Tom Tobin, an illiterate hunter, trader, rancher, Indian fighter and sometimes U. S. Army guide, led a small detach-ment of soldiers to hunt the Espinosas. He tracked them down, used his Hawken 54 caliber rifle to kill them at long range then cut off their heads. He returned to Fort Garland with the grisly trophies but refused the huge reward for killing them. The era of the Mountain Man, the San Luis Valley and events leading to and following the Mexican-American War provide the backdrop for this story of revenge, redemption, repentance and brutality. After the war, Americans took huge tracts of community property lands from the New Mexicans. Was this why Gringos were the targets of the Espinosas?
David R. Gross graduated from Colorado State University's veterinary school in 1960 and was in private practice for ten years. He enrolled in graduate school and earned a M.Sc. degree in 1972 and a PhD degree in 1974 from the Ohio State University. He taught and did research at Texas A & M University; College of Veterinary Medicine for sixteen years then became Director of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Research labs at the University of Kentucky, College of Medicine for five years. He retired in 2006 after twelve years as Professor and Head of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is a Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society.
Dr. Gross is a Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society. He published over ninety papers in refereed scientific journals and over a hundred abstracts in proceedings of scientific meetings. He co-edited three multi-authored textbooks and the third edition of his single author text; ANIMALS MODELS IN CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH is in most medical libraries. Since retirement, Dr. Gross has been busy writing both fiction and non-fiction. He published a self-help study/ learn guide; YOU CAN NAIL IT, and a memoir of his first year in veterinary practice; ANIMALS DON'T BLUSH; a historical novel; MAN HUNT, was published by Whiskey Creek Press. He also writes a regular column ASK THE EDMONDS VET for MyEdmondsNews.com and his personal essay; TRAVELS WITH CHARLIZE, IN SEARCH OF LIVING ALONE won a 2013 Writer’s Digest Award.