I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m always amazed at the number of people I meet at speaking engagements who have a direct or indirect link to Dawson.

That was true before Crosses of Iron was released, and it’s certainly true now that the book is available online and at New Mexico bookstores.

Cases in point:

— At least one person approached me before speaking at last month’s meeting of Jardineros de Placitas in Placitas, to point out a family connection to Dawson.

— Before and after my two presentations at the Albuquerque Grecian Festival, I met a half-dozen folks with family ties to the old coal town, including one woman who lived in Dawson through fifth grade and two sisters who were born in Dawson.

— As you might suspect, I ran into quite a few Dawson folks when I spoke at the Raton Museum.

— And, perhaps the biggest surprise of all, I was approached during my book-signing event at a Barnes & Noble in Albuquerque by Veronica Hernandez, who introduced herself as the niece of Augustine Hernandez.

Augustine was a guitar-playing coal miner from Mexico who performed on stage during the final concert at the opera house, which took place the night Phelps Dodge shut down its last working mine. He performed “¡Adiós a Dawson!,” a special song he composed upon learning of Dawson’s fate.

The front of the book contains the lyrics to the song in both English and Spanish.