Ever wonder what New Mexico was like in the nineteenth cen­ tury? In 1876, newspaperman William D. Dawson undertook a series of journeys that took him the entire length of the territory from the D&RG railhead near Fort Garland, Colorado, to the Mesilla Valley and west to the mines of Silver City and Pinos Altos, New Mexico. Here for the first time in print since they appeared in the pages of The Santa Fe Daily New Mexican nearly a century and a half ago, are descriptions of New Mexico's towns, its agriculture, wineries and mines; farmers, merchants, vintners, miners, soldiers, Indians, outlaws, and pretty girls-all the elements that we imagine constituted this great frontier-drew Dawson's atten­ tion and found their way into his reports, leaving us an extraordinary portrait of New Mexico as it was mas antes, in the old days.WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS BOOK:"Just before the railroads came to New Mexico territory, the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican printed a running account of their reporter's travels up and down the Rio Grande from the San Luis Valley to Mesilla and west to Silver City and Tierra Amarilla. Lively sketches of the countryside, the towns, farms, wineries, army posts and even spas at the hot springs all found a place in his dispatches. Casual readers and historians alike are indebted to Robert Torrez for bringing these scenes of New Mexico some 130 years ago, not to be missed, to a modem audience:'-John P. Wilson, historian