In ASU graduate student William S. Kiser’s first book “Turmoil on the Rio Grande: The Territorial History of the Mesilla Valley, 1846-1865,” Kiser adeptly illustrates events and decisions that make the Mesilla Valley an important part of American history.
Having been born and raised in Las Cruces, N.M., Kiser has always had in interest in Southwestern history. During his undergraduate studies at New Mexico State University, Kiser wanted to learn more about the region in his favorite time period, the mid-19th century. In the process, he decided to write “Turmoil on the Rio Grande.”
One of Kiser’s goals in having written this book is to encourage people to understand the developmental importance of this place and time period. He hopes that “the reader take(s) away a more thorough understanding of how the 19th century Southwest was influenced by larger national events and vice versa.”
Kiser also added that his education at ASU has profoundly impacted his development as a historian. Through the guidance of his adviser and committee chair, Professor Donald Fixico, and committee members, professors Jannelle Warren-Findley and Christine Szuter, Kiser said he has “learned to think more deeply about larger historical questions pertaining to (his) research and writing.”
As far as his advice for historian hopefuls, Kiser offered that persistence is a critical quality for those who want to pursue writing. “I received several negative reviews on my book and had to spend over a year revising in order to be awarded a book contract with Texas A&M. Thus, patience is pivotal,” he said.
Though publishing with an academic press is a difficult process, the five years of researching and editing Kiser took on to write the 300-pages of “Turmoil on the Rio Grande” has also served as a launching pad for his next project. Whereas this book is mostly fact-based, his next book, entitled “Dragoons in Apacheland: Anglo-Indian Conflict in Southern New Mexico 1846-1861,” incorporates more complex theoretical and methodological constructs in his interpretations of history. By using a different approach in his writing, Kiser hopes to make a greater contribution to existing historical Southwest literature.
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