Under the Piñon Tree

Finding a Place in Pie Town

By Jerry D. Thompson
Published by UNM Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Winner of the Historical Society of New Mexico Fabiola Cabeza de Vaca Award

Raised in Catron County around Pie Town, Jerry D. Thompson is a well-known Southwestern and Civil War historian. Part regional history, part family history, and part childhood memories, Under the Piñon Tree traces the lives of Catron County residents and explores how the area has grown and changed since the Depression and World War II, when Thompson’s family first homesteaded the area. Those interested in storytelling and history will enjoy this richly detailed account. Under the Piñon Tree is a must-read for anyone interested in New Mexico and the Southwest.

About The Author

Jerry D. Thompson

Jerry D. Thompson is the Regents and Piper Professor of History at Texas A&M International University in Laredo and an award-winning historian. A former president of the Texas State Historical Association, Thompson has published over thirty books on the Civil War in the Southwest. His acclaimed works include A Civil War History of the New Mexico Volunteers and Militia; Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls: Joe Lynch Davis and the Last of the Oklahoma Outlaws, and Under the Piñon Tree: Finding a Place in Pie Town (winner of the Historical Society of New Mexico's Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Award).

Product Details

  • Publisher: UNM Press (May 15, 2023)
  • Length: 256 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780826364609

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Raves and Reviews

"This well-written, attractive, and valuable book will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. Those interested in New Mexico history, the rural Southwest, and a 'growing up' memoir will be very pleased with this pleasant and revealing story."

– Richard W. Etulain, author of Western Lives: A Biographical History of the American Wes

“Historian Jerry Thompson has written a warm, wide-eyed, engaging, and detail-rich memoir, from the perspective of his childhood self, of the hard life and hardy people who struggled not only to stay alive but to remain good to each other in the outback of western New Mexico between World War I and World War II. This is history and memoir at their best.”

– V. B. Price, author of Broken and Reset: Selected Poems, 1966 to 2006

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Under the Piñon Tree

Finding a Place in Pie Town

By Jerry D. Thompson
Published by UNM Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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