I claim no literary merit for this work. Its very nature, wherein truth of statements is of the first importance, precludes the possibility of artistic writing. In gathering my data I have attempted to eliminate the personal viewpoint of the narrator, as well as of myself. I have used much material as it was given to me, simply because I feel that the original expresses more clearly than I could express the subject dealt with. I have tried to produce a work that will be of value to my readers. This book has been written under varying and trying circumstances. It has taken me two and a half years to compile my data and write the manuscript. During that time I traveled miles in a car, over good roads and bad and in all sorts of weather. My work has been interrupted by both sickness and sorrow, and very often my feet have wavered from the path I had chosen for them to tread. Still, I feel that I have done my best and that there are many who will appreciate this work. For those I am writing this introduction. It is impossible to name separately the sources from which I have drawn my material, and I must rest content to express my appreciation collectively to the hundreds who have con tributed their knowledge to this book. The cover design was drawn by Mr. Waldo Williams, who, like myself, is a native of the Southwest. To him and his father, Judge 0. W. Wil liams, I owe much material and many suggestions. I further wish to thank for assistance rendered and data given, Mr. Barry Scobee, Capt. J. B. Gillett, Capt. John R. Hughes, Col. Geo. T. Langhorne, Mrs. Julia Lee Brown, Lieut. H. O. Flipper, and C. E. Way.