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Following the discovery of the decapitated corpse of Arthur
Rochford Manby in his nineteen-room mansion in Taos, New Mexico,
there quickly arose two schools of thought as to the event. One
sect accepted that he was gruesomely murdered, while the second
held to the belief that he had staged his death and left behind the
cadaver of a stranger. The case was a bizarre enigma wrapped in
riddles, confusion, betrayal and greed. Finally for posterity, and
as relief to the guilty, it was labeled an unsolved crime. Today it
is referred to as the "Manby Mystery of Taos." This book contains
very little mystery. Rather, it is the tragic account of Manby and
his 35-year career in manipulation, extortion, high-grading and
murder. Arriving in New Mexico from England in 1883, the
24-year-old Manby began his personal odyssey for El Dorado: the
dream of building a vast empire in the Southwest. He finally does
so in 1913 when becoming the owner of the 61,000 acre Martinez
Grant of Taos. But after three years it slips from his grasp and he
is left nearly penniless. In his last years he gradually decays
mentality and emotionally. Looked upon as an eccentric, no one
realizes how ill he has become. Finally having a falling out with a
quartet of compatriots, in July, 1929, he is murdered and
decapitated. JAMES S. PETERS was born in Wyandotte, Michigan in
1930. In the mid-1940s his family moved to California where at
sixteen he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served three years as
a medic. Later he spent ten years in the navy as a photographer and
in 1964 he alighted in Taos, New Mexico and developed an avid
interest in Southwestern American history. After living in Santa Fe
and Albuquerque, he continued researching and writing articles on
the frontier West. After retiring, he pursued his interests in
writing and painting. His previous book, "Robert Clay Allison," was
also published by Sunstone Press.
Cimarron badman legend Clay Allison takes his readers on a ride
through his uneven and turbulent life while trying to grab a part
of his own American dream: an extensive ranch with herds of cattle,
and a progeny of sons to generate his name and legacy into the
future. But alas, his soul-selling choice of a shortcut to
prosperity by linking his star with the Santa Fe Ring skewers his
plans and darkens his future. Echoing a Greek tragedy, he ends
marked for assassination, and his younger brother John is
shot-gunned in the dark by error, mistaken for Clay. His final
years are not to be envied, but he toughs it out to the end. JAMES
S. PETERS was born in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1930. In the mid-1940s
his family moved to California where at sixteen he enlisted in the
Army Air Corps and served three years as a medic. Later he spent
ten years in the navy as a photographer and in 1964 he alighted in
Taos, New Mexico and developed an avid interest in Southwestern
American history. After living in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, he
continued researching and writing articles on the frontier West.
After retiring, he pursued his interests in writing and painting.
This is his first work of creative nonfiction. He now lives in
Colorado.
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