These tales of the mountains, mines, and characters of the Guadalupe range were collected over many years by the author who has explored the area since he was a boy.

In this volume, Elizabeth Silverthorne has gathered an intriguing array of folklore about forty-four of Texas' most fascinating wildflowers, such as water lily, Queen Anne's Lace, honeysuckle, dogwood, and morning glory.

Storytelling has been a vital and vivid tradition in Apache life. Coyote tales, the creation legend and stories of historic battles with Comanche and Anglo intruders create a colorful mosaic of tribal heritage. Percy Bigmouth, a prominent oral historian of the Mescalero and Lipan Apache tribes, realized in the early twentieth century that the old ways were waning. He wrote in longhand what he had learned from his father, Scout Bigmouth, a prison camp survivor at Fort Sumner and participant in the turbulent Apache Wars. Join author Lynda Sanchez as she brings to light the ancient legends and lore of the Apaches living in the shadow of Mescalero's Sacred Mountain. Seventy-five years in the making, this collection is a loving tribute to a way of life nearly lost to history.

Part of our new and growing Myths, Mysteries and Legends series, Myths, Mysteries and Legends of New Mexico explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in the Land of Enchantment's history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in New Mexico history. Stories include the mysterious disappearance of lawyer and civic leader Albert J. Fountain—a man known both for defending Billy the Kid and for taking on cattle rustlers—and his little boy, Henry; the near discovery of when humans first came to America by George McJunkin, a black cowboy, born a slave; and the unsolved murders of an old mining town that lies at the depths of Bonito Lake.

The Guadalupe Mountains hold what some call the most beautiful spot in Texas. Once home to the Mescalero Apaches, McKittrick Canyon is an alluring wonderland of lush and abundant flora and fauna. It is named for Captain Felix McKittrick, who acquired the land for ranching in 1869. Legends of lost Spanish gold mines drew many unsuccessful prospectors before the turn of the century. Later, through the monumental efforts of early landowners J.C. Hunter Sr. and Wallace Pratt, the canyon was preserved as a pristine portion of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Each fall, eager visitors witness a vibrant show headlined by bigtooth maple and a variety of oak trees. Join author Donna Blake Birchell in an exploration of McKittrick Canyon's colorful history.

The twenty-four tales in this book are of the most famous lost treasures in America, from a two-foot statue reportedly made entirely of silver (the “Madonna”) and a cache of gold, silver, and jewelry that was rumored to also contain the first Bible in America to seventeen tons of gold—its value equal to the treasury of a mid-sized nation—buried somewhere in northwestern New Mexico. What makes these tales even more compelling is that none of these known-to-be-lost treasures have been discovered, although modern detecting technology has made them eminently discoverable.

Join the Search for Lost Treasure First popularized by folklorist and author J. Frank Dobie in his book Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver in 1928, the legend of the Lost Adams Diggings is one of the most mythologized tales of lost treasure on the continent. In the 1860s, Gold was taken from Adams’ canyon in enormous quantities, with nuggets ranging from dust-size to some as large as hen’s eggs, all being plucked from the bottom of a shallow stream. This true story of the Lost Adams Diggings starts with the discovery of the rich deposit of gold in a remote mountain range, and ends with the author’s own story of search and discovery in the twentieth century.

W.C. Jameson was an active treasure hunter for more than fifty years. He has fallen from cliffs, had ropes break during climbs, been caught in mine shaft cave-ins, contended with flash floods, been shot at, watched men die, and had to deal with rattlesnakes, water moccasins, scorpions, and poisonous centipedes. He has fled for his life from park rangers, policemen, landowners, competitors, corporate mercenaries, and drug runners. He has also discovered enough treasure to pay for his own house and finance his and his children’s education. With his enigmatic treasure-hunter partners, Slade, Stanley, and Poet, Jameson's stories are worthy of an Indiana Jones film—except that they are all true.

Outlaws, cattlemen and a plethora of quirky pioneers once riddled southeastern New Mexico. In November 1892, E.W. Doll and J.B. Coates ignited rumors of an eight-foot petrified man in McKittrick Cave. A massive fire and subsequent shootout led to the demise of Phenix, one of the Old West's most scandalous towns. And in August 1932, Bonnie and Clyde kidnapped Carlsbad's Deputy Sheriff Joe Johns. Authors Donna Blake Birchell and John LeMay explore these little-known tales and more that have beguiled this region for centuries.

The prospecting past of Arizona has been kept alive through the notorious tales included here.