Name: Los Lunas
Brand: Baldwin G. Burr
SKU: 9780738595344
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Los Lunas

9780738595344

$24.99

Don Felix Candelaria received the San Clemente Land Grant from the Spanish Royal Government in 1716. The land was later claimed by Don Antonio José Luna, whose ancestors arrived in the early 18th century. Don Antonio's son Solomon Luna was instrumental in New Mexico's quest for statehood and was singularly influential in the creation of the New Mexico State Constitution. Ranching and farming were major commercial activities in Los Lunas, and Solomon Luna and his nephew Eduardo Otero were two of the largest sheep ranchers in the United States. Maximiliano Luna served in the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. German-born merchants, the Huning and Neustadt families brought Anglo goods and culture to Los Lunas in the 1860s. From a population of 1,500 in 1986, Los Lunas has grown to more than 15,000 people today, making it the second fastest-growing community in New Mexico.

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Arizona's Murdered Madams

9781467171069

$24.99

The true stories of the lost queens of vice

Territorial Arizona was a rough-and-tumble place, but three resilient women carved out places for themselves on the Western frontier. Minnie Powers, a former Mormon, ruled early Phoenix’s red-light district, while "Dutch May" Prescott’s scandalous Flagstaff sex show drew in crowds from miles around. In Jerome, "Belgian Jennie" Bauters lost her brothel to fire more than once, but she rose from the ashes every time. Their grit and determination to make the best of their new homes weren’t the only things they had in common. They might have survived the local gossip and notoriety with aplomb, but all three were gunned down in cold blood. Where their scandalous livelihoods once dominated headlines, now they’re remembered, if at all, for their sensational murders.

Author Merry Gordon delves into the lives—and deaths—of three of Arizona’s most infamous madams.

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Murder & Mayhem in Yavapai County

9781467151078

$24.99

In Yavapai County, the Wild West way of living never died.

Fatal tales of jealousy, corruption, and organized vengeance swept across the landscape all the way through to the early twentieth century. In Prescott, a man with a grudge killed a fellow worker and led the sheriff on a roundabout chase before being sentenced for the murder and then, inexplicably, released and appointed to the position of constable. Near Jerome, a land deal gone wrong triggered an attempted murder, while a union dispute left the rail depot in ashes and several men dead.

Join author Drew Desmond as he brings to life the waning days of the Old West in Yavapai County with these never-before-told stories of vigilante justice and revenge.

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Tulsa Christmas Parade

9781467127998

$7.99

Tulsa, Oklahoma boasts a rich history of Christmas parades dating back to 1926. In this collection of fifteen vintage-photograph postcards, Jessica R. Gullo explores the history and tradition of these parades.

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Scottsdale

9780738570587

$7.99

Scottsdale boasts a rich history.

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Detour Texas

9781467154338

$24.99

Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans. —John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Although occasionally long and roughly paved, roads less traveled reveal cultural gems in every region of the state. From the peaks of the Guadalupe Mountains to the valleys of the Rio Grande, find the best food you’ve ever indulged in, the kindest people you’ve ever met and stories that’ll last a lifetime. Make time for Texas’s wineries and historic churches. Explore true crime and paleontology specific excursions, and relish natural wonders and landmarks of human ingenuity. Author Raegan Scharfetter leads a tour through some of the most rewarding destinations in the Lone Star State.

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Alamo

9781467162111

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

The modern city of Alamo, where “Winter Texans” come to enjoy the “Land of Two Summers,” is far different from what Peter Ebenezer Blalock and George T. Hawkins from Mississippi envisioned as a great cattle ranch when they purchased 32,000 acres of Spanish land grants on the north side of the Rio Grande. In 1909, the land was sold to John T. Beamer and his backers, who envisioned a sugarcane empire; they formed the Alamo Land and Sugar Company. The sugar market collapse led to colonization, bringing trainloads of prospective buyers to Alamo who would mainly farm and open businesses. The Alamo townsite was incorporated in 1924 and celebrates its 100-year anniversary in 2024. In that time of development, the community witnessed steady economic growth. Its history includes raids by Mexican bandits, a taxi driver helping catch a bank robber, a mayor and a former police chief duking it out, the tragedy of a train/truck crash killing 34 farmworkers, damage from Hurricane Beulah, and gaining one of the largest flea markets in Texas.

History buff authors are Alejandro Oyoque, director/curator of the City of Alamo Museum, and Herb Moering, a 20-year Alamo resident and a journalist originally from Wisconsin. Both are Friends of the Alamo Museum members.

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The Galveston Dispatches

9781467158718

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

Personal stories of life in Galveston in the mid-nineteenth century.

In 1855, Friedrich Gloor was just nineteen when he was sent from Basel, Switzerland, halfway around the world to teach at the First German Lutheran Church school in Galveston, Texas. He spent the next eleven years writing letters to his family about a place that was very different from his Swiss home. The climate was harsh, with stifling heat and bitter cold, droughts and floods. He provides a firsthand account of the treatment of slaves, frontier justice by hangings and burning criminals in the streets, shipwrecks, the yellow fever epidemic and the Civil War. However, Friedrich was haunted by something from his life in Switzerland for which he constantly asks for forgiveness. Friedrich’s secret remains shrouded in mystery, but his letters are a vivid glimpse into the pivotal moments of Galveston’s early history.

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Tales from the Gainesville Daily Hesperian

9781467157407

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

After legendary sheriff Pat Ware was thrown from his horse on a very muddy Commerce Street, the Gainesville Daily Hesperian observed that he “had enough mud sticking to his wardrobe to start a land boom in the Panhandle.” The Hesperian had an eye for detail, down to the autumn leaf pen wiper Dr. Arthur Carroll Scott received as a wedding present and the raid on Fount Duston’s watermelon patch. Ron Melugin has pored over thousands of articles from the newspaper’s frontier era, piecing together advertisements for Botanic Blood Balm and a county clerk’s train robbing spree. It is an account of bygone Gainesville so vivid that modern readers can almost see, hear and even (in the case of the 1894 privy ordinance) smell it.

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Haunted Weatherford

9781467154055

$21.99 $11.00 Save 50%

A phantom stagecoach materializes on Weatherford’s Main Street, the galloping hooves of invisible horses tugging witnesses back towards the nineteenth century. A stroll through the enchanting Chandor Gardens might lead to an encounter with its creator, renowned English portrait artist Douglas Chandor. The apparition of a former judge lingers around Parker County Courthouse, while the Old Jail Museum’s corridors are filled with disembodied voices and echoing footsteps. Visitors to Old Greenwood Cemetery might hear the quiet sobbing of the woman who was murdered by a jealous lover or feel a cold nudge against their hands when they pass by a canine buried alongside his owner. Author Teal Gray walks through miles of Weatherford's history to unwind years of its haunted lore.

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Galveston's Tremont House Hotel

9781467152266

$24.99

Step into the historic grandeur of a Texas icon – The Tremont House. The storied history of the Tremont House began when Texas was still an independent Republic. Since then a series of hotels bearing that illustrious name have operated as a hub of Galveston high society. Buffalo Bill, Stephen Crane, Clara Barton walked the corridors of The Tremont House, along with presidents, millionaires, actors and countless other celebrities. Having witnessed the Gilded Age, the Jazz Era and every decade in between, the hotel was reborn in the 1980s to continue its legacy of hospitality and luxury. Join author Kathleen Maca as she explores the captivating secrets and remarkable heritage of the Tremont House.

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Tell-Tale Texas

9781467154345

$23.99

Uncover the suppressed testimony of the Lone Star State’s uncomfortable past. Tinseltown almost always gets Texas wrong. The “Searchers” never did that much searching, the “Giants” were hardly ever big in terms of character and The Last Picture Show was just the beginning of a disturbing reveal. As acclaimed writer Stephen Harrigan suggests, the Lone Star State was not exactly a Big, Wonderful Thing, and for too many Texans, nothing was ever “Awright, Awright, Awright.” A Black civil rights champion was assassinated in 1976, and the incident was buried. A “Cowtown Catcher in the Rye” was published in 1940, and the country club set made it disappear. And the war machines of Hitler and Mussolini were perfected with Texas oil during the Spanish Civil War. Author E.R. Bills challenges his proud neighbors, earnestly asking them to take a hard look at their past and examine their own historical amnesia, cultural fragility and fierce denial.

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New Mexico Cocktails

9781467137485

$7.99

Join Greg Mays on a tour of New Mexico's golden age of the cocktail. Recipe cards included for Amaretto Sour, Applejack, Black Martini, Breakfast Martini, Cactus Juice, Duchess, Fox River, Hanky Panky, Income Tax, Journalist, Liberty, Los Angeles, Palmetto, Sun and Moon and Uptown Cooler.

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Mount Pleasant

9781467131797

$24.99

Mount Pleasant lies atop a tree-covered hill in the midst of East Texas timber country. The native Caddo Indians referred to the hill as pleasant, and so it was named. Though it hails from within the historic area known as Devil's Triangle, the city has been dubbed the sweetest town in Texas. This area has been alternately ignored, fought over, and claimed, proving the people of Mount Pleasant are resilient, adaptable, and consistently hardworking. It is the kind of stable community that showcases many of the strengths of America. The city's location as a byway along transportation routes, including roads, railroads, and an interstate highway, has contributed to its growth over the years as industrial businesses have come to town. Named one of the best small towns in America, it currently serves as the trailer manufacturing capital of the United States. This bass capital of Texas boasts more than 17,000 acres for fishing, swimming, and waterskiing, as well as bird watching along the Texas Bluebird Trail.

