New Mexico Books

" 'I can't do it anymore,' he [Buyer's then husband] says. 'Not the physical work. I could still cripple by with that. It's just the mental work, the worry, and the stress. I just can't do it anymore.'

" 'I know' is all I can think to say. When he adds nothing further, I say, 'I'll help you. Whatever you need to do.'

"I do not try to hug him or touch him or console him. I know better. He prefers being alone with his own suffering."

Ranch life is dirt, labor, wind, drought, deaths, births, wants, sacrifices, uncertainty, exhaustion. Why choose it? Because it is also stars, peace, calves, kittens, satisfaction, love, spring--"a meadowlark trills notes as sweet and soft as homemade ice cream. The song breaks my heart and then mends it back."

Read SPRING'S EDGE. Experience the poetry of ranch existence.

Laurie Wagner Buyer's memoir about one key spring when her life and marriage were on a precipice and yet the calves kept being born and the snow kept falling is beautiful and affecting. Her powerful feel for the legacy of the past, her keen observation about the color of the sky or the dimension of the stars, and even her desire to create art by keeping notebooks full of the details of days that seem never to change, yet must; all this adds up to a book you won't want to put down. This would be a perfect book club selection--plenty of material to discuss, cry over, and rejoice in. University of New Mexico Press should be commended for bringing this book to life.

Sometimes a story wraps itself around you and won't let you go. For me, Laurie Wagner Buyer's memoir, Spring's Edge, is one of those stories. Her book offers a rare insight into her life as a rancher's wife, a way of living that is at once remarkably sturdy and frighteningly fragile.

Buyer and her husband Mick--he in his mid-sixties, she some twenty years younger--raised cattle on six hundred acres in the mountains of Colorado. It's a tough life, made more difficult for Buyer by the realization that her husband is fast reaching the point where he can no longer manage the physical work. Since he intends to leave the ranch to the children of his first marriage, she has essentially no stake in the ranch to which she has contributed so much. What will she do--what will they do--when her husband can no longer live the life on the land that keeps him going? What will happen to their marriage if their work on the ranch no longer holds it together? On top of this, Buyer's father develops cancer. It is a situation that would bring most of us--those used to more comfortable, more predictable circumstances--to the brink.

But the Buyers soldier on, doing every day what must be done to keep the ranch going, the new calves alive, their fragile relationship in one piece. Buyer's journal of four difficult months in 1997 is a quietly compelling story of a doomed marriage and a ranch life under pressure from rising land taxes and encroaching developments. "We're on top of the mountain looking down at the wreckage of the times," she writes. "Age, inability, financial impossibilities, an anti-ag attitude in the community..." As local ranchers sell out, hay prices rise, and local agricultural businesses fail, the people who stay on the land demonstrate a tenacious heroism, although they pay a very high personal price.

Through all these challenges, it is the land itself that sustains and endures. Buyer's lyrical descriptions of the earth's coming alive with spring are full of hope and promise. "More snow, some rain, lots of sun, and our world will dance a greening jig," she writes. Later: "Snipe song ripples through the sky. Spring comes again fresh-faced and welcoming." Still later: "I sense the atmosphere hanging on life's balanced scale, ready to tip into full spring with the weight of one more robin, one more blooming pasqueflower."

But while winter is long ("A remember-winter wind cartwheels off the peaks with chilled intent"), the people are strong, and Buyer revels in their strengths. Her husband is "a man born to the land, bonded to earth by his birthright and by his stubborn, even zealous, dedication to a way of life." Her friend Gail loses her front teeth when she's helping check cows for pregnancy: "The fiftieth cow flung her massive head and hit Gail smack in the face. Teeth and hat went flying...[S]he grabbed her hat, stuffed a couple of tissues in her mouth, and went back to work because there were still ten cows to go." It is as if these men and women both draw their strength from the land and develop it in opposition to the land's brutal hardships.

A prizewinning poet, Buyer tells her story skillfully, working from journal notes (sixteen legal tablets) gathered, assembled, and polished. She focuses on the present, but also gives us intriguing glimpses of a puzzling past, enough to give us a sense of the development of this marriage but not enough to answer all our questions. (A remark on her website, that she "came west from Chicago as a mail order bride," compounds the mystery.) The book's epilogue, written some ten years after the events documented in the journal, brings the reader up to date with events in the Buyers' lives.

