His father immigrated from Spain, and the historian first studied Basque communities in the 1970s after receiving a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. The new book, he said, “deals with ethnic identity as well as Western history and literature that focuses on the Basques.”

Etulain hopes the collection of essays will appeal to readers interested in the diverse cultures of the American West, particularly New Mexicans, noting that Basques, including Juan de Oñate, played influential roles in the region’s early history. It also includes three essays examining Basque themes in Western literature.

At 82, Etulain maintains a writing pace that would challenge scholars half his age.

“I tell people that my father’s thumb is in my back, “said Etulain, recalling the family motto: Get ’er done.

After growing up on a Basque sheep ranch, he carried that drive into a career that eventually included leadership roles in both the Western Literature Association and the Western History Association.

He attributes his productivity to discipline rather than speed. For nearly 25 years of retirement, he has devoted about six hours a day to writing and research. Most of it done from home.

“Because of aging I can no longer travel much to outlying libraries and archives, so I work on projects that allow me to base my articles and books on subjects I can research through published books and information on my computer,” said Etulain.

Over his career, Etulain has written on Western writers, regional history, the Basque diaspora, Abraham Lincoln’s Western connections, and iconic frontier figures such as Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane.

At UNM, Etulain said he was most shaped by the tricultural environment of his students and by his work directing the Center for the American West and editing the New Mexico Historical Review.

Those roles “very much broadened my perspective on the American West,” said Etulain.

Though he says the record keepers will have to decide whether he is UNM’s most prolific historian, Etulain acknowledges that he hasn’t met anyone on campus who has published as many books. He is quick to add that colleagues such as Gerald Nash and Paul Hutton wrote works that drew wider public attention.

His advice to younger historians: protect your writing time. “If they wanted to make a name through published books, they had to save a good deal of time and energy to do that,” said Etulain. “Get their dissertations out as a book as soon as possible and then choose the next subject that would draw a lot of attention.”

With book No. 66 and No. 67 already underway, Etulain shows no signs of slowing down. He is currently preparing a study of Western historiography and another collection of essays on Pacific Northwest storytellers. His long-term projects continue to return to the changing interpretations of the American West.