The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, Vol. I

by Ralph Emerson Twitchell

Historians have long admired Ralph Emerson Twitchell's The Leading Facts of New Mexican History , considered the first major history of the state. Put succinctly by former State Historian Robert J. Torrez, Twitchell's work (of which this is one of the first two volumes Sunstone Press is reprinting in its Southwest Heritage Series) has ''become the standard by which all subsequent books on New Mexico history are measured.'' As Twitchell wrote in the preface of his first volume, his goal in writing The Leading Facts was to respond to the ''pressing need'' for a history of New Mexico with a commitment to ''accuracy of statement, simplicity of style, and impartiality of treatment.''

716 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2007

About the author

Ralph Emerson Twitchell (1859-1925) was an American historicist and mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

He was chairman of the Rio Grande Commission, which drafted a treaty between the United States and Mexico leading to the building of the Elephant Butte Dam in New Mexico.

Twitchell helped organize the first National Irrigation Congress in 1891. For forty-three years he was a member of the legal department of the Santa Fe Railroad. He was prosecuting attorney for Santa Fe County and special counsel for the U.S. Department of the Interior dealing with Native American and water-rights cases