Southwest Books

If you're looking for a way to celebrate Oklahoma's upcoming centennial, want to get a little more familiar with Oklahoma City history, or are curious about those notorious street jogs in the downtown area, then pick up a copy of this book and feast on a collection of photographs ranging from the Land Run of 1889 through the postwar era and beyond.

The book views the birth of Oklahoma City through the lens of a camera. The result of countless hours of research, it features a collection of historic black and white photographs recording moments in time that shaped the development of the capitol city.

Some highlights:
* Two townsite companies feuded over accurately surveying the townsite, resulting in strangely aligned streets
* Treeless fields filled with tents, horses and cattle
* An early photo of a May, 1896 tornado, described as a "twisting serpent-like cloud
* Horse racing at the first state fair in 1907
* Charlton Heston participating in a civil rights march

Many people like looking at old photographs of buildings and landscapes, but my favorite shots are of people, like the one of the conductor on page 79, poised on the steps of a trolley. He's grinning from ear to ear. What was his name? How did he get to Oklahoma? Where did he live? What was his story? Such is the power of a photograph.

I received a copy of a new coffee table-sized book on Reno titled Historic Photos of Reno, published by Turner Publishing Company. The author, Donnelyn Curtis, is a librarian with the University of Nevada, Reno, and Director of Research Collections & Services and Head of Special Collections there. Her pictures and commentary cover the first century or so of Reno from around 1868 to the end of the 1970s. I not only read the book and looked at the outstanding pictures culled from the university archives, I also shared the book with my landlord who has lived in Reno since 1947. We spent several hours browsing the book and reading the captions, and we both came to the conclusion this is the best pictorial volume about Reno we have seen.

Curtis took great care in selecting the photographs, all of them black and white, covering many aspects of Reno's history, including the Johnson/Jeffries fight of 1910; various businesses in and around Reno and Sparks; the rise of gaming in Reno; parades of note which included a parade featuring aviator Charles Lindbergh; the 1950 Reno flood; vintage University of Nevada, Reno, pictures; and even a picture of the original "Biggest Little City in the World" sign and how that came to be. Some of the businesses and buildings still exist, but for older people such as my landlord, those which don't exist anymore but are depicted in the book bring back a lot of memories. Curtis' captions and commentary are brief and to the point.

I can't recommend this book enough for those who are interested in local history as I am.

Joseph McCoy was the founder of Abilene, Kansas, and chief promoter of the town as a railhead for the cattle trade. After building stockyards in the town and laying out a trail stretching south to Corpus Christi (later known as the Chisholm Trail), he convinced Texas cattlemen to drive their cattle to Abilene. In its first year of existence (1867), 35,000 head of cattle made their way to the new town. Within only a few years Abilene was a boomtown with hundreds of thousands of cattle being shipped from it yearly. Seven years later McCoy penned this comprehensive history of the western (mainly Texas, but including Colorado and New Mexico as well) cattle trade.

Although chiefly concerned with the business aspects, McCoy describes many components of the trade, from the life of the cowboy on the trail to the packing houses in Kansas City. There are chapters on the difficulties with the railroads (especially the Kansas Pacific, which reneged on its contract with McCoy in the 1870s), the "Spanish fever" which infected many of the Texas herds, the prejudice against longhorn cattle because they spread disease among the other cattle, the effect of the Panic of 1873, stock ranching, and the famous Drovers Cottage in Abilene, the hotel built for stock buyers and cattlemen. McCoy's account is authoritative and interesting. Just as good is the long introduction by editor Ralph Bieber, which expands on McCoy's treatment time-wise, and is a concise though thorough history of the cattle business from early Spanish days to 1867, and includes a detailed biographical sketch of McCoy. Highly recommended.

Full of tips and details only somone who has been there could know. Refreshing, insightful and fun.

Dan Poynter, Author, The Self-Publishing Manual.

Great book for the research I'm doing for an historical novel. It gives information about the terrain, plant life, stage and train routes, mines and military reserves.

The product arrived in perfect condition, and promptly.

(I'm reviewing the 4th Edition Hardcover) This atlas maps and details an astonishing number of facts about Oklahoma. There's something for everyone: political (e.g. "Constitutional Convention Delegate Districts, 1906" , geologilcal ("Geologic Formations), biological ("Buffalo Country"), military ("Civil War Battlesites, 1861-1865"), and this sampling barely scratches the surface: my use of the word 'astonishing' wasn't mere hyperbole. Each subject has about a page's worth of explanatory text and maps of excellent quality. One of the strongest themes in the book involves the indian populations of the state: there are numerous pages, from "Early Arrivals, 40,000-12,000 BC"/"Early Big-Game Hunters, 12,000-8,000 BC" to the "Proposed State of Sequoyah, 1905", with meticulous maps of the various indian territories in-between, as they were created and modified over the years. This is a great book for any Oklahoman: The authors, and OU Press, have done a very fine job.

I was born in Gallup NM, and am related to many of the people in this book, including the Carolyn Volpe. I found many interesting facts about my family and friends of my family that I have heard about for years. Most of those people are gone now, so I found this book very good in providing information for events that I have no one to ask about. I truley enjoyed this book and think Carolyn did a excellent job.

I do a lot of genealogy in addition to loving history. Well worth the purchase!

A History Of Utah's American Indians is an impressive, comprehensive historical survey of Native American inhabitants of Utah, including six Native American tribes recognized as official entities and residing within Utah's boundaries. These include the Northwestern Shoshone, the Goshutes, the Paiutes, the Utes, the White Mesa Utes, and the Navhaos (Dine). Each tribe has its own government, while individual Tribe members are also citizens of Utah and the United States. The numerous contributors cover such issues as origin stories, religion, politics, education, folkways, family life, social activities, economic issues, important events, migration, interaction with whites and among themselves, war, trade, intermarriage, common threats and challenges. Of special note is the introductory chapter providing an overview of Utah's Native Americans and the concluding chapter summarizing the issues and concerns of contemporary Native Americans and their tribal leaders. A History Of Utah's American Indians is a remarkable and very welcome contribution to Native American studies and supplemental reading lists.

The updated versions by Marjorie Gersh are better for finding hot pools and hot springs, being both more complete and current, but they lack the compelling histories and stories that comprise the first three-fourths of this edition. Each chapter links together sites topically, such as hot and cold running water, natural bottoms, snowbirds, and a neat rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. I wouldn't give up my copy for any reasonable price.
NOTE: contains some not-very-discreet nudity.