THE CENTURIES OF SANTA FE

by Paul Horgan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 1956

Santa Fe- and a series of half-joined historical narratives which are fictional composites of actual incidents dating from 1621 trace through multiple eyes the city's evolution under Spanish, Mexican and American flags. Individually the narratives center on a royal notary exiled to the New World; on a Church father rescuing the Indians from their heathen practices; on an eternal mother casting up 14 children as the sea casts up stones; on a Missouri trader; on a lieutenant discovering in a shepherd's skittish wife the incarnation of desire, only to cough out his despair in tuberculosis; and after the varied testimonies- there is Horgan's own- nostalgic, fervent, humbled. The wave of history- engulfing Santa Fe but washing over much of New Mexico and the many outlying lands and forces contiguous to its destiny- is seen steeped in the blood of Pawnee, Pueblo, Commanche, gleaming with rare metals, and sanctified by the skilled waters of a defiled and ravaged Church. Mixed into this violent origin is the development of its architecture then and now, the infiltration of aliens to make the new natives of modern Santa Fe, the attrition of countless barbarians and the relentless advance of sophistication, learning, art.... A work of obvious love- it also stands as respectable scholarship, fictionalized fact, Americana.

Pub Date: Oct. 2, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION