early 1840s to the late '60s--that is, just after New Mexico had passed into American hands. It was a period of intense Indian-white conflict and before the establishment of rail lines along the route. The authors of these narratives--among them several teenagers, a Spanish aristocrat, an Indian agent, a German immigrant lady, a government scout, and a young New Mexican drover of the peon class--qualify as plain folk who, without quite intending to, got swept up in the westering adventure. Simmons has written an introduction to the collection and to each of the narratives.

Kit Carson (1809-1868) has long held a prominent place in the popular imagination of the American West. However, little is known about his family life thanks largely to Carson's own guardianship of his privacy. After almost four decades devoted to researching Kit Carson's personal life, Marc Simmons provides information here to further our understanding of Carson. Viewing Kit Carson's career as a husband and father sheds new light on the life choices he made. The changing economy of the 1840s made it increasingly difficult for a trapper and scout to support a growing family. Carson's years as an Indian agent in the 1850s provided him stability although he was never able to spend as much time with his family as any of them would have liked and he was never able to bring in a comfortable income. The Kit Carson Simmons portrays offers a welcome change from recent politicized interpretations of Carson's actions.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas (The Ranch of the Swallows), a Spanish Colonial living history museum located in La Cienega, just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has enchanted and educated visitors with its natural beauty, annual festivals, and special events since its establishment as a museum in 1972. Drawing from archival materials, contemporary research, and family records, Padilla reconstructs the early history of Las Golondrinas from its beginnings to its purchase by the Curtin family and its establishment by the Curtin-Paloheimo family as a museum dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Spanish Colonial New Mexico.

Studies of seventeenth-century New Mexico have largely overlooked the soldiers and frontier settlers who formed the backbone of the colony and laid the foundations of European society in a distant outpost of Spain's North American empire. This book, the final volume in the Coronado Historical Series, recognizes the career of Juan Dominguez de Mendoza, a soldier-colonist who was as instrumental as any governor or friar in shaping Hispano-Indian society in New Mexico. Dominguez de Mendoza served in New Mexico from age thirteen to fifty-eight as a stalwart defender of Spain's interests during the troubled decades before the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Because of his successful career, the archives of Mexico and Spain provide extensive information on his activities. The documents translated in this volume reveal more cooperative relations between Spaniards and Pueblo Indians than previously understood.

Britishers were not uncommon on the frontier of the American Southwest. Most of them, well-financed, came to acquire land and purchase cattle, intending to make their fortunes at ranching. But almost all were lured to America's Wild West as much by its romantic image as by the opportunity to grow rich. One of the younger members of that breed of Englishmen was Richard Baxter Townshend, hungry for adventure and prosperity, who landed at the foot of the Colorado Rockies in 1869, just four years after the end of the Civil War. Townshend, born in 1846, was then 23 years old and was captivated by cowboys and Indians. He would rub shoulders with innumerable examples of both during his time in Colorado and New Mexico. Over his years in the West he gained some seasoning and became a rancher and a successful merchant. Once when Townshend and his men were making a harrowing cattle drive, they narrowly missed having the valuable livestock stolen by Billy the Kid and his outlaw pals. Later in his life, back in England, Townshend pulled together his first book, "A Tenderfoot in Colorado." It was published in February 1923. The following April 23 he died at Oxford in his 77th year. The second volume, "The Tenderfoot in New Mexico," was completed by his wife Dorothea, using notes left by her husband. It saw publication at the end of 1923. It proved to be the most popular, with its descriptions of Townshend's experiences among the Pueblo and Navajo Indians, and his adventures on desert and mountain trails. Although Townshend gained a wide audience in his day among both Englishmen and Americans, by the mid 20th century he had slipped from public view. This reprinting of "The Tenderfoot in New Mexico" by Sunstone Press will serve to re-introduce him to a new generation of readers.

