William H. Emory, The Heroic Opening of the American Southwest – Sedona

Lieutenant William H. Emory, topographical engineer, rode with General Kearny in the 1846/47 conquest of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Bold Emory, as he was known at West Point, fought beside the general at the Battle of San Pascual. Throughout his trek from Missouri to California, he recorded the terrain, its people, ruins, flora and fauna. His map opened the Southern Emigrant Road to travel and his published work introduced the Southwest to the American people and established the need for the Gadsden Purchase. After the war, he returned to survey our southern boundary. He was among the first to command a cavalry regiment.

Doug Hocking is an independent scholar who has completed advanced studies in American history, ethnology, and historical archaeology. In 2015, he won the Philip A. Danielson Award for Best Presentation. Doug, who served in Military Intelligence and retired as an armored cavalry officer, grew up among the Jicarilla Apache and paisanos of the Rio Arriba. Doug writes both fiction and history. His work has appeared in True West, Wild West, Buckskin Bulletin, Roundup Magazine, and the Journal of Arizona History. Doug on the board of the Arizona Historical Society, Cochise County Historical Society, the Oregon-California Trails Association, and Westerners International.