John L Kessell

Born in New Jersey and raised in California, John Kessell did not set out to be a professional historian. His work in the 1960s, however, at Tumacacori National Monument, site of a Spanish colonial mission, alerted him to the possibility. Returning to graduate school with new purpose, he earned his doctorate at the University of New Mexico, survived a precarious decade as historian-for-hire, and joined the UNM Department of History. His major historical editing project with colleagues Rick...See more

Born in New Jersey and raised in California, John Kessell did not set out to be a professional historian. His work in the 1960s, however, at Tumacacori National Monument, site of a Spanish colonial mission, alerted him to the possibility. Returning to graduate school with new purpose, he earned his doctorate at the University of New Mexico, survived a precarious decade as historian-for-hire, and joined the UNM Department of History. His major historical editing project with colleagues Rick Hendricks, Meredith D. Dodge, and Larry D. Miller resulted in the six-volume Journals of don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1691-1704. Kessell is also author of Kiva, Cross and Crown: The Pecos Indians and New Mexico, 1540-1840; The Missions of New Mexico Since 1776 from Sunstone Press; Pueblos, Spaniards, and the Kingdom of New Mexico, and East Orange by Christmas, the latter also from Sunstone Press. See less