Heroes of Glorieta Pass presents, in fictional form, the story of the heroes of a little-known Civil War battle. To be honest, when I think of the Civil War, my mind goes along the east coast and a bit westward. I'd never read of the battles happening much further west, all the way to New Mexico and beyond.

The protagonist is a rancher named Clay Ashworth. He has settled in the Utah territory and established a going concern on his ranch. Brigham Young has befriended him (although Ashworth has an ulterior motive for being in Utah), and calls Clay to help when a situation arises that threatens the supply and communication lines between the coasts.

Along the way, Clay encounters enemies from his past, new challenges in the form of a greedy Senator and his pro-Confederacy cohorts, and the beautiful daughter of a Mexican landowner. He falls in love with Consuela, but any pairing under the circumstances seems impossible to him.

There are several storylines being told simultaneously. Porter Rockwell makes an appearance, and plays a big part in helping Clay accomplish his purpose -- stopping the Confederacy from advancing past Glorieta Pass. The action is well described, the personalities nicely drawn.

There are so many characters floating around this story, there is a danger of losing track of them. But the author does a good job of keeping the characters distinct and memorable. The full range of human passions is played out against the tableau of an America about to be torn apart by war.

The primary author, Brad E. Hainsworth, explains in an introduction that this book was originally planned to include three authors -- Vetterli, himself, and Leo Gordon, a screenwriter. Sadly, Gordon fell ill and passed away before making any contribution to the book; Vetterli likewise passed away, but had already written parts of the book. It remained for Hainsworth to bring the project to completion. I'm glad he did.

There was one big surprise in the book -- an episode detailing what I can only describe as suggestive eroticism. (For those who have the book, it's on page 201. I called several friends, all LDS, and read the section to them. They were likewise amazed that this narrative made it through the editing process!)

And there is at least one discontinuity -- Clay arrives at Consuela's father's ranch in Mexico, badly wounded. But we never, as far as I can see, learn how he was wounded. The last we read, he was doing fine. I wondered who had shot him. This is never made clear.

Lots of interesting people habitate this story. The characters are very well drawn. One test I have in reading fiction is to close my eyes and see if I can picture what a character looks like. No problem here -- Hainsworth knows how to describe a character.

Will there be a second volume? Many things are left unsettled at the end of the book. I hope there will be more -- the author suggests that this may happen. Too many loose ends make me unhappy. Even Mr. Lincoln shows up at the end of the book, creating an opening for a second volume that I know I'd enjoy reading.

This is a good book, a nice way to close out the summer reading season. It is entertaining and educational at the same time. Congratulations to the author for producing a fine volume.

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Jeff Needle
September 4, 2005