In New Mexico, during Lent and Holy Week each year, the Penitent Brotherhood enacts a primitive Passion Play, which in its traditional ritual of self-torture represents a curious survival of the Middle Ages. Much lurid journalism has been devoted to the Penitentes, but in this sympathetic account by Alice Corbin Henderson, an eye-witness, the ceremonies are presented in their true aspect, with the historic background and reason for the survival clearly indicated. From this it appears that the religious custom of self-inflicted penance was introduced into the Southwest as early as 1598 by the Franciscan priests who accompanied Don Juan de Onate and his soldiers and colonists on their way to the permanent settlement of the province of New Mexico-originally embracing all of our present Southwest. From that day the customs then inaugurated have been traditionally observed by the humble descendants of the "Conquistadores." Alice Corbin and William Penhallow Henderson lived in New Mexico and know its people and its colorful landscape intimately. The striking illustrations in black and white that appeared in the original 1937 edition are an integral part of the text of this new edition. Also included in this edition along with an introduction by Lynn Cline is "Alice Corbin, An Appreciation" from "New Mexico Quarterly Review" in 1949, an article by Marc Simmons from "The Santa Fe New Mexican," and a review of the book from "New Mexico Quarterly" at the time of publication of the original edition in 1937 by T. M. Pearce.

In the spring of 1883 Apache raiders massacred Judge McComas and his wife and kidnapped their six-year-old son, Charley, as the family traveled on a desolate road in southwestern New Mexico Territory, all victims of revenge sought by the Apaches for Gen. George Crook's campaign. At the time, the entire circumstances concerning this tragic incident had not been fully understood--or perhaps cared about. In Massacre on the Lordsburg Road, historian Marc Simmons brings to light one of the last massacres of the Indian wars, presenting exactly why and how the McComases met their end on that desolate road, the events that led up to it, and the public reactions that followed. The puzzlement of why a reputably wise and able man would lead his family into such a fatal predicament, the pursuit of the Apaches into Mexico by General Crook, and the ironic circumstances of Charley McComas's death at the hands of Crook's troops in a raid on the Apache camp, illustrates that past events were as complex and as human as those today.

Author, photographer, historian, archeologist, and preservationist, Charles Fletcher Lummis stood tall in the affections of American Southwesterners at the turn of the 20th century. A flamboyant figure of enormous energy, he championed Indian rights and Hispanic culture, while introducing Easterners, through his many books, to the rich heritage of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. After years of fading from view, the large Lummis legacy is being rediscovered. His works are coming back into print and in 2006 the city of Los Angeles inaugurated an annual Lummis Day Festival. This little book can acquaint readers with a remarkable recorder of history and can help to reawaken interest in his efforts to preserve the distinctive cultures of the American Southwest. Additionally, this book contains, as its first chapter, the complete contents of the classic "Two Southwesterners: Charles Lummis & Amado Chaves" by Marc Simmons, originally published by San Marcos Press in 1968 and long unavailable until now. Marc Simmons, besides being an aficionado of the writings of Charles F. Lummis, is himself a historian and prolific author. In 1993 he was knighted by order of the King of Spain for his publications on Spanish colonial history of the Southwest. Among his most recent books are "New Mexico Mavericks," "Stalking Billy the Kid," and a new edition of "Southwestern Colonial Ironwork," all published by Sunstone Press.

Most writers are impressed by three things in the life of Clay Allison: That he had a tooth pulling bout with a dentist; that he rode the streets of Canadian, Texas, clothed only in a gun belt; and that he went back to Tennessee to marry his childhood sweetheart. Perhaps none of these incidents are hardly capable of exciting the imagination of the intelligent reader, but they do tend to set up a curiosity about this famous Western character. Eleven years of research and thirty thousand miles of travel are the props on which the author built this story. It is not surprising that he should come up with a human being who is surprisingly capable of feats more commendable than those other Western legendary characters hit upon by most writers of Western folklore. Exciting tales of gun slingers are not always true tales. Here we find have both combined. "An easterner by birth but a southwesterner at heart, Father Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola had as many vocations as names," says his biographer, Mary Jo Walker. "As a young man, he entered the Catholic priesthood and for nearly half a century served his church with great zeal in various capacities, attempting to balance the callings of teacher, pastor, historian and writer." With limited money or free time, he also managed to write and publish one hundred and seventy-seven books and booklets pertaining to his adopted region under his nom de plume, F. Stanley. The initial in that name does not stand for Father, as many have assumed, but for Francis, which Louis Crocchiola took, with the name Stanley, at the time of his ordination as Franciscan friar in 1938. All of F. Stanley's titles have now reached the status of expensive collector's items. This new edition in Sunstone's Southwest Heritage Series includes a new foreword by Marc Simmons, an excerpt from F. Stanley's biography by Mary Jo Walker, a tribute to F. Stanley by Jack D. Rittenhouse (also from the biography), and an article on Clay Allison by Norman Cleaveland.

