Third Book in Pacheco & Chino Mystery Series

The first book in the Pacheco & Chino Mystery series "Dog Gone Lies" will be published in about a month, the second book "Ruidoso High Stakes" has been finished and should be published sometime in early 2016.

I am really enjoying writing about these characters so I have decided to put the first Blue Door Mystery book on hold and begin the third book in Pacheco & Chino series "Four Corners War".  This book is focused on the Farmington, New Mexico and Durango, Colorado areas.  I have made many trips over the years to this Four Corners area--it is a very interesting area where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet.  For many years I had business dealings in this part of the country and often flew into the Farmington airport which is located in a very unsettling spot on top of a small mesa.  The approach always looked like we were headed straight for the side wall of this mesa--but fortunately we always cleared the wall and landed.  I never flew into Farmington that I was not thankful to be alive.  It is a place where many cultures come together to present an amazing mosaic of past and current lives--- definitely worth visiting (I think they still use that same airport--might want to drive).

Some history of the two towns from the cities web sites:

The history of Farmington can be dated back over 2,000 years when the Anasazi "basket makers" lived in the area in what is now known as "pit houses" and later in pueblo structures built from the native sandstone rock. Their past occupancy can still be seen in the various ruins that fill the surrounding countryside. After the Anasazi exit from the area, the land was then inhabited by the Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, and the Utes, which add to the cultural diversity found in this area to this day. The Spanish passed through this area in the late 1700's and eventually settled in the eastern part of San Juan County in the early 1800's. It was not until mid 1870's that the population of the area began to grow with the actual settlement of what was to become Farmingtown, later shortened to Farmington. Settled by pioneers from Animas City, Colorado at the confluence of the La Plata, Animas, and San Juan Rivers. Farmington began to blossom into a flourishing farm and ranch economy and incorporated on July 15, 1901.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company formed Durango along the banks of the Animas River in September 1880 to serve the San Juan mining district. Lots of silver (and later, even more of gold) was being discovered in the mountains ever since gold fever struck in 1872 and resulted in the settlement of mining towns like Silverton, 50 miles north. Durango had a more tolerable climate and a good supply of water and coal for operating the smelters to pull precious metals out of the ore.
The railroad company chose a site south of the town of Animas City for its depot. It bought up the land in the eventual downtown Durango area using various different names to conceal what it was doing. The land was purchased for less money this way. When the train steamed through Animas City on its way north in 1881, it didn’t even stop there!

Native Americans had camped along the banks of the Animas River for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found evidence that this area experienced a population boom in the latter part of the 8th century - about 1,200 years ago. Some think more people lived here then than now! By the time the Ute Indians settled here, centuries later, these ancient Ancestral Puebloans had mysteriously disappeared from their last homeland - including the area now called Mesa Verde National Park. The Ute Indians sheltered in the abandoned dwellings and enjoyed the ample fishing and hunting opportunities the area offered.

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