Voted one of the 100 Best New Mexico Books.

New Foreword by Richard Melzer, Ph.D.

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

Historians have long admired Ralph Emerson Twitchell’s The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, considered the first major history of the state. Put succinctly by former State Historian Robert J. Tórrez, Twitchell’s work (of which this is one of the first two volumes Sunstone Press is reprinting in its Southwest Heritage Series) has “become the standard by which all subsequent books on New Mexico history are measured.” As Twitchell wrote in the preface of his first volume, his goal in writing The Leading Facts was to respond to the “pressing need” for a history of New Mexico with a commitment to “accuracy of statement, simplicity of style, and impartiality of treatment.”

RALPH EMERSON TWITCHELL was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 29, 1859. Arriving in New Mexico when he was twenty-three, he immediately became involved in political and civic activities. In 1885 he helped organize a new territorial militia in Santa Fe and saw active duty in western New Mexico. Later appointed judge advocate of the Territorial Militia, he attained the rank of colonel, a title he was proud to use for the rest of his life. By 1893 he was elected the mayor of Santa Fe and, thereafter, district attorney of Santa Fe County.

Twitchell probably promoted New Mexico as much as any single New Mexican of his generation. An avid supporter of New Mexico statehood, he argued the territory’s case for elevated political status, celebrated its final victory in 1912, and even designed New Mexico’s first state flag in 1915.

Just as Twitchell’s first edition in 1911 helped celebrate New Mexico’s entry into statehood in 1912, the newest edition serves as a tribute to the state’s centennial celebration of 2012. In the apt words of an editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican at the time of Twitchell’s death in 1925: “As press agent for the best things of New Mexico, her traditions, history, beauty, glamour, scenery, archaeology, and material resources, he was indefatigable and efficient.”

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=e4jgfIqd7gIC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-584-3
716 pp.,$65.00

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-565-2
716 pp.,$45.00

Voted one of the 100 Best New Mexico Books.

New Foreword by Richard Melzer, Ph.D.

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

Historians have long admired Ralph Emerson Twitchell’s The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, considered the first major history of the state. Put succinctly by former State Historian Robert J. Tórrez, Twitchell’s work (of which this is one of the first two volumes Sunstone Press is reprinting in its Southwest Heritage Series) has “become the standard by which all subsequent books on New Mexico history are measured.” As Twitchell wrote in the preface of his first volume, his goal in writing The Leading Facts was to respond to the “pressing need” for a history of New Mexico with a commitment to “accuracy of statement, simplicity of style, and impartiality of treatment.”

RALPH EMERSON TWITCHELL was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 29, 1859. Arriving in New Mexico when he was twenty-three, he immediately became involved in political and civic activities. In 1885 he helped organize a new territorial militia in Santa Fe and saw active duty in western New Mexico. Later appointed judge advocate of the Territorial Militia, he attained the rank of colonel, a title he was proud to use for the rest of his life. By 1893 he was elected the mayor of Santa Fe and, thereafter, district attorney of Santa Fe County.

Twitchell probably promoted New Mexico as much as any single New Mexican of his generation. An avid supporter of New Mexico statehood, he argued the territory’s case for elevated political status, celebrated its final victory in 1912, and even designed New Mexico’s first state flag in 1915.

Just as Twitchell’s first edition of Vol. II in 1912 helped celebrate New Mexico’s entry into statehood in 1912, the newest edition serves as a tribute to the state’s centennial celebration of 2012. In the apt words of an editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican at the time of Twitchell’s death in 1925: “As press agent for the best things of New Mexico, her traditions, history, beauty, glamour, scenery, archaeology, and material resources, he was indefatigable and efficient.”

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=9ZwMDynuZBIC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-585-0
820 pp.,$65.00

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-566-9
820 pp.,$45.00

The History of the New Mexico Campaign in the war with Mexico.

The author, in his introduction to the 1909 edition of this book, referring to the war with Mexico in the New Mexico Territory, says: “Here is presented to the student a wonderful field of historic research. The American Occupation period has been chosen as the one most easily described, and, at the same time, one of the most interesting in the history of the American people, containing, as it does, the deeds of men who won the West, men whose courage, devotion to country and true citizenship enabled them to accomplish the greatest military achievement of modern times, a single regiment of citizen soldiers, marching nearly six thousand miles through five states of a foreign nation, living off the resources of the invaded country, almost annihilating a powerful army, conquering and treating with powerful Indian tribes, and, returning home, graced with the trophies of victory, all with the loss of less than a hundred men.” The author hoped that the book, with its many illustrations, would instill “lessons of patriotism, honor, valor and love of country.”