Thomas Edward ("Black Jack") Ketchum (October 31, 1863-April 26, 1901) was executed for an attempt to hold up the C. & S. train between Des Moines and Folsom in the northeaster corner of New Mexico. His other daring deeds as a desperado were not considered by the court. Ketchum was to be made an example in an effort to prevent further robberies as well as to prove to the rest of the nation that New Mexico knew how to deal with outlaws like Black Jack. Actually the hanging proved nothing. Rustlers, robbers, and outlaws continued on their merry way. Looking back over Ketchum's misdeeds, which were many, his misplaced bravery outshone the more widely known Billy the Kid who never came within range of Ketchum for daring, nerve, and hard riding. Ketchum, whose career began as an humble horse thief, wrote his own ticket with tragic results. The truth about Ketchum reads like fiction and the author shows no signs of embellishment in his account. F. Stanley (Father Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola) was a history buff whose curiosity and inner fire drew him to the study of people and places and events that had gone unnoticed until he saw them. It has been said that he wandered across the American Southwest like a Johnny Appleseed of history, planting seedlings in the form of booklets and leaving their later nurturing to others. "An easterner by birth but a southwesterner at heart, Father Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola had as many vocations as names," says his biographer, Mary Jo Walker. "As a young man, he entered the Catholic priesthood and for nearly half a century served his church with great zeal in various capacities, attempting to balance the callings of teacher, pastor, historian and writer." With limited money or free time, he also managed to write and publish one hundred and seventy-seven books and booklets pertaining to his adopted region under his nom de plume, F. Stanley, The initial in that name does not stand for Father, as many have assumed, but for Francis, which Louis Crocchiola took, with the name Stanley, at the time of his ordination as Franciscan friar in 1938. All of F. Stanley's titles have now reached the status of expensive collector's items. This new edition in Sunstone's Southwest Heritage Series includes a new foreword by Marc Simmons, an excerpt from F. Stanley's biography by Mary Jo Walker, and a tribute to F. Stanley by Jack D. Rittenhouse (also from the biography).

Author, photographer, historian, archeologist, and preservationist, Charles Fletcher Lummis stood tall in the affections of American Southwesterners at the turn of the 20th century. A flamboyant figure of enormous energy, he championed Indian rights and Hispanic culture, while introducing Easterners, through his many books, to the rich heritage of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. After years of fading from view, the large Lummis legacy is being rediscovered. His works are coming back into print and in 2006 the city of Los Angeles inaugurated an annual Lummis Day Festival. This little book can acquaint readers with a remarkable recorder of history and can help to reawaken interest in his efforts to preserve the distinctive cultures of the American Southwest. Additionally, this book contains, as its first chapter, the complete contents of the classic "Two Southwesterners: Charles Lummis & Amado Chaves" by Marc Simmons, originally published by San Marcos Press in 1968 and long unavailable until now. Marc Simmons, besides being an aficionado of the writings of Charles F. Lummis, is himself a historian and prolific author. In 1993 he was knighted by order of the King of Spain for his publications on Spanish colonial history of the Southwest. Among his most recent books are "New Mexico Mavericks," "Stalking Billy the Kid," and a new edition of "Southwestern Colonial Ironwork," all published by Sunstone Press.

When was Santa Fe under siege? Who was the local witch reputed to fly around in an egg? Which governor found his chair thrown into the street? Why were Judge Eaton's burros so expensive? What was the Santa Fe-Granada, Spain connection? What city celebration was sixty years too soon? Which governor paid a bribe to win a horse race? Who was "Telegraph" Aubry and why was he famous? What ended the usefulness of the Santa Fe Trail? If you don't know the answers to these questions, Marc Simmons does. And in this witty but historically accurate book, he takes readers on a fact-filled but fun journey into Santa Fe, New Mexico's unusual past. Historian and author Marc Simmons has received many awards for his research and writings on the American Southwest. He is known for his ability to ferret out true but little-known episodes in New Mexican history such as those recounted in this fascinating book.