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Legendary Locals of Las Cruces

9781467101332

$24.99

When Las Cruces was founded 164 years ago near a group of crosses marking the graves of travelers and soldiers, a rawhide rope separated acreage for a church, a cemetery, and family lots. That rawhide rope brought to Las Cruces a new era filled with the exhilaration of the Wild West and the people who molded the City of the Crosses. Over the decades, the number of local men, women, and children who deserve recognition as heroes of history or champions of the present is infinite, including Dr. Nathan E. Boyd, entrepreneurial creator of the Boyd Sanitarium; Gov. Susana Martinez, the first female governor of New Mexico and the first female Hispanic governor in the United States; and Letticia Martinez, a legally blind swimmer who competed with the 2012 London Paralympics Swimming Team. Like thousands of others, theirs is a story of persistent hope, courage, and desire to make a difference.

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Midland

9780738578965

$24.99

On the southern edge of the vast Llano Estacado, Midland began as a midpoint along the Texas and Pacific Railway. From its earliest days, entrepreneurs like the Scharbauers and Henry Halff built a city based upon their dreams. Land speculators, ranchers, farmers, financiers, oilmen, investors, and engineers each placed their own unique brands on Midland's landscape. Over time, the community earned a variety of nicknames—Windmill Town, Land of the High Sky, and Tall City, among them. Although seemingly remote, Midland has regularly gained attention at the state, national, and even international level in areas as diverse as airplanes (Texas's first), cattle ranching, and as the home of George W. Bush. Midland's story is an American tale of a successful small city.

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Baylor County

9780738579665

$24.99

Baylor County was separated from Fanin County in February 1858 out of the Young Territory. Its name honors Henry W. Baylor, an Indian fighter and surgeon in a regiment of Texas Rangers during the Mexican War. The county was not organized, however, until 1879. The depletion of the buffalo herds in the mid-1870s and the defeat of the Comanche in 1874 by the US Army opened the county for settlement. It became a major supply area for the Western Trail, and the population and economy boomed. The legacy of the Western Trail was historic ranches and a cattle industry that became the cornerstone of the county's economic system. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ranchers were joined by farmers and their families, and together they set the stage for a modern agricultural economy. Over 130 years after the county was founded, farming and ranching still form the commercial base. Today, the Western heritage in Baylor County lingers, reflecting the past and shaping the future.

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Sunnyslope

9780738599571

$24.99

Founded in 1911 by William R. Norton, Sunnyslope is older than the State of Arizona. By 1919, the desert settlement had only four or five cottages and no roads, no electricity, and no running water. That soon changed as those recovering from tuberculosis sought the relief of Sunnyslope's dry climate. In 1927, the Desert Mission was established, with its nurses dubbed the Angels of the Desert. This would eventually become the modern, multistory John C. Lincoln Hospital. A post–World War II boom saw Sunnyslope's population grow with small businesses, schools, and churches being established that still serve the community today. Annexed by the City of Phoenix in 1959, Sunnyslope, with its roughly 40,000 residents, retains its unique identity to this day.

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Lake Jackson

9780738584799

$24.99

The city of Lake Jackson is located adjacent to an oxbow lake of the same name. The land was part of the original Stephen F. Austin land grant from Mexico in 1822. Abner Jackson began to develop the land in 1842, and his family and slaves resided there until 1870, when the end of the Civil War ultimately ended the habitation of the plantation. The land was bought to resume the production of sugar in 1900, but the effort was quickly ended by the famous Galveston storm. In 1938, the Dow Chemical Company bought the land in their effort to build a chemical plant on the Gulf Coast. The plant size greatly expanded with the advent of World War II, and beginning in 1943 Alden Dow designed one of the first planned communities to house Dow employees. The city expanded after the war, and the chemical plant grew to the second largest in the world. By 2010, the population of Lake Jackson had grown to 27,000.

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Sayre

9780738582528

$24.99

Sayre, Oklahoma, was founded shortly after the railroad arrived on September 14, 1901. Before that, it was known as Riverton because of its location near the North Fork of the Red River. When the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad completed its line to Sayre, businesses sprang up overnight, causing many people from surrounding communities to move closer to the rail. Sayre's historical downtown area is home to many buildings that date from the city's founding in 1901. When Route 66 was constructed through Sayre, transportation was solidified as the community's main industry. The town began to grow again when Farmrail launched an American Short Line Regional Railroad through Sayre and its surrounding area in 1981. Through the years, many legendary people have called Sayre home, including horseman Walter Merrick, world champion bull rider Justin McBride, bronc riders Gene Ross and Jonas DeArmon, and singer Roger Miller. The community is known for its natural beauty, sensational sunsets, and a flat landscape that allows one to see for miles in every direction.

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Prescott Valley

9780738570709

$24.99

When gold was discovered along Lynx Creek in 1863, the area that would later become Prescott Valley began to attract attention from the outside world. Miners came and so did the military, which established Fort Whipple in nearby Prescott but made use of Glassford Hill as part of a communication system. By the early 1900s, homesteaders, merchants, freighters, and ranchers had also arrived. As the 20th century progressed, what had been a peaceful stretch of grazing land known as Lonesome Valley gave way to a budding town finally incorporated in 1978 with 1,520 citizens. On the land where a volcano erupted long ago, mammoths once roamed, prehistoric people hunted, miners sought their fortunes, and ranchers herded cattle, Prescott Valley is today a thriving—and rapidly growing—town of more than 35,000 residents that has retained much of its small-town character and charm.

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Around Columbus

9780738585444

$24.99

Welcome to Columbus! The county seat of Colorado County, Columbus is the oldest surveyed and platted Anglo American town in Texas. It was first platted in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin and Baron DeBastrop as a possible site for the Texas capital. It was platted again in 1837 by W.B. DeWees and J.W.E. Wallace. Many of Austin's Old 300 settled in Columbus and the surrounding area, including Alleyton and Glidden, which were founded as railroad towns. The area played an important role in the history of Texas, including Santa Anna's pursuit of Sam Houston's Texas army that resulted in the burning of Columbus during the Runaway Scrape. Columbus suffered other setbacks, such as the long-running Stafford-Townsend feud and lawlessness resulting in disincorporation in the early 1900s, and enjoyed the good fortune of its reincorporation in the 1920s. However, today, it is a town of people who greatly value their heritage and seek to preserve it.

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Lubbock

9780738579689

$24.99

The city of Lubbock began as a compromise between two smaller settlements known as Lubbock and Monterey. These settlements agreed to combine on December 19, 1890, and by 1891, the combined settlement was elected the new county seat as farmers, ranchers, and settlers began to arrive. In 1909, Lubbock incorporated as a city, and the Santa Fe Railroad sent its first train south from Plainview. The Texas legislature authorized the establishment of Texas Technological College in 1923, and Lubbock won the regional contest for the new university's location. Today Lubbock is the 10th largest city in Texas with an estimated population of 230,000. The Lubbock economy thrives on agriculture, education, manufacturing, and health industries.

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Andrews

9780738579801

$24.99

Andrews County was named for Richard Andrews, the first casualty in Texas's fight for independence from Mexico in 1835 at the battle of Concepción. Before the creation of the county in 1876 by the Texas legislature, the area had been largely ignored by state officials and avoided by ranchers and settlers because of its remoteness, scarcity of water, and attacks by local Native Americans. That all changed in 1875 after an expedition by U.S. cavalry troops led by Col. William R. Shafter opened the region up to settlers. The town of Andrews became the county seat in 1910 after a close election race with nearby Shafter Lake. Ranching was the first economic driver in the county, but the discovery of oil in 1929 changed everything. The oil boom created jobs, brought in revenue, and attracted new residents. Today Andrews is experiencing growth thanks to renewed demand for oil, nuclear-related industries, first-class sporting venues, and other amenities that have rejuvenated the community.

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Yorktown and Nordheim

9780738579764

$24.99

Founded 7 miles apart in south central Texas, Yorktown and Nordheim were settled by German immigrants. These immigrants found the rolling hills and grassland full of oak trees suitable for settlement, and the rich soil helped to make farming a way of life. Yorktown was settled near the Coleto Creek as a rest stop along the Indianola Trail for teamsters delivering freight to New Braunfels. Nordheim was settled because it was a high point and beacon for settlers, and it continued to grow when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was built. As the towns grew, so did the businesses and churches. The settlers shared a love of music, and bands came together to perform at various functions. On Saturdays the farmers, their families, and hired help would come to buy supplies, visit friends, and enjoy a day away from work. Today the spirit of community is still strong, as citizens put together annual celebrations and activities that promote tourism and help to maintain local pride.

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The White Mountains of Apache County

9780738566900

$24.99

Towns and communities such as Springerville, Eagar, Alpine, Nutrioso, Vernon, Greer, McNary, and Maverick of Apache County's White Mountains hold fascinating histories of outlaws and Arizona Rangers; Texas cattlemen and Mormon farmers; and New Mexico Hispanics and forest service men. Aldo Leopold was one of the forest service men who, in A Sand County Almanac, described the Boneyard, Campbell Blue, and Frijole Cienega. Of Paradise Valley, he wrote, What else could you call it? In 1913, the Good Roads Association described the roads winding through the area with canyons that are flanked on every side by timber-covered, snow-clad peaks. It also noted that the area had become an interesting point for the genuine home seeker, who will not likely want to continue his journey farther. That description remains true today.

