title: Tales from the Journey of the Dead: Ten Thousand Years on an American Desert
author: Alan Boye BS  MA
description: A largely desolate stretch of land about 100 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead) has long lived up to its name. Hiking the area on foot, Boye shares his impressions of ancient petroglyphs and pueblo ruins, desert plants and animals, as well as artifacts and landmarks. His firsthand accounts are aptly balanced by personal histories and thorough research on everything from Spanish settlement to atomic explosions to the transference of land from Spanish families to the likes of Ted Turner. Boye explains how the Jornada was a kind of initiation through which explorers, soldiers, and settlers had to pass in their journeys along the Camino Real. Barkeeps, cowboys, and even a "wild man" all left stories in their wake that engender our understanding of and appreciation for their struggles, losses, and victories. With wonderfully accessible and consistently engaging writing, Boye adds a long-overlooked and essential piece to the puzzle of American history. <i>Janet St. John</i><br /><i>Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved</i>
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  The Heritage Of The Desert
  
  by Zane Grey
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I - The Sign Of The Sunset
  
  "But the man's almost dead."
  
  The words stung John Hare's fainting spirit into life. He opened his eyes. The
  desert still stretched before him, the appalling thing that had overpowered
  him with its deceiving purple distance. Near by stood a sombre group of men.
  
  "Leave him here," said one, addressing a gray-bearded giant. "He's the fellow
  sent into southern Utah to spy out the cattle thieves. He's all but dead.
  Dene's outlaws are after him. Don't cross Dene."
  
  The stately answer might have come from a Scottish Covenanter or a follower of
  Cromwell.
  
  "Martin Cole, I will not go a hair's-breadth out of my way for Dene or any
  other man. You forget your religion. I see my duty to God."
  
  "Yes, August Naab, I know," replied the little man, bitterly. "You would cast
  the Scriptures in my teeth, and liken this man to one who went down from
  Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves. But I've suffered 