Update on

Photographs by Christine Preston

Text by Douglas Preston and José Antonio Esquibel

University of New Mexico Press

1-800-249-7737

February 25, 1999

Christine phoned and left a message about a presentation and book signing in Los alomos scheduled for Thursday, April 21^st, 7:00p.m., at Fuller Lodge. I left a message with her, and will have more information once we connect.

February 18, 1999

I happened to be working in Albuquerque today which made it convenient for me to get to Bookworks for the presentation and book signing before 7:00pm. I arrived just as Doug and Christine were pulling into the parking lot of the bookstore ahead of me. It turns out that I had met Nancy Rutland, owner and proprietor of Bookworks (4022 Rio Grande Blvd., Albquerque), last summer when I was part of a book signing of Seeds of Struggle/Harvest of Faith: The Paperws of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Catholic Cuarto Cetennial Conference on hte History of the Catholic Church in New Mexico. She had broubght quite a few copies of the book to be signed by the various contributing authors, myself included. As the time drew nearer to 7:00pm, people began to arrive. Before long all the available chair were filled. There were close to 30 people in attendance, among them my parents and my youngest sister. We were pressed for time, and Doug zipped through the slide presentation featuring pictures of El Camino Real and surrounding landscapes that do no appear in the book. I followed with a brief presentation about the people of El Camino Real. I took the opportunity to voice my exception to The Royal Road being dubbed as merely a "coffee table book." I shared with the group, that those who take the time to really look into the book carefully will find some extraordinary material. First, this book is only one of three published book devoted to the subject of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Secondly, it is a stunning photographic documentary of the landscape and places along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, unequaled at this time. Thirdly, the opening material of my contribution, " is actually the framework for some additional research I have been involved with to understand the formation and development of traditional Hispano culture in New Mexico. A careful review of the waves of colonization, and the make up of these various colonizing groups, begins to reveal information that alters the long-held belief that New Mexico was an isolated province whose culture remained unchanged and even stagnated over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The whole evening was extremely enjoyable. It was great to interact with people who have an interest in the book. Before and after the presentation and book signing, the Prestons and I had the opportunity to meet and speak with the good people who took tine to come out and visit with us. It was an enjoyable evening! Thanks, Nancy!

Nancy graciously provided me with a copy of the West Side Journal (Thursday, February 18, 1999) that ran the article by Larry Walsh on the Royal Road. Doug and Christine are featured in a large photo taken in their home. It is a good size article with information provided by the Prestons and myself. Thanks, Larry!

February 16, 1999

Received a phone call from Doug Preston. UNM Press had arranged for a book signing and presentation at Bookworks in Albuquerque. He was told that C-SPAN might be filming the presentation. Apparently, C-SPAN covers non-fiction books and airs it's coverage on Sundays. Also, a reporter from the Albuquerque Journal was writing a story to run on the same day as the booksigning, and Doug informed me I may be receiving a call from him. I made a call to Peter Molson at UNM Press for more details about the book signing. He and I had a very good conversation, particularly about the book. He provided me with the name of Nancy Rutland, owner and proprietor of Bookworks located at 4022 Rio Grande Blvd. in Albuquerque's north valley. The signing was scheduled for Thursday, February 18^th at 7:00pm. Later in the day, I spoke with Larry Walsh, a reporter with the Albuqerque Journal Westside Edition, and provided an interview by phone. His article is slated to appear in the Journal's West Side Edition on Thursday.

February 5, 1999

I received the Winter 1998 issue of El Farolito (Vol. 1, No. 4; Quarterly Journal of the Olibama López Tushar Hispanic Research Center/Chapter of Genalogical Society of Hispanic America, Denver, CO). This issues features the book review of The Royal Road by Charles Martínez y Vigil (see the December 30^th entry below for a link to this review). The issue also feature some of the aditional material for The Royal Road that was not included in the final version of the book due to space limitations (see the November 23^rd entry below for more information). If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Winter 1998 issue of El Farolito, you can write or call Catherine Aragon, Editor, OLTHLRC, MSC 237, 6677 W. Colfax Avenue, Lakewood, Colorado 80214-1896, 303-431-0938.