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Houston in the 1920s and 1930s

9780738571492

$24.99

Houston was already a dynamic city when it experienced an exciting period of accelerated growth in the 1920s and 1930s. The Roaring Twenties began with a national ban on alcohol and ended abruptly with the stock market crash of 1929, but the prominent and influential Jesse Jones ensured the city's part in the economic collapse was minimal. Despite the country's financial woes, Houston's downtown was booming. Skyscrapers set new records in height, forever changing the skyline and appearance of the city. The introduction and widespread use of air-conditioning tamed the stifling heat and humidity for which Houston was known. The National Democratic Convention of 1928 showed the rest of the nation what a modern metropolis Houston had become. This entertaining new book illustrates how Houstonians lived, worked, and played during both the good times and the bad in the early 1900s.

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McMullen Valley

9780738558516

$24.99

Tucked in the northwest corner of the Sonoran Desert, east of the Colorado River, the Great Arizona Outback is a little-known refuge where the frontier has yet to close. Since the 1880s, independent, rugged individualists including Wyatt Earp have come to find peace and solitude in the pristine desert. Gold mines at Harquahala brought adventurers, miners, and thieves. Dick Wick Hall, founder and "Sage of Salome," gave the region its mythic aura. The 20th century brought successive generations of dreamers, schemers, and industrious settlers in search of health, wealth, or simply a new beginning. Mid-century Route 60 tourists in search of gas, food, and lodging supported the indomitable residents in their eccentric little enclaves. The Smithsonian Observatory above Wenden, secret World War II tank testing grounds near Bouse, brothels, slot machines, and a world-class bird aviary provided memorable diversions to travelers on the main road between Phoenix and Los Angeles.

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Ash Fork

9780738548326

$24.99

The tiny community of Ash Fork lies on the juniper-studded hills some 15 miles west of Bill Williams Mountain. Founded in 1882 when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was laying tracks for a transcontinental railroad, Ash Fork became an important rail junction by 1895 when another new line was built, this one south to Phoenix. The storied Route 66 opened in 1926 and U.S. Highway 89 not long after, making Ash Fork the most important link between Northern and Southern Arizona by both rail and highway. By the mid-20th century, however, rail routes changed and Interstate 40 opened a half-mile south of town, stopping overnight the flow of traffic through Ash Fork. While many residents were forced to leave, those who remained stubbornly refused to concede defeat. As the new century dawned, the citizens of Ash Fork had developed a new community spirit and hopes for a brighter future.

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Douglas

9780738570655

$24.99

For much of its 100-year history, Douglas was dominated by two smelters—the Copper Queen and the Calumet and Arizona. But Douglas thrived on the Mexican-American border because it was always more than just a smelter town. It was a section headquarters for the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, host to three distinct army camps, and a hub for area ranchers and farmers. Douglas residents were crazy about aviation and built an airport where many aerial firsts took place. Although it may seem that the often-deadly intrigue surrounding the Mexican Revolution and the two battles fought in Agua Prieta, the Sonoran town across the international boundary from Douglas, would limit trade and tourism possibilities, the opposite was true. After the last smelter closed in 1987, Douglas relied heavily upon border trade of all sorts for its growing economy. Today Douglas and Agua Prieta capitalize on the vibrancy from the meeting of two cultures.

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Aquarena Springs

9780738571874

$24.99

Aquarena Springs was the culmination of a dream shared by two men: Arthur Birch (A. B.) Rogers and his son Paul J. Rogers.

The Spring Lake Park Hotel opened at the headwaters of the San Marcos River in 1929. Soon, Aquarena Springs would become one of the premier tourist destinations in the Southwest. Attractions such as glass bottom boats, a Swiss sky ride, Texana Village, and the world's only submarine theater delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. From special events like the underwater wedding featured in Life magazine to the daily antics of nationally known Ralph the Swimming Pig, Aquarena provided entertainment and created lifelong memories for countless families. In recent years, under the auspices of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University, Aquarena has become an important center for environmental education and research.

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Tubac

9780738578644

$24.99

First inhabited by indigenous people, Tubac has been home to a number of cultures. It became Arizona's first European settlement when the Presidio de San Ignacio de Tubac was established in 1752. It was the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, however, that brought the area under U.S. control. Charles Debrille Poston, the self-proclaimed father of Arizona, established a mining company here in 1856, but the ongoing Apache presence made life difficult in spite of the defense provided by two nearby military forts. After Geronimo's surrender in 1886, farming and ranching dominated local life until the 1940s when dude ranches attracted Eastern tourists and altered the local economy. Tubac took its first steps as an art colony when Dale Nichols started an art school here in 1948 and when the Santa Cruz Valley Art Association was founded in 1959. Since that time, the community has embraced its theme of where art and history meet.

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Forgotten Albuquerque

9780738559674

$24.99

In 1706, Spanish colonists founded the Villa de Alburquerque on the wooded banks of the Rio Grande. Three hundred years later, that once quiet farming community has grown to become Albuquerque, the largest city in the state of New Mexico. Over the centuries, this fascinating city's identity has metamorphosed many times. In 1862, it briefly became the western capital of the Confederate States of America, before Confederate hopes for the territory were destroyed at the Battle of Glorieta Pass. In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad brought industry and wealth from the east, as well as tuberculosis-infected "lungers" who came by the thousands to seek a cure in "the Heart of Health Country." Then, in 1926, Route 66 transformed the city into a neon-decked oasis for automobile travelers journeying through the newly accessible West. Though many of these identities have faded, their legacy lives on in the beating heart of an ever-changing city.

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Hutto

9780738578606

$24.99

In 1854, a freed slave named Adam Orgain settled in an area of Central Texas that would later become known as Hutto. Soon after, James Emory Hutto and his family followed, and the town was founded in 1876 when he donated land to the International-Great Northern Railroad. The growing town attracted many immigrants of Swedish, German, and Danish descent. Through the years, Hutto has been known for its agriculture, the railroad, and the diversity of its settlers and immigrants. Today the city is known for the old town area, the schools, the Hutto Co-op, the hippo, and the hospitable residents. Since 2000, Hutto has been recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas.

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Around Benson

9780738558929

$24.99

In 1880, the rowdy town of Benson was born when the Southern Pacific Railroad Company recognized a market for transporting mining and ranching products to growing enterprises in the southeastern Arizona Territory. Leading up to the town's incorporation in 1924, nearly all railroads in the Southwest led to Benson, which by that time boasted several hotels, liveries, taverns, churches, and a smelter. By the 1940s, U.S. Highway 80 and State Route 86 junction brought weary travelers to enjoy Benson's clean air, artesian water, and mountain vistas, creating the core of a multiethnic city whose progeny continue to keep the town alive today as the "Gateway to the Land of Cochise."

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Pharr

9781467131377

$24.99

The All-America City of Pharr was incorporated in 1916 and holds precedence as the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. The late Henry Newton Pharr, a sugarcane grower, engineer, and manufacturer, along with his partner John C. Kelly, founded the city for their interest in establishing a sugarcane empire. This borderland is located approximately eight miles from the mighty Rio Grande, and it prospered to become the ideal agricultural grounds that attracted star investors from as far as Louisiana. Pharr benefitted from the fruit and vegetable boom, the introduction of the railroad, great feats in civic progress, and success in international commerce. Now, Pharr is the only city in the state of Texas to be designated as a Triple Crown City. Pharr's feats include the Preserve America City, National Main Street City, and All-America City awards.

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The Verde River

9780738578897

$24.99

Archaeologists discovered that the Hohokam were an advanced native tribe who built elaborate irrigation systems along the Verde River, and then disappeared. Early Arizona settlers recognized the tenacity and intelligence of the Hohokam and began to reconstruct their canal system. In 1903, the Salt River Project commenced, and the first lake on the lower Verde River was formed with the completion of the Bartlett Dam in 1939. Seven years later and 12 miles upstream from Bartlett, the Horseshoe Reservoir was created in order to expand copper mining during World War II. The astonishing result of these reservoirs is today's sprawling desert megalopolis of Phoenix, Arizona. Nicknamed "The River of Time," the Verde River is a timeline of Arizona history, and it is essential to human life and livelihood in the area.

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Sugarite Coal Camp

9781467126953

$24.99

Tucked into a remote canyon in northeastern New Mexico, Sugarite Coal Camp created a true melting pot for mostly immigrant miners slinging picks and shovels. The coal they labored to produce heated homes across several states for decades. In a bountiful place long used by native peoples and then by cattle ranchers, coal mining debuted in Sugarite (Sugar-eet') Canyon in the early 1900s. The St. Louis, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Company quickly ramped up full-scale mining operations, building an orderly town of sturdy block houses perched upon canyon slopes. A store, school, post office, and clubhouse served camp residents, many hailing from Eastern Europe, Italy, Greece, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Mexico, and even Japan. With the rumble of coal cars as background music, poor mining families lived a rich life making wine, dancing, and playing sports. Today, visitors to Sugarite Canyon State Park tour ghostly remains of the camp, one of the few accessible to the public.

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Lee County, Texas

9780738502960

$24.99

Lee County illustrates the region's history through vintage photographs, many of which are previously unpublished. This truly multi-cultural, central Texas county is home to a variety of ethnic communities, including the Wends of Serbin and the Czechs of Dime Box, as well as the more diverse settlements of British and German immigrants and former slaves throughout the county. This pictorial retrospective of Lee County begins before the county was formed and continues to about 1940. Narratives taken from local citizens' letters, diaries, and memoirs provide an informative commentary, and individual portraits personalize the accounts. The major foci are the larger towns of Lexington in the northeast and Giddings in the southwest, and the diagonal of the Old San Antonio Road, although shots of the rural areas and towns give a fascinating glimpse into the everyday lives of residents.

