Oklahoma Books

Extensive history of the King Ranch Quarter Horses. A must have for those interested in Quarter Horse history. I have read it a couple of times, and refer to it often.

I found this book to be very interesting and informative, if a bit dry in areas. It was a wonderful insight to the people who help to shape the Quarter Horse world.

Isabel Crawford came fearlessly among the Kiowa Indians; among the last of the tribes to be confined to reservations. The work of all the missionaries transformed the lives of some of the Kiowa people and gave them a spiritual path that the Kiowa continue to follow. Crawford's recording of the words of these early Kiowa converts have the power to make one laugh and to weep. How poigniant the words of the old Kiowas, the so-called savages.

Isabel Crawford, a Canadian woman, came to southwest Oklahoma and was a missionary to the Kiowas for ten years. This book is a compilation of her journals which she kept faithfully throughout her years with the Kiowas, with entries that include personal reflection and testimonies from the Kiowa people. Crawford brought a unique perspective to life on a Native American reservation at the turn of the century. Crawford showed that most Kiowas respected her and she also had a favorable view of the Kiowas.

Most of her entries were written from a Christian's perspective and how she tried to share gospel with the Kiowas and in fact, many became Christians because of her. Crawford also with the help of the Kiowas built a church at Saddle Mountain, Oklahoma. Unlike some missionaries who preached to save the "savages", Crawford truly respected their cultural identity and in fact sought a middle ground, where cultural exchange took place. She told them that becoming a Christian would not change their identities.

This book is valuable because it contains speeches, conversations and testimonies given by the Kiowas which can help to increase our understanding of both their culture and the complexity of their relationship with missionaries.

I can't claim to be an expert on art, but I know what I like and I like Jerome Tiger (1941-1967). This young American Indian had a fabulous sense of color and movement and his paintings are just plain beautiful. Most of them have American Indian and Western themes. You've seen many imitators if you've perused the galleries in Santa Fe.

Tiger seems an overdue candidate for iconhood. He was a full-blooded Indian from Oklahoma. He was uneducated, never finishing high school, and untrained, although he studied for a while at the Cooper Art School in Cleveland. He was a boxer and street fighter, a drinker, and, most importantly, he died young. He was only 26 when he killed himself with a bullet -- apparently accidental -- to the head. He was enormously, instinctively talented at his trade and blissfully ignorant. He once asked, "Who was Michelangelo?"

His wife and cousin compiled this illustrated biography. It's well written, favorable to Tiger but not hagiographic. The story of his life is interesting; the reproductions of his paintings and drawings are wonderful. There is a drawing of James Dean done when Tiger was about 14 years old that is as good a representation of the "rebel without a cause" as I have seen. There are photographs of Tiger in the boxing ring, and riding a horse, and with his daughter. He was a handsome young man whose pompadour resembles James Dean's.

Most of all there are reproductions of his paintings, more than 100 of them, most dominated by the beautiful blue he favored and featuring American Indians in all their activities. The impact of his large paintings cannot be appreciated on the printed page but they are stunning. Tiger's output was enormous; he had a photographic memory and rarely erased. He once drew a locomotive in all its details from memory. He was a budding genius who, in my humble opinion, deserves to be in the first rank of American painters -- not in the first rank of American Indian painters, but in the first rank of American painters. And the movie of his life will undoubtedly win an Oscar.

Smallchief

Jerome Tiger, a fullblood Creek/Seminole has been a major source of inspiration for Native American artists since the 1960's. This coffee table size book, co-written by his widow, is Jerome's life story and a wonderful color compilation of his art. In 1967, he died at age 27 from a tragic accident and while he had only been in the art field for 5 years, his influence has been tremendous and ongoing. Jerome's widow Peggy tells his story in a sentimental way, and the book is profusely illustrated with color reproductions of his art. It is a visual feast, with his signature blue backgrounds, delicate lines and colors portraying powerful and spiritual themes. He shows what the Trail of Tears felt like, the sadness and hardship endured when the Southeastern tribes were forced to go to Oklahoma, Indian Territory then. Jerome also liked to portray children, playing stickball and dancing, and some of these are touched with whimsey. This book is highly recommended for those interested in Native American art.