Spring's Edge tells a remarkable story. I won't forget it, and I don't think you will, either.

by Susan Wittig Albert
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands is the best single book on the often-overlooked Gulf Coast Theater of the War of 1812. Well written and researched, Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands brings to light several little understood aspects of the War of 1812. First, it illustrates the previously overlooked interrelation of the Creek War and the bearing it had on the outcome of the War of 1812.

Secondly, it details all military and political actions on the Gulf Coast leading up to the Battle of New Orleans. Most books focus only on the events of the battle, ignoring the many actions that had a direct influence on how the Battle of New Orleans was fought. Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands describes these events so one can understand thier impact on the outcome of the battle itself.

Lastly, Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands brings to light the divergent Southern opinion that the War of 1812 was a great military victory. From the Southern perspective, victory was nearly complete; the Creeks had been destroyed (opening more land for settlement); the Mobile territory had been annexed; and a major British invasion had been decisively stopped. The book contrasts this Southern perspective to the typical Northern view that the War of 1812 was at best a draw, which is the general view put forward by the majority of books on this subject.

Overall, the book is readable and informative. It is important for the new ideas and information it brings to the history of an area and a period. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in either the Creek War or the War of 1812.

Dr. Owsley tells the story of the Gulf area during the War of 1812 in a very readable manner. His work is quite thorough and includes a lot of detail about the skirmishes and battles. I recommend this to anyone with an interest in the War of 1812 and the Creek Indian War. The research done was well documented and any student of history will find this a great source.

For decades to come this will be the standard reference work on this topic. Superbly researched utilizing not only the usual American sources, but the previously untapped archives of Spain and Great Britain. Owsley has integrated the Creek War into the larger framework of the War of 1812 causing the reader at some point to pronounce "Eureka" as you begin to acquire a whole new perspective on Andrew Jackson and the conflict with Great Britain.

This may easily be the best history on the Creek War of 1813-1814. What could have been a completely altered history of the United States - if Andrew Jackson had not been in command, if he would have hesitated only weeks from the crucible campaign concluding at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, if the British would have landed the state-of-the-art muskets, artillery, military advisors/trainers, and cavalry accoutrements several weeks earlier than they did, if the Spanish had been more pro-active than they were for the Creeks, etc. - would have prevented us from our Manifest Destiny! I never before have read all of this with such fervor, explanation, and detail. Owsley makes the point that too many of our historians have belittled our accomplishments in these two interrelated wars and downplayed their significance. Often we have been led to believe that the War of 1812 was a "draw." He makes the point that it was on balance a resounding victory.

Jackson's being in the right place at the right time for the Battle of New Orleans would not have occurred but for his role in the Creek War and the overwhelming victory achieved. We would not have had the experienced and trained troops in place under his command but for the Creek War. And, inasmuch as the British did not recognize the validity of the Louisiana Purchase, if they had won the Battle of New Orleans then the Treaty of Ghent signed in December 1814 would not have applied to any claims that they would have asserted over New Orleans, Louisiana, and their planned buffer states under the Creek Indians and their allies. The frontier would have been inflamed and we would have had strong buffer Indian states with which to contend and two mutually supportive European powers. All of this was prevented by Andrew Jackson and his juggernaut victory at Horseshoe Bend. The sheer quantum of international intrigue taking place at Pensacola and throughout the Gulf area is enlightening.

This book is highly recommended by this reviewer. You will receive a whole new perspective on Andrew Jackson and his brave Tennessee and Georgia troops in the Creek War.

If you are new to the writings of Victor Sanchez, then this is an ideal place to start.

Although the second book by Victor, following on from The Teachings of Don Carlos, it gives background and spirit to where Victor experienced and learned what he teaches, and therefore this provides an ideal starting place where you can get a sense of the mood and ethos behind the techniques and tools of the first book.

While the largest portion of the book is Victor's personal story of journeying to Humun' Kulluaby and the ascent of and ritual on La' Unarre, there are many insights and a couple of related conversations and stories regarding various things including the views of the Wirrarika on missionaries who have tried to "convert" and "save" them, through to some views "anti-anthropology" and explanations of what indigenous cultures, such as the Wirrarika, actually believe regarding multiple Gods and the Great Spirit.

The comments Victor makes about Western culture "putting ourselves at the center of everything" and viewing the "worship of nature" as primitive are I feel important concepts to reflect on (for those of us with a Western heritage) as it is indeed arrogance of this kind which I believe is a limiting factor for us in our own personal evolution.

