The country Frank Springer rode into in 1873 was one of immense 
beauty and abundant resources—grass and timber, wild game, 
precious metals, and a vast bed of commercial-grade coal. It was 
also a stage upon which dramatic and sometimes violent events 
played out during Springer's ten-year residence in Cimarron, New 
Mexico.

    A lawyer and newspaperman for the Maxwell Land Grant 
company and a foe of the speculators known as "the Santa Fe 
Ring," Springer found himself in the middle of the Colfax County 
War. A man of many sides, he typified the Gilded Age 
entrepreneurs who transformed the territorial American Southwest.

    He was also an intriguing personality—an introvert who 
engaged in very public activities, speaking to large audiences and 
leading in major civic endeavors. As president of the Maxwell 
Land Grant company, he also led in the development of mining, 
logging, ranching, and irrigation enterprises. His Supreme Court 
victory establishing title to the 1.7 million acre Maxwell grant 
earned him a reputation as a brilliant attorney. He also helped lay 
the foundations of New Mexico Highlands University, the Museum 
of New Mexico, and other cultural institutions.

    Throughout his adult life, Springer also engaged in 
paleontological study, publishing his findings through the 
Smithsonian Institution and other leading scientific publishers. He 
amassed the largest collection in the world of a certain kind of 
fossil, a collection he donated to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
it is still housed.

    Frank Springer's influence on New Mexico's economic 
development was far-reaching and lasting. A thorough biography 
of the energetic Springer, this book offers insight into many 
colorful episodes in the region's history and the way a certain 
breed of Anglo-centric men left their stamp on the land and its 
people.

_________________________________________________________

DAVID L. CAFFEY is the author of a number of books on New 
Mexico and the Southwest, including the award-winning Land of 
Enchantment, Land of Conflict: New Mexico in English-Language 
Fiction, also published by Texas A&M University Press. With a 
Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, Caffey is the Vice-president for 
Institutional Effectiveness at Clovis Community College in Clovis, 
New Mexico.



What people are saying about this book

“. . . long overdue . . . a well-written book that illuminates the 
complexities of Springer’s eventful career.”—The Journal of Arizona 
History, Spring 2007

“Caffey has done a fine job of drawing together the disparate 
elements of Springer’s life into a highly readable narrative.”—The 
Journal of Arizona History, Spring 2007

"Exhaustively researched and engagingly written, Caffey's 
biography of Frank Springer is one of the finest books to be written 
on this period of New Mexico history in many years."—Password, 
October 2006

". . . a superb biography of Springer's extraordinary life . . . Caffey 
masterfully weaves the intricate story of a man who helped shape 
the latter history of territorial New Mexico. It is a story that is not 
well known, and his effort is a valuable contribution toward 
understanding New Mexico's transition from frontier territory to 
modern state."—High Country, October 2006

"Caffey's biography illuminates the life and times of a dominant and 
often forgotten personality in the state's history."—ABQJournal.com, 
June 2006

". . . a solid, thoroughly researched examination of the public life 
of this notable southwesterner . . . outstanding, exhaustive in nearly 
every way. This first book-length study of Frank Springer adds a 
great deal to the Frank Springer story."—Richard W. Etulain, 
Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico

". . . an excellent piece of work, thoroughly researched, engagingly 
written, and persuasively argued . . ."—Keith L. Bryant Jr., 
Professor Emeritus, University of Akron

"Until now Springer has remained a neglected figure on the outer 
fringes of history. With this book, he takes his rightful place as a 
larger-than-life American original."—Marc Simmons, historian, 
and author of Massacre on the Lordsburg Road

"For any generation Frank Springer was a man of great 
accomplishment."—William I. Ausich, Ohio State University, and 
Director, Orton Museum