676. BROWNELL, Sam. Rodeos and “Tipperary” Including the
Life of Sam Brownell. Denver: Big Mountain Press, [1961]. 126 pp., photographic
text illustrations. 12mo, original maize printed wrappers. Fine.
First edition. Wynar 8902. Brownell (b. 1887) went to work
for the 76 outfit when he was eleven years old. He was a top rodeo rider for
many years, and one of his string, “Tipperary,” went down in history as one
of the hardest buckers of the rodeo game. Brownell worked until the age of seventy-three
as a brand inspector for the Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association and other agencies.
Introduction by Fog Horn Clancy. $40.00
677. BROWNLOW, Kevin. The War, the West, and the Wilderness.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. xvi [2] 602 [2] pp., numerous photographic
illustrations. Large 8vo, original black cloth. Fine in lightly worn d.j.
First edition. History of “the Great Silent Movie Makers
Who First Ventured out of the Studios into Dangerous and Distant Places to Record
History on Film,” with fascinating material on the Westerns of the early 1900s
and their authenticity. Fabulous documentary photographs. $110.00
678. BRUCE, Isabella M. The History of the Aberdeenshire
Shorthorn. Aberdeen, [Scotland]: “Aberdeen Press and Journal” Office [for]
Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine Shorthorn Breeders’ Association, 1923. [3] xii,
655 pp., frontispiece portraits, plates (mostly photographic), text illustrations
(photographic portraits). 8vo, original plum buckram. Binding lightly stained
and worn, a bit shelf-slanted, lower hinge cracked, endpapers browned. Rare
in commerce. RLIN lists 4 locations, OCLC lists 18 (4 of them in Great Britain),
and UT’s copy is at the Ransom Center.
First edition. Herd 349. Although little is known
about the early origin of the cattle that later became known as the Aberdeen-Angus
breed, it is thought that the improvement of the original stock found in Scotland
began in the last half of the eighteenth century. Scotsman George Grant transported
four Angus bulls from Scotland to the middle of the Kansas prairie in 1873 as
part of his dream to found a colony of wealthy, stock-raising Britishers in
America. Grant died five years later, and many of the settlers at his Victoria,
Kansas, colony later returned to their homeland. However, these four Angus bulls
made an enduring impression on the U.S. cattle industry. When two of the George
Grant bulls were exhibited in the fall of 1873 at the Kansas City (Missouri)
Livestock Exposition, some considered them “freaks” because of their polled
(naturally hornless) heads and solid black color (Shorthorns were then the dominant
breed.) Grant, a forward thinker, crossed the bulls with native Texas longhorn
cows and produced a large number of hornless black calves that wintered better
and weighed more the next spring, the first demonstration of the breed’s value
in their new homeland. This Aberdeen-Angus-longhorn hybrid resulted in further
crosses that created some of the West’s favorite cattle. The author wrote only
one other book, A Century of Aberdeenshire Agriculture (1908). $275.00
679. BRUCE, Robert. The Fighting Norths and Pawnee Scouts:
Narratives and Reminiscences of Military Service on the Old Frontier [wrapper
title]. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1932. 72 pp., numerous text
illustrations (mostly photographic), facsimiles, maps (one double-page). 4to,
original stiff tan pictorial wrappers. Very fine.
First edition. Sloan, Auction 9 (quoting Pingenot):
“The military careers of Frank and Luther North, who organized and commanded
the Pawnee Scouts Battalion, and based on correspondence with Captain Luther
North 1929-32. Contains photographs, correspondence, maps, detailed accounts
of the Massacre Canyon Fight of 1873, the Plum Creek Fight of 1867, the Dull
Knife Fight and others. Included is a photo of Red Cloud, dated October, 1876,
after he had been taken prisoner, plus pictures of many other chiefs and scouts.”
