In October 1913, 261 miners and two rescuers died when a massive explosion ripped through a mine operated by Phelps, Dodge & Company in Dawson, New Mexico. Ten years later, a second blast claimed the lives of another 120 miners. Today, Dawson is a deserted ghost town. All that remains is a sea of white iron crosses memorializing the nearly four hundred miners killed in the two explosions--a death toll unmatched by mine disasters in any other town in America. Now, to mark the centennial of the second disaster, veteran journalist Nick Pappas tells the tragic story of what was once New Mexico's largest and most modern company town and of how the strong, determined residents of the community coped with two heartbreaking catastrophes.

Don Perkins led a life as one of the most honored athletes in the history of the University of New Mexico and the Dallas Cowboys. But Perkins's life was far more complex and, at times, controversial. He experienced the traumas of racial discrimination, death, divorce, football-related injuries, and a never-ending search for his own identity. In his search, Perkins ventured into sportscasting, public speaking, community relations, big-rig trucking, government work, and even amateur theater, where he portrayed Frederick Douglass and other famous Black leaders. Through it all, he remained a kind, unassuming, charismatic man, universally admired by family members, friends, and millions of fans. Don Perkins: A Champion's Life is the final tribute he so richly deserves.

Ernie Pyle was different from all the correspondents who went before him or followed him in the combat zones of the world. While others reported on the big picture of troop movements and massive battles, Pyle wrote on the big picture of troop movements and massive battles, Pyle wrote about the fighting soldier and his plight on the front lines.

The enormous effort--called the Manhattan Project--that produced the world's first atomic bomb was supposed to be the best kept secret of World War II. And the project's Los Alamos, New Mexico site, where the bomb was perfected, was supposed to have the tightest security of the project's other 37 installations across the United States. Even the vice president, Harry S. Truman, was kept in the dark initially until fate propelled him into the fray. But this was an illusion. Evidence from Soviet and American sources have proven that at least three--and as many as six--Communist spies penetrated the security system at Los Alamos and shared the secret of the atomic bomb with the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union before the end of World War II. Historian Richard Melzer now sheds new light on how security at Los Alamos broke down--not by examining this isolated site in New Mexico from the outside as many other authors have--but from within Los Alamos itself. Using interviews, memoirs, and formerly confidential files, Melzer shows that spies quite easily obtained security clearances, gained access to top secret information, and carried this information to their Soviet contacts without a hitch. What Melzer tells us about the flaws of security in the past might well help those in charge of security today as the United States grapples with these problems in the aftermath of the Chinese espionage scandal that rocked Los Alamos and the entire American intelligence community. Includes a bibliography, historic photographs, and index. BOOK NEWS reports: "A good survey of Los Alamos security and its many breaches." NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW said: "Anyone interested in the history of the atomic bombwill gain much from Melzer's fine treatment of the failure of wartime security and the loss of atomic secrets. This is a highly readable and recommended book." RICHARD MELZER is a professor of history at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus. A specialist in twentieth century New Mexico history, he has written many articles, chapters, and books about the American Southwest. He is a prize-winning author and a popular public speaker. Sunstone Press is also the publisher of Melzer's focused biography, ERNIE PYLE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST and WHEN WE WERE YOUNG IN THE WEST, TRUE HISTORIES OF CHILDHOOD.

LeBaron Bradford Prince (1840-1922) was a transplanted New Yorker, a tireless judge, a controversial territorial governor, a gentleman scholar, and an early leader of the Historical Society of New Mexico. In all these roles, and others, he was a passionate advocate of New Mexico statehood. Prince was born, raised, and educated in New York. As a young attorney, his political career in state politics had progressed well until he clashed with leaders of the state Republican Party machine. Salvaging his political fortunes in the West, Prince won appointment as the chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court in 1879. By all accounts, no territorial judge worked harder than Prince, often hearing cases from 8:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. In what time remained in his busy days, Prince compiled a 603-page volume of territorial laws and began to write history with the clear purpose of advocating New Mexico statehood. His first work on New Mexico history, entitled "Historical Sketches of New Mexico from the Earliest Records to the American Occupation," appeared in 1883. "New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood" (1910) and "The Student's History of New Mexico" (1921) followed. All are included in Sunstone's Southwest Heritage Series. This new edition of "New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood" includes a facsimile of the original edition along with a new foreword by Richard Melzer, PhD, a biographical sketch from "History of New Mexico" (1891) by Helen Haines, and a tribute to the memory of L. Bradford Prince from a publication of the Historical Society of New Mexico, No. 25.

