Ghost Towns Alive: Trips to New Mexico's Past

Not only is this book a good guide to many of New Mexico's ghost towns, but it is also incredibly readable. It is by far, among my very favorite books on the subject. Plus, it passes the one-question test I give to all New Mexico ghost town books: "Does it include Hagan?" Hagan, New Mexico--the greatest, most overlooked of all ghost towns anywhere. Many ghost town books just include all the obvious ones, like Shakespeare and Steins, but only the good ones know about Hagan. Not only does this book include Hagan, but it also has a fact or two about it that I've never come across in the rest of my reading. Buy this book, stock your car's CD player with Caribou and the "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" soundtrack, and set off driving. There's a lot out there waiting for you.

Visiting a ghost town can leave you wondering but never knowing what stories lurk behind the crumbled adobe walls, abandoned wagons, and other relics of lives once lived. Author Linda Harris does a suberb job of introducing the characters who helped form these old towns--the curmudgeons, the criminals, the benefactors, and the adventurers. Harris also offers the filter of her own heart, soul, and considerable knowledge as an area historian to breathe life into each narrative. Ghost Towns Alive isn't just a mere recitation of facts, statistics, and driving directions, although you'll find plenty of useful information to get you to your destination. Instead, this book is an absolute must to guide you through an intimate experience of New Mexico's past.