The book includes a short section of observations of Buffalo Bill in the 1883
Wild West Show (“Target Shooting in 1873 Riding an ‘Outlaw’ Horse...Some Observations
of W. F. Cody in the early Wild West Show”). $65.00
680. BRUFF, J. Goldsborough. Gold Rush: The Journals, Drawings,
and Other Papers of J. Goldsborough Bruff, Captain, Washington City and California
Mining Association, April 2, 1849-July 20, 1851. Edited by Georgia Willis Read
and Ruth Gaines, with a Foreword by F. W. Hodge. Volume 1: Washington City to
Bruff’s Camp. [and] ...Volume 2: Bruff’s Camp to Washington City.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1944. lxxxviii, 630 + viii [631]-1404 pp.,
frontispieces, numerous plates (3 folding), text illustrations, facsimiles,
maps. 2 vols., 8vo, original half black cloth over grey boards. Very fine set.
Publisher’s box not present.
First edition. Edwards, Enduring Desert, p. 36: “Death
Valley material of primary importance.” Howell 50, California 1473: “An
extraordinary Gold Rush document—one of the most comprehensive and informative
sources extant, not only for life in the mines, but also for its vivid and detailed
narrative of the overland crossing. Lavishly illustrated with Bruff’s own drawings
and sketches.” Howes R91. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 93: “Bruff
went to California with the intention of writing an overland guidebook. West
Point trained, he was the draftsman of the U.S. Bureau of Topographical Engineers....
In Nevada, the company elected to follow the Lassen Trail.... While recording
what he saw in his journal in eloquent detail, Bruff also produced a series
of sketches, diagrams, and maps unequaled in overland travel.” Libros Californianos,
p. 75. Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives 377. Mintz, The Trail
64. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 25. Of course, the emphasis
of this classic work is the Gold Rush, but there are passing references to cattle
and ranches. We include the book in this catalogue primarily because of Bruff’s
account of his visits to Lassen’s Ranch, which he also documents in one of his
wonderful illustrations (opposite p. 780). Lassen (born Copenhagen 1800, died
north of Pyramid Lake 1859) came to the U.S. in 1831 and went overland with
the American Fur Trade Company to Idaho and Oregon in 1839. In 1840 Lassen sailed
to Fort Ross and other California settlements, working for Sutter until 1844,
when he received the 26,000-acre Rancho Bosquejo land grant on Deer Creek in
Tehama. With hundreds of Native Americans, Lassen built and worked his ranch,
which became a headquarters for Anglo travelers (Thrapp II, pp. 817-18). Lassen
and Bruff (who was also a surveyor) laid out Benton City, an event described
in the present work. $250.00
681. BRUNSON, B. R. The Texas Land and Development Company:
A Panhandle Promotion, 1912-1956. Austin & London: University of Texas
Press, [1970]. xi [5] 248 pp., photographic plates, extensive tables, maps,
plans. 8vo, original dark green cloth. Fore-edges and endsheets foxed, otherwise
fine in moderately abraded d.j.
First edition. The M. K. Brown Range Life Series 9. The Texas
Land and Development Company broke up ranch holdings into tracts for sale to
farmers. In the Plainview enterprise, it promoted relatively high-priced lands
and tried to sell fully developed, irrigated farms. Brunson’s scholarly study
traces the history of the company from its inception in 1912 to its final dissolution
in January 1956. $30.00
682. BRYANT, Edwin. What I Saw in California.... Palo
Alto: Lewis Osborne, 1967. xiv, 480 [2] [8, index] pp., plates, folding map.
8vo, original pale green cloth. Very fine in plain white d.j.
Limited edition (1,500 copies); facsimile of the 1849 Appleton
edition, with added illustrations, index, and introduction by Richard H. Dillon.
Cowan, p. 81n. Flake 947n. Graff 458n. Howes B903n. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 95n. Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives 165n. Mintz,
The Trail 65n. Plains & Rockies IV:146n: “One of the most
detailed and reliable of all the overland journals.... Of further interest because
of its description of the life and times of American California before the discovery
of gold. It is one of the classics of California.” Rittenhouse 82n. Wheat, Books
of the Gold Rush 26. Zamorano 80 #12n. Descriptions of ranches of
Marsh and Livermore, vaqueros, saddles, spurs, horsemanship, skill with the
riata, hide and tallow trade, declining numbers of livestock with secularization
of missions, etc. “The principal product of the country has been its cattle
and horses. The cattle are, I think, the largest and finest I ever saw, and
the beef is more delicious. There are immense herds of these...” (p. 449).
