 |
  |
Silver City, New Mexico July — September 2004 In the summer of 2004, my son and I had the opportunity to live in Silver City, New Mexico. My only travel to New Mexico was in the northern part of the state, which had been a brief stop on a cross-country trip by train in 1992. Shortly upon arriving in the southern part of New Mexico, both of us curiously embraced the compelling culture of the American Southwest with open arms and a thirst to learn more about this diverse, foreign land. A city, which inhabited authentic ghost towns, we could hear and imagine the feet of Geronimo’s horses kicking up the dirt of the hilly, winding Noonday Canyon Road, the road that led to our ranch house. Silver City is a land of paradoxes -- one of many famous outlaws and Indians, surrounded by humble people and a breathtaking landscape. Collaborating with Jess Gorell, the following is an excerpt of a proposal for publication of a book, "Noonday Canyon Road -- Modern Stories of New Mexico and the Mimbres and Gila Valleys." "…paint a portrait of today’s American Southwest through an examination of the people and places of Silver City, New Mexico and the surrounding Gila and Mimbres Valleys. Their proximity to the Mexican border as well as their unique historical and socioeconomic conditions create a poignant microcosm of a forgotten America, a culturally diverse yet challenged land that falters and experiences growth simultaneously, divided in its people, politics and concerns. We will examine the regional connections to American mining and outlaw tradition while giving faces to men and women dependent on precarious factors without many alternatives, voices to modern pioneers that ranch, ride, and pray for the future as well as those who embrace new horizons and live with utopian joy." Jess Gorell |
 |
|
|
|
|