Thomas E. Ketchum, better known as "Black Jack" Ketchum, at six foot two inches tall with dark skin and black hair and described as having a "wonderful physique," never became one of those folklore desperados whose violent and lawless ways were burnished with an illusive romance. If he is remembered at all, it is mostly for the peculiar circumstances which attended the curtailment of his earthly career. Yet, as a man who was noted in his own day, and who stood out above most others in his dubious profession, he is worthy of more than passing mention. He and his companions were among the boldest outlaws ever to ride the American Southwest, and almost the last of their line. Tom Ketchum and his small gang--one member was his brother Sam--were on the dodge in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona for less than four years and their career of banditry lasted for little more than two years. Tom, often confused with the earlier Black Jack Christian who was the first outlaw in New Mexico to carry the handle "Black Jack," was always the leader of their gang. In the end he paid dearly for his escapades. At his hanging in 1901 he declared, "Hurry up boys, I'm due in Hell for dinner." Jeff Burton was born in Nottinghamshire, England, in 1936. His interest in history, folklore, and myth began at an early age. His special field has been the study of law enforcement and outlawry in the American West.

"Having written about New Mexico history for more than forty years," explains the author, "it was perhaps inevitable that in time I should publish a few articles on Billy the Kid. After all, he is the one figure from this state's past whose name is known around the world. The Kid's career, although astonishingly short, nonetheless, left an indelible mark in the annals of the Old West. And his name, William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, seems locked forever into the consciousness of the starry-eyed public. "Upon request," the author continues, "I was able to assemble a collection of my varied writings pertaining to some of Billy's real or imagined deeds. Each section opens a small window on an aspect of his tumultuous life, or casts light upon others whose fortunes intersected with his. In this book, I have stalked Billy in an erratic rather than a systematic way, taking pleasure merely in adding a few new and unusual fragments to his biography. I trust that readers who have a fascination with the history and legend of Billy the Kid will find in these pages something of interest and value. As Eugene Cunningham wrote more than seventy years ago, 'in our imagination the Kid still lives--the Kid still rides.'" Marc Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the knightly Order of Isabel la Catolica for his contributions to Spanish colonial history.

When Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett ended Billy the Kid's life on the night of July 14, 1881 with a shot in the dark, he was catapulted at once into stardom in the annals of Western history. The killing occurred at old Fort Sumner, New Mexico on the Pecos River. Garrett by pure chance had encountered the Kid in a darkened room of the Pete Maxwell house. As the unsuspecting Billy entered, he was cut down without warning. But the Kid had his share of friends and many of them stepped forward to level some harsh criticism against the lawman. It soon became clear that while Pat Garrett was an instant celebrity, he had also come away, at least in some quarters, with a negative image. To address that problem, he began thinking about a book to give the public his side of the story. The editor of the "Santa Fe New Mexican," Charles Greene, offered to publish a Garrett volume if the sheriff could find someone to ghost write it for him. Pat enlisted his good friend Marshall Ashmun (Ash) Upson, a journalist, to do the job. Upson cranked out a manuscript and it was published in 1882 under the title "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid." Sunstone's edition is a facsimile of the 1927 edition. Before that fateful night in 1881, there was not much in Pat Garrett's career to suggest he was headed for a place in the history books. Alabama-born in 1850, he worked as a cowboy and buffalo hunter in Texas. By 1878 he had drifted to the Pecos in eastern New Mexico. Perhaps craving excitement, Pat Garrett ran for sheriff of wild Lincoln County in the fall of 1880. He was elected. Winning the office put him on a collision course with the outlaw Billy and the incident that catapulted the Kid into literary immortality.

Miguel Antonio Otero served as the first Hispanic governor of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico, from 1897 to 1906. He was appointed to the office by President William McKinley. Long after his retirement from politics, Governor Otero wrote and published his memoirs in three volumes, a major contribution to New Mexico history. But he also published a biography in 1936 titled "The Real Billy the Kid." His aim in that book, he proclaimed, was to write the Kid's story "without embellishment, based entirely on actual fact." Otero had known the outlaw briefly and also had known the man who killed Billy in 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett. The author recalled Garrett saying he regretted having to slay Billy. Or, as he bluntly put it, "it was simply the case of who got in the first shot. I happened to be the lucky one." By all accounts, Billy the Kid was much adored by New Mexico's Hispanic population. Otero asserts that the Kid was considerate of the old, the young and the poor. And he was loyal to his friends. Further, Martin Chaves of Santa Fe stated: "Billy was a perfect gentleman with a noble heart. He never killed a native citizen of New Mexico in all his career, and he had plenty of courage." Otero was especially admiring of Billy because as a boy in Silver City, "he had loved his mother devotedly." Such praise must be viewed in the context of the times. Other people, of course, saw Billy as an arch-villain. Miguel A. Otero rightly distinguished himself as a political leader in New Mexico where he raised a family and lived out his life as a champion of the people, but he is also highly recognized for his career as an author. He published his legendary My Life on the Frontier, 1864-1882" in 1935, followed by "The Real Billy the Kid: With New Light on the Lincoln County War" in 1936, "My Life on the Frontier, 1882-1897" in 1939, and "My Nine Years as Governor of New Mexico Territory, 1897-1906" in 1940.