December 30, 1998

November 23, 1998

November 21, 1998

October 28, 1998

October 27, 1998

Received an e-mail today from a visitor to the 'Beyond Origins of New Mexico Families" web site about a book review for The Royal Road. The review is by Arnold Vigil and appears in the November 1998 issue of New Mexico Magazine. I believe this is the first official review of The Royal Road since its publication in June. As soon as I can get a copy of the review, I will post it.

October 22, 1998

Today I gave a presentation on "The People of El Camino Real" for an American Studies class ("Introduction to Southwest Studies") at the University of New Mexico. Last month, I received an invitation to present to this class from the instructor, Willam Dodge, M.A. (doctoral student). Bill and his wife had attended the lecture that the Prestons and I did for the UNM Lecture Under the Stars series on July 27^th. The class was small with 11 students, basically being run as a seminar. Of particular interest to Bill, was for me to emphasize the diversity of the origins of the people that settled New Mexico in the colonial era, and give an overview of the different groups of colonization. The class went quite well, and the students had some thoughtful comments to share. In particular, they had not realized just how diverse the people were who came to New Mexico. They also commented that the presentation help them to understand that New Mexico was not as isolated from the rest of the world as has been popularly stated in some publications about New Mexico history and culture.

October 13, 1998

This morning I gave a presentation to a history class at the Santa Fe Community College. A friend of mine, Frances Levine, is a professor at the community college, and invited me to come to her New Mexico history class to share information about the people of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. I reviewed the history of the various waves of colonization, in particular I focused on the period from 1693 -1695 as the formative period of New Mexico's traditional Hispano culture. It was the period of the greatest migration of Spanish citizens to New Mexico. These citizen's had diverse origins, geographically and ethnically, and they re-formed the foundation Hispano culture of New Mexico.

October 9, 1998

October 2, 1998

I was given the honor to present information from The Royal Raod to several mayors from Santa Fe's sister cities. A special weekend had been planed for these visiting dignitaries and their local historians as part of the Cuartocentenario events planned by the City of Santa Fe Cuartocentenario Committee. Earlier this morning, I was the lead presenter for a symposium titled "Somos Unos: De España por el Camino Real de México hasta la Nueva México" and held at the Santa Fe County Courthouse in the main chambers. The symposium was open to the public, and it was good to see some local Santa Fe people in attendance. Also in the audience were the mayors of the City of Santa Fe de la Vega de Granada, Spain, the City of Sorrento, Italy,, and the City of Santa Fe, NM. The mayors of the Russian and Mexican sister cities were expected to arrive in the evening.

My presentation was simply "The People of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, 1598-1821," and was a review of the different waves of colonization and the family names that came to New Mexico on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The presentation was well received. I was able to stay for all the morning sessions, including a session by Señora María (Mirian) Antonia López Burgos, an historian and professor from the Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain, a session by Robert Himmerich y Valencia, editor emmeritus of the New Mexico Historical Review, and an excellent session by the mayor of Santa Fe de la Vega de Granada, Señor José Rodríguez Tabasco, who is also an historian.

I was invited to lunch with the mayors, and sat at a table with Mirian López Burgos and her colleague, Señor Juan Antonio Jiménez Villafranca, Director of the Instituto de las Americas in Granada. We had a most interesting conversation. Both are originally from the area of Santa Fe de la Vega de Granada. Mirian teaches English at the Universidad de Granada. She has published several books regarding the descriptions of Spain in the nineteenth century from travel diaries. Apparently, the Spanish people wrote very little in terms of descriptions of their country, towns and cities. Consequently, the best descriptions of Spain in the nineteenth century come from the visitors to the country, mainly British and American. I asked if people in Spain are interested in genealogy, and I received an interesting response. Both Mirian and Juan Antonio concurred that there is very little interest among the people of Spain to search out their family genealogy, although there are some people who are doing so. In fact, Mirian mentioned to scholars, friends of hers that have been researching and publishing about the genealogy of families of Granada. According to both Marian and Juan Antonio, genealogy is negatively associated with the nobility. They explained that this was related to previous government positions about nobility. Now, things are becoming a little more open, and some people are doing genealogy research.