$45.00
683. BRYSON, J. Gordon. Shin Oak Ridge by J. Gordon Bryson
or Pete Shady. [Bastrop]: Firm Foundation Publishing House [for J. Gordon
Bryson], 1964. x [2] 313 pp., photographic plates, text illustrations, map.
8vo, original blue cloth. Fine in worn and soiled d.j. with several large chips
and tears. Signed by the author.
First edition. Shin Oak Ridge lies in Central Texas along
the boundary between Burnet and Williamson Counties. Interesting account of
how the Snyder brothers had a contract to furnish beef to the Confederate Army,
who were undersupplied in Vicksburg. After Lee’s surrender they feared the Yankees
would confiscate any animals with Confederate brands, so they began converting
the animals to the Snyder brand, eventually making a mint selling the herd near
Brownsville. Tom Snyder became a large cattle driver, hiring hundreds of men
annually to drive vast herds from Texas to Wyoming and Montana. Also an account
of Dave Harrell, the first Shorthorn breeder in Texas. $35.00
684. BRYSON, John. The Cowboy. Garden City, New York:
Garden City Books, 1951. 78 [2] pp., consisting almost entirely of photographic
illustrations by Leonard McCombe, a few text illustrations and maps. 4to, original
wrappers with photographic illustrations. Small stain on upper wrapper, staples
rusty, otherwise fine.
First edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators
(Bugbee 20), (Remington 441); Western High Spots, p. 59 (“High Spots
of Western Illustrating” #117): “Has many good photos made on the Matador Ranch,
a giant Texas spread.” Herd 351. Photo-documentary by an Englishman about
C. H. Long, range boss of the JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. $75.00
685. BUCK, Franklin A. A Yankee Trader in the Gold Rush:
The Letters of Franklin A. Buck. Compiled by Katherine A. White. Boston,
New York & Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Company & Riverside Press, 1930.
viii [2] 294 pp., frontispiece, plates. 8vo, original green cloth. Very fine.
First edition. Cowan, p. 81. Edwards, Enduring Desert,
p. 36. Flake 961c. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 96: “These outstanding
letters range in date from November 24, 1846, to January 22, 1881.” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 27. In June of 1873, Buck writes of securing
a 30-square-mile parcel which will “easily keep 2000 cattle. We have over 500
now and you have to ride some time and hunt to find them.... They look fat and
sleek. The grass is now a foot high” (p. 244). In January of 1874 he reports:
“In the spring I shall either go to mining or go over to Utah and buy cattle”
(p. 246). In September 1877 he concludes that “the market here is very limited
and cattle are very cheap. My fine stock that I have taken such pains to raise,
won’t bring any higher price than common stock” (p. 265). $50.00
686. BUCKELEW, F. M. Life of F. M. Buckelew: The Indian
Captive, As Related by Himself. Written by T. S. Dennis and Mrs. T. S. Dennis.
Bandera: Hunter, [1925]. 192 pp., frontispiece (photograph of Buckelew in faux
Apache garb). 12mo, original grey printed wrappers, stapled. Good to very good
copy—fragile wraps worn and stained, staples rusted, first few leaves dog-eared.
Scarce.
Second edition, revised and enlarged (first edition, Mason, 1911;
only about 50 copies printed). Dobie, p. 32. Howes B108. Sloan, Auction 9
(quoting Pingenot): “Relates the capture of 14-year-old Buckelew by Lipan Apache....
He was taken to San Carlos near San Vicente in the Big Bend, and held captive
for about a year until he managed to escape. Aided by a friendly rancher, he
was taken to Fort Clark where curious officers, their wives, and soldiers viewed
him as a curiosity. At age 73 Buckelew permitted his daughter, Mrs. T. S. Dennis,
to reprint the story of his captivity by Indians, expanding on some details
not included by S. E. Banta in the 1911 edition. Includes much history of Bandera
County and its environs.... Very scarce.” Tate, Indians of Texas 2266.
