pcallenbooks

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TIME TRAVEL: Many, if not most, scientist believe time travel is possible. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel certainly believes it's possible within the realms of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. You can read an excellent article by Hannah Osbourne in the 20 November 2017 issue of NewsWeek.

INDOOR PLUMBING:: Indoor plumbing in the United States of the 1850's was primitive at best and even then reserved for the elite. What little indoor plumbing that existed was principally found in the Northeastern United States in places like New York and Boston. However, by 1859 indoor plumbing was being sold by merchants via catalog throughout the United States and its Territories. The National Park Service has an excellent example and description of indoor plumbing installed in a private mansion in 1859 Mississippi. A packing slip found among some of the material show they came from Price and Coulon, a retailer in New Orleans. You can find more on this topic at LiveScience.

WEAPONS: All of the modern weapons are real. However, given the current gun laws, it is highly doubtful that the specific models of either the M9 pistol or the M4 rifle in the story would ever be made available as surplus. The 1840s and 1850s were a transitional time for weapons. While muzzle loading pistols and rifles were beginning to make way for revolvers and lever action rifles, these new weapons were made in limited quantities, expensive, and almost always for military use. The use of muzzle loading pistols and rifles would continue as the standard until after the Civil War. Likewise the shotguns and brass shells described in the story were not available until the 1860s.

TRANSPORTATION: Both the RV and trailer in the story are fact. Likewise the animals and wagons are facts. For those readers disappointed by the lack of Conestoga wagons there is a reason for that. One of my circle of first readers pointed out that Conestoga wagons were principally used in Pennsylvania, and parts of Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia. While they were great on roads they were less suitable on trails or for traveling great distances. More information on Conestoga wagons can be found at History.com.

INVENTORY: All the items in the inventory at the beginning of the story are modern realities that exist today. Unfortunately, everything in the inventory could NOT fit in Paul's RV and trailer and is complete fiction. On a side note, I have it on good authority that the Diet Coke Paul enjoys so much would not have retained it's oh so good flavor for much longer than six months since it was in metal cans. Metal cans for soft drinks have an epoxy coating to protect them from corrosion but even that protection breaks down long before three years. Artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, also break down in an acidic environment. Nope, after six months or so the cans of Diet Coke would be flat and the taste not so enjoyable.

MUSIC & SONGS

Of the 72 songs mentioned in this book only two, Oh Shenandoah and Cielito Lindo, can be considered contemporary to the 1850s. Five of the songs are older than the 1850s. Both Scarborough Fair and Greensleeves were over 200 years old by 1850 while the 3 Mozart and Beethoven pieces were between 25 and 75 years old by 1850. The remainder of the music and songs are from the 20th or 21st Century.

MONEY

Throughout the book I tended to use both contemporary and historical terms interchangeably when referring to the various coins. The correct terms for the time period are shown below.

Half-Dime: A small silver coin equivalent in value to today's nickel.

Dollar: A silver coin worth one dollar. A gold dollar was minted and used for a short period of time but its small size and weight proved to be unpopular.

Half-Eagle: A gold coin, weighing roughly one quarter ounce, worth five dollars.

Eagle: A gold coin, weighing roughly one half ounce, worth ten dollars.

Double Eagle: A gold coin, weighing roughly one ounce, worth twenty dollars.

Price of Gold: I used the Historical Gold Prices table when discussing gold prices in the 1850s. Other sources are available which show slightly different prices.

Coin Weight: At various times in the book I have Paul picking up sacks of 5000 silver and/or gold coins and putting them in saddle bags. No saddle bags of the times would have held 5000 coins. Likewise, it is doubtful Paul could have picked up a single bag of 5000 silver dollars or double eagles as each bag would weigh in the vicinity of 300 pounds.

PEOPLE

The majority of the people encountered in this story are fictitious. However, there are some very real historical figures, listed below, whom I placed in fictional situations. Likewise, the reactions of these real people to their fictional situations is complete fiction.

APACHE: Various experts have written about the Apache tribes. Much of what is written by the acknowledged experts, none of whom are Apache, contradicts the other experts. They also often contradict the official and unofficial websites of the various Apache tribes themselves but then the various websites contradict each other as well. Nothing in my story concerning the Apache in general, or the Mescalero Apache specifically, should be construed as a fact. Everything I used is from half remembered long ago conversations with a couple of young Mescalero Apache friends as a boy or were cherry picked from the various books and websites I used while writing the story.

CONVERSOS (aka CRYPTO-JEWS): In 1492, the Jews of Spain were ordered to convert to Catholicism or leave the Kingdom. Somewhere between one quarter and one half of those Jews converted becoming known as Conversos. Some of those conversos continued to secretly practice their old religion in private while publicly appearing to be strong Catholics. In the 1530's, some of these crypto-Jews moved to Mexico City to escape the Inquisition and for a time thrived. Some even converted back to Judaism and prospered. That ended in 1571 with the arrival of the Inquisition in Mexico. Again, many conversos fled, this time into the remote areas of Northern New Mexico. The Inquisition followed in relentless pursuit and, as in Spain and Mexico, the crypto-Jews continued to practice the faith secretly. Even when Mexico abolished the Inquisition in 1821 and, later when New Mexico became a US Territory in 1848, some continued to practice their religion in secret while some reverted back to Judaism. How widespread and prevalent these crypto-Jews were is not only fascinating but a subject of great controversy as well. Both The Atlantic and the Los Angeles Times have excellent articles on the crypto-Jews of Northern New Mexico. An interesting related issue is that many of the descendants of the original Spanish settlers of Northern New Mexico speak Ladino (Spanish heavily influenced by Hebrew and Moroccan) which is also known as Sephardic Hebrew, Judaeo-Castilian, and Judaeo-Spanish. Outside of Northern New Mexico Ladino is spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, France, Turkey and Israel. Many questions about Ladino are answered in a 12 minute Spanish video 1492-El Otro Camino with English subtitles.

