Southwest Books

I read this book a few years ago and loved it. The story of the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil company seems so typically American. From the crooked Yankee come South who recognizes the coal that was a nuisance to the farmer scratching out a living, the New York financiers who put the enterprise on a secure financial foundation and did very well by themselves in the process, the immigrant miners, prosperous company town, self-taught geololgist who opened up the Ranger oil field, a gas-pump juckey who earned a raise in the midst of the depression selling lube jobs and treating his wife to a mid-week hamburger, the names which dot Fort Worth buildings and streets, this book covers and links up an America and Texas from frontier to the outlines of its present corporate complexity.

Every now and again a book is destined to become a classic. This is such a book. To describe this reference book as monumental is not using too strong a word. This is indeed a singular effort to provide scholars, collectors and interested readers with a must-have resource to understanding the origins and intricacies of some sought-after works of art.
For centuries collectors have coveted the hand-woven blankets, sarapes and ponchos of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish American artists of the Southwest.
Indeed, the popularity of these objects is increasing, as evidenced by the long line of cars and attendant crowds gathering in the high school auditorium in Crownpoint,N.M., on the third Friday of every month.
Collectors, buyers and speculators meet at the school to examine hundreds of handmade rugs created by native artists. These would-be buyers vie for the sought-after items in a high-speed auction. These monthly sales are testimony to the never-ending popularity of Southwestern textiles.
As for this book, where to begin?
The author became the first curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado Museum in 1953. He remained at that post until his retirement in 1986, and later became interested in the history of Southwestern textile development.
His exhaustive research led him to visit dozens of museums and painstakingly study thousands of 19th century textiles. He supervised chemical tests of dyes from hundreds of yarns and spent years conducting research in both renowned and obscure archives in an effort to document the material and basis for textile development.
His work resulted in a classification scheme for Southwestern textiles that established a baseline for understanding, identifying and dating items of unknown origin. This book is the result of that research and will be the standard by which all future efforts will be judged.
The book contains 115 black and white figures, line drawings that demonstrate weaving techniques, edge finishes and corner tassels as well as 191 gorgeous color plates that enable the reader to visually determine the distinct traits of the three textile traditions of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish-American blanket weaving art.
There are chapters dealing with fibers, yarns, dyes, fabric structure, tools, weaves and finishing techniques as well as 97 pages of appendix, chapter notes and an index.
This is a monunmental work that will appeal to scholars, collectors and general readers with an interest in the history of this Southwestern art form.

You can't beat a Blue Guide when it comes to accurate, useful, and detailed information, and Southwest France is no exception. 576 densely printed pages, this book thoroughly covers the Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine, including Dordogne, Lot, Landes, Tarn, Gers, Gironde, and the Pyrenees. Elegant towns, superb museums (many little known), chateaux, churches, valleys, vineyards, city maps - this is a total cultural and historical guide to the region, which encompasses a vast amount of territory. And it fits in your pocket, always a plus. If you just want an overview of the most popular sites, this would not be your best choice. If you are an off-the-beaten-track kind of traveller who likes to delve and find hidden gems, by all means, take BGSF along for the fun. You may want to supplement it with another guide containing photos, as Blue Guides typically include line drawings in black and white.

Part Italian and part Taos Indian, Bluefeather Fellini walked in two worlds. He was so handsome he intentionally scarred his face. Though he could have become rich as a cardsharp or famous as an artist, he embraced the hard life of a prospector. Yet when he found a hidden river of gold, he walked away from its vast wealth. And when he discovered the "Sacred Realm" beneath the earth, he knew for certain that his longtime sprit guide was more than a bothersome, enigmatic (if entertaining) apparition.
--- from book's back cover

I support Mexican's crossing the U.S. border they just want to live a better life. They need to cross it and enter the country free cause their whole life they had it rough and we American's need to show pity for them instead of acting spoiled. It's just like the Mexican president said "the latino's will do more work in American then the African Americna's can even dream of".

American don't have to worry about terrorist crossing the border cause their way over in the middleeast over sea's nad we have navy ship that can spot something unsual swimming in the ocean.

The Borderlands: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Politics on the U.S.-Mexico Divide, edited by Andrew G. Wood, is a reference gem for anyone professionally or personally interested in the border. Covering "the border" in the broadest sense, including the northern colonial frontier of New Spain and the contemporary states of Mexico and the United States that abut the border, The Borderlands encyclopedia is a massive undertaking and wealth of information. The 300 pages of topics expertly covered by 151 different authors include names, places, and events relating to culture, politics, economics, art, and literature, as well as phenomena particular to the borderlands, such as maquiladoras, agribusiness, and cuisine. A detailed four-page chronology is provided as is a 250+ source bibliography. For teachers, students, scholars, and historical aficionados of `Mexamerica', this encyclopedia is a must.

Gina Capaldi makes a substantial contribution with this book by raising children's awareness of Dr. Carlos Montezuma's long-term advocacy work for the rights of Native Americans in the United States. Born in 1866 into a Yavapai family and tribe and named Wassaja, which means "beckoning," he was captured as a five-year old boy during a brutal attack. When Wassaja's captors tried to sell him as a slave, they came across Mr. Carlo Gentile, an Italian photographer who had immigrated to America in search of new work and adventure.

Much of the book relates their experiences traveling across America and their subsequent settling down in Chicago. Wassaja, by then renamed Carlos Montezuma, excelled in school and was accepted into the University of Illinois at the age of fourteen. Three years later this talented young man gained admission into the Chicago Medical College. After medical school, Dr. Montezuma undertook humanitarian work as an advocate for Native Americans in the United States.

These inspiring and remarkable events in Dr. Montezuma's life are told through the book's narrative (which is based largely on a five-page letter that Dr. Montezuma wrote), sidebar facts underneath original photographs taken by Mr. Carlo Gentile, and a detailed afterword about Dr. Montezuma's advocacy efforts. The book is also a treasure chest of economics lessons about investing in human resources, the economics of education, jobs, work, discrimination, and land rights. Children will walk away with important lessons about how a small Yavapai boy became a reservation doctor who courageously fought to strengthen the civil rights and improve the economic opportunities of Native Americans.

I really enjoyed the book. There were many photos, and they were over a long period of time. I found the book to be accurate as I was born in Buckeye in 1938 and lived there through high school graduation in 1956. I have visited my family,the Narramores, many times through the years and the book brought back many fond memories. It serves as a good history to the new comer.

I found this writing to be an excellent source of information and reference material. Ms. Carter clearly has an extremely enviable position from which to view and record the unfolding Caddo Tribal Culture.

I was also enamored with the authentic Tribal photographs. This book contains very well taken photos of the Caddo Tribal grounds in Binger, Oklahoma and Culturally accurate Caddo Tribal members in authentic Native American dance regailia.

This easily read book is also providing me with many bits of information for my childs research projects.

Where We Came From is a must have book for your personal library.