This book provides much information on Ancient Egyptian society. The chapters are organized by themes, each dealing with different subjects, which include childbirth, education, entertainment, marriage, funerary beliefs and mummification. Written for the layperson, the reader will find many illustrations and an excellent bibliography for further consultation. This is a recommended study of Ancient Egyptian life.

A pleasure to look at, and a pleasure to read! The illustrations are superb. The text also is excellent. The author is not only an experienced archaeologist, but also an anthropologist, knowledgeable both in medicine and biology. Unlike many other handsome books on ancient Egypt, he does not stop at the impressive architectural remains, and the pictures and sculptures detected in the tombs, but uses them, together with additional material, to provide a vivid and fascinating insight into the lives and thoughts of the ordinary people, from 4000 BCE to Roman times.

This is a true story about a missionary, Isabel Crawford, and her work among the Kiowa Indians at Saddle Mountain in SW Oklahoma. She loved the Indians and requested to be buried in their cemetery when she died.
Her tombstone is there now, with the inscription as follows:
ISABEL CRAWFORD 1864--1961
I WILL DWELL AMONG MINE OWN PEOPLE.

Her story is very inspiring and I wish it would be made into a movie!

I have read this book, and founds it to be a very well written account of an inspiring true story. It is out of print now, but it should be put into a new printing so more people can read it. Our local libraries no longer have the book. One had a copy but it was a paperback and it literally wore out because so many readers checked it out.

The wonders of Carolyn Brown's romances never cease. She continues to create love stories that last in the readers' minds. "Lily's White Lace" does just that. Be sure to read her other Avalon Books romances and historical romances.

Imagine finding out before you say I do that your husband to be has been cheating on you. What a terrible feeling. But what do you do? If you're smart like Lily, you would leave him standing at the altar. But shedding tissue and tissue over leaving someone that you did love and trust isn't an easy thing. And never trusting a man again is even harder, especially when a fine man like Jesse comes along. In the end, stubborness does find a way out the window and Lily finds herself falling for Jesse, as he does with her. They know that they were meant to be together. And true love finds a way to bring them together always. This is a superb book and deserves a ten stars plus. Lily's White Lace is a book that brings love into any home. You will love this book from the beginning to the end. A ten stars plus for any reader. You will be touched by the wonderfully written story as you turn page after page. Great book!!!

Ralph Andrist, already in 1964, opened the doors for authors to follow, such as Dee Brown and "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Andrist tells the story facing eastward, part of his overall effort to incorporate the Plains Indian point of view into his story.

Putting the history of broken treaties and broken promises front and center Andrist paints a portrait of Plains tribes struggling to maintain an identity and way of life -- a struggle that continues to today.

After reading the other review calling the book revisionist...I was pleasantly surprised, by this book. I would call it very evenly balanced, presenting both sides of the historical record. Very equally balanced, and also extraordinarily well written. The author was a master of story telling. His historical accounts not only present events I had never heard of, they do it in such a way that you are informed and engrossed in the historical account.
Highly recommended for study of the Sioux, early Minnesota,plus many other tribes and states. (Osage, comanche, etc)
Your obt. servant,
Doc

Reading Maddie was like being there on the farm with her. I laughed, cried and felt like it was happening to me. Great book! Even adults like it.

Maddie is Sylvia Tomlinson's gentle story for young readers about the life of an intelligent, strong-willed twelve-year-old girl responsible for her share in the never-ending upkeep of her family's farm. First in a planned series about family farm life, Maddie is an empathetic, emotional, and meaningful tale addressing the challenges of growing up in a changing world. Enhanced with illustrations by Ginny Cartmell, Maddie is highly recommended reading for boys and girls ages 9 to 12.

I don't thinks it's too often that you'll come across a book that delivers just what it says it will. John Campbell has achieved this perfectly with his first class text and photos. As a work by a professional archaeologist this could have been the predictable dry words and dull photos that would nevertheless have been subject accurate but fortunately the wonderful images with their complete captions work so well.

Campbell makes the story of the seven million Homesteaders really come alive in the first four chapters. The following seventy photos (in 175 screen) reinforce many of the points with detailed captions and nicely these include a touch of humor here and there. The photos show dilapidated houses, barns and other buildings, household and agricultural implements, rusting farm machinery and vehicles. So many of the exterior shots show buildings just sitting on the empty Plains which to the Homesteaders must have seemed a daunting environment, not only to work but also to bring a family up in.

