“When Cimarron Meant Wild,” by David L. Caffey (University of Oklahoma)
In a detailed and fast-paced history, David L. Caffey tells the history of the huge piece of land that was first known as the Maxwell land grant. Lucien Maxwell was a benevolent patron who ran the land as his personal fiefdom. He welcomed Indians and settlers and miners, until he sold the grant to an English company that tried to exploit the very people Maxwell had protected. The company was aligned with the notorious Santa Fe Ring, which was not above murder when someone got in its way. The result was a dangerous conflict that lasted for years.
Caffey‘s diligent research helps establish the Colfax County War as one of Western history’s major conflicts.
Midway through “When the Cimarron Meant Wild,” Caffey compares the Colfax County War with the Lincoln County War. There were “fierce fights for political and economic domination … with territorial officials allied with one side or the other in each place. In each of these conflicts, the outrageous killing of a respected and largely benign figure … provided a flashpoint for violence. The powerful clique known as the Santa Fe Ring was a shadowy force in both struggles, and federal troops were involved in both places.”
Unlike the Lincoln County contretemps farther south, the Colfax County War in northern New Mexico, just south of Trinidad in Colorado, lacked one thing to make it nationally and even internationally famous: Billy the Kid. And so the Colfax war never made its way into novels and movies. Not that the Colfax County War’s notorious gunman Clay Allison isn’t counted among the West’s bad guys. He just wasn’t Billy.
“Taking Stock,” by Shannon Baker (Severn River Publishing)
It’s Stock Show time in Denver, and Kate Fox wants to buy a prize bull for her billionaire ranch owner, Aria Fontaine. But Aria is too busy to check out the animal. She’s worried about her cousin, Jefferson Hansford. He and his brother are heirs to a meat-packing empire, run by their fearsome mother.
Recently divorced, Jefferson is pursued by his wife and a ditsy beauty, both of whom seem to be interested mostly in his money. He’s also the target of a pair of nutty protesters. And then there’s a man selling knives who keeps showing up. Sinister things are afoot. Jefferson suffers a head injury, then later is found drugged, probably with a date-rape drug. Aria leans on Kate, a former sheriff, to find out what’s going on.
Kate has a slew of suspects to sort out — and some things not so sinister. Kate’s ex-boyfriend, Glenn, is now engaged to Aria, but Kate is still crazy about him. How can she keep on working for her best friend when Glenn is always hanging around?
“Taking Stock” is Shannon Baker’s 12th Kate Fox mystery. The action takes place in two Denverites’ favorite venues: the Denver stockyards and the Brown Palace.
“Low April Sun,” by Constance E. Squires (University of Oklahoma)
Denverites remember the bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in part because the culprit, Timothy McVeigh, was tried and sentenced to death in Denver. The bombing was 30 years ago, but its devastation lingers among those whose lives were uprooted by its impact.
In this fictionalized novel exploring the lasting impact of the tragedy, Edie Travis’ sister Delaney disappeared in the bombing. Delaney’s body was never found, which adds to Edie’s lack of closure. But was Delaney really killed? That’s the question Edie and her husband, Kevin, Delaney’s former boyfriend, ask themselves. Each has received a Facebook friend request from someone claiming to be Delaney. The only clue is Delaney’s name and the New Mexico location of someone who’s friended Delaney.
The unexpected contact adds to the tension in the couple’s marriage. Edie, a recovering alcoholic, is the spokesperson for an oil company whose fracking is being blamed for causing earthquakes in Oklahoma City. She’s torn between telling the truth and being a loyal corporate employee. Kevin is a compulsive gambler. The Facebook request sends him to the slot machines, where he gambles away the couple’s savings. He heads off to New Mexico to find out who’s using Delaney’s name.
Furious with Keith, Edie also heads to New Mexico with their son and August, an Alcoholics Anonymous acquaintance, in tow. August knew McVeigh and does penance for his sins by carrying a huge cross up and down a road every day.
Filled with surprises, “Low April Sun” is a well-crafted story. Squires’ fine writing is icing on the cake.
Sandra Dallas is a Denver author and freelance book reviewer.