Noisy River: The Saga of Captain Paul Dowlin

About the Book

Ruidoso, Spanish for noisy river, is the name given to the burbling stream tumbling out of the White Mountains in New Mexico. These mountains and much of the plains to the east were inhabited by natives known as the Mescalero who have tribal ties to the Apache. It was alongside this busy stream that Paul Dowlin, an ancestor of Irish immigrants who migrated to the United States even before the Revolutionary war, found his destiny. He was born and lived in eastern Pennsylvania for over 30 years. His yearning for adventure and advancement led him to make his way across the country in 1859. Soon after his arrival in New Mexico Territory he joined the newly formed New Mexico Volunteers to resist the invasion by the Confederate forces and supporters. The fighting in the Civil War in New Mexico was brief; but the battles against the native tribes took much longer. Dowlin served directly under the command of Kit Carson, the commander of the New Mexico Volunteer Army in the Civil War battles and the major campaigns against the Mescalero, Navajo and other tribes. After separation from the army Dowlin was able to acquire land and build a thriving settlement in what became Lincoln County, New Mexico. At one time he was one of the largest tax payers in the county and one of the political leaders of the county and the state. He was always cordial to all people including the Mescalero, the Mexican descendants in the area, and the late coming Americans. The question is: Why was he shot and killed in 1877? He was unarmed and knew his killer. Ken Dowlin, a descendent of Captain Paul Dowlin has woven facts derived from 4 years of research in libraries, museums, archives, and site visits into family stories that were passed down from generation to generation. His education, career, and lifelong learning has provided him with the necessary skills to produce a historical novel based on facts and family stories.

About the Author

Ken Dowlin is a retired librarian, library director, and professor with 46 years of living and breathing libraries and books. He has a B. A. in History from the University of Colorado, a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. A perpetual learner, Ken learned from not only his education, but his training and experiences. In addition to his formal education he grew up in a small rural town, worked on a farm, served in the US Marine Corp, obtained a pilot’s license, and took courses in systems analysis and computer management. His service on boards, commissions, political organizations, and his travels around the world lecturing and consulting expanded his opportunities to observe the human species. His first book titled The Electronic Library: the Promise and the Process was published in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. Even as a young child he was fascinated with history and as a voracious reader his head was often buried in history books and magazines. He learned to read around the age of 4 while living with a grandmother who was a teacher in a one room schoolhouse in Nebraska. His favorite book was a fourth grade geography of the world that was filled with history. At CU he was able to take classes in the history of the American west as well as other parts of the globe. In retirement he has had the time to focus on the history of his family and in particular Paul Dowlin, his great-great uncle. The mill that Paul built in Ruidoso, NM stands today and is a testimony to the history of the area, to the family, and others who care about preserving the mill. Ken has written several professional books and dozens of articles on libraries and librarianship but has always had the yearning to contribute to the history of family and the west. Thus, Noisy River: The Saga of Captain Paul Dowlin was researched and written over nearly 5 years. It is a historical novel, as opposed to a work of non-fiction so that the stories handed down by the generations of Dowlin ancestors could be used to bring life the dry facts in libraries, archives, historical societies, museums and even electronic sources.