A fragment of a conversation between Victor and a Wirrarika marakame relating a conversation he had with a pastor who insisted that the tales of Christ and the bible 'made sense' compared with the very organic beliefs of the Indians, to me sums up their wisdom. "But nobody tells me about Tatei Urianaka (the Earth), I see her every day! And every day I receive her fruits, corn, water, and beans. I can touch, walk, and live on her! And Tau (the Sun). Daily I receive his heat and his nierika (light, knowledge, vision, teaching). I don't have to do anything but look up and there he is." This, to me, is the beauty of a system which embraces the natural world (rather than 'separating' it). Learning is direct and experiential, through observation and interaction.

Overall this is a powerful and moving tale of a magical journey. Reading of Victor Sanchez's experiences provides inspiration for anyone who truly wants to discover and follow their own magical path.

Pre-Colombian with an o not u

For many of us looking for answers that doctrined religions cannot quite give us, Victor Sanchez has exposed a world where faith meets reality. Through his own research and paticipation, Sanchez experiences a spiritual domain that continues to exist admist the colonization and materialism now precedent around the world. Not restricted to boundaries of religion, Sanchez takes the reader through first hand understanding of what is possible when your allow and train your mind to believe in "separate realities." In a Carlos Casteneda like approach, Sanchez writes of his experiences with a group of Native Americans in rural Mexico, who have sustained their belief system and way of life before and after Spanish colonzation. Sanchez spent 15 years with these people and is sharing the world that these people "see." Those who have been exposed to Castaneda's work would find equal enjoyment with this book and have another supporting perspective of human capabilities with spirit and energy. Sanchez provides an answer to what is real to our eyes, may be only what we've been told and trained them to see. How easy is it to believe something you can't see, and if you do, should it be excused as hallucination or paganism. To the growing number of people not completely happy with formal religion, here is a glimsp of ancient wisdom that offers a possibility of human existence on a separate reality, one that is real.

Barbara Harrelson writes: "Today Santa Fe is called the 'City Different', but New Mexico writer Erna Fergusson called it the 'City Incongruous'. In the 1928 Santa Fe Fiesta Program, she told visitors that 'Santa Fe's welcome to you includes this cordial invitation: to have your kind of a good time. Be yourself, even if it includes synthetic cowboy clothes, motor goggles, and a camera.'

"Incongruous Santa Fe invites you to walk its historic streets, browsing in its shops, galleries, and museums. It is best to explore Santa Fe in comfortable walking shoes -- carrying water to drink -- with map and guidebook, watching out for old streets with uneven sidewalks (or no sidewalks). It's no wonder that Santa Fe is one of the top walking cities in the country."

Harrelson leads walks for visitors, writes regular columns for local and national publications, and has put together this excellent guide filled with factoids about the many writers and poets that found Santa Fe fascinating. A few of the many personalities include D. H. Lawrence, Willa Cather, Robert Frost, Thornton Wilder, Carl Sandburg, John Galsworthy, Sinclair Lewis, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Alice Corbin Henderson, Witter Bynner, Spud Johnson, Mary Austin, Haniel Long and Oliver La Farge. Harrelson estimates that over a hundred authors and poets live full or part time in Santa Fe today.

Two other books deal with authors who found homes or inspiration in Santa Fe. Santa Fe and Taos: The Writer's Era, 1916-1941 (Southwest Heritage Series), according to Mike Smith's Review here on Amazon, "details the dramatic histories of both the Santa Fe and Taos writers' colonies, and does so clearly and entertainingly, drawing effectively from the authors' rich knowledge of New Mexico history in general. It's full of terrific photographs, and well worth whatever you pay for it."

Mike Smith also gives Literary Pilgrims: The Santa Fe and Taos Writers' Colonies, 1917-1950 by Lynn Cline five stars: "Everyone from Mary Austin to Willa Cather is explored here, as are D.H. Lawrence and Frank Waters. Among my recent research on the many writers of Santa Fe, this was certainly among the best books I discovered on the subject."

Walks In Literary Sante Fe is portable, clearly written and very useful to visitor and resident alike.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Santa Fe is home to an amazing abundance of well-known and talented authors--literally dozens of them--and this little book is an amazing guide to the city's incredible literary history.

