The author recounts forty years living in a frontier border town, offering personal recollections of daily life, irrigation and commerce, and the social character of a small adobe community. He describes military engagements and wartime experiences, shifting political contests and Reconstruction-era disputes, and complex cross-border relations with the neighboring republic. Episodes of crime, feuds, assassination attempts, and law enforcement recur alongside anecdotes about mail contracts, transportation over the plains, and legal battles over property. Interwoven are portraits of local figures, reflections on enemies and alliances, and practical sketches of travel, governance, and survival in a remote region.