Forty-two micro-stories set in Old New Mexico, each less than 500 words long, and many based on actual people or events. Includes: -- On the Santa Fe Trail, two men dispute a rifle's origins. -- A language barrier comes between a trapper and his woman. -- The future warden of New Mexico's first Territorial Prison takes a wife. -- Word of the Elizabethtown gold strike reaches Denver. -- Miners from around the globe adjust to the Sangre de Cristo mountain climate. -- A young man defies his community's expectations. -- A settler fails to heed his wife's warnings.