Lynn Irwin Perrigo, PhD, an authority on New Mexico history, was given the Gaspar Perez de Villagra Award in 1984 by the Historical Society of New Mexico. Dr. Perrigo graduated from Ball State University and the University of Colorado. During World War II he was the director of the Midwest Inter-American Center in Kansas City and from 1947-1971, he was head of the Department of History and Social Sciences at New Mexico Highlands University. He is the author of over forty articles and six books on the American Southwest, including "Gateway to Glorieta: A History of Las Vegas, New Mexico," also available from Sunstone Press.