Black Range Tales, a book review

These are the stories of James A. McKenna, or "Uncle Jimmy", as the community came to know him in his later years. Uncle Jimmy's stories of his life and adventures are unique little windows into a time long past. There is no bragging here, no attempt to write a wild, shoot-em-up adventure story. These are true tales of Indian wars, mining adventures, the miners and gamblers, theives as and good and honest folks. Real life, as the pioneers lived it, in the natural, colorful language of the time.

Set in the Black Hills of New Mexico, those familiar with the state will recognize the names of many of the mines and settlements still on the map. Silver City is at the center of the area where most of the stories take place. Mines, both lost and well known figure largely in his tales, as well as many mining towns no longer in existence. The geographic and geologic details of mining camp locations make the book a great resource for ghost town hunters.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1951 Uncle Jimmie began working his way west at an early age. He did it the way most folks did at the time... a little trapping, a little herding, a little working on the riverboats. He landed in the southwest and settled in  prospecting for silver and gold, as the area was heavy with mining opportunities. When he wasn't prospecting he serving as a justice of the peace, or any one of his many other roles. Along the way he met some pretty fascinating folks. In delicious detail Uncle Jimmy tells of surviving battles with Indians, near misses in mining accidents, hunting bear and dealing with the shysters attracted to the easy money of a mining community. Many of these fascinating characters, like the fellow members of the Spit and Whittle Club, helped him tell the stories. All together, it's a captivating read, especially so if you happen to be familiar with the area and can envision the rugged landscape he describes.

This edition (1969) has some improvements over the first edition, published in 1936. Updates include a map in the front that covers most of the locations mentioned in the stories, and the addition of an index. The index is fairly complete, and would certainly be useful for referring back to stories for details on specific mines or individuals mentioned. Even better, the text has been scanned and is available as a completely searchable document on Ancestry.com, for those with a membership to that service. Search Black Range Tales.

Black Range Tales, chronicling sixty years of life and adventure in the Southwest.
James A. McKenna. The Rio Grande Press, 3rd edition, 1969
The book is available from several retailers, and as it has been reprinted several times, check closely to see that your edition includes the index and map. The book is not available in electronic format, other that the source mentioned above.

A big Thank You! to David and Stephanie Nishikida for giving me a copy of Black Rock Tales!