July 2023 Black Range Museum Bookshelf Notes
Greetings to all from the Black Range Museum Bookshelf! In our Gift Shop we carry about 100 titles to offer for an interesting selection to feed your curiosity. We emphasize books relevant to the Hillsboro Historical Society’s mission statement and topics developed in our museum displays. Our titles focus on the people and events that have impacted our region of the southwest including Native Americans, mining, ranching, local community development, significant places, and historical events, as well as natural history. We also keep books on more current activities such as hiking and camping, field guides, a children’s section, our giftshop artists skills, and a few southwestern classics just for a good, thoughtful read! In these periodic notes, I will try to keep abreast as new tiles are acquired and favorites revisited. Remember, with your membership you receive our Quarterly Journal filled with interesting articles as well. Just a note …in keeping with our desire to conserve natural resources as well as keep costs down for you and us, some of our books are second hand but in good condition.
No Life for a Lady – Agnes Morley Cleaveland. This autobiography of a New Mexico pioneer woman rancher is a classic for good reason. A humorous, historically significant, and well-written window into the women and ranching of the late 1800s that helped make New Mexico into the unique place it is today.
Murder on White Sands – Corey Recko. The still unsolved disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain is one of the enduring mysteries of New Mexico. As the murder trial of William McNew, Oliver Lee, and James Gililland took place at the Sierra County Courthouse in Hillsboro in May 1899, and engaged many powerful New Mexico people and places, the story is embedded in local history. And the mystery continues in this award-winning book
Fire Season – Philip Conners. It’s getting near that time again – Fire Season in the Black Range. Since 2002 Philip Connors has been the fire lookout watching over the southern Black Range of the Gila National Forest, including us – Hillsboro, Kingston, and Lake Valley/Berrenda. His books have achieved national acclaim for his ecological insights, vision, and prose.
Field Guides – It is summer and lots of you are out and about from your front porch to the back trails of the 100-year-old Gila Wilderness. In the Black Range Museum many folks start a conversation with “I saw a ….do you know what it was?”. Well, we can help with that! The BRM carries a wide range of pocket field guides! Amphibians and Reptiles, Birds and Butterflies, Trees, Wildflowers and Rocks; we got pocket guides!