DELOS BENNETT SACKETT (SECOND LIEUTENANT): A West Point graduate stationed at Doña Ana with the US Army's 1st Dragoons at the end of the Mexican-American War. Shortly after his arrival in Doña Ana he was assigned the task of surveying the future town of Las Cruces. He reportedly used rawhide as his surveying chain which accounts for the crookedness of some of the streets. He also oversaw the initial allocation of land in the new town through a lottery system. See the ABOUT page for images of his hand drawn plat maps.

DIXON MILES (LT COLONEL): Builder and first commander of Fort Fillmore. His next assignment was building and commanding Fort Thorn around which the village of Santa Barbara would be founded. Santa Barbara is known today as Hatch.

GREGORIA AMADOR: History records Mrs. Amador, a widow, as moving from El Paso del Norte to Las Cruces in 1850 where she is believed to have opened a general store.

HENRY STANTON (CAPTAIN): Commander of a detachment of mounted infantry at Fort Fillmore under Lt Colonel Miles. Stanton would be killed by Apaches led by Santana in 1855 but that’s another story. Fort Stanton, under construction when he died, would be named for him.

MARTIN AMADOR: The son of Gregoria Amador, Martin would become a significant figure in Mesilla Valley business, social, and political circles. Building on the base of his mother’s store he would expand the business to include freight operations, grain farms, and a hotel.

MAES FAMILY: The story of the Maes family is very real. Mrs. Maes killed her son Armando and his lover, the maid Inez, in his room at the family mansion in a fit of rage. The spirits of both Armando and Inez are said to haunt the building which now houses one of the best fine dining restaurants in the Southwest. Learn more by watching a short video, The Double Eagle of Mesilla Ghost Story, by New Mexico True Television.

NEW MEXICO TERRITORY POPULATION: The total population recorded for the New Mexico Territory (present day states of New Mexico and Arizona along with the southern portions of Colorado and Nevada) in 1850 was 61,819. Rhode Island by contrast had a population of 147,346. Scholars estimate there were another 100,000 to 200,000 Native Americans as well, principally Navajo, Apache, Comanche, and Pueblo. Of the population recorded in the 1850 census most lived in the eastern part of the territory in small communities along the Camino Real, and most of those lived North of Socorro, as well as along the Santa Fe Trail, around Taos and Las Vegas. That left most of the territory almost empty even with the Native American population. This story tries to reflect that empty expanse of desert and mountains whenever possible.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE PARARESCUE: Known within the Air Force as PJs and often referred to as Rescue Rangers this small but very real group of men are the unsung heroes of Air Rescue. The training described is real as is the length of training and the attrition rate. I first became interested in this group when as a young boy I watched Navy divers recover manned space capsules from the ocean. A few years later I learned they weren’t Navy divers at all - they were Air Force PJs.

PLACES

Generally speaking, every physical location in my story exists. However, the truth was stretched from time to time.

CABALLO MOUNTAIN PLACER GOLD MINES: There are, indeed, placer mines in the Caballo Mountains. Union Gulch, Apache Canyon, and Trujillo Gulch are all locations documented by Maureen G. Johnson in Geological Survey Bulletin 1348, Placer Gold Deposits of New Mexico. The amount of gold recovered from these sites is unknown as the sites weren’t officially discovered until 1901 and record keeping was haphazard and unreliable. The report concludes that because of the geological make up of the surrounding area the amount of gold was probably insignificant. "Probably" led me to ask myself, "what if?". Which further led me to ask how it was that with so many Europeans looking for gold between 1600 and 1901 that gold sitting on and in the sand in these gulches and canyons within a days journey of the Camino Real went completely unnoticed? Perhaps the amount Paul McAllister mined in my story was high, perhaps not, we’ll never know.

CAVE: The cave in the Robledo Mountains that Paul finds himself in at the beginning of the book and on which he centers the Estancia Dos Santos on exists. Known to locals as Geronimo’s Cave, it, as well as the narrow ridge it sits on and the narrow ridge above it, provided the inspiration for Paul’s cave and the two plateaus. The cave and two plateaus as described in the book, however, are completely fictional. To the best of my knowledge Geronimo’s Cave has never been explored scientifically so it’s extent is a mystery. When I was in high school though it was a great place to party.

DOÑA ANA MOUNTAINS: The Doña Ana Mountains are a small series of low mountains and peaks rising from the desert floor between the Robledo Mountains to the West and the San Andres Mountains to the East. Today, the Doña Ana Mountains are part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

DOÑA ANA VILLAGE: The village of Doña Ana was founded in 1843 when 33 men from El Paso del Norte were given the Doña Ana Bend Colony Land Grant. The grant was composed of a swath of land roughly 13 miles long and 3 miles wide running South along the East side of the Rio Grande from where the village is today. Despite frequent Indian attacks which ran off over half of the original settlers the remaining men were able to bring in a bumper crop with the help of seven soldiers. A year after its founding, Doña Ana Village boasted a population of 261 (47 families and 22 single men). By the end of the Mexican American War in 1848 the population had swelled to over 1000 (600 full-time residents and the remainder composed of US Army soldiers). Shortly after the end of the war the residents of the village discovered they were now in the US and 60 families, mostly farmers, left for Mesilla a few miles down river and still a part of Mexico. With fewer farmers the village was unable to support the large number of military troops and settlers who were moving closer to the protection provided by the military. In 1849 the Doña Ana alcalde (mayor)offered the land at the south end of the grant for a new village if the US Army would provide the survey. The offer and request was accepted and by 1850 the village of Las Cruces had been surveyed, lots allocated, and the population pressure in Doña Ana village had been relieved. I moved the village slightly South and West.

