THE COW KILLERS" with the Aftosa Commission in Mexico.

Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956. First Edition. Hardcover. FINE/very good. Full page drawings by Bill Leftwich. 130pp., 4to, price unclipped dj with photos of author and artist on back panel.

Not in Guns or Herd. In 1949 The People resisted American attempts to stamp out foot-and-mouth disease. The “cow killers” were the gringos of the Aftosa Commission who invaded rural Mexico in 1949 armed with six-shooters and hypodermic syringes, in an attempt to stamp out the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease. At its peak the Commission employed 1,166 U.S. and 7,938 Mexicans, including Leftwich, a cowboy with the Commission, who sketched scenes he encountered in the course of his work. Lack of adequate explanation and campesino suspicion of authority led to many episodes of misunderstanding.