Southwest Books

The third grade class I shared this book with sat on the edge of their seats. The author was very careful to define the spanish vocabulary used right after in the next line. It was great to graphically map out using imaginary verses a real horse having the children site examples. The folktale was quickly identified by the children. They compared it to others they had shared or read at home or school. Great for compare and contrast concepts! The illustrations were wonderful and vivid! My third grade daughter couldn't put it down until she was finished.

I had the pleasure of purchasing this book while visiting the Black Museum in Dallas during the month of August 2004. I was delighted to read about many women I'd always heard about while growing up in the city of Dallas more than 60 years ago. The pictures are great and the information was quite enlightening. Many people live and die without knowing that Black people have made positive contributions to the city's culture and the lives of it's people. My purchase today is a gift to my mother who also found the book "very exciting". It was wonderful to look through the book with her as she was reminded of her early years in Dallas, noting places that no longer exists, and recognizing faces and recalling memories. (Dorothy Foster/Oceanside, CA) Thanks.

This book is exactly what I needed and came quickly. I had to have the book for class and it was cheaper online rather than on the campus bookstore. Thanks

"Lone Star Preacher": Being a Chronicle of the Acts of Praxiteles Swan, M.E. Church South Sometime Captain, 5th Texas Regiment Confederate States Prov. (Currently available on Amazon.com)

This one was written by none other than Capt. John W. Thomason USMC (author of "Fix Bayonets"). The story is a compilation of a number of short stories written for the Saturday Evening Post back in the 20s and 30s. "Praxiteles Baby" (actually a thinly disguised story of Thomason's Grandfather) is a transplanted Virginian who is a Hell Fire and Brimstone Preacher in Texas at the beginning of hostilities. His wife (also a firey Southern lady) is depicted reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by firelight and casting the volume into the fire muttering about that "Stowe Hussy"... Praxiteles seeing that his flock will need guidance in the coming hostilities, joins up with the 5th Texas as a Chaplain to see to their spiritual needs. After the first battle, he is found in the woods with a clubbed musket dripping with some sort of gray matter and is made a Captain of the 5th Texas by a general who sees his actions. The rest of the book is an entertaining and in many ways factual story of the Southern Texans in the late War of Northern Aggression. Thomason's narrative style is much like his graphic descriptions of the Marines in Belleau Wood and is definitely worth the read. An extremely talented artist, he illustrates his own books. Examples of Thomason's WWI sketches can be found illustrating the Poem "Rifles" in the Rifle Poetry section of this site - I got permission from the Marine Corps Association to use his sketches - great stuff!

Thomason is a great historian (specializing it the Civil War) and has written very entertaining biographies on such as JEB Stuart. You can no doubt tell he is a man of Southern extraction and sympathies. I had a copy many years ago and loaned it to one of our chaplains and never got it back! Hee, hee... it's that good! I didn't know it was still in publication, but stumbled across it while surfing Amazon...

If you like stories about patriotic "Sky Pilots", this one is for you!

Anyone with experience in Civil War history, or with an interest in Texas history generally, is familiar with the work of Prof. Wooster of Lamar University. His academic and scholarly accomplishments and recognitions over the past half-century are many and deserved, and his list of publishing credits is lengthy. This volume follows logically from his TEXAS AND TEXANS IN THE CIVIL WAR (1995) and LONE STAR GENERALS IN GRAY (2000), helping to complete his portrait of Texas forces in the War between the States. Texas contributed seventy-eight infantry and cavalry regiments and thirty-five artillery batteries which saw service from the Virginia Tidewater to the California border (not even counting the fourteen regiments and independent battalions raised for state service, and which are not considered here). Many Texan soldiers served in the same unit throughout the War. Since the regiment, the basic military building block, was usually recruited in a single region of the state and was commanded by a local (elected) individual, the genealogical value of understanding the system is obvious. Nor is this simply a handbook setting out the key details of each unit (though those are included), but a narrative history and explanation of the Texas military establishment, the broad campaigns and specific battles in which its units fought, and the successes and failures of the men who commanded it. There also are nearly nine hundred footnotes (many of them considerably more than source citations) and a lengthy bibliographical essay, making this almost required reading for any student of the Civil War and any family researcher with mid-19th century Texas ancestry.

This is the book to buy if you've ever floated through the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos and, as you passed beneath the John Dunn Bridge, someone on your trip asked, "who exactly was John Dunn?" As a river guide you have full authority (and some would argue a professional obligation) to make up whatever answer you like, but I've found it helpful to occasionally sprinkle facts among the many assertions I've made to trusting passengers over the years. This slim volume, only 163 pages, is full of wonderful information about the life of John Dunn for whom that bridge is named, as well as northern New Mexico from the late 1800's through 1953, the year Mr. Dunn died. By reading this book you will be well prepared for passengers' questions and, as a bonus, you'll glimpse a lifestyle that predates most of us. For me the few early photos of the Rio Grande, all from pre-boating years, and the building of the John Dunn Bridge are alone worth the price of the book. The regional history and the life of John Dunn are exquisite bonuses.

John Dunn apparently was an irascible and only sporadically honest fellow, the sort of individual whose life story is fun to read about. His is not an exception. You'll learn about his early years in Texas, his later life in New Mexico, and the various legal and not-so-legal enterprises in which he was engaged throughout. I don't think I would have liked being around John Dunn, but I did enjoy reading about his adventures. I suspect you will too.

This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in lost mines and lost treasure.....it is a must have for the serious treasure hunter. The book is full of maps and artist renderings, indian lore and gossip about lost or abandoned treasures. From ship wrecks in the Salton Sea to expeditions across the desert...anything dealing with lost gold, silver, gemstones and treasures in the deserts. There are over 75 maps, with the stories about them and their treasures.

...from Sam Hamill
poet, founding editor of Copper Canyon Press....

"Amalio Madueño's Lost in the Chamiso follows in the great tradition of
William Carlos Williams's Paterson and Charles Olson's Maximus Poems, and like those forerunners interweaves the personal with the historical and the mythical mto create a rich fabric of the imagination.

With great good humor, seriousness and candor Madueño speaks from the inter-lingual borderlands that shape our future.

His vision and message are vital."


--Sam Hamill

For those who have eaten at the restaurant in NY and know how good the chili is, this is your chance to try and recreate their chili. Although you'll never get your chili to taste as good as the restaurant's, it will ease your cravings until you have the chance to go to NY again. These recipes are very easy to follow and the payoff is worth it. Every friend I've given this book to has made at least 3-4 different types of the chili and have liked them all. Tenderfoots be ware!!

Written by an anthropologist who tells Maria's story through short stories as told to her by Maria. This book begins with Maria's accounting of pueblo life during her childhood. You learn of her life with her artistic, but alcoholic, husband Julian. An interesting accounting of their work which earned world acclaim for the unique pottery they produced. This book is a window to a time long forgotten and into the soul of a creative artist. The community spirit of the pueblo is well described and inspiring. You can't put this down once you begin. It's a great read!