There is no greater range of history in New Mexico than that found within 15 miles surrounding the village of Pecos. This book explores the last 1,000 years of that history, which includes many cultures and events, such as Native Americans, Spanish explorers, a Civil War battle, the Santa Fe Trail, railroads, and Route 66, as well as miners, saloon keepers, archaeologists, tourists, important architects, and even Hollywood stars.
"The anecdotes associated with Texas's fabled cowboy hero burst from the pages in rapid succession, Kellogg's robust illustrations enlarging and enriching the energetic text."--School Library Journal. "A read-aloud treat....One of Kellogg's best."--Booklist.
Land grant disputes from the nineteenth century have divided and embittered some people for most of the twentieth century. In an attempt to bring final resolution to lingering controversies in New Mexico and throughout the West, in 2000 the U.S. Congress pledged to review disputed claims in the next few years. The Pecos Grant is illustrative of legal and administrative wrangling over land grants. To ensure that a U.S. Senate Committee understood the complexity of the Pecos Grant, New Mexico lawyer and historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell told them in 1923: "There are so many things in connection with this entire business that twenty King Solomons cannot unravel the knot." Yet in this book Hall does sort through the conflicting claims in the over one hundred years of Spanish, Mexican, and American legal maneuvers, legislative stalemates, and private sales involving this 18,000 acre square of land.
Folks might think Pecos Bill was nothing but trouble. After all, he was raised by coyotes in the Wild West. And he made friends with a gang of outlaws. But Bill had a heart of gold. All he wanted was to be the best cowboy. So Bill learned to ride a mountain lion and lasso a tornado. He found himself a dynamite-eating horse. Then he met his match in a girl named Sue. Author Stephen Krensky and illustrator Paul Tong capture Pecos Bill’s spirit in this fast-paced tale.
Brightly written and packed with color photographs, this book introduces readers to the story of the historic Pueblo site. Pueblo history and Spanish Colonial history blend under the open skies of northern New Mexico.
From one of the bestselling western novelists of all time, comes another classic story. Templeton Lambeth had so desperately wanted a son— an heir to ride by his side through the vast, wild ranges just west of the Pecos River. But to his disappointment, his wife bore a girl. His hopes crushed and in denial, he decides to raise his daughter as if she were a boy. In honor of Lambeth’s more successful brother, they named her: Terrill. Upon the arrival of the Civil War, Lambeth enlists in Lee’s army, leaving behind his wife and tomboy daughter, with hopes to reconcile living in the shadow of his brother. By the time the war ends, Lambeth returns a colonel and his wife has passed. Tired of his old life as a cotton planter, he packs up with his tomboy daughter, Rill, and heads for the alluring western frontier to start anew. After they arrive in the West, the Colonel is brutally murdered. Rill, disguised as a youth of eighteen who rode with the toughest, is left to fend for herself in the Wild West swarming with outlaws. Enter the one they called Pecos Smith—a rugged desperado with a mysterious past and one bad reputation. Though, he may not be what he seems. Filled with adventure, bandits, and the beautiful landscape of America in its formative years, West of the Pecos is a classic tale by one of the greatest novelists of the American west. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
