Winter of the Metal People
The Untold Story of America's First Indian War
To be published by
Sunbury Press in early 2013!
The first named war between the Europeans and the Native Americans was the nearly forgotten Tiguex War, which Spaniards and their Mexican Indian allies fought in 1540-42 against the Pueblo Indians along the Rio Grande, between present-day Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico.
My historical novel Winter of the Metal People presents the first account of the war written from the Puebloan point of view. It follows a young Pueblo warrior who reluctantly takes leadership of his people in a time of crisis, overcoming self-doubt to lead Puebloans in successful guerilla warfare against the Spaniards.
Please visit:
* a blog for the book
* a newspaper article about the book
* an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds
* the publisher's website
Links to pdfs for the book:
Historical notes for the novel Winter of the Metal People: The untold story of America's first Indian war. You also can download a pdf of a sample chapter to the book.
Want to know more about the Tiguex War or the Coronado Expedition? Look for books or articles in the bibliography compiled for the book.
You also can download a pdf of a glossary to keep track of characters and scenes in the book.
Further Readings:
History of Santiago Pueblo, which Coronado commandeered for his military headquarters during the Tiguex War. The original Tiwa name was Ghufoor. Spaniards renamed the pueblo as Coofor and as Alcanfor. It has been known as Santiago Pueblo since at least 1602.
Account written in 1539 by Friar Marcos de Niza on the discovery of Cíbola. This report of the exploration by a Franciscan friar and the African explorer Esteban is what led to Coronado's expedition into the present-day American Southwest in 1540.
Excerpts about the Tiguex War (in original Spanish) from Libro Segundo de la Crónica Miscelánea written by Friar Antonio Tello around 1650. Although his account contains errors, Tello's account is nevertheless valuable because he had access to many original documents of the Coronado expedition that are no longer known to exist.
Book cover illustration is by Persingula Tafoya of Kewa Pueblo
Indiegogo "Patrons":
Thanks and a tip of the hat to the following: Alec Laughlin, anonymous, Brian and Carolyn Gilmore, and Tim and Monica Coder.
Questions about the Indiegogo campaign? The easiest way to reach me is by email.