The book is divided into two easy walking tours--one in the plaza area and one around Canyon Road--and using those two tours to give the book a structure, this very readable little volume gives a concise and clearly written crash course in the city's literary past. What's even cooler is that you can't really tell such a history without incorporating facts from the city's broader history, so by the time you reach the last page, you're guaranteed to know the City Different much better than you ever did. It'll make you see the place differently, for sure.

This is one of three great books about literary Santa Fe (that I know of), and certainly the fastest read of the bunch. For anyone who lives in New Mexico, and especially for anyone who lives in or visits Santa Fe, I couldn't recommend it more highly.

The author also gives actual walking tours of the city (which inspired this book), and if you ever get a chance to take one, you really should. They're as good as the book--except you'll need to find a place to park.

Barbara Harrelson has put together a wonderful way to explore the very interesting city of Santa Fe. More than just a guide book to Santa Fe, it is more like a knowledgible friend taking you by the hand and leading you on adventures both historical and modern.

For example. How many of us know that the English writer D. H. Lawrence owned a ranch a few miles from Taos, New Mexico, and his wife Frieda lived out the rest of her life there after D. H. died. They are both buried on the ranch.

Have this book in hand when you explore Santa Fe and the surrouning area, or when you just want to curl up in a comfortable chair in your home to learn something about the history of the Southwest.

even though this is a short and easy to read book, it hooks u into reading other books that go more into deteail about the same topic. reveals many truths about history that has been hidden from us. everyone of indigenous decent should definately read this book.

Whatever opinions you may have on Xikano-Mexikano people, the truth is that we're not illegals on this land. Tlapoyawa gives it to you straight and tells it like it is. Citing acclaimed and reknowned scholars and authors, he takes you step by step through the different chapters of historical Mexican culture and identity. After reading this compelling and thought provoking book, there will be no doubt in your mind of the ties and right Mexikah people have on the land now known as the Southwest. Aztlan is not a myth; it is a documented historical ancestral homeland of the Nawatl speaking people, and we, the descendants of the original people of this continent, have the right to migrate freely back and forth as we please, following in the tradition of our ancestors. This book is a must read for truth and culture seekers, myth de-bunkers, and students in Indigenous/Native American and Chicano Studies.

"We Will Rise" is based on the belief that Mexicano/Chicanos must begin our liberation from the correct point of reference. The book
begins not with the Chicano Movement of the 1970s, or the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848, or even the Spanish invasion of Mexiko in
1519. It begins with our origins in the present-day Southwest U.S. thousands of years ago. It brings the reader full-circle to our current situation as an occupied nation in the Southwest. It offers a system for lifting ourselves to our former greatness and unity as a people, not through violence, but through Mexikayotl, in solidarity with our northern native brothers and sisters. It does all this in a very easy-to-read style, with clarity as well as beautiful original artwork. It is perfect for students of all ages. A truly uplifting book.

This is the story of a boy and man who, against more odds than most of us will ever know, took charge of the life he would live. His father, already resigned to the year-in-year-out uncertainty and toil of the Texas cotton fields, once questioned his son's nascent thoughts of abandoning the fieldwork he knew for the uncertainty of education, music, and other such dreams. The father, intending to convince rather than ask, put a rhetorical question to his son, "Where can the ox go that he won't have to plow?" Manuel Peña knew what his father was saying but chose instead to take his father's question as a challenge, to take the tejano road less traveled ... and that made all the difference.
In Where the Ox does not Plow, Peña recounts in compelling detail how he found his way to live and work in a world absent oxen, plows, and the oppressive yoke of poverty and fieldwork. Peña's style is detailed yet fluid. The reader often wonder's how he recalls so much, but it becomes clear that every event in this varied life is so full of such emotion and at-the-moment introspection that the writer could not help but have near perfect recall. And what is more, Peña's story is clearly iconic of this generation of tejanos everywhere; I know this because I continuously thought of life vignettes recounted other tejano friends of mine the whole time I was reading.
Peña takes various literary tacks to keep his reader with him on his page-to-page journey. He deftly presents a yet-to-be-resolved global narrative, then switches gears to focus on a detail or two, finally getting back to settle the whole series of events for himself and for us. He makes occasional use of italics to let the reader know he is stepping away into some kind of mental activity like reminiscing, evaluating, disclosing, acknowledging, or just thinking in the present. He sometimes uses a realistic mix of Spanish and English, always with well crafted translations. And the book is divided into short chapters that are independent but at the same time chained in the sequential life story presented by the author. All these techniques help Peña make this more than an autobiography, i.e., what he himself calls an auto-ethnography.
What most struck me in Peña's narrative was the ultra-high level of self-disclosure present throughout the book. It would be way too much honesty and directness for me to attempt if I were to try creating such a work, but Peña makes it work as an integral part of the auto-ethnography genre. In fact, it's what makes it more than just the story of one life. For example, after the extreme tension Peña unmercifully creates for his reader (and at one time for himself) in a discussion related to his marriage, he inserts in the last three lines of the book the most precipitous denouement I have ever experienced in a work of literature, saying of his wife: "Suppressing a choke and putting on my 'leather face,' as we would say in Spanish, I approached, took her hand in mine, and accompanied María into eternity." Real life is so not-romantic, but this is romance!
My tests for a good book are simple: do I think about it between readings, and am I anxious to get back to it? Where the Ox does not Plow is off the chart in both respects. I guarantee that you will start to think more about yourself and your life because of what you learn about where the ox does and does not plow.

