Mark Kenneth Santiago

Retired director of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Mark Santiago is a freelance writer, historian, and consultant living in Bisbee, Arizona. His 2018 book, "A Bad Peace and a Good War: Spain and the Mescalero Uprising, 1795-1799," won the Western History Association's Robert M. Utley Prize. Santiago's current book is "Hugo O'Conor: A Shadow of Ireland in New Spain."

Awards: Western History Association Robert Utley Prize

Communities: Arizona Author

Books:

Hugo O'Conor

A Shadow of Ireland in New Spain
History / Biography
Texas A&M University Press
April 2026
ISBN 9781648433443
Hardcover, 0 pages

Biography of Hugo O'Conor, first Commandant Inspector of New Spain's Interior Provinces, who fled Ireland, fought wars, governed Texas and Yucatan, and shaped Spanish military power in the American Southwest.

A Bad Peace and a Good War

Spain and the Mescalero Apache Uprising Of 1795-1799
History / Biography
University of Oklahoma Press
August 2020
ISBN 9780806167442
Paperback, 266 pages

Santiago challenges historical orthodoxy by examining the sustained Mescalero Apache uprising of 1795-1799 against Spanish forces, revealing the limits of Spanish military authority in northern New Spain.