Vaughan, Narratives of North American Indian Captivity 65. Buckelew was
living and working on the Davenport Ranch on the Sabinal River near present
Utopia when he was captured and adopted in March 1866. Buckelew relates how
ranchers could always tell when the Apache or Kickapoo were in the vicinity
of their ranches because “the restlessness of cattle always warned the early
settlers of the approach of Indians. They would come in droves to the ranch
houses and lay around all day and at night there would be a marked increase
in the number that usually bedded near the house. Often the scent of Indians
would cause them to stampede” (pp. 17-18). Buckelew’s book is filled with valuable,
detailed firsthand observations of the Lipan Apache—their methods of riding
broncos, hunting buffalo, rustling horses, raids, domestic life and rituals,
diet, rattlesnake cure, method of butchering beef, encounters with Kickapoo,
dances, gambling, marriage ceremony, etc.
A. C. Greene related some interesting book lore related to the photograph
of Buckelew in this book. Greene Library: “After [Herman Lehmann’s] The Last
Captive was offered by a Texas Book club, Bill [Wittliff] and I got a letter
from an elderly woman who said: ‘That man on the cover of the book is not Herman
Lehmann; it is Henry Buckelew. I know because I made that little Indian costume
he is wearing.’ Bill quickly redesigned the book with a guaranteed picture of
Hermann Lehmann on the jacket. However, Herman’s left foot was Henry Buckelew’s,
because in the original photograph, Herman’s foot is obscured, so Bill just
quickly adapted Henry’s.” $300.00
687. BUCKHORN CURIO STORE. Untitled accordion-fold brochure
in colored wrappers with flap: [recto]: Famous Buckhorn Curio Store “Museum”....
[verso]: Texas Longhorn Steer Horns over 8 Feet Tip to Tip Old Tex.
Chicago: Curt Teich & Co., n.d. (after 1922). Accordion-fold brochure with
9 color images on each side, length measures 73 cm. Very fine.
Promotional ephemera including illustrations of Old Tex, a longhorn
said to have the largest steer horns in the world. On the inside of the wraps
is a blurb about the Buckhorn Curio Museum along with two poems (“Hell in Texas”
and “Texas a Paradise”). Handbook of Texas Online: Buckhorn Saloon: “Albert
Friedrich of San Antonio began his exotic horn collection in 1881, three years
before the founding of the Lone Star Brewery, which has housed the Buckhorn
Saloon since 1957.... As a result of prohibition, in 1922 Friedrich moved his
business to 400 West Houston Street, where it was first known as Albert’s Curio
Store and subsequently as the Buckhorn Curio Store and Cafe.” $30.00
688. BUEL, J. W. The True Story of “Wild Bill Hickok.”
New York: Atomic Books, Inc., [1946]. 96 pp. 12mo, original stiff black pictorial
wrappers. Paper with uniform light browning, otherwise very fine, the wraps
surprisingly well-preserved.
First edition. Guns 317: “More or less a reprint of
the Life of Wild Bill [Guns 316].” Wild Bill chased his share
of rustlers, and served as sheriff of Topeka during the rowdy trail-driving
days. $55.00
689. BUFFUM, E[dward] Gould. Six Months in the Gold Mines,
from a Journal of Three Years’ Residence in Upper and Lower California 1847-8-9.
[Los Angeles]: The Ward Ritchie Press, 1959. xxiii [1] 145 pp. 8vo, original
half black cloth over black and yellow checkered boards. Very fine, in original
acetate d.j.
Reprint (first edition Philadelphia, 1850). Barrett, Baja California
389. Cowan, p. 83n. Graff 472n. Howes B943n. Jones 1229n. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 97d: “Observing the Gold Rush from its beginnings, he recounted
every facet of life including the tremendous non-mining potential of California
and the formation of government.” LC, California 198n. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 28n. Mostly on mining, but there are a few topics
of ranching interest: Sutter’s livestock, abandonment of ranches when gold fever
hit, “miner’s prices” for many items (including beef), observations on Spanish
ranching and horsemanship in the section on Santa Barbara, etc. $40.00
690. BUFFUM, Edward Gould. From Mexican Days to the Gold
Rush: Memoirs of James Wilson Marshall and Edward Gould Buffum Who Grew Up with
California. Edited by Doyce B. Nunis, Jr. Chicago: The Lakeside Press &
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, 1993. lviii, 389 pp., maps, illustrations.
