These essays explore the common roots of myth and history. Going back to the earliest Spanish explorers of the Southwest, Weber looks at some of the myths that informed the thought of Coronado and Fray Marcos de Niza. He then discusses the practice of history and the influence on historiography of such respected scholars as Bannon, Bolton, and Turner.

Students of that area of southwestern history known as borderlands studies will find the essays collected here reveal the need for interdisciplinary study of the land once contested by Mexico, native Americans, and the United States.