Yetman has unearthed valuable archival materials that provide us with a new understanding of indigenous-Spanish relations during Sonora's overlooked early colonial period. His work offers valuable insights into the intersections of environmental degradation, resistance, and brutal competition to govern and control scarce resources on Mexico's northern periphery.--Laura Shelton, author of For Tranquility and Order: Family and Community on Mexico's Northern Frontier, 1800-1850

David Yetman's deep familiarity with the ethnobotany, culture and history of Sonora--especially the area that came to be known as the Opatería--serves him well as a storyteller. He offers imaginatively detailed and colloquial renderings of conflicts among colonizers of different stripes and indigenous groups.--Susan M. Deeds, author of Defiance and Deference in Mexico's Colonial North: Indians Under Spanish Rule in Nueva Vizcaya

David Yetman's deep familiarity with the ethnobotany, culture and history of Sonora--especially the area that came to be known as the Opatería--serves him well as a storyteller. He offers imaginatively detailed and colloquial renderings of conflicts among colonizers of different stripes and indigenous groups.--Susan M. Deeds, author of Defiance and Deference in Mexico's Colonial North: Indians Under Spanish Rule in Nueva Vizcaya