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x i I became interested in Susan McSween Barber after my first visit to Lincoln, New Mexico, in 1980. At the time I wondered how she could have played such a major role in the Lincoln County War and yet escaped historical attention. I started to research Susan seriously when I was a graduate student working toward a master’s degree ten years later but was often reminded that the Lincoln County War was not a sufficiently scholarly topic for a budding academic, presumably because it was linked to Billy the Kid and hence popular history. Thus, I relegated New Mexico’s cattle queen to my “things to do” list and slowly researched her life while writing a master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation, and three books and embarked on a heavy university teaching schedule. As a result, this book is my labor of love. Because it took more than two decades to complete, I saw many of the important archives moved to different locations, renamed, digitized, and even privatized, thus making the endnotes and bibliography a nightmare at times. Still, the slow, steady trail led me to many wonderful people, whom I might not otherwise have met. So the axiom “There are no coincidences in life” indeed seems true here. One of these wonderful people was the late Nora Henn, who befriended, inspired, and encouraged me every step of the way. Ironically—and sadly— I was typing my dedication to her when the telephone rang with news of her passing in May 2011. Nora had moved to Lincoln in 1965 with her artist husband Walter and become a true expert on this region’s history. Over the years she generously shared her research and insights with me and with others aCknowledgments x i i S A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s who, like me, longed to know more. Unfortunately, her massive research on Lincoln, its players, and New Mexico’s Santa Fe Ring never led to a book of her own, but it eventually filled notebooks and files. She opened all of this to me, and each summer over plates of cheese and glasses of wine, Nora unselfishly shared her own conclusions. It was Nora who reminded me often that despite everything written on Lincoln County, there remains little on the women or the Hispanic majority. Another who diligently assisted me in the early days was the late Sam Shepard, librarian at the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Denver. His longtime hobby—indexing western history magazines and books—proved a treasure trove. He also taught me to navigate federal and territorial archives. My mentors at the University of Colorado–Denver, Tom Noel and Mark Foster, introduced me to the wealth of newspapers and other available sources and to the staff of Denver Public Library’s Western History Collection, who always proved eager to assist. Over the years I discovered more scholars delving into previously popular history topics such as the Lincoln County War. Richard W. Etulain, a mentor at the University of New Mexico, where I obtained my PhD in history , and director of the Center for Southwest Studies, helped me compile Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War: A Bibliography, which contained more than nine hundred works on the subject. This became my working bibliography. He and others—especially Margaret Connell-Szasz, John Kessell, and the late Ferenc Szasz and Gerald Nash—taught me to focus on the larger social issues that had so frequently been overlooked. Among the reviewers for the Bibliography were Paul A. Hutton, a UNM historian of the frontier West, whose own interests often blur the line between academic and nonacademic history, and Robert M. Utley, retired chief historian of the National Park Service and author of several books on Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War. Another reviewer was Frederick Nolan, undoubtedly the leading historian of the Lincoln County War. A professional writer and novelist, Fred first researched John Henry Tunstall and authored a biography in 1965 on the Englishman whose death sparked the war. Since then he has published numerous well-documented books and articles on Billy the Kid, the Lincoln County War, and related subjects. His writing ability is about as good as it gets, and his enthusiasm and sense of humor are contagious. Fred is unwavering in his support and has inspired me more than he will ever know. Many more have assisted with my research. Karen Mills, historian...

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