William and Jean Herrick, Pioneering New Mexicans

"Over one hundred years ago to get from Chicago, Illinois, Minneapolis, Minnesota, or Mount Vernon, Ohio, to New Mexico, you had to walk, ride or drive a team of horses or board a train." So opens this account of William and Jean Herrick's journey to settle in an area of our country that was at that time still the "Wild West." With a life that kept them apart for many years, Will and Jean told in their letters of how time moved at a different pace than today, where one can be on the other side of the world in a matter of hours. Everything took more time. The train trip was an adventure of up to a week of sitting and bumping along with few of the comforts of today's travel. Information traveled only as fast as the fastest horse, the mightiest train and the new age of the telegraph. Photography was also new; the first photograph was taken in 1848. Queen Victoria and the Industrial Age set the tone of the era. Both Will and Jean were college educated and this gave them a perspective on the world different from many pioneers. Coming from successful families, monetarily and academically, they set high goals for themselves, goals which changed over time as their situations changed. This extensive collection of letters and photographs describes William and Jean Herrick's struggles in their own words and gives us a vivid insight into life on the Frontier.