Where the Ox Does not Plow is a riveting tale of a young boy born to a Mexican family in Texas. He works the fields in the brutal sun and from there ends up becoming a prominent scholar and professor. The path of this boy is incredible, exciting, enlightening, painful and even more poignant because it is the true story of author Manuel Pena. Being relatively new to California, I learned a ton about the backs that have worked the fields here, and produced my food. I also have a newfound appreciation for migrants and Mexican culture. This is a must-read story of the cultural assimilation, cultural mixing, human experience, love and place. I highly recommend it!

Where the Ox Does Not Plow: A Mexican American Ballad is an autobiographical ethnography, collecting twenty-six episodes of award-winning author Manuel Pena's life journey from penniless migrant worker to successful academic and anthropologist. Pena reflects on problems and issues connected to the marginalized state of Mexicans and other Latinos in the United States. Vignettes of conflict between ethnicities, the difficulty of integrating into American society, family closeness, love, shock, and survival, Where the Ox Does Not Plow is a resoundingly authentic account of a rich and varied life, illustrated with a dozen black-and-white photographs.

A couple of years ago, after moving to Las Vegas,NEW MEXICO, our local bookstore proprietor suggested I read Howard Bryan's book regarding some of the more violent pieces of local history. I read with interest and disdain how it was that the US Army under General Kearney's command wiped out the village of Los Valles near here and nearly destroyed the Taos Pueblo, "leaving a few houses standing to shelter the women and children." That was in 1847 during the period of "pacification" after the US had defeated Mexico.

As appaling the events at Los Valles and Taos Pueblo were, at least there was a modicum of human decency in US Military Policy. There was a certain respect for the humanity of the native peoples, a desire to provide some protection for the women and children. All that changed in the next 20 years or so as witnessed at Wounded Knee where women and children were slaughtered by the US Army.

We have a beautiful public square known as the Plaza here in "The Meadow City." Bryan discusses the historical fact that public hangings were a frequent event of some degree of entertainment. The executions took place from a windmill in the center of the Plaza. Today a bandstand sits where the windmill executions once occured. As Bryan points out the hangings stopped when one day Las Vegans came to the realization that the executions were having detrimental effects upon the younger generation: children had taken to playing at hangings! What better rationale can we find in modern times to end our current versions of capital punishment?

This is a must read especially for those fascinated with the history of the American West.

I'm a native of this town (born there in 1923) and found Howard Bryan's book an outstanding and worthwhile account. I've recounted some of his tales to people in other states and countries, and encountered disbelief. It sounds too much like a B movie to be credible, but it's all true. In fact, it's understated.

My father had one of the original posters which is reproduced on the back of the jacket, and I can testify it is authentic.

Most people find it hard to believe such a tough town could stay that way for as long as Las Vegas NEW MEXICO did. The original Las Vegas was established a hundred years before Bugsy Seigal the mobster started his air-conditioned, neon-lit palace for city dudes, hundreds of miles away, in the Nevada desert.

The photographs are also historical artifacts of great value.
I recommend the book with great enthusiasm.

This is a very easy reading book, with some of the most compelling short stories (true short stories) of the Las Vegas, New Mexico area, during the 1800 and very early 1900s. You pick up some amazing historical facts... and hear some tales of famous, or infamous characters that simply amaze!