EL CAMINO REAL DE TIERRA ADENTRO: The Royal Road of the Interior Lands stretched roughly 1600 miles from Mexico City to Santa Fe. US 185 is based to a large degree on the original Camino Real trade route. The National Park Service has a website devoted to traveling the US portion of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro with a recommended list of historical stops. For a few miles, the Camino Real ran through the east side of Las Cruces in an area now known as the Mesquite District. The National Park Service website also has a nice article on this area, with some interesting historical tidbits, and the impact of the Camino Real. I moved the road slightly East and across the river for the entirety of its length along the Robledo Mountains.

EL PASO: El Paso in 1850 straddled the Rio Grande. On the American side of the river the community of El Paso was in fact numerous communities, missions, farms, and ranches. The same held true on the Mexican side of the river where the community was known as El Paso Del Norte. As Anglos began to move into the area they founded the town of Franklin just to the North of El Paso. Eventually, the town of Franklin became downtown El Paso. The county seat in the 1850s was San Elizario located just south of El Paso. I stretched the area covered by El Paso, it’s importance, and the population in my story.

FORT FILLMORE: Named for President Fillmore the fort had a relatively brief life thanks in large part to the Civil War. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the fort today. A grove of pecan trees covers the area once known as Fort Fillmore.

HOMESTEADS: Homesteads are a fact. However, The Homestead Act, allowing for 160 acres if certain improvements were made within 5 years, was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President Lincoln in late 1862. My story moves the Homestead Act forward by 12 years and increases the acreage size four-fold to 640 acres.

LAND GRANTS: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants played an important role in the settlement of New Mexico. Most of these Land Grants were in Northern New Mexico and included much of the lands from Socorro North to Taos along the Rio Grande. It is often said that each Land Grant is its own story and each story is its own book. Between the lack of early surveys, human greed, and political and judicial ineptness, the story of Land Grants within New Mexico covers the entire spectrum from heart breaking to up lifting. For those interested in learning more about the role Land Grants played, the struggles Land Grant recipients had, and their descendants continue to have, visit the Facebook group Old Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

LAS CRUCES: The village of "The Garden of the Crosses" was originally carved out of the southern end of the Doña Ana Bend Colony Land Grant to ease population pressure in the village of Doña Ana at the request of the villages alcalde, Pablo Melendres in 1849. Within a few years the population of Las Cruces was over 600 and within 30 years would become the county seat, the largest town in Southern New Mexico, and the second largest in New Mexico. For those interested in getting a better sense of todays Las Cruces I encourage you to watch local singer Bri Bagwell's video "Las Cruces".

MESILLA: Sitting just South of the Rio Grande and already an informal village in 1848, Mesilla became the destination of choice for many Mexicans fleeing Northern New Mexico and the village of Doña Ana when they found themselves within the new US boundaries at the end of the Mexican American War. The village became official in 1852 when the Mesilla Civil Colony Land Grant was made by the Mexican Government. Mesilla's existence as a community in Mexico was short-lived however, as it became part of the US in 1854 with the ratification of the Gadsen Purchase. With a population of over 2500 in 1854, Mesilla replaced the village of Doña Ana as the County Seat of Doña Ana County. Mesilla remained the County Seat until the 1880s when it was replaced by Las Cruces.

ROBLEDO MOUNTAINS: The Robledo Mountains are a chain of mountains stretching roughly nine miles on the West side of the Rio Grande from Doña Ana Village North to the current town of Radium Springs. The Robledo Mountains hold an abundance of prehistoric fossilized animal trails and tracks, petroglyphs, and prehistoric camping sites as well as Geronimo's Cave and Billy the Kid's Lookout Rock. Today, the Robledo Mountains are home to various National Parks, Trails, and Wilderness Study areas.

INSTITUTIONS

The business institutions Paul does business with are completely fictional, however, they are based on real institutions that would start in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

BANKS: Neither Texas nor New Mexico chartered any banks until sometime in the late 1870’s. There were numerous small unchartered and unofficial banks before then but most would be considered nothing more than scams today.

CATTLEMAN'S ASSOCIATION: I stretched this by a little over 25 years as the first Cattleman’s Association in the area, The Texas and Southwestern Cattleman’s Association, which included New Mexico, Oklahoma, and the Indian Nations, was founded in February 1877.

FLORA

TUMBLEWEEDS: I fondly remember building and playing in forts built entirely of tumbleweeds as a kid so I just had to include them in the story. There are tumbleweeds indigenous to North America, however, they are smaller and generally too dense to be blown through the air like modern day tumbleweeds. The tumbleweeds in the story didn't exist in 1850 New Mexico or anywhere else in North America for that matter. According to PBS Deep Look video, "Why do Tumbleweeds Tumble", as well as other sources, they were brought to North America from the Russian steppes in the late 1800's.

PRICES

The prices of items mentioned in the book are as accurate as I could make them. Some prices were determined from a multitude of sources including handbills, books, and the web while other prices were generalized from an 1870 Price Table provided by the US National Parks Service.

PEOPLE

As in all my books, the majority of the people encountered in this story are fictitious. However, there are some very real historical figures, listed below, in addition to those from Robledo Mountain, whom I placed in fictional situations. Likewise, the reactions of these real people to their fictional situations is complete fiction.

DAVID MERIWETHER: David Meriwether was the third Territorial Governor of New Mexico Territory, appointed by his cousin (by marriage) President Franklin Pierce. By all accounts he was a fair and effective Governor although not well liked by most. After completing his appointment he returned to his native Kentucky where he was elected to Congress.

GEORGE PICKETT: Lieutenant George Pickett, who would later be described by Robert E. Lee as the best leader of men and division commander he had, was indeed stationed at Fort Fillmore in the early 1850's before being reassigned to Fort Bellingham, Washington Territory. At the battle at Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War a wounded Lieutenant James Longstreet handed the American Flag to his friend, George Pickett, when he was wounded at the base of the city's wall. Lt Pickett carried the colors over the wall gaining recognition. His first wife, Sally Minge, died at Fort Gates, Texas, during child birth while he was on a patrol.