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Galveston Chronicles

9781626191822

$24.99

Named for Bernardo de Galvez and established in 1839, Galveston measures just over two hundred square miles. In early Texas history, however, it was actually the largest city in the Lone Star State, as well as a hugely important port that would become a strategic target during the Civil War. The Oleander City survived the depredations of war and flourished, a resilience it would also display in the wake of the devastating hurricane of 1900. From early cannibals and pirates to the woman suffrage movement and Nazi POWs, Galveston's amazing story continues to evolve today. Join thirteen of Texas's most noted scholars and historians as they share this remarkable island history.

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Wrightwood and Big Pines

9780738528991

$24.99

Nestled at 6,000 feet in the San Gabriel Mountains, the village of Wrightwood sits amidst a mountain range next to the finest ski slopes east of Los Angeles. This picturesque community has been a cherished mountain retreat removed from the hustle and bustle of city life, where skyscrapers give way to towering pine trees and roads run parallel to trails and ski runs. During the early twenties, the area's appeal as a gorgeous setting for hiking and other outdoor activities led the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to develop a year-round recreational facility west of Wrightwood, known as Big Pines County Park. Now a haven for commuters, Wrightwood remains a close-knit community despite the influx of more than half a million skiers and mountain lovers annually.

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Dalhart

9780738584669

$24.99

In 1882, the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway made its way to Dalhart, and by 1901 two railroads crossed tracks in the northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle. The twist of tracks was located at what is now the intersection of Highway 87, running north and south, and Highway 54, running east and west, in Dalhart. The second railroad, the Rock Island and Chicago Railway, along with the first, gave rise to Dalhart's first name, Twist Junction, but right away a new name was chosen and Dalhart was soon established as a center of commerce at the beginning of the 20th century. Dalhart flourished with only a short interruption in growth during the Dust Bowl years. Many families left Dalhart during those years but returned later to dig the city out from the devastation of the 1930s and begin again. Dalhart quickly recovered and thrived as it once had and continues as a main thoroughfare for travelers crossing the United States, whether by rail, semitruck, or passenger car.

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Around La Porte

9780738584904

$24.99

The city of La Porte and the surrounding communities are laden with historical events and characters. Pioneers began settling 10 years before the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas gained its independence. The land that was to become the cities of Morgan's Point, Shoreacres, Lomax, and La Porte was home to such Texas luminaries as Gen. Sidney Sherman, Gov. Ross Sterling, Andrew Jackson Houston, and James Morgan. The beauty of the area attracted legions of summer visitors, including Sam Houston and Dr. Ashbel Smith. Years later, pioneers of the Texas oil industry looked to the shores of Galveston Bay in La Porte to entertain and build summer places. La Porte was legally organized January 1, 1892, and for over a century of ups and downs has remained steadfast in preserving the natural beauty that is its legacy, the friendliness that is its nature, and the educational excellence to which the city's founders aspired. Today, La Porte is a unique combination of quaint small-town living with big-city amenities.

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Maricopa

9780738579955

$24.99

The Hohokam built an extensive network of canals with sticks and stone hoes, but mysteriously disappeared in 1450. Later, the Pima and Maricopa Indians occupied their farmlands near the Gila River, and Maricopa took on the name of the latter. In 1858, Maricopa became an isolated little town in the middle of the desert. It served as the major stage station for the Butterfield Overland Stage Station and became a beacon of light for trappers, traders, and immigrants brave enough to travel its unknown land. Maricopa moved south in 1879 to latch onto the newly built Southern Pacific Railroad and became Arizona's freighting distribution center. A second move took it 4 miles east to better align with Tempe. Thus began Maricopa's life as an important railroad junction, playing host to two presidents, 1911 flying machines, honeymoon couples, actors, and a nest of wildcats to entertain the hundreds of passengers who waited for their connections to Phoenix or east-west. In the early 2000s, Maricopa grew from a small farming community to a city, earning it the title of one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Today its population continues to grow with more than 40,000 inhabitants from all over the United States and world.

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Charro Days in Brownsville

9780738578514

$24.99

Brownsville, Texas, was established in 1850 on the banks of the Rio Grande. Every February since 1938, this thriving community of nearly 200,000 has joined its Mexican neighbor, Matamoros, to celebrate their shared cultural heritage. Charro Days burst upon the Rio Grande Valley scene in the depths of the Depression, bringing dances, parades, fireworks, boat races, and a rodeo to a dispirited populace. The celebration achieved instant success, followed by national recognition in magazines, radio, and television. Renowned dance bands and celebrities increased the enjoyment of revelers dressed in Charro costumes. As time passed, Charro Days evolved with the addition of events such as the Mr. Amigo presentation, which recognizes an outstanding Mexican, and the Sombrero Fest, which attracts a large number of attendees with its diverse entertainment.

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Texas Jailhouse Music

9781626198678

$21.99

Inside the Texas State Prison is a surprising story of ingenuity, optimism and musical creativity. During the mid-twentieth century, inmates at the Huntsville unit and neighboring Goree State Farm for Women captured hearts all over Texas during weekly radio broadcasts and live stage performances. WBAP's Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls took listeners inside the penitentiary to hear not only the prisonersʼ songs but also the stories of those who sang them. Captivating and charismatic, banjo player Reable Childs received thousands of fan letters with the Goree All-Girl String Band during World War II. Hattie Ellis, a young black inmate with a voice that rivaled Billie Holiday's, was immortalized by notable folklorist John Avery Lomax. Cowboys, songsters and champion fiddlers all played a part in one of the most unique prison histories in the nation. Caroline Gnagy presents the decades-long story of the Texas convict bands, informed by prison records, radio show transcripts and the words and music of the inmates themselves.

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Sherman

9780738579832

$24.99

Sherman was founded in 1846, but because of a lack of wood and water, the town moved east to its present location in 1848. The county seat of Grayson County, Sherman was named for Gen. Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Texas Revolution. From the beginning, Sherman was known as an educational center and was nicknamed "The Athens of Texas." The home of Kidd-Key Conservatory of Music, Mary Nash College, North Texas Male and Female Academy, Carr-Burdette College, and today the prestigious Austin College, Sherman has long been an educational mecca. Sherman was incorporated in 1858, the same year the Butterfield-Overland Stage arrived. The stage line was the first mail route west of the Mississippi and covered a distance of 2,795 miles from St. Louis to San Francisco. As Sherman progressed, industry became a mainstay of the community, which continues to thrive today through companies such as Texas Instruments, GlobiTech, Sunny Delight, Progress Rail, Tyson Foods, Fisher Controls, Kaiser Aluminum, and CertainTeed Corporation.

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Atlanta

9780738584850

$24.99

Atlanta is located in Cass County in East Texas, an agricultural area that focuses on livestock and timber. Cass County was named for Lewis Cass, a Michigan senator who was in favor of Texas annexation. However, during the Civil War, Cass fell out of favor with the locals because he was against Texas secession. In 1872, Atlanta became an official town, and settlers named their new settlement after their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. In 1954, Texas acquired 1,475 acres of land that would become the Atlanta State Park. Football is also a very popular part of life here, second only to hunting and fishing. The plentiful woods and beautiful lakes in the area draw many visitors and retirees.

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Edmond Oklahoma

9780738519753

$24.99

From its humble beginnings in 1886 as a fuel and water pump house at Mile Marker 103 of the Santa Fe Railroad, through the eras of land run, statehood, oil boom, two world wars and beyond, the city of Edmond has always been growing. Today, a "beacon for the rest of Oklahoma," it boasts a vibrant community of over 70,000 residents. Edmond is home to the state's oldest continuously running newspaper, the Edmond Sun. The first church and schoolyard in Oklahoma Territory were located here, as well as the state's first institute for higher learning. Indeed, Central Normal School, now called the University of Central Oklahoma, has been at the heart of Edmond since the 1890s and is featured prominently throughout this book. Edmond is a railroad town, an oil town and a college town, depending on who you ask; but Edmondites both past and present simply know it as the "perfect town." Edmond, Oklahoma: Always Growing tells the story of this proud city through more than two hundred vintage photographs, many dating back to before the turn of the twentieth century.

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Legendary Locals of Marana, Oro Valley, and Catalina

9781467100168

$24.99

Running west to east along the northern boundary of Tucson is a corridor. of unique and inspiring communities. In Legendary Locals of Marana, Oro Valley, and Catalina, readers will discover the historical riches, courage, and determination of the Western spirit that shaped the state and the country. George Pusch was a member of the Arizona Territorial Legislature that guided Arizona from territory to statehood. Sam Chu, a Chinese immigrant, turned barren land into one of the most productive cotton farms in America. Sheriff John Nelson helped establish Arizona's reputation as cattle country. Under the guidance of Dick Eggerding, the public arts program made Oro Valley one of the best small towns in America. America's talented athletes have called the corridor home, including Hank Leiber, 1930s baseball star; Maren Seidler, Olympic shot-putter; and Sherry Cervi, barrel racing champion. In these communities, charity work, artistic talent, and military courage are found in abundance. If people make history, then the corridor is a treasure trove of the country's past and future.

