New Mexico Historical Review Vol 34

Excerpt from New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. 34: January, 1959 Other interesting accounts are written up in detail, of Mexican irrigation, gold-mining, customs duties and vini culture. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Here is the first comprehensive history of the Colfax County area of northeastern New Mexico. Best known today as the home of the Philmont Scout Ranch, where thousands of Boy Scouts from around the world gather every year, this beautiful country has a violent and varied past. Centering around the town of Cimarron, the region includes much of the vast Maxwell Land Grant, one of the largest pieces of land to be owned by one man in the history of the United States. Controversy over control of the land began in the sixteenth century with quarrels among rival American Indian tribes. Spanish and later American troops continued the bloodshed for centuries more. The culmination of the area’s history of violence was the notorious Colfax County War between homesteaders and landowners that began in 1875 and continued until the Supreme Court acted fifteen years later. A gold and silver rush lured prospectors to the Maxwell ranch and booming Elizabethtown in the 1860s. But by 1870 the supply of precious metals was almost exhausted, and today Elizabethtown is a ghost town. “An interesting and welltold account of an important area, Philmont deserves a place on the Western book shelf.”—Denver Post

Elected for two-year terms, frontier sheriffs were the principal peace-keepers in counties that were often larger than New England states. As officers of the court, they defended settlers and protected their property from the ever-present violence on the frontier. Their duties ranged from tracking down stagecoach robbers and serving court warrants to locking up drunks and quelling domestic disputes.The reality of their job embraced such mandane duties as being jail keepers, tax collectors, quarantine inspectors, court-appointed executioners, and dogcatchers.

The 78 maps in this atlas add significant information to the study of the development of the American West, Defined for this resources as those 17 continental states west of the Missouri River. The maps range in chronology from explorations in the sixteenth century to the location of World War II prisoner of war and Japanese internment camps. The atlas includes maps of geographic, flora and fauna data. Maps are on the left pages and narratives about the maps re on the facing pages. Maps are black and white clear and easily read. An Appendix shows Spanish-Mexican land grants, and there is an index. This is an excellent atlas for both middle and high schools. Includes a section on Arkansas aboriginal setting and Native American tribes. Describes European contacts and settlements.

When Friar Diego Bringas penned his 1796–97 report on conditions in northwestern New Spain, he was imbued with an enthusiastic drive for reform. Hoping to gain the King of Spain’s support in improving the missionary program, Bringas set down a detailed history of all that had happened in the region since Father Kino’s day. His writings offer a valuable study of Spanish attempts to bring about cultural change among the Piman Indians. Daniel S. Matson and Bernard L. Fontana have translated the Bringas document and added an informative introduction, notes, and references. They analyze Spanish methods of indoctrination and examine the implications in terms of the modern world. Friar Bringas carefully explained various missionary and secular policies, laws, and regulations. He pointed out why, in his opinion, Spanish efforts to convert the Piman Indians had failed. He also provided a report of the orders establishing the ill-fated Yuma missions. His fascinating account of the Gila River Pimas is one of the most complete ethnographic descriptions from that era. Friar Bringas Reports to the King is an important study of Spain’s attempts to assimilate the Indians. It offers a deeper understanding of the history of the Pimería Alta.