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• Map of the Territory of New Mexico, ca. 1857
• Cowboys
• Ranching
• Sheep
• Cattle Trails
• Cowboy Lore
• Cowboy Terms
• Place Names, Ranches Old and New, Colfax County / Kenneth Fordyce
• Letter to Mr. N.H. Thorp from F.G. Healy
• List of Photographs
• List of New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Documents
• Names Index.

In the early days of the American West, outlaws dominated the New Mexico Territory. Such colorful characters as Black Jack Ketchum, the Apache Kid, Curly Bill, Devil Dick, Billy the Kid, Bill McGinnis, Vincente Silva and his gang, the Dalton Brothers, and the Wild Bunch terrorized the land. Feared by many, loved by some, their exploits were both horrifying and legendary. In between forays, notorious outlaws were sometimes exemplary cowboys. Singly or in gangs, they held up stagecoaches and trains and stole from prospectors and settlers. When outlaws reigned, bank holdups, shoot-outs, and murders were a common occurrence; death by hanging became a favored means of settling disputes by outlaws and vigilantes alike. Stories of outlaws later provided plots for many of our favorite Western movies. Between 1936 and 1940, field workers in the Federal Writers' Project collected and wrote down many accounts that provide an authentic and vivid picture of outlaws in the early days of New Mexico. They feature life history narratives of places, characters, and events of the Wild West during the late 1800s. These original documents, published here for the first time, reflect unruly, eccentric conditions of the New Mexico Territory as they played out in clashes and collaborations between outlaws and the "gentle people" of New Mexico before and after statehood-- Cover.