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Historic Eagle Lake

9780738595122

$24.99

Eagle Lake was named for its large natural lake, which attracted the Karankawa Indians and early settlers from Stephen F. Austin's band of 300 colonists. In its location near the lake, the Colorado River, and the coastal plains, Eagle Lake is a productive agricultural, gravel, ranching, waterfowl, wildflower, and shipping center. In the late 1800s, Eagle Lake was a profitable sugarcane area, with one of the largest sugar refineries in the South. It was founded as the third stop on the first operating railroad in Texas, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado. It became home to the Cane Belt Railroad and received several trainloads of weekend visitors from Houston who came to enjoy the lake pavilion and its dances, skating, boating, and fishing. Real estate trains brought potential residents from Midwestern states to buy land and settle the area in the late 1800s. It is home to the National Attwater Prairie Chicken Refuge. Due to its location in the center of the Texas rice-growing area and the migratory waterfowl corridor from Canada to South America, it is known as the Goose Hunting Capital of the World.

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Oklahoma City

9780738508801

$24.99

Since this wild frontier land was settled at the bang of a gun one April morning, Oklahoma City has grown rapidly, experiencing some of the most drastic changes of all over the past century. Many of the photographs in this new volume show construction and
development as the city began to truly prosper‚—downtown skyscrapers and modern highways, museums such as the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Kirkpatrick Planetarium, and major plants operated by General
Motors and Dayton Tire & Rubber Company. Recent images highlight celebrations, including high school football games, outings to Bricktown and Myriad Botanical Gardens, and finally, Opening Night 2000.

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African Americans in Corpus Christi

9780738585284

$24.99

From slavery to freedom, to education, to achievement: these words reflect the goals of African Americans who first came as slaves with the Spanish to this part of the Texas coast. Freed by the Civil War on Juneteenth (June 19, 1865), blacks soon established an active and viable community, a significant part of which was defined by the black churches. Prominent leaders emerged, including Solomon Melvin Coles, H. Boyd Hall, Rufus Avery, and Gloria Randle Scott. Using photographs from individual collections, as well as the Corpus Christi Public Library, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, African Americans in Corpus Christi reveals the history and people of Corpus Christi.

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Stamford

9780738595757

$24.99

Stamford arose almost overnight at the turn of the 20th century as a partnership between the Texas Central Railroad and the vast Swenson Brothers ranches. Businessmen, workers, and cattlemen began erecting the new community even before the railroad arrived in February 1901. The young city quickly became a commercial center with additional railroad connections, wholesale distributors, banks, brick-paved streets, small industries, a hospital, and the renowned Stamford Inn. Over the next two decades, farmers joined ranchers in developing the West Texas plains, and new businesses arose, along with a college and a Carnegie library. In 1930, a group of citizens formed the Texas Cowboy Reunion Association and began an annual celebration of ranch life that endures to the present day. Through changing times and fortunes, Stamford has maintained its role as an agricultural regional center and has preserved the heritage of its commercial and agrarian roots.

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Killeen

9780738596044

$24.99

The story of Killeen is aptly called a tale of two cities. Killeen was founded on May 15, 1882, when the first Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company (GC&SF) locomotive arrived from east Bell County. The original town contained 360 acres purchased from Susan Spofford for $960. GC&SF honored its assistant general manager, Frank Patrick Killeen, by naming the new town for him, although he probably never visited his namesake. During its first 60 years, Killeen developed into a busy agricultural center specializing in cotton and wool. It remained a town of approximately 1,200 until 1942, when a tank destroyer center was opened nearby and became Killeen's close neighbor—physically, economically, and socially—displacing farms and ranches and converting the town from an agricultural to a military-based economy. That conversion and Killeen's boomtown future were sealed in 1950, when Camp Hood, the tank destroyer center named for Confederate general John Bell Hood, became a permanent military installation and was renamed Fort Hood.

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Weatherford, Texas

9780738501109

$24.99

Despite the odds of Indian raids, the Civil War, and one man's feud, Weatherford began as a small frontier settlement in the mid-1800s, and quickly grew into a bustling West Texas county seat known for its Victorian beauty, home-grown peaches, and small-town charm. Images of courthouse construction and early pioneering families are among the first glimpses into Weatherford's fascinating history. Other highlights include the development of downtown, forgotten changes to the square, the first city rodeo grounds, photos of the Queen of England sitting for her coronation portrait, as well as rare shots of some of the city's more famous past residents, Larry Hagman and his mother, Mary Martin, and Comanche Chief Quanah Parker. Additional scenes of schools, streets, politics, firemen, parks, hospitals, and residents provide an entertaining and educational illustration of the city's past.

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Kemah

9780738585031

$24.99

Kemah is the Karankawa Indian word for wind in the face. In the early 1900s, it was a breezy coastal village where many residents made a living in the fishing or boating industries. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Kemah relied on illegal gambling and bootlegging to survive. After the devastation of Hurricane Carla in 1961, local restaurants rebuilt and became favorites of Houstonians, who enjoyed the seafood and relaxing atmosphere. Because subsidence caused much of Kemah to flood during high tide, a marina was built in 1988 to ease the problem in low-lying areas. Today, the Kemah area has the third largest fleet of recreational boats in America. When older homes were converted into quaint shops, the Kemah Lighthouse Shopping District was formed. In 1997, property on the Clear Creek channel and Kemah bay front was acquired in order to develop the Kemah Boardwalk, one of the top 10 boardwalks in America.

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Sand Springs, Oklahoma

9780738503202

$24.99

One man's dream burst into reality as Sand Springs,
Oklahoma, became the industrial center of the
southwest in the early twentieth century. Self-made
millionaire Charles Page recognized opportunity and quickly bought Native American land allotments as they became available for sale, setting about his vision of creating a planned community for thousands of workers. From feverish growth and economic prosperity to violent labor unrest and race riots, Sand Springs exemplifies the opportunities and struggles faced by countless towns across the nation.
The more than 200 images contained within this book
are from the collection of the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum, as well as several private contributors. Focusing on the unusual philanthropic endeavors, industrial and economic diversity, and intriguing political and social structure that has formed this spirited town, the book invites its readers to examine many rare photographs and discover
for themselves the traits that make Sand Springs both unique and ubiquitous.

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Lost Restaurants of Galveston's African American Community

9781467141772

$21.99

People of African descent were some of Galveston's earliest residents, and although they came to the island enslaved, they retained mastery of their culinary traditions. As Galveston's port prospered and became the "Wall Street of the South,'? better job opportunities were available for African Americans who lived in Galveston and for those who migrated to the island city after emancipation, with owner-operated restaurants being one of the most popular enterprises. Staples like Fease's Jambalaya Café, Rose's Confectionery and the Squeeze Inn anchored the island community and elevated its cuisine. From Gus Allen's business savvy to Eliza Gipson's oxtail artistry, the Galveston Historical Foundation's African American Heritage Committee has gathered together the stories and recipes that preserve this culinary history for the enjoyment and enrichment of generations, and kitchens, to come.

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Freeport-Velasco

9781467126809

$24.99

In 1821, Stephen F. Austin and the Old 300 colonists boarded the Lively and entered the Brazos River, landing at Old Velasco. After hurricanes repeatedly tore the little town apart, residents moved four miles upstream to New Velasco in 1891. Then, the 1900 hurricane, which nearly wiped Galveston off of the map, also devastated New Velasco. But even the earliest Texans were tough, and they endured, rebuilt, and thrived. In 1912, across the Brazos River, the discovery of sulphur gave birth to Freeport. Freeport and Velasco grew side-by-side for 45 years until 1957, when they were consolidated. Thus, some citizens felt that the city ought to then be called Freeport-Velasco. In 1961, Hurricane Carla roared into Freeport. It was followed through the years by many other mega-storms, but Freeport has weathered them all. Efforts are being made to revitalize downtown to the beauty it had a century ago.

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Oklahoma City Zoo

9780738540498

$24.99

The Oklahoma City Zoo began when a single deer was donated to a neighborhood park. Because deer were rare in 1902, crowds flocked to see the creature. Soon other people in Oklahoma Territory began donating native animals such as bears, golden eagles, and wolves. By 1903, the little menagerie became known as Wheeler Park Zoo, the first zoo in the Southwest. During its next 50 years, the zoo endured flooding, relocation, and tough economic slumps brought on by wars and the Dust Bowl. The zoo survived, however, because it provided a fun, relaxing place where people could go to escape from daily life. The community, in turn, rallied to help the zoo by donating precious pocket change to buy food and purchase new animals. Children, especially, were responsible for bringing some of the zoo's most memorable animals to Oklahoma City, especially Judy the Elephant. Here lies the story of how a zoo grew up along with its city, largely told with photographs of the animal personalities that attracted
visitors in the first place.

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Unforgettable Texans

9781467137737

$21.99

History books burst at the seams with stories about Houston, Travis, Crockett and other icons of Texas history. Yet many of the Lone Star State's fascinating figures—well known in life but forgotten in death—remain obscure by omission. This scintillating company includes a World War I spy who became a movie star, the first gringo matador, a West Texas tent showman and the husband-and-wife trick-shot act that amazed audiences for forty years. Some characters cut across the common narrative, like the admiral whose advice might have prevented the attack on Pearl Harbor, the one and only Republican congressman in the first half of the twentieth century, the Klansman Texans elected to the U.S. Senate and the businessman who wrote the longest English-language novel in complete secrecy. Popular columnist and author Bartee Haile brings to life some of the most intriguing Texans who ever slipped through the cracks of history.

