The Colfax County War
Corey Recko
(Author)
Description
Winner of the Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Nonfiction
When New Mexico became part of the United States, the territory contained 295 land grants, the largest of these being the Maxwell Land Grant. The size and boundaries of the grant were disputed, with some believing that much of the land was public domain. Settlers on this land were fought not only by the land grant owners but also by a group of corrupt politicians and lawyers-- known as the Santa Fe Ring (most notably Thomas Catron and Stephen Elkins)--who tried to use the situation for personal profit and land acquisition.
The fight escalated in late 1875 with the assassination of Reverend F. J. Tolby, an outspoken critic of the Santa Fe Ring. In a confession one of the assassins stated that men connected to the ring had paid to have Tolby killed. Outrage, civil unrest, and more murders followed. The town of Cimarron alone was the scene of a lynching, a barroom gunfight in the St. James Hotel involving legendary gunman Clay Allison, and a nighttime murder of a prisoner. For a time the troubles in New Mexico were ignored by the federal government. But in 1878 the murder of John Tunstall set off a wave of violence known as the Lincoln County War. Following that, a letter came to light that appeared to show that the governor of the territory, Samuel B. Axtell, planned a mass execution of critics of the Santa Fe Ring, who he considered to be agitators in the Colfax County troubles.
Finally, officials in Washington took notice and sent Frank W. Angel with orders to investigate the violence, murders, and corruption that plagued the territory. Following his investigation, Angel concluded, "It is seldom that history states more corruption, fraud, mismanagement, plots and murders, than New Mexico, has been the theatre under the administration of Governor Axtell." The actions taken as a result of Angel's investigation wouldn't end the violence in New Mexico, but they did lead to the end of the Colfax County War.
Product Details
| Publisher | University of North Texas Press |
| Publish Date | July 22, 2024 |
| Pages | 256 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781574419320 |
| Dimensions | 9.1 X 6.0 X 0.9 inches | 1.0 pounds |
About the Author
COREY RECKO is the author of Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain (UNT Press), winner of the Best Book of the Year award from the Wild West Historical Association. He also wrote A Spy for the Union: The Life and Execution of Timothy Webster.
Reviews
"Power corrupts, as the saying goes, and few better examples of that principle exist than the series of machinations and murder occurring in Colfax County, New Mexico Territory. . . . Award-winning historian Corey Recko presents a clear, comprehensive picture of the war's incidents, including lynching, legal actions and corruption at the highest levels of the territorial government."--Western Writers of America Roundup
"There are many characters introduced in this book and Recko does a good job giving the reader a back story for each so you know where they came from. At the end of the book, he also goes to the trouble to tell you what happened to each of them, if they survived the war. It made the book satisfying to read."--Southern New Mexico Historical Review
"Recko skillfully weaves together the legal, political and martial elements of the war into a fascinating and coherent narrative. Recko's work reveals yet again what informed readers of western history already know; that many a bloody western gunfight was the consequence of the ambitions of politicians, speculators, and capitalists. Recommended."--English Westerners Society
"This book was an enjoyable read. Well organized, Recko's story flows. His research is commendable."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly
"An absolutely fascinating read from cover to cover. . . . An impressive work of original scholarship and historical research."--Midwest Book Review
"No one has seriously studied the violence and corruption in Colfax County until now--a complete in-depth study of the war over a century after it happened. Recko's new thinking and in-depth research--and use of the Frank Angel reports, which is absolutely necessary for this work--is solidly assembled into a cohesive study."--Chuck Parsons, author of Clay Allison, Portrait of a Shootist and The Sutton-Taylor Feud (UNT Press)
"Corey Recko has given us a fast-paced and insightful study of a frequently overlooked but remarkably fascinating conflict of New Mexico frontier history. The Colfax County War has long been neglected in favor of the legendary Lincoln County War and its superstar Billy the Kid. Recko presents us with a significant and satisfactory study of an important topic, filled with greed, politics, tragedy, and violence, that should appeal to anyone with an interest in New Mexico and American frontier history."--James B. Mills, author of Billy the Kid: El Bandido Simpático (UNT Press)
"Impeccably researched and engaging, Corey Recko's Colfax County War gives new insight into one of the bloodiest battles in New Mexico's vast history." --Donna Blake Birchell, author of Tall Tales and Half Truths of Clay Allison
"New Mexico's Lincoln County War spawned a wealth of historical, literary, and cinematic works, but high drama had also been unfolding in the territory's northeastern region, where Colfax County was ablaze with murder and mayhem. Corey Recko's new account adds much to our understanding of a brutal episode New Mexico's history and shines a bright light on characters and events of the struggle over land and power in the 1870s." --David L. Caffey, author of When Cimarron Meant Wild: The Maxwell Land Grant Conflict in Northern New Mexico and Colorado and Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico
"While Recko's book is written in a narrative format that is as accessible to the layman as it is to the scholar, it relies on a wealth of primary sources."--Santa Fe New Mexican
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