Barbara Spencer Foster

Girl of the Manzanos Barbara Spencer Foster

Mardee's father Ben had built an empire deep in New Mexico Territory. He could look around him with satisfaction at his stockpiles of lumber, herds of fat cattle, pastures of sleek and feisty racehorses, and a happy growing family. But Mardee's turquoise eyes were searching eagerly past the narrow borders of their mountain home. She soon becomes an interpreter for her father as he presides over statehood meetings. And she meets Jeff Corbin, a young ambitious lawyer from Socorro, and her tempestuous heart is set on fire. Then when New Mexico becomes a state in 1912, Jeff goes to work for the new governor in Santa Fe and promises to help Mardee get a job in the same office. This is more than the young girl can resist. She leaves her family and the gentle half-Mexican boy, Frankie Moseby, who has always loved her. What will be her fate among the strong political forces at work in this frontier town? Will she make her mark on this wild new state? And what about Jeff Corbin?