My new novel Warpath into Sonora is available for preorder!

My new novel, a Western from the Apache point of view, is available for preorder on Amazon. Warpath into Sonora uses a lot of the research I did for my latest military history book, Apache Warrior vs US Cavalryman: 1846–86. I spent two years studying the Apache way of war and had so much left over that couldn't fit into the history book that I decided to write a novel. It even includes a recipe for making poison out of a rotting deer spleen! What more could you want? The blurb is below.

Arizona 1846
Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter.
But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages.
Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

My Latest Military History Book Has Just Been Released!

Osprey Publishing has just released the seventh book I've written for them. Apache Warrior vs US Cavalryman: 1846-86 is the latest in their Combat series, which gives a soldier's eye view from both sides of a conflict. It was nice to get back to my old stomping grounds of the American Southwest, where I lived for many years. A blurb is below. You can see all my Osprey titles here.

From the 1840s onward, United States military forces clashed with the Apache, a group of Native Americans associated with North America's southwestern region. U.S. territorial expansion and conflict--first with Mexico and then during the Civil War--led to an escalation of hostilities that culminated in the defeat of the Apache leader Geronimo in 1886, although fighting continued into the twentieth century. In this study, the clashes at Cieneguilla (1854), First Adobe Walls (1864), and Cibecue Creek (1881) are assessed in detail.

Fully illustrated and featuring contemporary accounts and specially commissioned artwork, this history examines exactly how the Apache were able to pose such a grave threat to U.S. forces and how their initial advantages were gradually negated by the cavalry. Examining the tactics, equipment, and training available to each side over four decades of evolving conflict, this is an eye-opening combatant's-eye view of one of history's most intriguing campaigns.

Old West Photo Friday: An Old General Store in the Territory of New Mexico

If you needed to go shopping in the little community of Farmington in the northwestern corner of the Territory of New Mexico back in the 1880s, this was the only choice. It was the A.F. Miller store, which also doubled as Miller's home and farm.

Farmington was a small town with little to show for itself except some sandy fields, but it was located at the junction of three rivers and thus saw a fair number of travelers pass through. When the town was incorporated in 1901, records show it only had 548 residents. It got a rail link to Colorado four years later, which helped the town grow. Farmington became briefly famous in 1950 when there was a wave of UFO sightings over three consecutive days. The local paper gave it extensive coverage, noting that about half the population saw up to 500 flying saucers dipping and weaving in the sky. I don't see any flying saucers in this photo, though.

The New Mexico Digital Collections claims this is New Mexico's first store and home, which is quite obviously untrue. Other sources say it was the first store in Farmington, a more believable claim although I haven't found any proof to back that up. As a researcher you have to be careful with your information even if you're getting it from a usually reliable source!

Old West Photo Friday: Trooper of the Sixth Cavalry at Fort Union, c. 1888

The men of the U.S. Cavalry had a tough life in the nineteenth century. Stuck in uncomfortable barracks often in the middle of nowhere, they had to fight Indians and bandits while dealing with an unsympathetic citizenry who often blamed them for not be effective. Add to that bad food, harsh climate, and strict discipline, and you wonder why anyone volunteered.

This unidentified trooper of the Sixth Cavalry looks pretty proud, though. He was stationed in Fort Union, New Mexico, in the 1880s. I like this photo because you get a good view of his kit and the adobe brick building in the background he called home.

Fort Union was operational from 1851 to 1891, its soldiers playing a part in the Apache Wars, the Civil War, and various other border conflicts. It's now a national monument where park rangers will take you on a guided tour of the ruins while reenactors show off what life was like in those days.


Photo courtesy National Park Service.