I am honored to announce that Crosses of Iron: The Tragic Story of Dawson, New Mexico, and Its Twin Mining Disasters was recognized with a book award last month by the Mining History Association at its 35^th annual conference in Gunnison, Colorado.

Crosses of Iron was one of two books selected this year for the Clark Spence Award, which is presented to the author(s) of “the best book in mining history published during the previous two years.”

The other work selected was Mica Jorgenson’s The Weight of Gold: Mining and the Environment in Ontario, Canada,1909-1929.

The award is named after the late Clark C. Spence, one of the founding members and first president of the association. Spence, considered by many the dean of mining historians, served nearly 30 years as a professor of history at the University of Illinois and authored more than a dozen books.

This is the second time Crosses of Iron has been honored with a book award since its publication by the University of New Mexico Press in October 2023.

Last year, the Historical Society of New Mexico recognized Crosses of Iron with its Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá Award for an outstanding publication in New Mexico or Southwest Borderlands history.

The book also was a finalist in the New Mexico history category for the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in 2024.

I want to thank the Mining History Association and its three-member book award committee for nominating and selecting Crosses of Iron for this prestigious award.