For Good or Bad: People of the Cimarron Country

by Stephen Zimmer

Cimarron lies nestled on the east side of the Cimarron Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico. In the 1870s it earned a reputation as a wild and wooly frontier town that resulted from an unfortunate land grant war by which the little settlement justifiably earned its name—Cimarron—meaning wild, untamed, or unbroken. Cimarron has not outlived its reputation. For better or worse, writers began recounting the events of its turbulent years almost before the last gun shots were fired. Some embellished the truth both in book and periodical form in an attempt to make a good story even better. This compilation represents a cross-section of writings about individuals who, for good or bad, played some part in the historical or legendary tradition of Cimarron. Although some of the entries are better documented historically than others, all are good stories and equally important to Cimarron’s tradition.

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Zimmer lives outside Cimarron, New Mexico where he writes about western art and ranch life. He is also the author of "For Good or Bad, People of the Cimarron Country;" "Western Animal Heroes, An Anthology of Stories by Ernest Thompson Seton," and "Cowboy Days: Stories of the New Mexico Range," all published by Sunstone Press. With his wife, Shari, and sons, Parker and Marshall, he raises and trains registered ranch Quarter Horses.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of articles, some from magazines or scholarly journals and others from books, on various people ("good or bad") of Cimarron County. There are some well written pieces, such as the one on outlaw "Black Jack" Ketchum, and some amateurish pieces, such as the one on Charles Kennedy. Overall, however, the book contains a good mix of the famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous (but representative) inhabitants of Cimarron County from the mid-19th century onwards, including land baron Lucien Maxwell, cowboy-artist Will James, explorer Kit Carson, Philmont Ranch owner Waite Phillips, and minister O.P. McMains, among others. In presenting this biographical sketches, the editor presents a pretty good account of what life was like in Cimarron during its settlement, in its "wild" days of the late 19th century, and later developments of the early 20th century.