L. Bradford Prince was one of seven territorial governors who attended the January 15th inauguration of New Mexico's first state governor, William C. McDonald, in New Mexico's long-awaited statehood year, 1912. Within a year of that auspicious occasion, Prince published "A Concise History of New Mexico," a condensation and revision of his "Historical Sketches" of 1883. His purpose in 1913 was to provide a "little volume" that might be of use in the now-required teaching of New Mexico history in the state's public schools. The passage of a public school bill during his term as governor had been considered an important step toward the attainment of statehood. The publication of a state history textbook was meant to be an important contribution to New Mexico public education once statehood had been achieved. But within a year of its publication, Prince affirmed that the length and price of the already brief "Concise History" was excessive for most public schools and students. While still recommending "A Concise History" for teachers and most adults, Prince offered an even more focused, 174-page work, entitled "The Student's History of New Mexico." Now, instead of using history to argue the case for New Mexico statehood, Prince's chief goal was to use history to help create pride in New Mexico for the "clear-eyed, pure hearted, noble minded youth" of the nation's newest state. These future citizens could take pride in both their past, "the most interesting of all American state histories," and in the special qualities of individual groups whose collective story was "unrivaled in ancient or modern times." Convinced that "The Student's History" had served its purpose well, Prince later updated his book with an additional ten pages about New Mexico's first few years of statehood. This second edition of "The Student's History" appeared in 1921, a year before Prince's death, and this is the edition Sunstone Press is publishing in its Southwest Heritage Series. The second edition of "The Student's History" is also offered as a brief history of New Mexico of value to the general reader sophisticated enough to recognize its biases, but astute enough to appreciate its many facts. If this unique telling of New Mexico's past adds to our pride in being New Mexicans-or helps others to better understand New Mexico-then L. Bradford Prince will have achieved his purpose long after he departed his beloved New Mexico, once a striving territory and now a productive member of the nation's family of states.

LeBaron Bradford Prince (1840-1922) was a transplanted New Yorker, a tireless judge, a controversial territorial governor, a gentleman scholar, and an early leader of the Historical Society of New Mexico. In all these roles, and others, he was a passionate advocate of New Mexico statehood. Prince was born, raised, and educated in New York. As a young attorney, his political career in state politics had progressed well until he clashed with leaders of the state Republican Party machine. Salvaging his political fortunes in the West, Prince won appointment as the chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court in 1879. By all accounts, no territorial judge worked harder than Prince, often hearing cases from 8:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. In what time remained in his busy days, Prince compiled a 603-page volume of territorial laws and began to write history with the clear purpose of advocating New Mexico statehood. His first work on New Mexico history, entitled "Historical Sketches of New Mexico from the Earliest Records to the American Occupation," appeared in 1883. This new edition, part of Sunstone's award-winning Southwest Heritage Series, includes a facsimile of this original edition along with a new foreword by Richard Melzer, PhD, a biographical sketch from "History of New Mexico" (1891) by Helen Haines, and a tribute to the memory of L. Bradford Prince from a publication of the Historical Society of New Mexico, No. 25. Prince's "The Student's History of New Mexico" and "New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood" are also included in Sunstone's Southwest Heritage Series.

New Mexico history is filled with noteworthy men, women, and children, usually deserving of high praise and admiration. Sadly, few of these famous New Mexicans are honored with monuments to remind us of their achievements in every field, from art and literature to military service and rocket science. Historian Richard Melzer attempts to rectify this neglect with an impressive new book about famous New Mexico gravesites, usually the only monuments left to honor the human treasures who helped shape so much of our state, national, and often international history. The gravesites belong to both famous and infamous characters, from Billy the Kid to Kit Carson, Elfego Baca, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Geronimo (buried in exile in Oklahoma). The result of Melzer's coast-to-coast quest for the gravesites of deserving New Mexicans is a book filled with vivid photographs, compelling stories, humorous epitaphs, and valuable information. With so much data about so many New Mexicans, this book is destined to serve as a major reference work for historians, genealogists, students, and librarians for years to come. With so much good history and a concluding chapter of truly unusual gravesites found in New Mexico, casual readers will be engaged and entertained as well. Richard Melzer is a professor of history at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus. He is an award-winning author of many books and articles about New Mexico, including two grade school textbooks to be published in anticipation of New Mexico's centennial celebration of statehood in 2012. He is the President of the Historical Society of New Mexico. Sunstone Press has published three of his previous books, including "Ernie Pyle in the American Southwest, Breakdown: How the Secret of the Atomic Bomb was Stolen during World War II," and "When We Were Young in the West: True Stories of Childhood."

Presents biographical sketches of New Mexican children from different cultures, races, and classes who represent the strength and diversity of this state's heritage.