Colombia's western Coffee Region is renowned for the whiteness of its inhabitants, who are often described as respectable pioneer families who domesticated a wild frontier and planted coffee on the forested slopes of the Andes. This book examines both of these legends.

""Muddied Waters" is an outstanding contribution to the history of race and colonization in modern Colombia. It invites revision of current interpretations of Colombian and Latin American regionalism."--Marco Palacios, coauthor of "Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society"