Raton, New Mexico, where the west began for those from eastern states, had a wild and wonderful beginning. Here is the complete story, as gleaned from newspaper reports from the late 1800s and pioneer oral histories. Gun fights, lynchings, land wars, construction of the city's opera house and much more about how this rare American community grew. This is true western history at its vibrant best in a re-publication of a unique book printed in 1948.

Dozens of marvelous tales ranging from lifestyles in Raton's long-gone Red Light district to the lynching of Gus Mentzer, about nearby ghostly former coal camps that once hand thousands of residents and more of the City's vibrant history. And how about Pegleg La Josie, who managed a brothel and could dance up a storm on her one good leg. Or the Dawson mine disaster which buried 283 miners far underground. A title that everyone will thoroughly enjoy.

Thomas Edward "Black Jack" Ketchum was executed for an attempt to hold up the C. & S. train between Des Moines and Folsom in the northeastern corner of New Mexico. Ketchum was to be made an example in an effort to prevent further robberies, however his misplaced bravery outshone the more widely known Billy the Kid.

John H. Holliday, D. D. S., better known as Doc Holliday, has become a legendary figure in the history of the American West. In Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait, Karen Holliday Tanner reveals the real man behind the legend. Shedding light on Holliday’s early years, in a prominent Georgia family during the Civil War and Reconstruction, she examines the elements that shaped his destiny: his birth defect, the death of his mother and estrangement from his father, and the diagnosis of tuberculosis, which led to his journey west. The influence of Holliday’s genteel upbringing never disappeared, but it was increasingly overshadowed by his emerging western personality. Holliday himself nurtured his image as a frontier gambler and gunman. Using previously undisclosed family documents and reminiscences as well as other primary sources, Tanner documents the true story of Doc’s friendship with the Earp brothers and his run-ins with the law, including the climactic shootout at the O. K. Corral and its aftermath. This first authoritative biography of Doc Holliday should appeal both to historians of the West and to general readers who are interested in his poignant story.

In this volume, published originally in an edition of 250 numbered and signed copies, Stanley (Father Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola) takes on the task of telling the complex story of the Maxwell Land Grant.