168. LEE, Nelson. Three Years Among the
Camanches: The Narrative of Nelson Lee, The Texan
Ranger. Albany: Baker & Taylor, 1859. xii [1]
14-224 pp., engraved frontispiece portrait. 12mo, original
blind-stamped brown cloth, title gilt-lettered on upper
cover. Endpapers browned and a few minor abrasions to front
pastedown, otherwise exceptionally fine, about as nice a
copy as a collector could hope to find. Preserved in a half
dark-brown levant morocco and marbled clamshell case.
First
edition. Ayer 182. Basic Texas Books 123:
"Besides drama and hair-raising excitement, this book
offers the best contemporary description of the life of the
early Texas Rangers, and one of the few surviving
eye-witness accounts of the life and activities of the
ferocious Comanche Indians....The accounts of the Texas
Ranger service, Mier Expedition, and Mexican War are
generally accurate, always fascinating, and add
considerably to our knowledge of those events." Dobie, p.
34. Dykes, "My Ten Most Outstanding Books on the West" in
Western High Spots, p. 21 (#1 on his second pick of
best Ten): "Mighty rare and a fine narration"; "A Range
Man’s Library" in Western High Spots, p. 86:
"Lee was a horse and cow trader and trail driver to
Louisiana before he was captured." Field 905. Garrett,
The Mexican-American War, p. 227. Graff 2444. Howes
L212. Library of Congress, Texas 219. Plains
& Rockies IV:333:1: "Lee participated briefly in
the Black Hawk War and was associated with Jack Hays in the
early days of the Texas rebellion. He was captured by
Comanches while on his way to California in 1855, and
married a Comanche woman during his captivity." Rader 2215.
Walter Prescott Webb in the introduction to the 1957
reprint of Lee’s account stated that "there is no
better description of the life of the Texas Rangers than
that of Nelson Lee." Tate, The Indians of Texas: An
Annotated Research Bibliography.
Pingenot:
One of the premier Indian captivity narratives. Lee
served in the Texas Navy and under Jack Hays in the Texas
Rangers. He fought at Plum Creek, served in the Mier
Expedition and the Mexican War, and then became a mustanger
until captured by the Comanches. Some scholars have
questioned the veracity of Lee’s larger-than-life
adventures. See The Handbook of Texas Online (Nelson
Lee).
($2,500-5,000)