Additional information
by Rose Powers White (Author), Ruth White Burns (Author)
In "A Man Was a Real Man in Them Days," Ruth Burns celebrates the life and character of the pioneers who dared to challenge the vast prairie of the Llano Estacado of Eastern New Mexico. In the 1880s along the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers, the cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Ft. Sumner were bustling centers of commerce, but on the High Plains, due to the lack of dependable water, the prairie was inhabited only by occasional outlaws, Indian hunting parties, Hispanic mustangers and buffalo hunters. After the Civil War, cowmen began to bring their herds to the plains; and in 1898 when the railroad came, homesteaders poured in, lured by promises of free land. Barbed-wire fences were put up, and the day of the open range was at an end. Using interviews and letters collected by her mother in the 1930s and 1940s, Burns reveals the courage, determination, and good humor of these first settlers by using their own words, recorded while they were still living.
Author Biography
Ruth White Burns, was born Mary Ruth White, March 11, 1929 to Robert Edward and Rose Powers White at Portales, New Mexico. She grew up with her two brothers, R. E. Jr. and James Gordon at the family home, next door to her grandparents, Robert Lee and Ora White Wood. She attended Eastern New Mexico University until 1950 when she married Michael Dan Burns. Their first child Mike Jr. was born in 1951, followed by Patrick Neil, Dwight Edward "Ike," and Rebecca Rose. The couple started their own business, Burns Wholesale, selling candy, tobacco and restaurant supplies throughout the surrounding area. She completed her degree in Education at ENMU and also studied a semester in Saltillo, Mexico. She received her endorsement in Bilingual Education and taught second grade at La Casita School in the first Bilingual program in Clovis. Over the years, Ruth worked on transcribing her mother's interviews, letters, and articles and combining them into a book. She has published articles in local newspapers and the New Mexico Magazine. At present she lives in Clovis, New Mexico.