Ralph Emerson Twitchell was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 29, 1859. Arriving in New Mexico when he was twenty-three, he immediately became involved in political and civic activities. In 1885 he helped organize a new territorial militia in Santa Fe and saw active duty in western New Mexico. Later appointed judge advocate of the Territorial Militia, he attained the rank of colonel, a title he was proud to use for the rest of his life. By 1893 he was elected the mayor of Santa Fe and, thereafter, district attorney of Santa Fe County.

Twitchell probably promoted New Mexico as much as any single New Mexican of his generation. An avid supporter of New Mexico statehood, he argued the territory’s case for elevated political status, celebrated its final victory in 1912, and even designed New Mexico’s first state flag in 1915. In the apt words of an editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican at the time of Twitchell’s death in 1925: “As press agent for the best things of New Mexico, her traditions, history, beauty, glamour, scenery, archaeology, and material resources, he was indefatigable and efficient.”

Secure Movie & TV Rights
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=XsVYM5VY5acC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-575-5
416 pp.,$42.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-575-1
416 pp.,$35.00

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-645-4
416 pp.,$7.99

The story of New Mexico’s Ancient Capital up until 1925. New Foreword by Richard Melzer, Ph.D.

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

In the author’s 1924 introduction, titled “A Retrospect,” he says that the story “of old Santa Fe embraces a period of more than three hundred years.” He further states that “it was the farthest north established seat of government of the Spanish crown in the New World during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” And with that, this remarkable book unfolds a detailed and thoughtful history beginning in 1598 and continuing through 1924. Chapters are devoted to events preceding the founding of the city; the Pueblo Revolution; the reconquest of the city by General Diego de Vargas; its twenty-five years as a Mexican provincial capital; the city during the military occupation period; and includes stories about Billy the Kid, Governor Samuel B. Axtell and the Santa Fe Ring. With many illustrations, this book is a valuable resource for everyone interested in the history of the American Southwest.

Ralph Emerson Twitchell was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 29, 1859. Arriving in New Mexico when he was twenty-three, he immediately became involved in political and civic activities. In 1885 he helped organize a new territorial militia in Santa Fe and saw active duty in western New Mexico. Later appointed judge advocate of the Territorial Militia, he attained the rank of colonel, a title he was proud to use for the rest of his life. By 1893 he was elected the mayor of Santa Fe and, thereafter, district attorney of Santa Fe County. Twitchell probably promoted New Mexico as much as any single New Mexican of his generation. An avid supporter of New Mexico statehood, he argued the territory’s case for elevated political status, celebrated its final victory in 1912, and even designed New Mexico’s first state flag in 1915. In the apt words of an editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican at the time of Twitchell’s death in 1925: “As press agent for the best things of New Mexico, her traditions, history, beauty, glamour, scenery, archaeology, and material resources, he was indefatigable and efficient.”

Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=o1CwTgi4tw8C

Softcover:
7 X 10
ISBN: 978-0-86534-574-4
584 pp.,$40.00

In the latter half of the nineteenth century a number of talented and industrious individuals immigrated to New Mexico in search of wealth and prestige. Among these enterprising newcomers was a young lawyer from Missouri named Ralph Emerson Twitchell. Shrewd, audacious, and driven, Twitchell quickly distinguished himself from the others as an attorney, an orator, a publicist, and a historian. From the moment he stepped off the train in Las Vegas, Twitchell entrenched himself in his adopted home, working tirelessly to promote progress and to broadcast its many virtues.

A pillar of the New Mexico community, he spent more than forty years as a devoted civil servant. Inspired by the history, culture, and charm of old Santa Fe, he became one of the city’s leading patrons and helped transform the ancient capital into a popular tourist destination. Yet he seems to be one of the most obscure and understudied figures in New Mexico history. Remembered solely for his achievements as a historian—his books articulated the idea of New Mexico for generations of Americans—Twitchell has otherwise been virtually ignored.

Ralph Emerson Twitchell’s influential role in the modernization and development of New Mexico is now expansively detailed in this revelatory work.

Daniel Jason Twitchell is the great-grandnephew of Ralph Emerson Twitchell. A native of the American Southwest, he holds a BS in History from Northern Arizona University and an MA in Public Affairs from New Mexico Highlands University. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-513-7
170 pp.,$32.95

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-63293-205-1
170 pp.,$19.95

eBook:
ISBN: 978-1-61139-700-0
170 pp.,$6.99

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

In what follows can be found the doors to a house of words and stories. This house of words and stories is the Archive of New Mexico and the doors are each of the documents contained within it. Like any house, New Mexico’s archive has a tale of its own origin and a complex history. Although its walls have changed many times, its doors and the encounters with those doors hold stories known and told and others not yet revealed.

