James Silas Calhoun: First Governor of New Mexico Territory and First Indian Agent [Paperback]

Veteran journalist and author Sherry Robinson presents readers with the first full biography of New Mexico’s first territorial governor, James Silas Calhoun. Robinson explores Calhoun’s early life in Georgia and his military service in the Mexican War and how they led him west. Through exhaustive research Robinson shares Calhoun’s story of arriving in New Mexico in 1849—a turbulent time in the region—to serve as its first Indian agent. Inhabitants were struggling to determine where their allegiances lay; they had historic and cultural ties with Mexico, but the United States offered an abundance of possibilities.

An accomplished attorney, judge, legislator, and businessman and an experienced speaker and negotiator who spoke Spanish, Calhoun was uniquely qualified to serve as the first territorial governor only eighteen months into his service. While his time on the New Mexico political scene was brief, he served with passion, intelligence, and goodwill, making him one of the most intriguing political figures in the history of New Mexico.Sherry Robinsonis an award-winning author and journalist. She is the author of several books includingI Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan ApachesandApache Voices: Their Stories of Survival as Told to Eve Ball(UNM Press). She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Sherry Robinson's excellent biography of James S. Calhoun is an important book on a key figure, providing an insightful and engaging account of his life and career. She shows how his political experiences in Georgia as well as his participation in the Mexican War informed his relations with New Mexico's Indians,nuevomexicanos, and territorial military commanders.--David V. Holtby, author ofForty-Seventh Star: New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood“Until now, James Silas Calhoun has been the most significant figure—Indian agent and territorial governor—about whom historians know the leaslS(