Ever since I was a little boy, I heard stories about my great-grandfather, William Hudson Kirkland. I learned first of the life and times of this pioneer while sitting at my grandfather’s knee. He told me tales of bravado and disappointment, success and failure. The episodes piqued my interest regarding the westward expansion of the United States and particularly the inclusion of the Southwest within the borders of the United States.

When I was seventeen a friend and I drove to Tucson, Arizona to visit the State Historical Archives. My friend was a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The volume of material concerning William Hudson Kirkland, along with many other family members, was a treasure trove. This research adventure to the State Archives “hooked” me. We drafted an article. Unfortunately, it was never published.

Some years later, my uncle commissioned a historical author to write a nonfiction account of my great-grandfather’s life. I must admit, I allowed too much time to elapse before considering how I could use the information. I was a little disappointed, however, I could only blame myself for my procrastination.

Life happened and it was thirty years before I returned to the Archives. In the back of my mind, I continued to toy with the idea of visiting the Archives again. My recollection of all the artifacts haunted me. After all those years I finally returned. To my surprise, I found the article draft we wrote included in the cataloged historical materials. I was absolutely overjoyed.

One day it dawned on me to write a novel using the life and times of my great-grandfather as a skeleton for my own creation. It delighted me to take the bare bones of his experiences and then embellish them as I saw fit. There was something delicious about the freedom to write what I chose. The working title was Joshua.

I hope to complete five to cover the current generation.