Robert J. Torrez Talk & Book Signing

Robert J. Torrez talks about and signs his book “New Mexico’s Wicked City” on Saturday April 6 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at Treasure House Books & Gifts, 2012 South Plaza NW in Old Town, Albuquerque, NM. The talk will begin shortly after 1:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call (505) 242-7204.
In the Summer of 1879 and Winter of 1881, a correspondent for Eastern U.S. newspapers toured New Mexico just as the railroad had made its way over Raton Pass, reached Las Vegas, and continued south through the territory, The correspondent reported his observations of New Mexico’s major cities and marveled at the commercial growth the territory had experienced in the short period since the railroad had arrived. He was, however, appalled at the vast number of saloons, dancehalls and other businesses that sprang up in communities along the rail line, all of which, in the correspondent’s words, appealed to the “barbarism” of human nature. His indignation prompted the unidentified correspondent to brand one of New Mexico’s major communities with the unflattering label of a “wicked city.”
New Mexico’s Wicked City is the third volume of true stories and articles on New Mexico history originally published by the author under his “Voices From the Past” byline. His “Voices From the Past” columns originally appeared in Santa Fe Pride in 1992 and have continued in Round the Roundhouse since 1996. The series has featured more than three hundred and fifty columns on a wide variety of topics covering more than four centuries of New Mexico history.
New Mexico’s Wicked City provides the reader with nearly sixty often never before published stories of how governments functioned, how people made their living, and how they often struggled to accommodate and often resist cultural differences that at times resulted in violent clashes, These stories are arranged in three general categories – New Mexico’s Spanish (1598-1821) and Mexican (1821-1846) eras; the territorial (1845-1912), and to a lesser degree, statehood (1912- present); and finally, stories of those who found themselves written into the historical record because they got into trouble with the law and how society attempted to bring them to justice.
Robert J. Tórrez was born and raised in northern New Mexico. A proud member of the last graduating class of Tierra Amarilla High School, he received his undergraduate and graduate education at New Mexico Highlands and the University of New Mexico and served as the New Mexico State Historian from 1987 until his retirement in 2000. In addition to his “Voices From the Past” monthly column, he has authored seven books, contributed chapters to nearly two dozen anthologies and published dozens of articles on New Mexico history in a broad variety of popular and scholarly journals.