Low cost, easy to read, and gives you several of those "Oh my ...." moments when you least expect them. A great read.Wildest of the Wild West: True Tales of a Frontier Town on the Santa Fe Trail

As a resident of Southern Colorado, I was looking for a guide of nearby geological, historical, archaeological, and topographical interesting day hikes and backpacking trips. This guide is exactly what I was looking for. I would recommend it to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge and opportunities for adventure in Northern New Mexico!

i own many hiking guides, but this one is a favorite! i highly recommend it for all levels of hikers.

Adela Breton (1849-1923) was a well-to-do English Victorian woman who did not begin her unique work of painting Mayan ruins until she was 50. Even for her age, in this she displayed an adventurousness, energy, and individuality reminiscent of Isek Dinesen. Visiting the Mayan ruins during a travel excursion known as the Mexican Grand Tour, she became absorbed in the ancient Mexican civilization's archaeology. Combining this new-found interest with her practice of painting and sketching archaeological objects of Scotland, Egypt, and Africa from her readings in anthropology, Breton's Mayan paintings are of interest not mainly for any innovative or exceptional skill, but for their verisimilitude. Some of her paintings are the only documents available for lost relics or ones which have deteriorated. Her congenital interest in archaeology and anthropology combing the enthusiasm of the amateur with the reflection and understanding of the professional and the appreciation she had for her subjects is seen in her bright colors, clarity of line, and the attention to detail. The biography by an independent scholar with a law degree portrays Breton in an almost novelistic manner--she is not simply a subject, but a character of a story too. Quotes from diaries and letters of hers and from letters to her and writings of others about her at the openings of chapters are particularly pertinent and revealing about Breton's significance in the archaeological work being done in Mexico in the early 1900s, her feelings for what she was doing, and the special regard of others for her. The conflict and instability of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 brought an end to the archaeological work of Breton and her associates. But not before she had managed to paint and sketch numerous Mayan relics of all types from pyramids to murals to pottery.

This well written work is a fascinating account of how an English gentlewoman's color art saved a record of images painted by Mayans 1500 years earlier. Accompanied by her Indian guide, this incredible women spent several years in the Yucatan jungles making the only copies we have of this aspect of Mayan history. Most of those images deteriorated rapidly in the early years of the 20th Century. Highly recommended reading for all, even for those not familiar with that great civilization.

James Josiah Webb was a young enterprising man in his twenties who made several trips down the Santa Fe and Chihuahua Trails in the 1840's and this is his account of what life was like then. While not exactly filled with tales of high adventure or edge of your seat drama, it is a good character study of relationships between Americans, Mexicans and Native Americans. The chapters on his 1846 trading venture during war time Mexico are very insightful and gives the reader a feeling for what it must have been like going through those tense and turbulent times of political unrest. A good book.

In January 1888, a few months shy of his 70th birthday, James Josiah Webb sat down in his Connecticut home and began writing his memoirs of his days as a Santa Fe trader, which had consumed 17 years of his life from 1844 to 1861. Unfortunately, a year later, after writing about only the first three years of that experience, Webb died. Although unfinished, this is Webb's manuscript as it lay in his desk the day he died.

After settling in St. Louis from his family's home in Connecticut, Webb became interested in the trade caravans that took goods between Independence, MO, and Santa Fe (and other points in Mexico). In 1844 he made his first trading expedition; although it wasn't a huge success, he returned to St. Louis and, with a partner, planned another trip. This second venture the following year was a big success. But the war with Mexico threw a monkey wrench into things, and on his third trip the partners decided to bring their goods beyond Santa Fe to near Mexico City. They were arrested in Chihuahua, where they remained prisoners for a month, and when finally released, proceeded on to San Juan de los Lagos, where they sold their goods. His account ends with their return to St. Louis.

Webb must have had a phenomenal memory because his narrative is packed with anecdotes and encounters with other traders and trail travelers that seem fresh and complete. He apparently kept all his account books and business records for all his years spent in the trade, but there is no mention of him keeping journals. His style is breezy and informal, and the book hasn't been "doctored" in any way by the editor (except for spelling and grammar corrections). The editor, Ralph Bieber, has done an excellent job (in footnotes) in identifying geographical features mentioned and expanding on various people encountered by Webb. The only criticism I have is the book is lacking an index, which would be useful. It's a fascinating first-hand account of life on the Santa Fe Trail (and Mexico). Webb's manuscript ran some 250 pages yet covered only three years; one can only imagine had he lived longer to complete his memoirs how many volumes they would comprise. If the rest were only half as interesting and informative as this volume, they would still be worth looking into.