Talks

In 1872, Cochise had been at war with the United States for 11 years. From his Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains, he could see soldiers approaching while they were still two-days' ride away. He didn't trust Americans and wanted a reservation in his own country. Tom Jeffords had captained a ship on the Great Lakes, scouted for the army, and prospected. Asked to ride alone into Cochise's camp, he did, and won the Apache leaders respect and friendship. That bond made peace negotiations possible. Jimmy Stewart played Tom in the movie Broken Arrow. 

Rowdy was a Yavapai who served as an Apache Scout under Lieutenant Powhattan Clarke, who received the Medal of Honor and was made famous by Remington’s paintings. Rowdy too received the Medal of Honor for their work together. He went on to die an ignominious death at the hands of a man who wanted to brag he’d shot an Indian.

There were no less than 16 train robberies along the southern corridor between Yuma and El Paso. Almost all of them come back one way or another to Cochise County where the outlaws hid, came from, or were peace officers, sometimes both outlaw and peace officer. The tales are often amusing. 

The Mexican-American War doubled the size of the United States and turned the country into a transcontinental power. Many consider it unjustified, and it was without doubt a land grab, but the U.S. had more justification than many realize. Although seldom spoken of, some of the U.S.’s finest battles and most remarkable battles were fought and won during this war. At the time, Mexico was a large, wealthy country with a large highly trained army while the U.S. had a few undisciplined volunteers and a handful of frontier regiments.

This is a personification of Colonel William Emory.  Lieutenant William H. Emory, topographical engineer, rode with General Kearny in the 1846/47 conquest of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Bold Emory, as he was known at West Point, fought beside the general at the Battle of San Pascual. Throughout his trek from Missouri to California, he recorded the terrain, its people, ruins, flora and fauna, minerals, agricultural resources and trails. His map opened the Southern Emigrant Road to travel, and his published work introduced the Southwest to the American people and established the need for the Gadsden Purchase. He told the nation what was in the Southwest, why they should come and how to get there. After the war, he returned to survey our southern boundary. He was among the first to command a cavalry regiment. This is a personification told as if Colonel Emory were the speaker. 

The range of the Jicarilla Apache covered a third of the Santa Fe Trail on both the Cimarron Cut-Off and the Mountain Branch. At any time, they could cut New Mexico off from the Union striking cold fear in the hearts of leaders in Santa Fe. Three times when angered they closed the trail, but in 1854 they had been at peace for four years. Governor Meriwether predicted a war caused by the policies of his predecessor. But it didn't come. Then Lieutenant Davidson attacked a peaceful camp of Apaches. They defended themselves with 100 warriors to his 60 dragoons. Twenty-two dragoons died and the rest were wounded while the Jicarilla suffered only 3 casualties. The governor had his war. Davidson became a hero and after almost two years of pursuing and killing Apaches, the governor made almost the same peace treaty as his predecessor. Through it all Kit Carson was enemy, neighbor, friend, scout, and their Indian agent.

For more than 300 years New Mexico was a Franciscan mission field and her people, other than Indians, an afterthought. With the Mexican Revolution in 1821 that changed and the Franciscans were expelled leaving the land with only one priest. Padre Martinez performed wonders, trained priests and led the Penitentes only to have much of his work undone by a French bishop who didn’t understand the culture. He owned and operated the first printing press in New Mexico, started the first school and seminary, served the Mexican and then the American legislature. He's rumored to have fathered five children and to have been the head of the Pentitente secret society. He was excommunicated for baptizing his flock without forcing them to tithe first.

Looks at prospecting and mining from an historian’s point of view. Focused on anachronisms that trip us up and on how mining changed. Considers the tools and techniques of prospectors, what they were looking for, and what it took to turn a claim into a mine.