LUCIEN MAXWELL: Lucien Maxwell, one of the last of the mountain men, was close friends with Kit Carson and George Bent among others. His eventual ownership of the Beaubien Land Grant began with a small wedding present of land from Carlos Beaubien, when Maxwell married his daughter. Maxwell purchased the rest of the land grant from his mother-in-law after Carlos' death and from the survivors of Carlos' other partners. The land grant itself was shrouded in controversy at the time of award and was rescinded at least twice before final reinstatement by the Mexican government under Santa Ana. The story of Maxwell and Kit Carson herding sheep to California and being robbed during their return is true. Wikipedia has a rather lengthy and fairly accurate history of Lucien Maxwell.

KIT CARSON: Kit Carson married his third wife, Maria Josefa Jaramillo when she was 14, in 1843. The life and adventures of Kit Carson would fill several volumes. There are many websites, both good and bad, about Kit Carson, including a lengthy Wikipedia entry. Most of his detractors today point to his treatment of the Navajo during the Civil War while he was serving under General Carleton. He died in 1868 a few months after his wife died giving birth to their eighth child.

MARIA JOSEFA JARAMILLO CARSON: Kit Carson's third wife raised seven children while Kit was off working for the government during the Mexican American War, Civil War, and as the Ute and Jicarilla Apache Indian Agent. She died giving birth to her eighth child, a daughter, in 1868. A great biography is available, among many other books, from the Kit Carson Home and Museum. The story of her escape with her sister during the Taos Revolt is true. Pictures of a young Josefa are provided in the About page of this website.

Dr MICHAEL STECK: Dr Steck was a physician, Indian Agent, and eventually Superintendent of Indian Affairs, in New Mexico Territory. His principal location was Fort Thorn until he moved back East in late 1863. An exemplary agent, trusted by both the US Army and the Apache, his advice and plans were nevertheless ignored by the political appointees in charge with disastrous results.

AMERICAN RING: The unofficial name given to a loose group of appointed government officials, lawyers, and businessmen in Santa Fe during the late 1840s and 1850s. They effectively stole land from land grant holders through out New Mexico Territory. The more infamous 'Santa Fe Ring' would be built on the remnants of the 'American Ring' after the Civil War.

PLACES

COLORADO CITY: In 1854 there were three towns in the area that would one day come to be Yuma, Arizona. The largest town, Colorado City, along with the town across the river in California, Jaeger City, would be destroyed in a flood in 1863. Jaeger City was never rebuilt while Colorado City was rebuilt as part of the third town, Arizona City, one mile up river. Interestingly, all three cities were considered part of San Diego County, California until 1863 when the entire area East of the Colorado River was included in the Territory of Arizona when New Mexico Territory was split into two Territories.

MILITARY FORTS: All the Forts in the book were real. In a few instances the timing of their construction and their exact location were changed to better tell the story. For those interested in military forts of the time period the New Mexico Humanities Council has an excellent article on important forts.

RIO GRANDE: The Rio Grande in the Mesilla Valley, like most other rivers in what was then Southern New Mexico Territory, is a story of flood or drought. Unlike today, the Rio Grande flowed between Mesilla and Las Cruces during the 1850s and a barge ferry was required to get from one to the other without a lengthy detour. The river would change course between Mesilla and Las Cruces many times between 1850 and 1900. At one point Mesilla effectively became an island as the Rio Grande cut a new channel. Eventually, the old channel became a swamp before drying up altogether.

ART

SAND PAINTINGS: The sandpainting has been used for centuries in religious rituals, including healing ceremonies performed by Navajo medicine men. A sandpainting for a ceremony is made on the ground in the ceremonial hogan and destroyed at the end of the ritual. In order to preserve this long-standing tradition, in the late 1940's Navajos began to create permanent sandpaintings, changing the design slightly to protect the religious significance when these paintings were shown publicly. Pictorial sandpaintings which reflect the Navajo environment and lifestyle are also made. Today sandpaintings are made by slowly trickling sand through the hand onto epoxy-covered particle boards, using sand made from naturally colored crushed rock, stone, and minerals for the different shades and colors.

LEGAL

TRUSTS: I'm NOT a lawyer or legal expert by any stretch of the imagination or definition. While I do know that Trusts were extremely powerful legal instruments prior to the early 1900s I know nothing about their structure or categories. Anything in my books regarding Trusts are figments of my imagination and should not be construed as factual.

FOOD

BISCOCHITOS: A small anise and cinnamon flavored cookie, it is the state cookie of New Mexico. Biscochitos (or bizcochitos) are unique to New Mexico and derive their name from the diminutive of Bizcocho, a generic Spanish term for a wide range of pastries, cakes and cookies. A recipe for these treats is provided in the About page of this website.

CHILE: In New Mexico, Chile is the correct spelling when referring to the capsicum peppers and food items made from them. Chili is the term used for a protein based food dish such as chili con carne. A great explanation of the terms as well as recipes can be found at MJ's Kitchen.

PRICES

CATTLE: Cattle prices in my Robledo Mountain stories are based on both anecdotal accounts and the 1870 Price Table provided by the US National Parks Service. The price of cattle during the mid to late 1800s was highly regional and depended on a number of factors including the distance between the ranch and large population centers, availability and prices of other meats, weather conditions, and number of cattle available at any given time. In many years the only demand for cattle was for their hides.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ICE MAKER: The ice maker and refrigeration machine is fact. US Patent 8080A was awarded to Dr John Gorrie in 1851. While a prototype was built and used in Florida it was never built commercially as Dr Gorrie died without heirs shortly after receiving the patent. The patent can viewed here. A brief description of Dr Gorrie's contributions as the father of refrigeration is available here.

SWAMP COOLERS: More correctly known as Evaporative Coolers, these relatively economical units, remain in use throughout the American Southwest. Usually a large, square, light metal box, with louvered sides, and mounted on roofs, they house a small pump, fan, and thick pads of excelsior (wood wool). Water is pumped from a tray in the bottom through pads while the fan pulls outside air through the water soaked pads. The resulting humid and cooler air is then sent by the fan into the interior of buildings. Evaporative coolers work best when temperatures exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) and the humidity is less than 30 percent.

