Caffey, David L.
When cimarron meant wild the Maxwell Land Grant conflict in New Mexico and Colorado David L. Caffey - Norman, OK University of Oklahoma Press 2023 - xvii, 259 pages illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"Describes the epic range war over control of the Maxwell Land Grant, some two million acres in New Mexico Territory, and its resources between 1870 and 1900. The conflict involved miners, a foreign corporation, local elites, Texas cattlemen, the haughty 'Santa Fe Ring' of lawyerly speculators, and indigenous Jicarilla Apache and Mouache Ute people"-Provided by publisher"-- "The Spanish word cimarron, meaning "wild" or "untamed," refers to a region in the southern Rocky Mountains where control of timber, gold, coal, and grazing lands long bred violent struggle. After the U.S. occupation following the 1846-1848 war with Mexico, this tract of nearly two million acres came to be known as the Maxwell Land Grant. When Cimarron Meant Wild presents a new history of the collision that occurred over the region's resources between 1870 and 1900. Author David L. Caffey describes the epic late-nineteenth-century range war in an account deeply informed by his historical perspective on social, political, and cultural issues that beset the American West to this day. Cimarron country churned with the tensions of the Old West-land disputes, lawlessness, violence, and class war among miners, a foreign corporation, local elites, Texas cattlemen, and the haughty "Santa Fe Ring" of lawyerly speculators. And present, still, were the indigenous Jicarilla Apache and Mouache Ute people, dispossessed of their homeland by successive Spanish, Mexican, and American regimes. A Mexican grant of uncertain size and bounds, awarded to Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda in 1841 and later acquired by Lucien Maxwell, marked the beginning of a fight for control of the land and set off overlapping conflicts known as the Colfax County War, the Maxwell Land Grant War, and the Stonewall War. Caffey draws on new research to paint a complex picture of these events, and of those that followed the sale of the claim to investors in 1870. These clashes played out over the following thirty years, involving the new English owners, miners and prospectors, livestock grazers and farmers, and Native Americans. Just how wild was the Cimarron country in the late 1800s? And what were the consequences for the region and for those caught up in the conflict? The answers, pursued through this remarkable work, enhance our understanding of cultural and economic struggle in the American West. "--
9780806191799 0806191791
40031817340
2022046304
020971890 Uk
Since 1800
Land tenure--History--New Mexico--19th century.
Land tenure--History--Colorado--19th century.
History--United States --State & Local--Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
History--General--United States
Maxwell Land Grant (N.M. and Colo.)--History.
New Mexico--History--1848-
Colfax County (N.M.)--History--19th century.
Las Animas County (Colo.)--History--19th century.
Colorado
Colorado--Las Animas County
New Mexico
New Mexico--Colfax County
United States--Maxwell Land Grant
F802.M38 / C34 2023
978.92 Caf 48
When cimarron meant wild the Maxwell Land Grant conflict in New Mexico and Colorado David L. Caffey - Norman, OK University of Oklahoma Press 2023 - xvii, 259 pages illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"Describes the epic range war over control of the Maxwell Land Grant, some two million acres in New Mexico Territory, and its resources between 1870 and 1900. The conflict involved miners, a foreign corporation, local elites, Texas cattlemen, the haughty 'Santa Fe Ring' of lawyerly speculators, and indigenous Jicarilla Apache and Mouache Ute people"-Provided by publisher"-- "The Spanish word cimarron, meaning "wild" or "untamed," refers to a region in the southern Rocky Mountains where control of timber, gold, coal, and grazing lands long bred violent struggle. After the U.S. occupation following the 1846-1848 war with Mexico, this tract of nearly two million acres came to be known as the Maxwell Land Grant. When Cimarron Meant Wild presents a new history of the collision that occurred over the region's resources between 1870 and 1900. Author David L. Caffey describes the epic late-nineteenth-century range war in an account deeply informed by his historical perspective on social, political, and cultural issues that beset the American West to this day. Cimarron country churned with the tensions of the Old West-land disputes, lawlessness, violence, and class war among miners, a foreign corporation, local elites, Texas cattlemen, and the haughty "Santa Fe Ring" of lawyerly speculators. And present, still, were the indigenous Jicarilla Apache and Mouache Ute people, dispossessed of their homeland by successive Spanish, Mexican, and American regimes. A Mexican grant of uncertain size and bounds, awarded to Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda in 1841 and later acquired by Lucien Maxwell, marked the beginning of a fight for control of the land and set off overlapping conflicts known as the Colfax County War, the Maxwell Land Grant War, and the Stonewall War. Caffey draws on new research to paint a complex picture of these events, and of those that followed the sale of the claim to investors in 1870. These clashes played out over the following thirty years, involving the new English owners, miners and prospectors, livestock grazers and farmers, and Native Americans. Just how wild was the Cimarron country in the late 1800s? And what were the consequences for the region and for those caught up in the conflict? The answers, pursued through this remarkable work, enhance our understanding of cultural and economic struggle in the American West. "--
9780806191799 0806191791
40031817340
2022046304
020971890 Uk
Since 1800
Land tenure--History--New Mexico--19th century.
Land tenure--History--Colorado--19th century.
History--United States --State & Local--Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
History--General--United States
Maxwell Land Grant (N.M. and Colo.)--History.
New Mexico--History--1848-
Colfax County (N.M.)--History--19th century.
Las Animas County (Colo.)--History--19th century.
Colorado
Colorado--Las Animas County
New Mexico
New Mexico--Colfax County
United States--Maxwell Land Grant
F802.M38 / C34 2023
978.92 Caf 48