The Legend of Ponciano Gutiérrez and the Mountain Thieves

Once upon a time, in the Mora Valley of northern New Mexico, there lived a farmer named Ponciano Gutiérrez. On a trip through the mountains he was taken captive by Vicente Silva and his gang of robbers and thieves. This tale of Ponciano’s quick-witted escape has been a bedtime story for generations in the Paiz family. New Mexico authors at the turn of the last century published many accounts of the crimes of Vicente Silva. This book is the first to present a Silva legend that has been kept alive by families in Mora since the 1890s. The Paiz family version is presented in English with a Spanish translation by A. Gabriel Meléndez.

A. Gabriel Melendez and the Paiz Family, Illustrations by Amy Córdova
The Legend of Ponciano Gutiérrez and the Mountain Thieves
(University of New Mexico Press, 2013)
40 pages, 18 color illustrations
2013 Southwest Book of the Year