Plainsmen period reading resources

[Caleb Hobbs]

RCJ -- those are some good suggestions, a picture being worth a thousand (or more) words and all. Bingham's work especially always put the everyday life of the 1840s into perspective for me. I'd guess that except for dress and transportation, not all that much different than what a lot of us experienced. Especially those of us who can remember life before the 1960s.

[Sacramento Johnson]

I have a copy of this one at home.  It's a very good treatise on the Hawken, and those who purchased and used it.

THE HAWKEN RIFLE: Its Place in History  by Charles E. Hanson, Jr. (of the Fur Trade Museum in Chadron, Nebraska)

Hi all!
 I have a copy of this, have perused it, and would like to offer it to any member here who would like it, for the cost of shipping.  PM me if interested.  Thanks!

SJ

[ol coot]

  S J,
   P M sent
 Ol Coot

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[Oregon Bill]

A little early, but a fabulous read is "Two Years Before the Mast." For fiction, don't overlook "The Big Sky" by A.B. Guthrie, who wrote the screenplay for "Shane."

[Tsalagidave]

Two-years before the mast is a great reference to Early Spanish California. Reminiscences of a Ranger by Horace Bell is a great description of Los Angeles in the 1850s. Both books are favorites of mine.

-Dave

[The Elderly Kid]

"Kearney's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-47" by Winston Groom. This only came out last month and I haven't read it yet but saw a writeup on it in the Albuquerque paper this morning.  It looks promising, as it seems to cover a lot of stuff besides the march to Santa Fe. If the author's name seems familiar, it's because he wrote "Forrest Gump," but most of his writing has been historical.

[The Elderly Kid]

"My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue" by Samuel Chamberlain. Sam Chamberlain was one of a kind. Born in Massachussetts, he went to Illinois as a boy and while still a teenager joined an Illinois regiment that marched to the US-Mexican War. In San Antonio Chamberlain joined the US Dragoons and fought at Buena Vista and other battles. His is one of the best first-hand accounts of soldiering in that war, and he had  very wide interpretation of "soldiering." Sam considered himself a great hand (or other bodily parts) with the senoritas and tells of being in bed with two Mexican sisters when their boyfriend intruded. The boyfriend attacked him with a knife but Sam got to his sword and cut him in such a fashion "as to render him of no further interest to the ladies."
After the War Sam joined with John Glanton on the famous scalp-hunt of 1849. His account forms much of the source material for Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian." This is the sole source for the character of Judge Holden, the villain of McCarthy's book.

All that said, one must take Chamberlain's account with a bit of salt, as he was known to tell some stretchers. For instance, he writes of his experiences at the siege of Mexico City, but in fact he was in a hospital at Monterrey when it happened. Nevertheless, it's an excellent account of the battle and he clearly interviewed many men who were there. He had distinguished himself at the taking of Monterrey.  For all his bombast, Chamberlain was the real thing. He re-upped for the Civil War, rose to the rank of brigadier and was wounded six times.

Best of all, his account is profusely illustrated with Chamberlain's own art. He was a self-taught artist and it shows. But he had talent and was a keen observer. If you want to see what people of all walks of life wore in the US-Mexican war, check out Sam's pictures. It includes the only known likeness of John Joel Glanton, portrayed luridly in a barroom in San Antonio, dressed in full charro fig, standing over a slain victim with a bloody bowie knife in his hand.

Some years ago a Texas press put out a coffee table reprinting of Chamberlain's book. It is very hard to find now, and very expensive. I wish someone would reissue it. For a sampling of Sam Chamberlain's art and writing, check out

http://tshaonline.org/supsites/chamber/

What I would not give to meet with Sam Chamberlain in retirement, sit down with him and a bottle (or several), and listen to him speak of his fantastic life.

[Tascosa Joe]

The Bodmer book was turned into a film/slide presentation by the Natural Gas Company out of Nebraska that owned a large number of Bodmer's paintings.  It is probably the parent to the Inter-North Art Foundation.  I saw it in La Junta, CO as a seminar offer to Friends of Bent's Old Fort.  I wonder if the film is available, as it was very good?

RCJ: You live in or near Omaha does the Joslyn Museum bookstore sell the film?

T-Joe

[James Hunt]

Suggest Ruxton of the Rockies the writings of George Frederick Ruxton describing his travels from Chihuahua up to El Paso, then up the Rio Grande, to Santa Fe and Taos, and exploring the upper Arkansas during the 1840's. Ruxton was a British military officer - and as a civilian some say a British spy - who by the age of 27 had traveled Spain, Ireland, Africa, Mexico, Canada, and the US fronteir. He died at 28 in St. Louis while on a return trip to the Rockies which he loved. He loved guns and hunting. Great primary resource. University of Oklahoma Press, edited 1950.

[LoneWadhi]

I've got quite a few books on various mountain men and explorers, but nothing on Walker. I'll have to check those out. Thanks.

For More on Walker read "Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard".  Leonard went with Walker to California via the Humbolt River in the early 1830s. 

[Caleb Hobbs]

Welcome to the board, Lone. I've read Leonard's book and remember there being a lot of good information in it. Many years ago, though, when I was heavily into the mountain man era.