16mo, original black cloth. Very fine.
Another edition of preceding. $20.00
691. BUFFUM, George T[ower]. Smith of Bear City and Other
Frontier Sketches. New York: [Printed by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount
Press, Boston, for] Grafton Press, 1906. xii [2] 248 [1] pp., 6 photogravures
from drawings by Franklin T. Wood. 8vo, original black decorative cloth stamped
in brown and gilt, t.e.g. Top corner bumped, front hinge cracked, otherwise
fine and bright, with tissue guards protecting the etchings. “Compliments of
the author” written in pen on front free endpaper. Beneath is a gift inscription
in pencil dated Christmas 1907.
First edition. Guns 320: “Highly fictitious, but Buffum’s
reminiscences of early days in New Mexico, frontier hotels, the Deadwood Stage,
etc. are highly entertaining, too. Scarce.” Fine press Western fiction with
photogravures is a combination seldom encountered. Buffum (1846-1926), New Hampshire
merchant and author, also wrote On Two Frontiers (1918). Eminent American
printer and type historian Daniel Berkeley Updike at his Merrymount Press “achieved
a reputation for the extraordinary care taken over details; it was said that
every sheet printed was examined by one of the two partners before being delivered
to the customer” (Glaister, Encyclopedia of the Book, p. 496). Painter-etcher
Wood (1887-1945) was born in Massachusetts and studied at Cowles Art School,
the Art Students League of New York, and abroad. Subjects and elements of the
stories include Idaho mining, gunfighters, Clay Allison, Soapy Smith, Bat Masterson,
Wild Bill Hickok, “The Cook from Texas: An Experience of Frank R. Culbertson,
Superintendent of the Tiger Mine,” Mother Jurgenson of the Black Hills (“The
Queen of the Bull-Whackers”), etc. Several of the stories relate to cowboys
and ranching, including “Annie” (set in California, relating a violent encounter
between miners and a gang of unruly cattle rustlers) and “The Story of ‘Lost
Charlie Kean’” about a faithful horse who leads a rancher’s lost son home.
$125.00
692. BUFFUM, George T[ower]. Smith of Bear City and Other Frontier Sketches. New York: Grafton Press, 1906. Another copy. Corners slightly bumped, light cover wear. Author’s presentation copy, with “Frank E. Curly from the Author” in pencil on front free endpaper. $130.00
693. BUFFUM, George T[ower]. Smith of Bear City and Other Frontier Sketches. New York: Grafton Press, 1906. Another copy. Corners slightly bumped, otherwise very fine in a bright binding. $85.00
694. BUGBEE, H. D. (artist). Branding with Pen and Ink
[wrapper title]. N.p.: [Diamond Shamrock and The Panhandle-Plains Historical
Museum, 1980]. [4] pp., illustrations by H. D. Bugbee. Large oblong 8vo, original
white pictorial wrappers. Very fine. Carl Hertzog bookplate.
First issue. Christmas keepsake. “As a youngster, Bugbee
was captivated by the old West, particularly the exploits of his uncle, T. S.
Bugbee, a pioneer Panhandle ranchman.... Through books and an occasional visit
to the Bugbee ranch, he developed a love for the range that he never lost” (inside
front wrapper). Full-page illustration of a cowboy on a bucking bronco, and
vignette of longhorns and herder. $20.00
695. BUGBEE, H. D. (artist). Season’s Greetings [Four
black-and-white prints of pen-and-ink sketches by Bugbee]. N.p.: Diamond Shamrock
Oil and Gas Company, 1969. Four prints in a dual-fold olive printed wrapper
and an outer printed partial wrapper embossed with the company logo and signed.
Each print measures 20.2 x 25.5 cm. Very fine. Carl Hertzog bookplate.
