Turmoil in New Mexico, 1846-1868

Turmoil in New Mexico, 1846-1868
Author: William A. Keleher
Publisher: Sunstone Press
Total Pages: 594
Release: 2007
Genre: Arizona
ISBN: 0865346216

The vital history of New Mexico and Arizona during the formative years between the American Occupation and the coming of the railroad has been compressed by the author into one volume with hundreds of footnotes and many profiles that make this book of vital importance to teachers, students, and researchers. The book is broken into four parts: "General Kearny Comes to Santa Fe," "The Confederates Invade New Mexico," "Carleton's California Column," and "The Long Walk." Many famous men walk and talk through these pages, including Kearny, Doniphan, Baylor, Canby, Carleton, Sibley, and a host of others. In addition, the story of the impact of the Civil War in New Mexico on the Indians, and the tragic results, is told here in detail for the first time. Long out of print, the book is available once again with a new foreword by Marc Simmons and preface by Michael L. Keleher, William A. Keleher's son. It also includes brief biographies of Ernest L. Blumenschein and Oscar E. Berninghaus who provided the original illustrations. William A. Keleher (1886-1972) observed first hand the changing circumstances of people and places of New Mexico. Born in Lawrence, Kansas, he arrived in Albuquerque two years later, with his parents and two older brothers. The older brothers died of diphtheria within a few weeks of their arrival. As an adult, Keleher worked for more than four years as a Morse operator, and later as a reporter on New Mexico newspapers. Bidding a reluctant farewell to newspaper work, Keleher studied law at Washington & Lee University and started practicing law in 1915. He was recognized as a successful attorney, being honored by the New Mexico State Bar as one of the outstanding Attorneys of the Twentieth Century. One quickly observes from his writings, and writings about him, that he lived a fruitful and exemplary life. His knowledge and understanding of humankind is evidenced by this quote attributed to Sir Thomas Browne, 1686, and printed after the title page in "Turmoil in New Mexico": "The iniquity of oblivion scattereth her poppy and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit and perpetuity.who knows whether the best of men be known, or whether there be not more remarkable men forgot, than any that stand remembered in the known account of time."

Thomas J. Rusk and the Compromise of 1850

Thomas J. Rusk and the Compromise of 1850
Author: Charles Neil Hoke
Publisher:
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1997
Genre: Compromise of 1850
ISBN:

"This project has as its purpose an exploration of the part played by the first United States Senator from Texas, Thomas J. Rusk, in securing for Texas and the nation the benefits received from the Compromise of 1850, including, most especially, the settlement of the Texas boundary dispute. The Compromise of 1850 had an enormous national significance; it temporarily calmed the sectional hostility between North and South over the issues of slavery and thus postponed the outbreak of a civil war for more than ten years. Rusk's actions and accomplishments are therefore discussed in relation to their impact on the national scene. The findings discussed herein will show that Rusk played a very prominent role in obtaining passage of the compromise legislation, a contribution almost completely overlooked in previous studies. Additionally, those findings indicate that Rusk induced from the United States a highly beneficial concession to the Texas territorial claims. Finally, the indications are clear that without a settlement of the Texas boundary dispute, a compromise of any sort was not likely to be achieved. The effort's focus is primarily limited to the events surrounding the transactions of the 1st Session of the 31st United States Congress (December, 1849 to September, 1850), especially those transpiring in the United States Senate."--Abstract, page vi