WINDMILLS: The windmills used in this story are based on the design and 1854 patent of Daniel Halladay's Self Governing Windmill. Halladay's windmill would be refined over the next 20 years and by the 1870s over 6 million of the iconic windmills would dot the landscape of the American west. Wind Power Through Time provides an excellent overview of the history of windmills.

MEDICINE:

INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's hard to believe today but outbreaks of both Yellow Fever and Malaria were relatively common in New Mexico Territory especially near swamps along rivers like the Rio Grande, Colorado, and Gila. While quinine was known and used to treat Malaria, there was no real treatment for Yellow Fever. A brief mention in Mesilla History documents that over 50 residents of Mesilla died of Malaria and Yellow Fever in the 1870s when a swamp developed after the Rio Grande changed course. It wasn't until the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, that both diseases were wiped out thanks to the cheap manpower and programs that were part of the New Deal.

SANITATION AND ANTISEPTIC: Carbolic Acid (phenol) was first discovered in 1834 and by the mid 1850s was in widespread use as a treatment in stockyards, cattle fields, and agricultural fields to control smell, as well as a treatment to protect wooden railroad ties. Carbolic Acid would first be used in medicine by Dr Joseph Lister in 1865 as an antiseptic. From that time until the 1970s carbolic soap would be used throughout the world as an antiseptic hand wash. Today, Carbolic Acids medical use is predominantly as a permanent treatment for ingrown finger and toe nails.

AGRICULTURE:

FARMING: Virtually all farming in the Mesilla Valley relies on flood irrigation. This was as true in the 1850s as it is today. Basin, row, and surge flooding techniques were and are used depending on the crops. Row irrigation is used for most crops while basin and surge irrigation are used principally in Pecan orchards. Spray irrigation, then and now, is rarely used as evaporation of scarce water is significantly higher in an arid environment like the Mesilla Valley compared to flood irrigation. Today, drip irrigation is gaining some traction, principally in the grape fields adjacent to many of the wineries found around the Mesilla Valley. A short description of the difference between flood and spray irrigation can be found on the United States Geological Survey website.

RANCHING: Anecdotal stories tell us that the landscape of the Mesilla Valley in the New Mexico Territory of the 1850s contained much more grama grass than today. Two events, overgrazing and warmer weather since the end of the little ice age in the 1850s, are blamed as the major causes in the reduction of grama grass in the Mesilla Valley. In the latest Perspectives on Rangeland Management, the New Mexico State University, Agricultural College, suggests 50 acres per head (or a stocking rate of 13 animals per 640 acre section) as the appropriate ratio in the Mesilla Valley to prevent overgrazing today.

PEOPLE

As in all my books, the majority of the people encountered in this story are fictitious. However, there are some very real historical figures, listed below, in addition to those from Robledo Mountain and Refuge, whom I placed in fictional situations. Likewise, the reactions of these real people to their fictional situations is complete fiction.

SHERIFF SAM BEAN: Samuel Gore Bean was one of the first settlers in Las Cruces having won one of the first lots in the 84 blocks contained in Lt Delos Sackett's lottery shortly after the town was surveyed. In 1854 he was elected as the first Dona Ana County Sheriff. He continued as Sheriff through 1860. Sam's older brother Joshua was the first elected Mayor of San Diego during this time while his younger brother, Roy, would eventually become the 'Law West of Pecos'. Roy lived with Sam from 1854 until shortly after the start of the Civil War. Three generations of Sam Bean's family are buried in Las Cruces.

RICHARD KING: Most of Richard King's story as written in Retreat is true. He was a river boat pilot who originally arrived in Texas in support of General Taylor's efforts during the Mexican-American War. He and his partner, Texas Ranger Captain Gideon Lewis, bought land in South Texas in 1853 that would eventually become the King Ranch of today covering over 825,000 acres (almost 1.3 million square miles). He did, indeed, find the nucleus of the ranches workers during a cattle buying trip to Mexico in 1854. These workers became known as 'kinenos' (King's men). A staunch believer in both Manifest Destiny and Capitalism, King strove to own and control every aspect of cattle ranching from 'field to table'. A brief overview of King Ranch is available from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. A more detailed biography of Richard King is available from the Texas State Historical Association.

ELISHA PEASE: Elisha Pease settled in Texas in 1834 and played a large part in Texas Independence including fighting in the Battle of Gonzales, a member of the Provisional Government, author of part of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, and chief clerk of the navy and treasury departments. He would go on to become a successful lawyer and, after annexation to the United States, he would author the Probate Code in 1846. He was Governor of Texas twice, from 1853 to 1857 and again from 1867 to 1869. A progressive Republican he is credited with establishing a permanent school fund, settling the public debt, encouraging railroad building in Texas, and the establishment of schools for the deaf and blind.

PLACES

LA PAZ PLACER GOLD MINES: The La Paz Arroyo placer gold site is documented by Maureen G. Johnson in Geological Survey Bulletin 1855, Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona.

SALT FLATS: Located approximately 100 miles northeast of El Paso near the border of Texas and New Mexico at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains are a series of dry salt lake beds. These 'salt flats' provided salt to people and industry stretching from Chihuahua to Santa Fe for over 300 years. The salt flats were considered 'community property' by both the Spanish and Mexican governments which guaranteed no cost access to the salt by all. This concept was codified by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and remained in force until shortly after the Civil War when the Texas State Constitution was rewritten allowing mineral rights to be purchased.

BUSINESS

US WIND ENGINE AND PUMP COMPANY: The Halladay Windmill Company was renamed The US Wind Engine and Pump Company in 1856 when Daniel Halladay and John Burnham moved from Connecticut to Chicago to better serve the mid-west and west. The windmill business was expanded to meet farming and railroad business needs to include the production of pumps and water tanks. The company was moved again from Chicago to Batavia Illinois in 1867 were it remained in business for just under 100 years.

