Arizona and the Southwest at the University of Arizona Library Special Collections
- by Julie Carleton
feature article
1. Barnes, Will C. Apaches and Longhorns; The Reminiscences of Will C. Barnes. Los Angeles: The Ward Ritchie Press, 1941.
This is a narrative about Barnes’ time spent as a soldier and cattleman in Arizona in the l880’s and 1890’s.
2. Faunce, Hilda. Desert Wife. Boston: Little, Brown. 1934.
There are some accounts of life in Arizona written by women, this is one of them. Desert Wife is an interesting narrative about the wife of a trader on the Navajo Reservation just before World War I. Faunce, a newcomer to the Southwest, gives a first hand account of culture shock, friendship, illness, death and financial hardship on the reservation.
3. Rockfellow, John A. Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer. Tucson: Acme Printing Co. 1933.
Author was a gold prospector, rancher and cattleman. His narrative covers years spent in Arizona around 1878, providing a rich portrayal of characters and places in Arizona. University of Arizona professor Frank Lockwood writes in the introduction, “His store of pioneer experiences seemed inexhaustible, and what he knows he narrates with fidelity and gusto…it would be a misfortune if these lucid and racy accounts of experiences in which he played a part were not preserved in print and made available to the public”3
1. Bartlett, John Russell. Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua. New York: D. Appleton. 1854.
John Bartlett served as U.S. Commissioner for the U.S. Mexican Boundary Survey Commission. These two volumes are the result of his work survey. performed in the Southwest. It is referenced in AE Database via the Streeter catalog.
2. Clum, Woodworth. Apache Agent; The Story Of John P. Clum. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1936.
Written by his son, this book gives the account of the John Clum; Indian Agent and founder of the Tombstone Epitaph.
3. Gregg, Josiah. Commerce Of The Prairies: Or, The Journal Of A Santa Fe Trader, During Eight Expeditions Across The Great Western Prairies, And A Residence Of Nearly Nine Years In Northern Mexico. New York: H. G. Langley. 1844.
This is a noteworthy portrayal of the history of the Santa Fe Trail. University of Arizona Library’s Special Collections Department owns a first edition of this volume. It is listed in AE Database via both Streeter and Maggs.
3 John Rockfellow. Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer. Tucson: Acme Printing Co., 1933: xiii-xiv.