Copper Mining in Santa Rita, New Mexico, 1801-1838 is the story of the formative years of a remarkable mine in southwestern New Mexico that has produced copper for more than 200 years. Records of the Spanish Colonial and early Mexican period have yielded intriguing accounts of the people involved in the early development of the mines, the difficulties they encountered along the way, and the importance of this small settlement to the history of the frontier. Although the Santa Rita mines produced a fortune to the few men willing or able to invest money in their development, it was always a difficult and hazardous undertaking.

Apaches, who inhabited much of southern New Mexico and Arizona at that time, created many problems for the miners. They had a strong influence over the success or failure of the Santa Rita mining operation. At times the hostility and depredations of these Indians overshadowed the remarkable success of the mines. Santa Rita was the center for military operations against the Apaches, and was referred to as the watchtower and guardian of the western frontier.

Helen Lundwall is a retired librarian. She edited and annotated Pioneering in Territorial New Mexico: The Memoirs of H. B. Ailman, and is the author of several articles on local history.

Terrence Humble worked at the Santa Rita mine for 32 years, and is an authority on the history of the mine. His articles have been published in the Mining History Association Journal and the Quarterly of the National Association for Outlaw and Lawman History.

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Softcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-888-2
160 pp.,$19.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-323-1
160 pp.,$5.99

Fort Selden was a small frontier fort built in 1865 with the mission of protecting the citizens of the Mesilla Valley in southern New Mexico. This book tells the story of Fort Selden’s beginning, its years of service, and its eventual abandonment. Throughout Fort Selden’s history, its troopers conducted patrols, provided escort for wagon trains, and chased horse thieves, bandits, and Apaches through spring dust storms, drenching rains, winter cold, and other hardships to accomplish their mission. The story of the fort is told through the military reports and messages of the commanders and personal letters of the soldiers.

Allan J. Holmes, a native New Mexican, is a retired infantryman who served 29 years in the United States Army in places such as Korea, Vietnam, Liberia (West Africa), Germany, Panama, and across the United States. It was this experience that piqued his interest in military history. After retiring from the service he taught United States Military History for thirteen years at Gadsden High School in southern New Mexico.

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Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-737-3
156 pp.,$19.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-532-7
156 pp.,$5.99

A collection of historical and contemporary photographs of the Mesilla Valley that tell the history and heritage of this southern New Mexico region.

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The Mesilla Valley in southern New Mexico is an oasis in the Chihuahuan desert. It has attracted people for hundreds of years to its bosques of cottonwood trees, its life giving water, and its opportunities. Up and down the Mesilla Valley, from the healing waters at Radium Springs to the historic village of Mesilla, from the mountain ranges that border the east and the west to New Mexico State University, and from the agricultural communities of the south valley, this south-central part of New Mexico illustrates why the state is called the Land of Enchantment. Historic photos from local archives and contemporary pictures show how people lived, worked, and played.

This book continues the program by the Public History Program at New Mexico State University to publish local histories of the communities of New Mexico. The two previous books, Santa Fe: An Historic Walking Tour and Las Cruces: The City of Crosses also utilized historic photographs to tell to history of these New Mexican cities. However, The Mesilla Valley is the first book in a new series that the Public History Program has created in collaboration with Sunstone Press. The New Mexico Centennial History Series features books written by local historians about their towns and communities, and the important people who have made New Mexico what it is today. The series not only commemorates the centennial of New Mexico’s statehood in 1912, but celebrates the entire history of the state.

Jon Hunner is Professor of History at New Mexico State University where he directs the Public History Program and teaches both public and U.S. history. His publications include Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community and Chasing Oppie: Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic West. He also has chapters in Preserving Western History, Atomic Culture, Western Lives, and Time Travels: Innovative and Creative Methods of Historic Environment Education in Modern Museums. Peter Dean, Frankie Miller, Jeffrey Schnitzer, Christopher Schurtz, and Stephen Vann were students in the Public History Program. As co-authors of The Mesilla Valley, they researched, selected photos, wrote captions, and assembled the book.

Proposals for a book in this series should be sent to Jon Hunner at: Public History Program, Department of History, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003.

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Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-627-7
108 pp.,$16.95

Water is the lifeblood of human existence. New Mexico's history provides a fascinating microcosm of the role water plays in the growth and development of a community. This book details many of the complex and messy fights, legal and otherwise, over precious water in a semiarid western state. Focusing on the past one hundred years constituting New Mexico's statehood, contributors describe the often convoluted and always intriguing stories that have shaped New Mexico's water past and that will, without doubt, influence its future history.

Many of New Mexico's "movers and shakers" in the water community have contributed their water war stories to the book. From acclaimed water lawyers to historians to novelists to academicians, their stories reflect the broad legal, historic, traditional, religious, and community values of New Mexico's water culture. The celebration of New Mexico's centennial is made more complete with the telling of these exciting and colorful narratives of how water has and will shape our future.

Catherine T. Ortega Klett, a native New Mexican, has worked at the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute for 25 years, overseeing the information transfer program including the publication of technical reports, conference proceedings, newsletters, and miscellaneous reports. During this time she has also coordinated the presentation of many conferences and symposia. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Albany and a master's degree in public administration from New Mexico State University.

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Hardcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-597-7
290 pp.,$36.95

Softcover:
6 x 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-902-5
290 pp.,$26.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-710-9
290 pp.,$7.99