BALDWIN STEAM WORKS: From 1831 to 1956 this Pennsylvania company was one of the worlds largest producers of steam locomotives. A History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1831 to 1897 is available for those who want to know more about the early years of this iconic company.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

BABY BOTTLES: Vessels, of various types, to feed babies have been around since 9000 BC. The first glass nursing bottle was patented in the US in 1841 (Patent # US1985A) and used a sponge or fabric wick as the nipple. Eventually, a rubber nipple would be used instead of sponge or fabric. Relic Record has a great article on the history of baby bottles.

FRESNO SCRAPER: The Fresno Scraper was built and modified over a period of 20 years, by James Porteous beginning in 1877, and involved at least 6 different US Patents. The design Paul uses in the story is based on the final 1897 patent. Through the years, Fresno Scrapers have played a large part in digging irrigation canals and ditches as well as the construction of dams, roads and railroads, and was a key tool in building the Panama Canal. Although a relatively simple design, the Fresno Scraper forms the basis of todays bulldozer blades and earth movers. The Fresno Historical Society has an excellent article on the Fresno Scraper for those who'd like to know more.

KERITE INSULATION: Kerite, invented in 1860 by Austin Goodyear(AG) Day, a second cousin of Charles Goodyear, was the first commercially successful rubber insulator. By 1868 over 200 Kerite-insulated telegraph cables had been installed in the United States, Canada, Panama, and Egypt. The IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine has an excellent article tracing the History of Rubber Cables.

PRIMARY WATER: Also known as new water and juvenile water, primary water is a theory developed by Stephen Reiss. The Primary Water Institute has a great article discussing the difference between Primary Water and the more commonly accepted hydrological cycle and explores the concept of Primary Water in some detail. With a long history of volcanic activity along two prehistoric volcanic rifts, I asked myself 'could Primary Water be the answer to New Mexico's scarcity of water?'

RAILROAD GAUGE: The US standard railroad gauge, or the distance between the rails, is 4 feet, 8 and a half inches. Why use such an odd number as a standard? The answer is because that is the measurement between wheels as specified for the Imperial Roman War Chariot! Aviation Humor has an educational article showing how the wheel specification of the Roman War Chariot led to the US standard railroad gauge. Why would Aviation Humor even care you ask? The US Space Shuttle used reusable rocket boosters during every launch. The size specifications of those rocket boosters were based in large part on the size of the railroad flatcars they were transported on and the size of the railroad tunnels those flatcars had to pass through.

VULCANIZED RUBBER: Invented by Charles Goodyear and patented in 1844 (Patent 3633), vulcanized rubber proved useful in wearable clothing (rain jackets, shoes, etc) but proved to be less than optimum as an electrical insulator. Charles Goodyear recognized the limitations and referred inquiries to his cousin AG Day.

WEAPONS: The weapons and ammunition used in Railroad are real although the timing of the ammunition is not. The Henry rifle used a 44 caliber rimfire cartridge while the 44-40 cartridge described in the book would not be available until 1866 when Henry Yellow Boy lever action carbine was introduced.

PEOPLE

As in all my books, the majority of the people encountered in this story are fictitious. However, there are some very real historical figures, listed below, in addition to those from my other Robledo Mountain Series books, whom I placed in fictional situations. Likewise, the reactions of these real people to their fictional situations is complete fiction.

APACHES:

AGUA NUEVES: A contemporary of Cha, who, like Cha, thought Santana was an 'old woman', led a small band of dissident Apache opposed to all non-Apache. Agua Nueves was indeed killed near Tularosa during a raid.

CADETE: Brother of Santana, Cadete followed the lead of Santana and was widely recognized as the most diplomatic of the chiefs of the time, preferring talk and persuasion over threats. Cadete was killed in 1872, some say murdered, while returning from a peace mission.

CHA (SHAWANO): Either a much younger brother, half-brother, or cousin to Santana, Cha led a dissident group of renegade Mescalero opposed to all non-Apache. Santana killed Cha, wiping out his band, in 1869 after Cha raided an area forbidden by Santana.

COCHISE: A key war leader of the Chiricahua Apache, he led many battles against Mexican forces and settlers. In 1861, he, along with Mangas Coloradas, Geronimo, and Victorio among many others, began years of raids against American forces and settlers as a result of the Bascom Affair. The Apache Wars, as they became known, wouldn't end until the final surrender of Geronimo in 1886. The National Park Service has a well researched and written paper on the Bascom Affair by Karen Weston Gonzales titled, 'A Boy Once Named Felix'.

DELGADITO: Leader of the Mimbrenos after the death of Magnas Coloradas, he was often chosen by others as their second until his death in 1864.

GERONIMO: The last Apache leader to surrender in 1886, and arguably the most well known, he was treated as a prisoner of war for the remainder of his life, first in Florida and then at Fort Sill Oklahoma.

LOCO: Leader of the Copper Mountain Mimbreños following the death of Delgadito, and a fearless warrior, he was a strong peace advocate, seeking peace with the Americans at every opportunity. A strong proponent of education he was among the first to send his children to school. In 1882 he went to Washington DC to negotiate peace, was arrested, and like Geronimo spent the rest of his life in captivity as a prisoner at Fort Sill Oklahoma.

MANGAS COLORADAS: The six foot six inch tall Mangas Coloradas was one of the most important Apache leaders due to his tactical and strategic victories over the Mexican and American Armies. The father-in-law of both Cochise and Victorio, Mangas Coloradas would be lured to Fort McLane for 'peace talks' with General Joseph R. West. On his arrival he would be tied to the ground, tortured for several hours, and then 'shot while trying to escape' (while still tied to the ground).

ROMAN: Brother of Santana, he also followed the lead of Santana, and after Santana's disappearance was widely recognized as the most prominent leader of the Mescalero. He died in 1885 from an epidemic.

