Sunday, August 11, 2013

New Mexico Lit: Apache History


I've spent most of my year in New Mexico re-reading my cache of classic, paperback sci-fi novels. With that project complete (and the books now dispersed to the universe), I've turned my attention to New Mexico-centered literature.

Recently, I visited the Mescalero Apache Cultural Museum in Mescalero. The helpful curator there recommended a number of books on Apache history, some of which I include here: 
  • Cochise, Edwin R. Sweeney
  • From Cochise to Geronimo, Edwin R. Sweeney
  • The Apache Indians, Frank C. Lockwood
  • An Apache Life, Morris Edward Opler
  • I Fought With Geronimo, Jason Betsinez
  • Making Peace with Cochise [journals of the peace talks], J.A. Sladen
  • Mangas Coloradas, Edwin R. Sweeney 
  • Merejildo Grijalva : Apache Captive, Army Scout; Edwin R. Sweeney
  • The People Called Apache, Thomas Mails
  • Watch For Me on the Mountain, Forest Carter

There were many more on the curator's list, including some by well-known author on the Apaches, Eve Ball. Fortunately, the Alamogordo Library has a large collection of Southwestern materials, so I've created a to-read list.

Edwin R. Sweeney is from St. Charles, Missouri, by the way. I heard that when he was a young'n, he announced to his English teacher that some day he would write a book about Cochise, with whom he was fascinated. The teacher was a little skeptical, given the lackluster attention he gave to English in the classroom. 









  

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