Frank Carlson Library

Reveals how settlements developed and how urban centers grew and functioned in ancient North America, from present-day Alaska to Mesoamerica.

The author chronicles his present-day journey to find Ciudad Blanca, the legendary White City rumored to exist in the rain forests of Nicaragua's and Honduras' Mosquito Coast, following in the footsteps of the explorer and World War II spy Theodore Morde, who set out on the same journey on April 6, 1940.

"Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots--ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims...