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ix ✯ aCknowledgmenTs Authors customarily give a nod of appreciation to their spouses at the end of their acknowledgments, but in this instance I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my wife, Frances, who contributed so much to this project. It was she, in fact, who discovered the old issue of American History in which John Koster first published a portion of the Matthews letters. She recognized that the article would be of interest to me for another project in which I was already involved and brought it to my attention. Neither of us could have imagined at that time that her discovery would eventually lead to this volume. As work progressed a few years later, Frances devoted many hours to scanning and formatting the original typescript and proof-reading my manuscript to ensure the two agreed. Additionally, her abilities as a native Spanish speaker proved extremely useful in translating place names and terms found throughout the letters. I am especially indebted to Dr. Robert L. Spude, a former National Park Service colleague and my boss during the last few years of my career. Bob both encouraged me to pursue this project and enthusiastically assisted by locating Matthews family descendants, researching ownership and copyright issues, x acknowledgments coordinating my work with Superintendent Marie Sauter at Fort Union National Monument, and initiating contact with the University of New Mexico Press for publication of the letters. Bob also located and put me in touch with John Koster, who originally discovered and recognized the historical importance of the Matthews letters. I am grateful to John for graciously relinquishing the copyright he held for that portion of the letters he had previously published, and for readily supporting my effort to bring all of the Matthews letters before the public. Retired NPS Historian Susan Kopczyski, formerly on the staff at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, kindly took time from her schedule to locate Eddie Matthews’ death certificate in the New Jersey state records. As with every historical work, librarians and archivists were essential in facilitating and assisting with my research for this book. First and foremost among those were Librarian Tibor K. Remenyik and Park Interpreter Claudette Norman who hosted me at Fort Union National Monument, Watrous, N. Mex. Sara Good and Donna Humphrey at the Bucks County (Pa.) Historical Society went beyond the call to ferret out tidbits from their collections concerning Eddie Matthews’ later life. Additionally, I appreciate the assistance offered by the Old Military Records staff at the National Archives, Main, Washington, D.C.; the staff at the Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; the Donnally Library staff at Highlands University, Las Vegas, N. Mex.; Archivist Jill Ludlum with the Maryland State Archives; and the staff of the Carroll County (Md.) Historical Society, Westminster, Md. Daniel Kosharek, photo archivist, was most helpful and efficient in assisting with my work at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe. Jane Winton, Print Department, Boston Public Library, and George Moore and Russ Ronspies, at the Frontier Army Museum, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. expediently processed my requests for photographs in their respective collections. My longtime friend and colleague, R. Eli Paul, with the Kansas City Public Library, gave the manuscript a careful critique and offered many thoughtful suggestions for improving it. I greatly appreciate the time he devoted to that effort. —Douglas C. McChristian Tucson, Arizona ...

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