“This admirable book fills a chasm in our appreciation of what it was like to be an Indian, priest, settler or soldier under Spanish rule in northeastern Sonora from 1640-1770. . . . Yetman enlists his wide ranging interests to breathe life into several olden manuscripts, and he smoothly weaves us an intriguing, compelling tale of frontier life under the Spanish Crown. Reliably and sympathetically portraying the personalities, politics, and complex self-interests of sometimes noble, sometimes villainous groups, Yetman brings history to life as you probably never imagined it. It is worthy of a historical mini-series.”—Southwest Books of the Year
“Yetman combines an interdisciplinary approach—social sciences and history—with a superb narrative style that makes the book accessible to historians and students interested in colonial northern Mexico.”—Colonial Latin American Historical Review
“Yetman has unearthed valuable archival materials that provide us with a new understanding of indigenous-Spanish relations during Sonora’s overlooked early colonial period. His work offers valuable insights into the intersections of environmental degradation, resistance, and brutal competition to govern and control scarce resources on Mexico’s northern periphery.”—Laura Shelton, author of For Tranquility and Order: Family and Community on Mexico’s Northern Frontier, 1800–1850
“David Yetman has written yet another book to enlighten his readers concerning the indigenous populations of Sonora, Mexico, and the impact on the lives of these people resulting from European intrusion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He has delved deeply into rich archival sources to allow this often tragic and maddening story to unfold through the words of Jesuit, Franciscan, military, and political participants as well as those of the few literate farmers and ranchers who ultimately appropriated Indian lands and other resources for their own. No one should be able to read this book without an outpouring of sympathy for the losers in the struggles, nor admiration for those very few who strove for a modicum of justice against overwhelming odds.”—Bernard L. Fontana, author of Tarahumara: Where Night Is the Day of the Moon
“David Yetman’s deep familiarity with the ethnobotany, culture and history of Sonora—especially the area that came to be known as the Opatería—serves him well as a storyteller. He offers imaginatively detailed and colloquial renderings of conflicts among colonizers of different stripes and indigenous groups.”—Susan M. Deeds, author of Defiance and Deference in Mexico’s Colonial North: Indians Under Spanish Rule in Nueva Vizcaya