SANTANA: The last war chief of the Mescalero, was widely recognized as one of the most brilliant, cunning, and vicious Apache chiefs. In 1855, Santana led his men against a force of US Army troops led by Major James Ewell. Among those killed during the fighting was Captain Henry Stanton. Santana, having been reported killed as well, took the opportunity to disappear for over ten years. When he reappeared in 1867, at Blazer's Mill on the Tularosa River, it was to learn as much about the white man as possible. His goal was to secure the best peace he could for the Mescalero while preserving their culture. J.H. Blazer became both his friend and his mediator in dealings with the US Government. Santana died in 1876 of either smallpox or pneumonia.

VICTORIO: Son-in-law to Mangas Coloradas, he would lead the Warm Springs Mimbreño for the rest of his life. Initially accepting reservation life on the Ojo Caliente Reservation, he would have second thoughts when the reservation was closed and the Warm Springs Mimbreño were moved to the Mescalero Reservation. When the Army started moving the Mimbreño to the San Carlos Reservation in 1879, Victorio rebelled, leading a small band. Victorio and his small band were killed by the Mexican Army in late 1880.

WILLIAM C. ALLISON: The owner of Junction Car Works in Philadelphia, Allison specialized in railroad freight cars although he also built railroad passenger and sleeper cars as well as horse-drawn streetcars.

FRANCISCO BACA: A Town Marshal in Belen NMT during the 1880s, Francisco is probably most famous because of the exploits of his son, Elfego. I moved Francisco and his son up ten years in Railroad (Elfego wasn't born until 1865). A great sketch of the Elfego Baca's shootout in Reserve (then called Middle San Francisco Plaza) can be found in Legends of America while the Disney version of Elfego's life has been preserved on YouTube.

MOSES BAGG: A blacksmith by trade, Moses Bagg would settle in Utica, NY in the late 1790s and eventually change his profession to tavern owner when he built a two-story log tavern in 1795. Over the years, the log hotel would transform into a sprawling six-story brick hotel of some renown. The hotel would be shuttered and torn down in 1932. The area where the hotel once stood is still known as Baggs Square.

FREDERICK RUSSELL BURNHAM: Most of the background in Railroad on Burnham is accurate. I did move his birth from 1861 to 1841 to make him old enough to play a major part in the story. A fascinating man, Burnham would eventually gain his wealth in the oil exploration business, bringing in numerous wells in California. His close friendship with Lord Baden-Powell and activities on behalf of the US Boy Scouts would result in Mount Burnham, named for him, right next to Mount Baden-Powell in California.

JOHN FRITZ: John Fritz, a mechanical genius, designed and built the 'three high rail mill' in 1857, a system used without much change to the underlying process even today, for making iron and steel railroad rails. Fritz was the superintendent of Cambria Iron Works, the first American company to use a blooming mill, and one of the first to use hydraulics to move ingots, as well as one of the first to use the Bessemer process to make steel. America's Industrial Heritage Project has a paper examining both Cambria Iron Works and John Fritz's three high rail mill in detail.

FRED HARVEY: An English emigre, Fred Harvey would create the first hotel, restaurant, and newsstand chains in the world, all centered around the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad stops. The best known of his businesses was the Harvey House Restaurants, staffed by Harvey Girls, most of whom came west in response to his help wanted advertisements in eastern newspapers. The paragraph from the paper written by Paul's daughter in the story is a quote from Stephen Fried's book, 'Appetite for America' which chronicles the phenomenon of both The Harvey House and the Harvey Girls. The Harvey Girls have been the subject of numerous books and movies, including the 'The Harvey Girls' starring Judy Garland. The 2016 movie 'Traded', starring Trace Atkins and Kris Kristofferson, includes The Harvey Girls as a major background component. Fred Harvey, his businesses, and The Harvey Girls are all remembered every year, usually in Santa Fe at the La Fonda Hotel, one of the flagship Harvey Hotels. The 2018 meeting of the Fred Heads, as they are known, was the subject of a short CBS Sunday Morning segment and is available on YouTube.

SOFIO HENKLE: Sofio Henkle (or Hinkle), a German emigre, living in Mexico, first discovered iron and copper in the area near the Santa Rita mines in 1841. He named the mountain Hanover Mountain after the land of his birth. While he struggled many times to open both copper and iron mines, he was unsuccessful, due to raids by first, Apaches, and then later, after the area became a US Territory, by Apaches and Confederate raiders. He would eventually sell his claims and live the rest of his life in the Mesilla Valley. The towns of Fierro (a ghost town today) and Hanover (nearly a ghost town today), each with an interesting history, were both established to support the iron, copper, and zinc miners of the area.

BENJAMIN TYLER HENRY: Henry was a gunsmith and superintendent of the New Haven Arms Company in New Haven Connecticut, owned by Oliver Winchester. Henry designed and built the first reliable repeating rifle which was eventually the basis for the Winchester repeating rifle. He began designing the rifle in 1857, finalizing the design, building the first working prototype, along with the ammunition it used, and obtained patents for them in 1860. Henry left the New Haven Arms Company in 1864 following an argument with Winchester. Winchester would eventually add a forestock and a side loading gate to Henry's design creating the iconic Winchester repeating rifle.

ROBERT KELLEY: A strong, often virulent, southern sympathizer, Robert Kelley was the editor of the The Mesilla Times, a land speculator who purportedly ran the first land scam in New Mexico Territory (Mowry City), and business owner. Kelley would be shot and killed by the self-proclaimed Confederate Governor of Arizona Territory after publishing several highly critical editorials on some of his decisions.

