About Me

Although his roots are in Cornwall and New England, Doug grew up on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in North Central New Mexico, the Rio Arriba where he still maintains close ties to friends, Paisano and Indio. It is a land of mystery, miracles, and Penitentes. In 1968, upon graduation from high school, he joined the Army Security Agency and served in Taiwan, Thailand and at the Pentagon. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in business administration and went on to graduate school in social anthropology at Arizona State University. Returning to the Army as an officer he served in Armored Cavalry at Fort Knox, and with the 11th ACR in Germany. Subsequently he was an instructor of military intelligence officers at Fort Huachuca. He has signed completed graduate studies in US History (with honors) and historical archaeology.

Doug Hocking, is an independent scholar who has completed advanced studies in American history, ethnology, and historical archaeology. Raised on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico, Doug retired from the US Army after serving in Military Intelligence and as an officer in Armored Cavalry. His most recent book is Southwest Train Robberies: Hijacking the Tracks Along the Southern Corridor. His previous work Terror on the Santa Fe Trail, won the 2020 Will Rogers Medallion, the Co-Founders’ Award, and a Spur.  His biography of Tom Jeffords won Spur and Co-Founders’ Awards while Black Legend won a Will Rogers Medallion and a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. He has started on a book on Texas John Slaughter, Sheriff of Cochise County and one on the Butterfield Overland Mail across Chiricahua Country.