Christmas keepsake for 1969. “Had the plains of Bethlehem been cattle
country, the angels would have favored the cowboys with their chorus” (from
wrapper). Subject of the drawings are a remuda, herding longhorns, and two of
herders on the range. $40.00
696. BUGBEE, H. D. (artist). Four Christmas cards illustrated
by Bugbee, one with color illustration on the front. Very fine.
One of the cards is for Clarendon Press (larger, with color illustration),
in original mailing envelope (to Dudley R. Dobie). The remaining three are for
the Dudley R. Dobie family: one copy of a card with a single Bugbee illustration
of cowboys gathered around a campfire at night; two copies of a card with three
Bugbee illustrations, both in original envelopes. $20.00
697. BUGBEE, H. D. (artist). Two negatives and one proof of
a Bugbee illustration with the number “23” in lower right corner. N.p., n.d.
Negatives: 22.5 x 23.1 cm. Proof: 17.2 x 15.5 cm. Fine.
All the images are identical, a cowboy in chaps seated on the ground
with two horses behind. $10.00
698. BUNTON, Mary Taylor. A Bride on the Old Chisholm Trail
in 1886. San Antonio: Naylor, 1939. ix [1] 77 pp., 2 photographic portraits
(including frontispiece), text illustrations. 12mo, original green pictorial
cloth. Binding lightly faded, light foxing adjacent to plates (including title),
otherwise fine. With author’s presentation inscription: “Autographed for Mrs.
W. E. Armstrong by Mary Taylor Bunton Author of A Bride on the Old Chisholm
Trail in 1886. Please accept this little volume with my compliments and
as a slight token of my appreciation of the many long years of our friendship
and the courtesies you have so graciously extend[ed] to me. Wishing you a Happy
Christmas and Health and Prosperity in the New Year. First Edition. December
1939.” Related ephemera laid in.
First edition, limited edition (200 copies). Dykes, Western
High Spots, p. 80 (“A Range Man’s Library”): “Refutes the contention that
women didn’t go up the trail.” Herd 354. King, Women on the Cattle
Trail and in the Roundup, p. 14: “An excellent account of the author’s experiences
on a cattle drive to Coolidge, Kansas [from Sweetwater, Texas].” The author
comments: “I happen to be one of the very few women who rode the old trail,
and the only woman living today to tell the story publicly and give not only
the facts but a woman’s viewpoint of the trail generally as it existed at that
time.... I was the first woman to ride astride in our part of the state, and
you may be sure that it caused quite a stampede among the cowboys.”
$150.00
699. BUNTON, Mary Taylor. A Bride on the Old Chisholm Trail in 1886. San Antonio: Naylor, 1939. Another copy. Fore-edges foxed, otherwise very fine in foxed d.j. $75.00
700. BURDETT, Charles. Life of Kit Carson, the Great Western
Hunter and Guide: Comprising Wild and Romantic Exploits As a Hunter and Trapper
in the Rocky Mountains; Thrilling Adventures and Hairbreadth Escapes among the
Indians and Mexicans...with an Account of the Various Government Expeditions
to the Far West.... Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, [1868 or after].
382 pp., frontispiece portrait, engraved plates. 12mo, original olive green
gilt-pictorial cloth. Light shelf wear, hinges cracked, text browned.
Later edition, with the added information on Carson’s death. Cowan,
p. 84n. Paher, Nevada 235n. Saunders 2782 (Philadelphia, 1869 edition).
Plains & Rockies IV:353:3n: “Largely a compilation of stories and
legends. Parts are taken from Frémont and DeWitt Peters.” Smith 1264n. Wallace,
Arizona History IV:7n. Wynar 269n. Observations on stockraising at Mission
San Gabriel, several episodes involving ranches, many accounts of rustling both
by and from Native Americans, account of Carson’s 1853 overland drive of an
immense flock of sheep to California, buffalo, wild horses, etc. $55.00
701. BURDETT, Charles. Life of Kit Carson, the Great Western Hunter and Guide.... Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, [1865]. Another copy, variant binding. 4to, original terracotta pictorial cloth gilt. Upper cover stained, moderate shelf wear, a few stains to blank margins of first few leaves (affecting frontispiece and title). $45.00
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