Mystics, Radicals, Sinners, and Saints: Freedom, Rebirth, and the American West Brian King
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2-13-2014 Mystics, Radicals, Sinners, and Saints: Freedom, Rebirth, and the American West Brian King Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Recommended Citation King, Brian. "Mystics, Radicals, Sinners, and Saints: Freedom, Rebirth, and the American West." (2014). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/39 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Brian S. King Candidate History Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Margaret Connell-Szasz , Chairperson Dr. Cathleen Cahill Dr. Linda Hall Dr. Marsha Weisiger MYSTICS, RADICALS, SINNERS, AND SAINTS: FREEDOM, REBIRTH, AND THE AMERICAN WEST by BRIAN S. KING B.A., History, University of Texas at Austin, 1993 M.A., History, New Mexico State University, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December 2013 ii DEDICATION For Dr. Ferenc Szasz for inspiring my pursuit of knowledge as well as my love of history. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have received the support of many people on this journey and I would like to express my gratitude to them for helping me see this project through to its completion. First, I would like to thank my committee members, Margaret Connell-Szasz, Cathleen Cahill, Linda Hall, and Marsha Weisiger. I would also like to offer a special thanks to Dr. Ferenc Szasz who served as my advisor for three years until his untimely passing. Our discussions and his sense of humor aided me greatly. Ferenc was an intellectual historian, and a human being, of the highest rank. He believed in me and my project from the start. My dissertation chair, Margaret Connell-Szasz was always there to help and offer moral support. She is truly a fount of knowledge with a heart of gold. Cathleen Cahill challenged me to go further every step of the way. She is an excellent scholar and her advice as I entered the job market proved invaluable. Linda Hall, too, is an amazing professor and person. During my first year, she greatly encouraged me and my project and has endlessly cheered me on. My deepest thanks go to Dr. Marsha Weisiger for her guidance, encouragement, and patience, and the enormous time and energy she spent especially during the earliest phases of this project. She helped me improve immensely as a writer and researcher. Marsha helped me shape this project from its inception when we were both at New Mexico State University. Although I fought kicking and screaming at times, I would never have made it to this stage without her. Many people at the University of New Mexico deserve acknowledgement for making this dream become a reality. I enjoyed working with Dr. Barbara Reyes while iv grading for her classes, taking courses with her, and she aided me greatly by serving on my comprehensive examination committee as well as my committee on studies. The History Department staff helped me jump through all of the hoops and navigate through the red tape. Thanks to Yolanda Martinez, Helen Ferguson, Dana Logan, and Barbara Wafer. Many more professors and students than I could possibly list provided friendship and intellectual stimulation along the way. The Center for Southwest Research and its faculty, staff, and fellows have proven vital to my success in many ways. My boss, Kathlene Ferris has been a joy to work with and has stood by me as I trudged through graduate school. She supervised my work over the course of two fellowships and five years. Kathlene has always been flexible with my work schedule which has been imperative. So many friends and colleagues have become a part of my life and some are now scattered across the country with a variety of letters by their names. The CSWR brings in a high class of intellectual minds and it was a joy to go work with so many smiling, intelligent individuals. Thanks, in no particular order, to Kari Schlerer, Sue Taylor, Jordan Biro, Char Peery, Brian Luna Lucero, Nancy Brown- Martinez, Mike Kelly, Ann Massman, Mary Alice Tsosie, Joshua Frank, Misael Menchaca, Leoyla Cowboy, Ryan Barber, and Kevin Comerford. I could not have finished my dissertation without the Graduate Resource Center and its wonderful staff. Their boot camps, although as grueling as the name suggests, have been instrumental to my completion. Thanks to Anna Cabrera, Anne Burtnett, Lawrence Roybal, Henry Gonzalez, Carlyn Pinkins, Daniel Shattuck, Talal Saint-Lot, Jee Hwang, Santosh Chandrashekar, Francisco Salazar and the rest of the staff. The students v who aided me, commiserated with me, and suffered with me through many a boot camp are too numerous to mention although certainly not forgotten. The bottomless cups of coffee, yoga breaks, and writing groups kept me going when I felt like I had nothing left to give. I wish to thank the history faculty, staff, and students at New Mexico State University. A special thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Brown, Dr. Paul Lester, and Dr. Marsha Weisiger for believing in me and giving me the remarkable opportunity to teach. Kevin Anderson, Jon Hunner, Jamie Bronstein, and Elizabeth Zarur provided excellent support and feedback. Two questions still ringing in my ears are, “Why the West?” and the always painful, “so what?” Hopefully, the following pages will finally lay those nagging questions to rest. Additionally, I would like to thank Nancy Shockley for all of her help along the way. I’m grateful for history professor William Goetzmann at the University at Texas in Austin for spurring my interest in this field through his life-changing class, “Art of the American West,” which introduced me to his book, West of the Imagination, as well as Athearn’s The Mythic West. Those works shaped not only this work but my life as well. Thanks also, to Susan Deans-Smith whose Native American History seminar ignited my curiosity. These two professors spurred me, without their knowledge, to Flagstaff in 1993, the Navajo Nation in 1995, through my Master’s, my Ph.D., and now, back to Navajoland. Many people helped me with my research along the way. The staff at the University of Utah Marriott Library and the personnel at the Church of Jesus Christ of vi Latter Day Saints Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, proved especially helpful. I am fascinated by the LDS story. Although my Mormon chapter did not make the final cut for my dissertation it will figure prominently in future research as I track freedom in the West further back to its roots. The Center for Southwest Research staff has been incredibly helpful and the hold a ridiculous amount of knowledge. Nancy Brown-Martinez and Ann Massman were particularly helpful. The employees at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library at the Palace of Governors were incredibly friendly and helpful. A special thanks Thomas Jaehn who went out of his way to help me with a variety of projects. I would like to express my gratitude to my friend Mike Two Bears Andrews. Not only have we have prayed and suffered through many sweat-lodges together over the years but he also introduced me to Bob Fies, the current caretaker of New Buffalo, as well as other splendid souls in the Taos area. Bob Fies provided excellent hospitality and opened the doors not only of New Buffalo but also for many great oral history interviews. I would also like to thank Iris Keltz, Robbie Gordon III, Suri Dass Youngwolf, Susan Suazo, and Gail Russel for opening their hearts and minds to me. No research project of his magnitude is possible without that all-too-necessary evil, money, and I am grateful that so many people and organizations found me and my research worthy of their funding. Thank you to the New Mexico State University Department of History, University of New Mexico Department of History, Albuquerque Public Schools, the University of New Mexico Office of Graduate Studies, University of vii New Mexico Center for Southwest Research, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Library of Congress. I am eternally grateful for all the support, love, guidance, patience, and inspiration from all of my families. My father was instrumental in my love of history, taking us on family vacations to historical sites and museums. My mother always encouraged me to follow my heart, to color outside the lines, to trust my crazy ideas, and twice unselfishly urged, “Go West young man!” My sister Julie, too, has always been a source of inspiration and encouragement. I am grateful for my dear angel of a son, Samuel River King, for inspiring me. I hope that my work, in some small way, leads to a better world for you and your children to inhabit. I want to thank my New Guild family, especially Chris Miller, who road-tripped with me through Arizona and New Mexico during the summer of 1992, giving me a glimpse of my future. My future came into focus visiting Casa Grande, the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Wupatki and Wukoki, the Painted Desert, the Navajo and Hopi reservations, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, Taos, Sante Fe, four universities, and on and on. Thanks, too, to my spiritual families who have provided a foundation for my journey. A special thanks to Kerry Gramse.