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Nocona

9780738579979

$24.99

When a town is named for a Comanche chief, it sets a certain standard to be bold, strong, and original. Nocona, Texas, certainly lives up to these expectations. With roots firmly bound in the Western lore of the cattle drives, Nocona began as a ranching community of sturdy, tenacious men and women. Agriculture was the driving force of the economy until Herman Joseph Justin chose Nocona as the headquarters of his boot company. Justin Boots was the first in a long line of leather-related industries that were instrumental in making Nocona the "Leather Center of the Southwest." The oil boom of the 1920s and the creation of Nocona's North Field added yet another facet to an already unique history. Nocona's past is steeped in Native American culture, Western heritage, agriculture, and the oil and leather industries. Today Nocona is as vibrant and exciting as its past. The annual Old Settlers' Days celebration, the Tales 'N' Trails Museum, the charming Verandah Inn, and Daddy Sam's Saloon along with other wonderful revitalization efforts make Nocona a must-see on any tour of North Texas.

Cover image for Nocona, isbn: 9780738579979

African Americans in Nacogdoches County

9781467132152

$24.99

Typical of most communities after the Civil War, Nacogdoches's African Americans had to repurpose their lives by building their own communities while they carved a life of survival first and progress second. The images in this book will tell the stories of the first churches and how they became the center of the community. Other images will share information about the early leaders in the community who helped establish educational facilities for Negroes. Additional images focus on black businesses, and a final set of images will discuss the emerging black middle class and others who played significant roles in Nacogdoches history. Readers of this book will go on a journey, through images, that highlights residents' pains of struggles and gains of triumph.

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Texon

9780738579900

$24.99

From 1924 to 1962, Texon was a model company oil town in Reagan County, Texas. Pittsburgh-based Big Lake Oil Company developed the town site next to the Big Lake Oil Field and Santa Rita No. 1, the discovery well on University of Texas lands in the Permian Basin. Pres. Levi Smith ensured that company employees and their families enjoyed comfortable housing and community amenities, including a grade school, hospital, nondenominational church, theater, swimming pool, and baseball park, as well as a café and dry goods, grocery, and drugstores. By the end of World War II, the Big Lake Field's declining production meant a smaller workforce and a declining Texon population. Plymouth Oil assumed ownership in 1956 and six years later sold out to Marathon Oil, which ended company support for the town. At annual reunions, however, former residents—who remember Oiler baseball, scouting, Sunday school, and Labor Day celebrations—have kept the Texon experience alive.

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Around Sonoita

9780738571430

$24.99

Located at the foot of the majestic Santa Rita Mountains in southeastern Arizona, Sonoita is known for its rolling grasslands, grazing cattle, and working cowboys in well-worn jeans. Ranching blossomed in the early 1880s when the Southern Pacific Railroad linked Benson to Nogales, allowing local cattlemen to ship their livestock to market by train. It would be another 30 years before the first Sonoita Post Office was established, with postmistress Clara Hummel dispensing the mail from her home. The area would remain unincorporated--the closest pioneer neighbors were miles away over dirt roads--but the citizenry grew in friendship and cooperation, developing a community spirit that still exists today. Locals and visitors alike enjoy Sonoita's neighboring communities of Patagonia, where a historic train depot evokes memories of the town's role as a distribution center for area mines and ranches, and Elgin, where old-time cattle ranches now share fence lines with the lush vineyards of Winery Row.

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Plano and the Interurban Railway System

9780738571362

$24.99

Over a century ago, an industrial America was awakening, and a new transportation technology arrived on the north Texas prairie: electric interurbans. Plano's Interurban Railway depot was dedicated in July 1908, and electric interurban rail travel began with the creation of the Texas Traction Company. In 1917, three separate systems were connected by a single entrepreneur, J. F. Strickland. Throughout the 1920s, the Texas Electric Railway traveled in and out of Plano carrying riders, mail, and freight. The system was built to travel on existing streetcar tracks and often ran over private rights-of-way between cities. To promote interurban travel, the company created unique cars and special classes of service to appeal to every need. In the post–World War II era, however, the popularity of automobiles ended the important era of electric interurban travel.

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Haunted Prescott

9781467141222

$21.99

When Arizona was created as a U.S. territory in 1864, Prescott became its first capital. Accompanying the city's rich history is an equally dramatic heritage of supernatural manifestations. Visitors report a strange chill in the Palace Restaurant and taps on the shoulder at the Smoki Museum. Lingering spirits crowd famed hotels like the Vendome and the Hassayampa Inn, as well as theaters such as the Elks Opera House and Prescott Center for the Arts. Learn the secrets of Prescott's cemeteries and the truth about the hangings on the Courthouse Plaza as Darlene Wilson and Parker Anderson lead an excursion through the haunted sites of Arizona's mile-high city.

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Van Alstyne

9781467130776

$24.99

Images of America: Van Alstyne relates the story of a Texas town born in an era when small-town life was deeply ingrained in America. Founded by 1873, Van Alstyne is a close-knit, patriotic, religious, hardworking, and progressive-minded community. Surrounded by prime farmland, Van Alstyne thrived as a center for cotton ginning. In addition to railroad service, a far-ranging interurban line enhanced Van Alstyne's transportation system for 40 years. The Van Alstyne Grays, a semiprofessional team that placed its stars into baseball's big leagues, represented the national pastime. The town's former opera house still stands, and so do other Victorian commercial buildings and homes—tangible reminders of a classic American town that continues to offer the amenities of a comfortable community.

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The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas

9781467117876

$21.99

After Monroe Edwards died in Sing Sing prison in 1847, penny dreadfuls memorialized him as the most celebrated American forger until the turn of the century. With a bizarre biography too complicated for easy history, his critical contributions to Texas settlement, revolution and annexation were inextricably mired in his activities as a slave smuggler and confidence man. Author Lora-Marie Bernard unravels the unbelievable story of one of the most notorious criminal adventurers ever to set foot on the soil of the Lone Star State.

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Railroading in Ellis County

9780738579153

$24.99

The Houston and Texas Central Railroad made its way through eastern Ellis County in 1871 and played an integral role in the founding of Ennis, Texas. Eventually, that community would be designated as a division point along the line. The H&TC's arrival also brought growth and prosperity to other communities on the line, including Alma, Garrett, Palmer, and Ferris. It made its mark on the area. The Waxahachie Tap was the vision of many of that city's earliest settlers. Within a decade of its completion in September 1879, Waxahachie's cotton production multiplied and the town would soon earn the moniker "Where Cotton Is King." Midlothian and its surrounding communities would never be the same once connected by the Chicago, Texas, and Mexican Central Railroad in 1881. The rail had arrived and Ellis County was transformed.

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San Antonio's Historic Architecture

9781467134835

$24.99

Spanish colonial missionary settlements established San Antonio as a junction between Mexico and the developing United States in the early 1700s. Because of its remote location amid both countries and its great distance from other cities, San Antonio became a crossroads for commerce, industry, and strategic military position on the wild frontier. Texas independence and the admission of Texas into the United States in the 19th century established a diverse cultural population and distinctive architecture that remains historically significant across the nation as it continues to gain attention on the world stage. The appreciation of historic architecture among its citizens has enabled San Antonio to retain a remarkably large catalog of important historic structures, which are often saved from destruction through relocation. Three centuries of steady growth, from 1700 to 2000, has resulted in an abundance of buildings that has generated a local legacy of multigenerational artisans and skilled craftsmen.

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Longview

9780738579207

$24.99

Situated in the East Texas Piney Woods, Longview was established in 1870 when O. H. Methvin deeded land to the Southern Pacific to build a railroad station. The village became the county seat of Gregg County in 1873 and quickly prospered as a rail, cotton, and manufacturing center. The discovery of the East Texas Oil Field in 1930-1931 revealed that Longview sat in the middle of the world's largest pool of petroleum. The boom had begun! Today Longview is home to almost 80,000 residents. The city that bills itself as "Real East Texas" is a manufacturing, medical, and educational center and home to such events as the Great Texas Balloon Race and AlleyFest arts festival.

Cover image for Longview, isbn: 9780738579207

Truth or Consequences

9780738579177

$24.99

Hot Springs, New Mexico, Ain't That Any More was one of the headlines on April 4, 1950, in the Gallup Independent. As a publicity stunt, Ralph Edwards had invited a town to change its name to Truth or Consequences, the name of his popular radio quiz show, and Hot Springs agreed to do so. Since the late 1800s, the area has attracted health seekers to bathe in and drink from the area's hot mineral springs. The region is home to Elephant Butte Dam and lake, completed in 1916, which remains one of the largest irrigation dams in the United States. Carrie Tingley Crippled Children's Hospital, built in 1937 by New Mexico governor Clyde Tingley, utilized the natural hot mineral waters to treat children with polio. From the placement of the Hot Springs Bathhouse and Commercial District on the State and National Register of Historic Places to the centennial celebration of Elephant Butte Dam, Truth or Consequences continues to grow and develop while still honoring its heritage.

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Camp Verde

9780738579122

$24.99

In February 1864, a party of 17 men and two women left the security of the territorial capital at Prescott, Arizona, and headed east into the Verde Valley, homeland of the Yavapai and Apache. Drawn by the promise of ample water, rich bottomland, and lush grassland, the party established a farming and ranching community near the confluence of West Clear Creek and the Verde River. In spite of conflict with the Yavapai and Apache, the settlement survived, due in part to the establishment of a military presence late that summer. Over the next 35 years, the settlement at Lower Verde thrived around the army fort, and became known as Camp Verde. In 1891, Fort Verde was abandoned, and the surrounding land opened to homesteading in 1895. The post sold at auction in 1899. Built among the ruins of the ancient Sinagua culture and situated along the banks of the Verde River, Camp Verde remains an agricultural paradise and a haven for those wanting to escape city life.