JAMES LONGSTREET: Most of the historical background in Railroad is factual. Major Longstreet was stationed at Fort Bliss Texas, near El Paso, from 1854 to 1858 and was temporarily placed in command twice during those years. In 1858 he requested reassignment back east as a recruiter so that his oldest son could receive proper schooling. Instead, the Army gave him six months leave and reassigned him as a paymaster to Fort Leavenworth. When the Civil War broke out, Major Longstreet was stationed at Albuquerque, still a paymaster. He resigned his commission and accepted a commission with the Confederate Army. Ulysses S. Grant, a good friend of Longstreets during their West Point days, married Longstreets first cousin and would ultimately assist Longstreet after the Civil War. Longstreet's fascination with railroads was real and he would ultimately become the president of the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad as well as the US Commissioner of Railroads. In between he was appointed a US Marshall and then served as US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

MAJOR ISAAC LYNDE: An 1827 graduate of West Point, Major Lynde was posted, in an unspectacular career, through a succession of infantry posts eventually ending up, after 34 years in the Army and only three advancements in rank, commanding Fort Fillmore. Although he participated in the Mexican-American War there are no mentions of him in battles or in reports. He would eventually surrender his command to an inferior force and subsequently dropped from the Army rolls. Five years later, in 1866, he would be returned to the Army rolls and retired with pay. The New Mexico Historical Review published a paper by AFH Armstrong exploring Major Lynde's case.

MANUEL NEVAREZ: A Las Cruces lawyer and member of the Territorial Legislature, Manuel Nevarez was a key political and social figure during the time covered by the Robledo Mountain Series. Manuel arrived in the Mesilla Valley in 1843 as a young boy with his parents who were part of the original Doña Ana Bend Colony Land Grant. Leaving home in his teens, Manuel made his money in California during the 49er gold rush before returning to the Mesilla Valley in the early 1850s. His legacy continues to the present with at least one of his descendants in every generation active in the Las Cruces and New Mexico law enforcement community. He would sell his first home to Martin Amador, a neighbor from across the street. After moving across the street Amador would expand his first home, turning it into the Amador Hotel.

GEORGE PULLMAN: George Pullman would design and build his classic Sleeper Car after spending an uncomfortable night on a train from Buffalo to Westfield New York. Although the Pullman Palace Car Company wouldn't be formed until 1862, he built his first car in 1859, so I didn't play too loose with the timeline.

STEPHEN RIESS: A geochemist and mineralogist, he worked in the 1920s in hard rock mines throughout the southwestern United States. Trying to understand why mines in the arid southwest kept flooding, he developed the theory that the earth is constantly generating new water from elemental hydrogen and oxygen, that this 'new' water finds its way near the surface, particularly in those areas with significant prehistoric volcanic activity, and provides a steady and unfailing water supply. Reiss spent the next 50 years proving his theory, at least to himself and his backers, by drilling over 800 successful wells in arid areas from Egypt to California.

ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN: Nicknamed 'The Brain', Rothstein was the head of the Jewish mob in New York City, active in virtual every type of illegal activity of the time. He is credited with organizing and running these activities as a business, the first instance of organized crime as we know it today. He is widely believed to have been behind the 1919 Black Sox Scandal in which the Chicago White Sox deliberately lost the series to the Cincinnati Red Sox. I extended his life a few years for my story - he was murdered in 1928 when he failed to paya large gambling debt.

EBENEZER TOWNSEND STARR: Starr was a gunsmith and manufacturer specializing in double action pistols before branching out into rifles. The Starr Double Action pistol was patented in 1860 (Patent #30843) but his first 500 pistols were sold to the Navy in 1858, so the timeline in the book can be considered fairly close. Originally percussion weapons using ball and cap, the pistols would later be converted by their individual owners to make use of cartridges.

US CAMEL CORPS: The brainchild of Major George Crossman in 1836, it would take another 9 years before Major Henry Wayne, supported by Senator Jefferson Davis would make significant inroads in convincing the War Department to experiment with Camels. When he became Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis authorized the experiment and Wayne bought 33 camels in the mideast, returning in 1856, to Texas where the experiment was headquartered. Another 41 camels were added in 1857. From 1857 through 1860 the camels proved their worth during long-range expeditions in the Pecos River and Rio Grande areas of Texas and New Mexico. Robert E. Lee, then the Commander of the Department of Texas, highly recommended the use of camels based on the experiment. The outbreak of the Civil War was the end of the experiment as Fort Verde, where the camels where stabled, was captured by Confederate forces. Despite the success of the experiment, the War Department decided to halt the use of camels because the men were unfamiliar with the hard to control foreign animals.

JESSE WILLIAMS: Jesse Williams, a dairy farmer just outside of Rome New York, founded the first cheese factory in the US, developing the process used today for large scale cheese manufacturing.

PLACES

PINOS ALTOS: The nearly abandoned Mexican village of Pinos Altos was renamed Birchville in 1861 after gold was discovered nearby by Robert H. Birch and two others. The new name was soon replaced by the original name of Pinos Altos.

SAN AUGUSTIN PASS: With an elevation of 5725 feet, the pass provides a way between the Organ and San Andres Mountains and is the primary route from Las Cruces to the Tularosa Basin. It is also known as San Agustin Pass, which is the Spanish name for Saint Augustine.

MIDDLE SAN FRANCISCO PLAZA: A small village on the San Francisco River, it was renamed Reserve in the late 1870s.

SAN VICENTE: This small settlement would become the town of Silver City in 1870 after silver was discovered nearby.

SAN ANTONIO: Twelve miles south of Socorro, the small settlement of San Antonio, now an unincorporated community, is best known as the birthplace of Conrad Hilton.

FOOD

CATTLE: Angus cattle have existed since at least the 1600s in northeastern Scotland. George Grant transported the first four bulls from Scotland to Kansas in 1873 and crossed them with Texas Longhorns. By 1883, when the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association was formed by 60 ranchers, another 1200 head had been imported from Scotland.

PHOSPHATES: A non-alcoholic drink that first became popular with kids in the 1870s. The drink mixes sweet syrup, carbonated water, and acid phosphate, a souring agent both cheaper and less perishable than lemon or lime juice. Phosphates were available well into the 1950s as fountain drinks in most small town soda fountains.

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