"I first saw New Mexico as a kid, in 1950," the author says. "At once I fell under its hypnotic spell, as have so many others. My commitment to become a writer about things New Mexican was born shortly thereafter. From more than a half century of prowlings along the byways of the state, I've managed to glean a fair knowledge of its peoples and culture. "What continues to impress me is that history in New Mexico lies so close to the surface. Here one continually runs into Indians, Hispanos and fourth or fifth generation Anglos whose lives and outlook are firmly rooted in the years before yesterday. Moreover, their personal histories are enriched by the backdrop of an extraordinary landscape. These realities have provided me an abundance of material for carving out the series of short narratives compiled in the book." Marc Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the knightly Order of Isabel la Catolica for his contributions to Spanish colonial history.

"I first saw New Mexico as a kid, in 1950," the author says. "At once I fell under its hypnotic spell, as have so many others. My commitment to become a writer about things New Mexican was born shortly thereafter. From more than a half century of prowlings along the byways of the state, I've managed to glean a fair knowledge of its peoples and culture. "What continues to impress me is that history in New Mexico lies so close to the surface. Here one continually runs into Indians, Hispanos and fourth or fifth generation Anglos whose lives and outlook are firmly rooted in the years before yesterday. Moreover, their personal histories are enriched by the backdrop of an extraordinary landscape. These realities have provided me an abundance of material for carving out the series of short narratives compiled in the book." Marc Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the knightly Order of Isabel la Catolica for his contributions to Spanish colonial history.

"Having written about New Mexico history for more than forty years," explains the author, "it was perhaps inevitable that in time I should publish a few articles on Billy the Kid. After all, he is the one figure from this state's past whose name is known around the world. The Kid's career, although astonishingly short, nonetheless, left an indelible mark in the annals of the Old West. And his name, William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, seems locked forever into the consciousness of the starry-eyed public. Upon request," the author continues, "I was able to assemble a collection of my varied writings pertaining to some of Billy's real or imagined deeds. Each section opens a small window on an aspect of his tumultuous life, or casts light upon others whose fortunes intersected with his. In this book, I have stalked Billy in an erratic rather than a systematic way, taking pleasure merely in adding a few new and unusual fragments to his biography. I trust that readers who have a fascination with the history and legend of Billy the Kid will find in these pages something of interest and value. As Eugene Cunningham wrote more than seventy years ago, 'in our imagination the Kid still lives--the Kid still rides.'" Marc Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the knightly Order of Isabel la Catolica for his contributions to Spanish colonial history.

The rock-ribbed hills surrounding Cerrillos, New Mexico, are honeycombed with mineshafts and it is these mines that have shaped the history of the town and of the district over which it presides. The Pueblo Indians for untold ages took out turquoise; the Spaniards in their turn found gold, silver and lead; and finally, the Anglo-Americans exploited all of these in addition to copper, zinc and coal. Mining gave life to Cerrillos and to neighboring towns such as Bonanza City, Carbonateville, Waldo and Madrid. And when the boom passed and the mines closed, that life ebbed away. Scattered over the hills and in the valleys everywhere are skeletal remains of mining activity: deserted buildings, black and foreboding entrances to shafts, broken tools and equipment, fallen timbers from the windlasses, gallows and hoist houses, tailing dumps and slag heaps. These offer silent testimony to the once prosperous past of the Cerrillos mining district and are an appeal for all students of history. MARC SIMMONS, the prominent author and historian, has received many awards for his research and writings on the American Southwest. He is known for his ability to record little-known episodes in New Mexico history and is also the author of NEW MEXICO MAVERICKS and YESTERDAY IN SANTA FE, both from Sunstone Press.