I think this is a wonderful book of an overlooked part of American history and the only thing that could have made it better for me would be a really classy art paper and finer screen to reproduce these remarkable photos.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This fine book of black and white photography and accompanying text portrays a period of Western development that flourished in the early 20th century and then died with the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. The author, an archaeologist by profession, has taken his camera to the states in the western Great Plains and the Great Basin of the Northwest and photographed the remains of homesteads that were once part of a thriving dry-land farming economy. There are photographs of abandoned farm houses, barns, schools, post offices, hotels, cemeteries, farm machinery and vehicles, and he has written a lengthy account of the period, based on research and personal interviews with descendants of homesteaders.

Today, where once stood prosperous farming communities joined by a network of roads and railways and served by a scattering of rural towns, fulfilling Thomas Jefferson's dream of a nation of small farmers, there is thinly populated ranchland, large hay fields, and expansive wheat growing operations. After decades of unusually high rainfall, these regions have returned to their normal arid conditions, which are unsuitable for dry-land farming. In some places, the prairie grass has reclaimed the land, obliterating evidence that the earth here was ever tilled. Only a few abandoned structures remain.

Campbell's photographs are fascinating and haunting. In many of them the vast sky looms overhead. Often in the distance there is a range of mountains, sometimes snow covered. The sunlight is bright and the shadows deep; the only signs of life are the grass and occasional trees. In all of them, the details are crisply focused, and where the landscape is flat and open, everything is sharply clear right to the horizon. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the West, images of the plains, and the history of homesteading.

Although I was expecting bold, daring and exciting tales of the wild frontier, this book does portray Manuel Lisa's vision, exploits and dealings in the fur trade of the early 1800's very well. From establishing Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Big Horn River and Yellowstone River in 1807, the book takes the reader along Lisa's other adventures up the Missouri River thru 1820. Supported by historical documentation from such men as Thomas James, John Bradbury, Henry Brackenridge and John Luttig, to the many correspondence letters from Lisa to others, Oglesby does an exemplary work piece of this man's life. Well liked by most Indian tribes but oftentimes thought of as an abrasive and badgering individual by the whites, this is a man who simply wanted to fulfill his dreams of opening the fur trade in the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. The book is not just about his adventures, as it is also about the business transactions, strategies, financial responsibilities, etc. associated with the heavily competitive fur companies of the day.

So much has been written about the great William Ashley period of the American fur trade in the Far West (c.1822-1840), that it's easy to forget there was a distinct pre-Ashley period, a period dominated by Manuel Lisa. It was Lisa, immediately after the Lewis and Clark expedition, who first trapped furs along the Missouri-Yellowstone River corridor.

Lisa was born in New Orleans in 1772 and began trading furs with the Osage about the same time Lewis and Clark set off for Oregon. He helped supply the expedition, and upon its successful return in 1807, Lisa made his first keelboat journey up the Missouri. He had always fancied establishing trade with Santa Fe, but the Spanish were never interested, so he set his eyes toward the northwest.

He established Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Big Horn Rivers, and formed the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company in 1809. After a few lean years, by 1812 enough furs were being brought back to St. Louis to make his efforts profitable. In 1814 William Clark appointed Lisa sub Indian agent for the tribes above the Kansas River, which ended up being a brilliant political move. This was during the War of 1812 with England, at which time the Indians were getting belligerent toward the Americans; Lisa had a sterling reputation with the tribes, however, being perceived by the Indians as always being a fair dealer with them, and this helped quell their opposition and basically kept the tribes out of the war altogether.

By the last year of his life, Lisa had made over a dozen trips up the Missouri. As in the subsequent trading period, the Blackfeet were his biggest nemesis: their hatred of first the British and then the American was absolute. During the winter of 1819-1820, Lisa apparently became ill, and he died in St. Louis in August of that year.

Lisa's trappers had explored all the important beaver streams of the Rocky Mountain West by the time of his death. He devised and established the system which combined trading with the Indians to keep them friendly with trapping furs, both done from an established post built in the wilderness. William Ashley would later incorporate the rendezvous into Lisa's system, but it would remain in place for years to come. Manuel Lisa was a major figure in the early West and should be better known and appreciated.

Oglesby is an excellent writer, scholarly but not dull. He writes with care, but even better he writes with style. He's a joy to read. Anyone interested in the opening of the West should read this book.