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Around Aledo

9780738579115

$24.99

In the mid-19th century, a few hardy settlers of European descent carved out farms in the Clear Fork Valley of present-day Parker County, attracted by the area's springs, tributaries, and a burgeoning market in nearby Fort Worth. For centuries, Comanche and Kiowa had inhabited the land, and a period of dramatic conflict ensued, exacerbated by the Civil War absence of able-bodied husbands and sons. By 1880, ranches and settlements flourished, aided by the Fort Worth–Yuma cattle trail and a Texas and Pacific Railway line connecting Fort Worth to the county seat of Weatherford. As the first mail stop in the newly formed county, Aledo was briefly dubbed Parker Station before having its name changed in 1882—a bow to a railroad engineer's Illinois hometown. Today segments of Bankhead Highway, the nation's first paved transcontinental highway, wind around Aledo, the Annettas, Willow Park, and Hudson Oaks, thriving communities that offer a pastoral lifestyle minutes from the urban amenities of the Fort Worth–Dallas Metroplex. Mere fragments remain of Newburg, Prairie Hill, Willow Springs, and other old settlements, visible only to old-timers and lost to living memory.

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New Mexico's Rangers

9780738579252

$24.99

The New Mexico Mounted Police were forged from a frontier civil crisis and hammered to life upon the anvil of necessity. The Sunshine Territory of New Mexico had become the last outlaw haven in the Southwest. In the tradition of their red-coated namesake, the Northwest Mounted Police of Canada, this small band of range riders used their fists, guns, and brains to restore law and order during the closing years of New Mexico's territorial era. They carried their mission forward into the early days of statehood.

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Gristmills of Central Texas

9781467125963

$24.99

Gristmills were once commonplace in Texas. There was hardly a river, a creek, or a stream without one. The purpose of the gristmill was to grind wheat into flour and corn into meal. Prior to the water-powered gristmill, grinding was a tedious, time-consuming task that was usually performed by hand using some type of mortar and pestle. When a gristmill began operating in an area, settlers from near and far traveled to the mill to have their grain ground. The gathering of these settlers and farmers at the mill was the beginning of many settlements that grew into the Texas towns of today. Many of these picturesque settings have become major tourist destinations.

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Wicked Albuquerque

9781467137980

$21.99

Albuquerque's early lawless reputation rivaled that of Dodge City and Tombstone. Its red-light district was known as Hell's Half Acre. Brothel owner Lizzy McGrath once had a local church demolished to build her new bordello. Milt Yarberry, the town's first marshal, was hanged for murder. And the controversial Elfego Baca, who had the gall to face Pancho Villa, survived a thirty-six-hour gunfight unscathed. Author Cody Polston presents the tales of those who slipped through the cracks of morality.

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Albuquerque Deco and Pueblo

9780738595269

$24.99

Albuquerque's response to Modernism—the architectural avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century—was complex and varied.

The growing city looked to the new as well as the mythic past characterized by the Santa Fe style. The result was rarely restricted to one cultural tradition. Influences include forms and motifs from a variety of intermixed cultural and social collisions. The result can be sophisticated, as with the Albuquerque Indian Hospital, or homespun, like the Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair. This book celebrates the cultural mixing of various Native American, Hispanic, and 19th- and 20th-century Anglo American forms and motifs unique to Albuquerque during the first half of the 20th century.

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San Juan

9780738566818

$24.99

In 1904, when the railroad completed its expansion westward from Brownsville through the Rio Grande Valley, small towns were aligning the tracks. Rich, fertile valley territory was attractive to new settlers during the early 1900s, and land developers promoted a place where one could buy a piece of the American dream. Around the same time, immigrants from south of the border were arriving with dreams of starting a new life away from the tumult of the Mexican Revolution. Situated at the crossroads of both rail and roadways, San Juan was the optimal place to settle. Rapid agricultural growth had in turn fostered community growth. As San Juan celebrates 100 years of vitality, this book reflects and recalls why this city was known as the "friendly city in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley."

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Cimarrón and Philmont

9780738595276

$24.99

Situated where the High Plains meet the Rocky Mountains and where the Santa Fe Trail crosses the Cimarron River, the village of Cimarrón has a richly varied history. Spectacular rock columns, thick seams of coal, dinosaur footprints, pit houses, and petroglyphs echo an early geologic and human presence. Spanish explorers encountered area Native American settlements in the 1700s, and by the 1820s, mountain men roamed these Rockies while eastern merchants followed Indian trails to Santa Fe. By the 1860s, Cimarrón was the headquarters of a vast Mexican land grant managed by Lucien Maxwell and Kit Carson. A gristmill supplied local soldiers and Indians, and the discovery of gold attracted thousands. The Colfax County War erupted after speculators purchased the grant in 1870. When the railroad arrived in 1906, a New Town was built on the north side of the river. Today, through tourism and the Philmont Scout Ranch, the Cimarrón area offers a unique window into the history and growth of the West.

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Oklahoma Tall Tales Uncovered

9781467153119

$23.99

From Amelia Earhart’s arrest to the croquet mallet that foiled Bonnie and Clyde, Joe M. Cummings reveals the hidden depths of Oklahoma’s tall tales.

Oklahoma has no shortage of tall tales chock full of truth, however unlikely it might seem. Puzzle over Geronimo’s three skulls. Examine the beer bottle that suckered town leaders on April Fools’ Day or join the mad rush of a hundred thousand person race. Accompany the governor who went to the White House and boxed the President. Untangle the hideouts and shootouts of notorious outlaws like the Dalton Gang. Retrieve the kind of lore that is buried alongside Oklahoma’s legends.

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Austin

9780738570679

$24.99

As the capital of Texas, Austin has a long and colorful history. The first residents were nomadic Native Americans who camped here as long ago as 9000 BC because of the area's beauty, the clear Colorado River, and the wildlife. These are the very same things that attract people to Austin today. Originally called Waterloo, Austin has grown from a tiny town on the edge of the western frontier in 1839 into the capital city it is today. The University of Texas lent prestige, the state government erected buildings, the railroads came to town, and Congress Avenue--the "main street" of Texas--filled with thriving businesses.

Cover image for Austin, isbn: 9780738570679

Surfing Corpus Christi and Port Aransas

9780738584560

$24.99

Surf culture in the Texas Coastal Bend began in the early 1960s when a few young men set up surfboard rental stands on the beach. By 1970, thousands of people had caught the surfing bug. In the decades that followed, dozens of surf shops and surfboard makers established themselves in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and nearby communities. Coastal Bend surfers won national championships for their wave-riding prowess, beating out counterparts from the East Coast, California, and Hawaii. By the 21st century, Coastal Bend wave riders had become a force to be reckoned with, playing strong roles in local political movements that influenced public policy.

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Vanishing Phoenix

9780738578811

$24.99

Lord Darrell Duppa, along with his friend Jack Swilling, suggested the name Phoenix for the city he had cofounded because it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization. Settled on the ancestral lands of the Hohokam Indians, Phoenix was thriving by the early 1920s when craftsmanship and attention to detail were the orders of the day. Buildings were designed to welcome residents and travelers alike. Today the Fox Theater, the Clark Churchill House, the Kon Tiki Hotel, and the Fleming Building exist only in photographs and in the memories of Phoenix residents. The National Register of Historic Places and the Phoenix Historic Property Register have heightened public awareness and appreciation for the community's historic landmarks, but much has been lost already. Remembering these buildings and landmarks is essential to understanding this remarkable city.

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Rise to the Occasion

9781589808560

$35.00 $17.50 Save 50%

The owners of rise n° 1 restaurant share their take on cooking and entertaining in this beautifully photographed book. Recipes for soufflés, salads, soups, seafoods, tarts, and more illustrate their dedication to food and tradition. Do not miss some of their favorite guests and coveted annual events, which you will find covered throughout the book. Anecdotes and ideas for entertaining round out this charming volume.

A celebration of food, tradition, and the French lifestyle, this unique collection of recipes, anecdotes, and photographs from rise, an oasis of French cuisine in Dallas, offers readers nothing short of a completely transformative sensory experience.

With a menu designed to complement and celebrate the restaurant’s masterpiece dish—the soufflé—rise specializes in nurturing the body and soul. Savory and sweet soufflés, bright salads, and artisanal cheeses are among the highlights of the eatery’s simple and elegant menu.

Amid sections discussing entertaining and food consciousness, Rise to the Occasion presents recipes such as escargot soufflé, apricot galette, hay roasted duck, and chocolate soufflé. Illustrated step-by-step instructions will enable any interested eater to master the art of the soufflé. Much more than a cookbook, this elegant volume offers Francophiles and foodies an opportunity to experience the true passion and pleasure of eating.

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Apache Trail

9780738558622

$24.99

Pres. Theodore Roosevelt once referred to the Apache Trail as "one of the most spectacular best-worth-seeing sights of the world." The once narrow, ancient foot trail built as a supply road for the construction of Roosevelt Dam has now evolved into a state highway with majestic scenic vistas and historical grandeur. Even in the 1920s, the Southern Pacific Railroad touted this road as a "must-see side trip." Each year, thousands of people venture along the trail to take a step back in time and relish the breathtaking experience of this fabulous journey. The Fish Creek Hill section remains much as it was back in the early 1900s, a narrow one-vehicle passage on an extremely steep incline that drops 900 feet within a mile along the edge of a steep cliff. Although several miles of the road are now paved, dirt portions remain that allow tourists a sense of perilous adventure.