In the Archives, there are thousands of doors (4,481) that open to a time of kings and popes, of inquisition and revolution. “These archives,” writes Ralph Emerson Twitchell, “are by far the most valuable and interesting of any in the Southwest.” Many of these documents were given a number by Twitchell, small stickers that were appended to the first page of each document, an act of heresy to archivists and yet these stickers have now become part of the artifact. These are the doors that Ralph Emerson Twitchell opened at the dawn of the 20th century with a key that has served scholars, policy-makers, and activists for generations. In 1914 Twitchell published in two volumes The Spanish Archives of New Mexico, the first calendar and guide to the documents from the Spanish colonial period.

Volume One of the two volumes focuses on the collection known as the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series I, or SANM I, an appellation granted because of Twitchell’s original compilation and description of the 1,384 documents identified in the first volume of his series. The Spanish Archives of New Mexico was assembled by the Surveyor General of New Mexico (1854-1891) and the Court of Private Land Claims (1891-1904). The collection consists of civil land records of the Spanish period governments of New Mexico and materials created by the Surveyor General and Court of Private Land Claims during the process of adjudication. It includes the original Spanish colonial petitions for land grants, land conveyances, wills, mine registers, records books, journals, dockets, reports, minutes, letters, and a variety of other legal documents.

Each of these documents tell a story, sometimes many stories. The bulk of the records accentuate the amazingly dynamic nature of land grant and settlement policies. While the documents reveal the broad sweep of community settlement and its reverse effect, hundreds of last wills and testaments are included in these records, that are scripted in the most eloquent and spiritual tone at the passing of individuals into death. These testaments also reveal a legacy of what colonists owned and bequeathed to the next generations.

Most of the documents are about the geographic, political and cultural mapping of New Mexico, but many reflect the stories of that which is owned both in terms of commodities and human lives. Archives inevitably, and these archives more than most, help to shape current debates about dispossession, the colonial past, and the postcolonial future of New Mexico. For this reason, the task of understanding the role of archives, archival documents, and the kinds of stories that emanate from them has never been more urgent.

Let this effort and the key provided by Twitchell in his two volumes open the doors wide for knowledge to be useful today and tomorrow. --From the Foreword by Estevan Rael-Gálvez, New Mexico State Historian

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=mDzNaN3S9RUC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-683-3
620 pp.,$65.00

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-647-5
620 pp.,$45.00

Order from Sunstone: (800) 243-5644

In what follows can be found the doors to a house of words and stories. This house of words and stories is the Archive of New Mexico and the doors are each of the documents contained within it. Like any house, New Mexico’s archive has a tale of its own origin and a complex history. Although its walls have changed many times, its doors and the encounters with those doors hold stories known and told and others not yet revealed.

In the Archives, there are thousands of doors (4,481) that open to a time of kings and popes, of inquisition and revolution. “These archives,” writes Ralph Emerson Twitchell, “are by far the most valuable and interesting of any in the Southwest.” Many of these documents were given a number by Twitchell, small stickers that were appended to the first page of each document, an act of heresy to archivists and yet these stickers have now become part of the artifact. These are the doors that Ralph Emerson Twitchell opened at the dawn of the 20th century with a key that has served scholars, policy-makers, and activists for generations. In 1914 Twitchell published in two volumes The Spanish Archives of New Mexico, the first calendar and guide to the documents from the Spanish colonial period.

Volume Two of the two volumes focuses on the Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series II, or SANM II. These 3,087 documents consist of administrative, civil, military, and ecclesiastical records of the Spanish colonial government in New Mexico, 1621-1821. The materials span a broad range of subjects, revealing information about such topics as domestic relations, political intrigue, crime and punishment, material culture, the Camino Real, relations between Spanish settlers and indigenous peoples, the intrusion of Anglo-Americans, and the growing unrest that resulted in Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821.

As is the case with Volume One, these documents tell many stories. They reflect, for example, the creation and maintenance of colonial society in New Mexico; itself founded upon the casting and construction of colonizing categories. Decisions made by popes, kings and viceroys thousands of miles away from New Mexico defined the lives of everyday citizens, as did the reports of governors and clergy sent back to their superiors. They represent the history of imperial power, conquest, and hegemony.

Indeed, though the stories of indigenous people and women can be found in these documents, it may be fair to assume that not a single one of them was actually scripted by a woman or an American Indian during that time period. But there is another silence in this particular collection and series that is telling. Few pre-Revolt (1680) documents are contained in this collection. While the original colonial archive may well have contained thousands of documents that predate the European settlement of New Mexico in 1598, with the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680, all but four of those documents were destroyed. For historians, the tragedy cannot be calculated. Nevertheless, this absence and silence is important in its own right and is a part of the story, told and imagined.

Let this effort and the key provided by Twitchell in his two volumes open the doors wide for knowledge to be useful today and tomorrow. --From the Foreword by Estevan Rael-Gálvez, New Mexico State Historian

Sample Chapter
Website: http://books.google.com/books?id=0uC140iEZooC

Hardcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-684-0
764 pp.,$65.00

Softcover:
6 X 9
ISBN: 978-0-86534-648-2
764 pp.,$45.00