September 30, 1998

September 15, 1998

Christine Preston and I were interviewed by Catalina Reyes of KUNM (the radio station for the University of New Mexico). The interview took about 15 minutes. Catalina asked Christine about the journey involved in getting to the places that were photographed, and which photos in the book were her favorites. I responded to questions about the waves of colonization and the importance of the geographic and ethnic/racial diversity of the people who traveled on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to settle New Mexico. The interview was edited to 5 minutes and was aired on "The KUNM Evening Report" during the evening drive-time (5:00pm - 5:25pm) to coincide with a book signing that was held on Tuesday, September 22, 1998 at Page One bookstore in Albuquerque. As I was in Washington, D.C., on work related business, I was unable to attend this book signing event.

In our conversation, I mentioned this web site to Christine. She is interested in getting some photos on the site for visitors to view. Perhaps we can include some photos that did not get into the book. Come back and see.

August 28, 1998 

Earlier this week I spoke with Chistine Preston after a round of phone tag. She had received a phone call from Catalina Reyes of KUNM radio (University of New Mexico). Ms. Reyes has a program that airs during the morning drive time hour. Christine and I will go into the KUNM studio for an interview about the book on September 15^th. Also, the good news from Christine is that UNM Press is considering the publication of a second edition of the book. Apparently, sales have been quite good. However, we are still looking for some book reviews to appear in print. To date, there have been no official book reviews about The Royal Road. I would like to invite someone reading this update to consider writing a review for a newspaper, magazine, or journal or your choice. I can be reached at the above e-mail address.

August 14, 1998

I was honored to conduct the annual Santa Fe Fiesta Council Historical Lecture. My presentation was the kick-off for the official activities for the 286^th Fiesta de Santa Fe. My lecture centered on the material from The Royal Road concerning the waves of colonization of New Mexico and the pioneers of El Camino Real. Attending the lecture were the members of the fiesta court and fiesta council members.

August 1, 1998

Well, The Royal Road is in the bookstores. The hardback version has been out and on sale since June 5, 1998. The paperback version was to be released at the same time, but the books were misprinted. They had to be sent back to Italy where they were reprinted, and they are now available.

The book can be purchased at selected bookstores in New Mexico, but can also be order from a local bookstore or by calling the toll-free number listed above.

The clothbound (hardback) version of the book is selling for $55.00, and the softback is selling for $26.95. The Preston's had wanted to keep the cost of the book down. Specifically, we needed at least an additional $10,000 to make the book very affordable and not compromise the quality. We attempted to raise money from various groups and businesses, but had no takers on the project. Nonetheless, Christine, Doug and I are very pleased with the product. The color reproduction of Christine's photographs is stunning! Also, Doug's writing is such a pleasure to read.

It is important to note the significance of this book. Primarily, it is the first photographic account of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro from Mexico City to Santa Fe. Next, it is one of extremely few books dedicated in it's entirety to the history of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. If you conduct a literature search on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro or even the Royal Road, you are likely to come up with these two specific references: New Mexico's Royal Road by Max Moorhead (covers the history of the road from Chihuahua to Santa Fe); and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, an anthology edited by Gabrielle G. Palmer, director of the Camino Real Project. Needless to say, there is a distinct shortage of published material about the history of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Whereas, you can find at least a couple of hundred book relating to the history of the Santa Fe Trail. I hope the book will educate readers about the history and significance of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and stimulate additional publications about its history.

I found out about the release of the book when I received a telephone call from the Palace of the Governor's bookstore about a book signing scheduled for Friday, June 5, 1998. June 5^th was also the opening night for the Cuarto Centennial Genealogical Conference at Glorieta. As I was the chair for organizing the conference, I was not able to make the book signing. Nonetheless, a couple of people who attended the conference managed to pick up copies of the book. Consequently, I signed the first copy of the book that was also signed by Christine and Doug.