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Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District

9780738579160

$24.99

In September 1887, J. T. Berry bought 640 acres of school land from the State of Texas. Several years earlier, this raw section of prairie had been home to buffalo herds and the Kiowa and Comanche Nations. Berry could not have known that this land would one day become home to cattle barons, oil and gas pioneers, and a U.S. ambassador. When Charles Oldham Wolflin married Alpha Eunice McVean a decade later and acquired that same section of land, he never dreamed that his son would develop that land from a dairy farm into a premier residential development. Today the Wolflin Historic District is a vibrant, lush neighborhood with tree-lined brick streets and stately houses. It is home to several thousand residents, including descendants of pioneer families, modern-day professionals, and public servants who contribute to the arts, are involved in philanthropy, and are active in community service.

Cover image for Amarillo's Historic Wolflin District, isbn: 9780738579160

Tulsa

9780738590523

$24.99

Still reeling from the hungry days of the Great Depression, America was ill-equipped when the nation entered the Second World War. Referred to as the sleeping giant by the Japanese, the United States awoke from its slumber with a vengeance and soon began creating a veritable tidal wave of production that turned the country into the Arsenal of Democracy. Tulsa, Oklahoma, was one of the cities at the forefront of this massive wartime buildup. From bomber plants to aviation training schools, to civil defense and the construction of military bases, to the thousands who served in uniform across Europe and the Pacific, Tulsa gave everything it had and then some. This was a different breed of people that nonetheless stood firm in the face of adversity and came together as a community. Tulsa: The War Years takes the reader back to the time when people did without for the greater benefit of all and sometimes sacrificed everything for the sake of victory.

Cover image for Tulsa, isbn: 9780738590523

Springlake Amusement Park

9780738561790

$24.99

From 1924 through 1981, Springlake was Oklahoma City's premier place for fun for everyone around the state. Park enthusiast Carla Williams Noffsinger mirrors the comments of so many of the park's patrons when she says, I grew up in Moore. We spent many a happy hour at Springlake. We always heard bad stories about the Big Dipper, but that was the first ride we would hit. I remember my cousin wetting her pants once on the Tilt-A-Whirl; we laugh about that to this day. As far as my family was concerned, it was just good, clean old-fashioned fun. My cousins would come up in the summer from southeast Oklahoma, and Springlake was at the top of the list of places to go. For all its goodness, Springlake was flawed, remaining segregated longer than many other businesses during the tumultuous civil rights era. Forced to integrate by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Springlake adapted poorly—instead of opening its huge pool to all swimmers and sunbathers, the pool became an aquarium. Racial tensions culminated on Easter 1971 with a small but important racially based riot from which the park never fully recovered.

Cover image for Springlake Amusement Park, isbn: 9780738561790

Texas Boomtowns

9781467118231

$21.99

On January 10, 1901, Beaumont awoke to the historic roar of the Spindletop gusher. A flood of frantic fortune seekers heard its call and quickly descended on the town. Over the next three decades, Texas's first oil rush transformed the sparsely populated rural state practically beyond recognition. Brothels, bordellos and slums overran sleepy towns, and thick, black oil spilled over once-green pastures. While dreams came true for a precious few, most settled for high-risk, dangerous jobs in the oilfields and passed what spare time they had in the vice districts fueled by crude. From the violent shanties of Desdemona and Mexia to Borger and beyond, wildcat speculators, grifters and barons took the land for all it was worth. Author Bartee Haile explores the story of these wild and wooly boomtowns.

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Del Rio

9780738523873

$24.99

Del Rio's roots grew in the sandy soil by San Felipe Creek along with the myths and dreams of the old Wild West, where the mighty Rio Grande dances through the dusty lands of the Lone Star State. Ancient nomads left their mark in the riverside canyons of this border country long before the springs at Del Rio became a lonely waystation providing water and rest to travelers, merchants, and soldiers marching the long, hot, and dry San Antonio-El Paso Road. When the products of ranching began riding the rails to eastern markets, Del Rio's population exploded and the town became known as the Wool and Mohair Capital of the World.

Del Rio: Queen City of the Rio Grande tells tales of the starry nights and shimmering sunlight of the storied Texas frontier, with vivid images detailing the gripping drama and unique memories chronicled here. From the U.S. Army's experimental Camel Corps to the world's most powerful radio stations in the 1930s and the U-2 spy planes involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Del Rio, seat of one of the largest counties in Texas and sister to the thriving Mexican border city Ciudad Acu±a, has played a part on the world stage. Those stories and more, including the little known Italian Colony of West Texas and landmark civil rights court cases, are told here.

Cover image for Del Rio, isbn: 9780738523873

Shawnee

9781467109598

$23.99

Shawnee has a strong sense of place, owing to a rich history dating back to 1895. Featuring a revitalized pre-statehood Main Street, mid-century Bell Avenue Historic District, and a surrounding historic downtown and beyond, Shawnee has that perfect mix of small-town charm and urban conveniences. This book focuses on the city’s historic buildings and places—some saved and others lost.

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Keller

9780738579467

$24.99

In the late 1800s, pioneers settled in the northeast Texas region of Cross Timbers known as Double Springs. In 1875, Isaac Roberts, a farmer who owned more than 600 acres, left a parcel of his land to A. G. Roberts, who then sold the right-of-way to the Texas and Pacific Railway for $25. A new town was formed, and in 1882, it was named Keller in honor of the railroad foreman who was instrumental in making the area a regular stop along the railroad. With the railroad bringing new visitors and residents, a post office was created in 1888, and new businesses started forming. The Works Progress Administration provided jobs for many Keller residents during the Great Depression, and the results of those projects shaped the way the city looks today. As of 2010, Old Town Keller was undergoing a new phase of revitalization while maintaining its connection to the hardy pioneers that once called Keller home.

Cover image for Keller, isbn: 9780738579467

Bell County

9781467134675

$24.99

The establishment of Fort Hood during World War II ushered in a period of rapid progress for Bell County. Its predominately agrarian identity was transformed into a modern, multidimensional economy focused on defense, health care, education, transportation, and heritage tourism. Beginning in the 1960s, the county experienced a population shift to the suburbs, and its numbers tripled, from 94,097 in 1960 to 310,235 in 2010. The Centroplex of Killeen, Belton, and Temple is one of the fastest-growing regions in Texas. In 2014, Killeen ranked 18th in the nation for growth. US News & World Report ranked Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Temple 10th among Texas hospitals for 2014–2015. Today, the culturally diverse population respects its history and anticipates a bright future for the county.

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Native Americans of Arizona

9780738548845

$23.99

For more than a century, Arizona's 21 Native American tribes and nations have played an important role in the state's tourism industry. Postcard images of Southwestern tribes became the staple of an advertising campaign to promote the region to potential travelers beginning around 1900 and quickly became popular with visitors. Hundreds of images captured the beauty of the Native American peoples' homelands and villages, along with views of economic and domestic activities, craft arts, and religious aspects of the various communities. This book offers a wide-ranging overview of the vintage postcards that captured the visual essence of Native Americans in Arizona during the first half of the 20th century.

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Shackelford County

9781467131186

$24.99

One-hundred-fifty miles west of Dallas, on a gently rolling prairie that was once the predatory domain of the Plains Indians, lies Shackelford County. Anglo-American settlers began arriving in the 1850s to raise livestock and cultivate crops near the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. To protect the settlers from the Indians, the US Army established Fort Griffin in 1867. In true Wild West fashion, the raucous town of Fort Griffin sprang up nearby to service the soldiers, cattle drovers, and buffalo hunters. In 1874, Albany became the county seat, and with the arrival of the Texas Central Railroad in 1881, then the oil and gas boom in 1910, both Albany and Moran flourished while Fort Griffin folded. Today, Shackelford County's economy is based on cattle ranching, farming, petroleum, and hunting. Visitors enjoy shopping Albany's beautifully restored Main Street and taking in the Old Jail Art Center, the stately limestone courthouse, the Fort Griffin State Historic Site, and the Fort Griffin Fandangle.

Cover image for Shackelford County, isbn: 9781467131186

Sierra Vista

9780738524344

$24.99

The story of Sierra Vista, Arizona begins with Coronado's explorations of the southwestern desert in the sixteenth century, long before the 1877 establishment of Camp Huachuca, home of the famed 24th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers. Sierra Vista grew up in the fury of the silver and copper mining days surrounded by three stunning mountains and the San Perdro River. Once known as Fry, this frontier town bloomed from a virtually unpopulated settlement into the Hummingbird Capital of the World.

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The History of Texas Wine

9781609490126

$23.99

Texas's 350-year wine story is still reaching its savory peak. Spanish colonists may have come to the state to spread Christianity, but under visionary Father Fray Garcia, they stayed and raised grapes. Later immigrants brought their own burgundy tastes of home, creating a unique wine country. When a North American pest threatened European vines, it was Texan scientist T.V. Munson who helped save the industry overseas. When Prohibition loomed stateside, Frank Qualia's Val Verde Winery in Del Rio survived by selling communion wine and is now the longest-operating bonded winery in the state. Today, tourists flock to Texas vineyards, and the state sells more wine every year. Join local experts Kathy and Neil Crain and sample the untold story of Texas's wine industry.