Ghost Towns of New Mexico, Playthings of the Wind by Jenkinson, Michael - 1967

Albuquerque, New Mexco: The University of New Mexico Press, 1967. First Edition Second Printing . Hard Back. Very Good/Good. 10 1/2" x 8 1/2. Kernberger, Karl - Photographs. 153 Pages. The book has yellow course cloth with red spine lettering and no defects noted. The dust jacket has two closed tears at the bottom of the jacket of one inch and another for a half inch. In addition there is some small chipping. The jacket is complete and the $7.50 price is not clipped. The history of New Mexico is reminiscent of the ancient sagas. The conquistadors, the gunmen, the miners and freighters, the merchants and the politicians-all these moved west and carved a home, a territory, and, finally, a state out of mountains and plains that were hostile and harsh. These pioneers were men of honor as well as low, mean creatures, and a length of rope and a cottonwood limb often solved what the flash of a barroom gun had left unfinished. The book spans the history of New Mexico from past to present. Tales of Russian Bill and Billy the Kid are set oft against the first atomic explosion; the unsolved murder of Colonel Albert Fountain and his son is recounted; and, coming to the present, the reader visits a deserted town in which a lone astronomer studies the sky for his own pleasure. Mining is the backbone of the tales and of the towns which gave birth to the tales. Madrid, the only town where bituminous and anthracite coal lay bedded together; Tyrone, a marble dream of Phelps-Dodge that existed in blueprint long before it was ever built; and Kingston, the liveliest town in the territory; and the disasters at Dawson -- all these are depicted vividly in the text. There are sixty-five black and white photographs by Karl Kernsberger and a map. Here is a book that evokes New Mexico in words and pictures, a book that is meant to be read and viewed, both a visual and a literary pleasure. Contents in 15 Chapters: The Dreamers, Camp of Guns and Gold, The Spanish Ghost towns, Land of Legend, The Liveliest Town in the Territory, Stars Over Chloride, Towns of the Fire Rock, Bonanza in the Mogollons, Requiem for Georgetown, Land of Violent Sun, Town of Ghosts and Diamonds, Tyrone the Creation, Valley of Silver, Song of Kingston, and Ballad of Hillsboro.