Foote (Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute) documents the experiences of women in New Mexico from the Mexican War in 1846 to statehood in 1912, drawing on their writings, letters, diaries, military records, missionary reports, short stories, and scientific studies. She discusses the lives of women married to Protestant ministers and army officers, army laundress and nurse Ellen Williams, writer and conservationist Josephine Clifford, teacher Alice Blake, and ethnologist Matilda Coxe Stevenson. The book was originally published in 1990; the 2005 edition has a new introduction. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)