The next book signing was at the Nelson Gallery (102 W San Francisco Street) near the plaza in Santa Fe. [For those familiar with Doug Preston's book, Cities of Gold, Walter Nelson, a cowboy and artist, rode with Doug across the New Mexico and Arizona wilderness following Coronado's trail.] We had an excellent crowd at this gathering, well over 100 people.

The third book signing had been arranged by The Collected Works Bookstore (208-B W San Francisco Street, Santa Fe). A book tent was set up on the plaza for the weekend of the Spanish Market. We signed books on Sunday morning (July 26^th) from 9:00am -10:30pm. There was a steady stream of people at the book tent, and we signed quite a number of books. The books that were not sold were taken back to the bookstore. [If you are looking for a signed copy of the book, try The Collected Works Bookstore.] This was the first occasion that I previewed the paperback version. I was very pleased to see that the quality of the publication was the same as the hardback, the only difference being the cover (which actually is a strong cover for a paperback).

The next evening, Christine, Doug and I drove to Albuquerque to deliver a lecture for the University of New Mexico's 'Lecture Under the Stars' series and to sign books. On Sunday, I had suggested we get into town a little earlier and have dinner at Ron's Camino Real, a popular local restaurant on South Yale, serving traditional New Mexico cuisine. The Preston's agreed and we had a pleasant and delicious meal before heading to Woodard Hall at UNM. When we arrived, we inquired about the lecture series. We were informed that the size of the audience for the lectures ranges from 75-100, and that the largest audience for this year's series was 150, which was set just the week before.

Doug and Christine have a slide presentation they have put together and had shown previously on a couple occasions in Santa Fe. I also had delivered several presentations using my material from the book. This was our first joint presentation. Initially, the Preston's thought I should begin the lecture, but my thought was to shown the audience the pictures of the places and landscape along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro so that they would have a visual for what I would share. Doug began the lecture by reading a small section from the book and went right into the slides, some of which appear in the book and some of which do not. During the slide presentation, Christine told some of the stories behind taking the photographs. Doug and Christine are adventurers. They enjoy traveling to remote places and capturing the beauty of the landscape in photos and words. We timed the lecture well, and we were on schedule when I began my part of the presentation about the people of El Camino Real. I provided an overview of my material from the book, and we wrapped up the lecture with questions from the audience.

I counted 201 people in attendance. We broke the record for the summer lecture series! Many people remained through the question and answer period, and also stayed to purchase a copy of the book and have it signed by the three of us. The UNM Bookstore, the sponsor for the lecture series, brought about 80 books, both clothbound and softcover. All but one of the clothbound was sold, and only six softcover were unsold. In all, 73 of the 80 books were sold at a discount rate of 20%. While signing the books, it was particularly enjoyable to speak with those people with Hispano roots in New Mexico. For this group of readers, the book has a personal meaning.

We have yet to see a book review on our work. There was something published in the Albuquerque Journal on Sunday, July 26, 1998. Mostly, it was an article about Doug having two books published at the same time. Doug is co-author with Lincoln Child of the current thriller-novel entitled Riptide. Although the journalist had positive comments about The Royal Road, a review of the book was not the focus of the article. Still, it was good to see some press coverage. We are still looking for book reviews to appear somewhere in print. If you come across a review of The Royal Road, please let me know at the e-mail address given above.

Mea Culpa: Before the book was available, I shared some of my contribution about the early families that came to New Mexico with a group from Española, NM, planning Cuartocentenario events. Charles Martínez y Vigil, administrative secretary at the NM Records Center and Archives, is a member of this group. He noticed a blatant error on my part that will be found in the book. The Luján and Ruiz Cáceres families are listed among the colonists that came to New Mexico in 1598 with Oñate. Actually, they came to New Mexico in 1600 with the other reinforcements. This is certainly an embarrassing mistake; particularly because I have the Luján and Ruiz Cáceres names in my ancestry. How do you say 'gremlins' in Spanish? Regardless, I accept full responsibility for the error.