1890. FERGUSON, Charles D. The Experiences of a Forty-Niner
during Thirty-Four Years’ Residence in California and Australia. Cleveland:
Williams Publishing Company, 1888. xviii, 7-507 pp., frontispiece portrait,
engraved plates, text illustrations. 8vo, original maroon gilt-stamped decorative
cloth. Light shelf wear, a few spots to edges of text block, otherwise fine.
First edition. Cowan, p. 206. Eberstadt, Modern
Narratives of the Plains and the Rockies 159. Flake 3324. Graff 1305. Guns 707: “Scarce.” Kurutz, The California Gold
Rush 235a. Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives 443. Mintz, The
Trail 148: “Ferguson worked in such California mining towns as Nevada
City, and (on the Feather River) Gold Run. He describes his overland sojourn
via South Pass and Salt Lake City, which he actually undertook in 1850.” Rocq
5986. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 74.
This standard California Gold Rush book is one of few works
covering both the American and the Australian gold rushes. It is also contains
one of the few firsthand accounts of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion that took
place in New Zealand in 1850. We have a rather unusual cattle drive to report:
While mining in Australia, Ferguson and his partner, realizing the scarcity of
cattle in the Beechworth mining district, decided to purchase cattle in New South
Wales and drive them back to the mines. Because there were no banks on the 350-mile
road to their destination, they took cash. They were well aware of the presence
of robbers on the road (“The country was full of bush-rangers, and there
was not a week but someone was stuck-up, so it was necessary for us to be well
mounted” p. 340). Ferguson and his partner encountered fellow cattle-trader
and drover Canadian Dan Sweeney and decided to join forces for protection and
unite the herds they intended to buy into one drove. At Bombaloo, they purchased
five hundred cattle at $12.75 a head. “We had to be with [the cattle] night
and day, especially at night, in case of a stampede. We gave them their own time
in driving, for they were all prime beef and we wanted them to hold their own,
for if we rushed them they were sure to waste” (pp. 342-43).
In chapter 25 Ferguson tells his experiences in Australia
relating to wild horses and how he took up horse-taming based on his childhood
experiences in Ohio and by applying the principles found in Rarey’s famous
book (see Herd 1863). The author served as foreman of the 1860 Victorian
Exploring Expedition, the first transcontinental survey of Australia. The caravan
Ferguson oversaw was exotic, with respect to both men and animals, including
twenty-six camels overseen by two East Indiamen. “The caravan caused no
little commotion in traversing the settled portion of the country.... Cattle
and horses along the route stampeded from terror at the sight, and even at the
smell of the camels, wafted on the breeze in advance of their appearance. It
was said that some wild horses on the ranches ran thirty miles before stopping.”
We’ve handled copies of this book numerous times without
realizing fully what resides within. And we didn’t even mention Lord Trotter’s
sheep empire, the cattle kings of Australia, lynch law Down Under, or stock breeding
and noted horses in Australia. This riveting book with amusing illustrations
is required reading for anyone conducting comparative research on the American
West and Australia in the nineteenth century. $175.00
Item 1890
1891. FERGUSON, Charles D. California Gold Fields. Oakland:
Biobooks, 1948. xvii [2] 163 [1] pp., chapter heading illustrations by Victor
R. Anderson, folding map (facsimile of John B. Trask’s 1853 Topographical
Map of Mineral Districts of California). 8vo, original gold cloth. Very
fine.
Limited edition (750 copies), with only the California
portion of Ferguson’s narrative. California Centennial Editions 14. Foreword
by Joseph A. Sullivan. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 235c.
Rocq 5988. The first edition is rich with material on ranching and trail driving
Down Under. The California portion of Ferguson’s book contains occasional
references of ranching interest, such as Adams of Long Bar, who drove small herds
of cattle from the Sacramento flats and was almost eaten by a grizzly bear when
he was counting and salting down his cattle (pp. 88-89). $40.00
1892. FERGUSSON, Erna. Albuquerque. Albuquerque:
Merle Armitage Editions, [1947]. [10] 87 [2] pp., text illustrations from drawings
by Li Brown. 8vo, original black cloth lettered in red. Light shelf wear, otherwise
a fine copy in slightly rubbed d.j.
First edition. Campbell, pp. 121-22: “History,
description, and memories of old-timers. Interpretive and anecdotal.” Guns 709: “Some
short, but new, stories about Elfego Baca.”
Fergusson asserts that Albuquerque is the microcosm of the
Southwest: “Sitting at the crossroads of the centuries, Albuquerque has
seen every phase of Southwestern life, has participated in most of it, still
has walking up and down its streets people who represent every period of its
long history—Indians, Mexicans, cattle and sheep men, modern booster, and
Easterners in what they consider Western garb.” Fergusson discusses Native
American cowboys, how the large land grants created a hacienda life style, and
the evolution away from a rural-centered culture (Chapter 4: “From Rodeo
to Rotary”), etc. $35.00
1893. FERGUSSON, Erna. Murder and Mystery in New Mexico. Albuquerque:
Merle Armitage Editions, [1948]. 192 [4] [8, photographic plates] pp., frontispiece
by Peter Hurd, silhouettes by Al Ewers, endpaper map. 8vo, original black cloth.
Fine in d.j. with Hurd illustration (d.j. neatly reinforced with cloth tape
on verso at spine and with one tear). Bookplate of Father Stanley (Stanley
Francis Louis Crocchiola) and author’s signed letter to Stanley asking
a research question (taped to lower pastedown).
First edition. Campbell, p. 71 “Billy the Kid,
among others. Very readable”; p. 167: “Nine well-sifted historically
true accounts of killings which took place in New Mexico...from 1890 to 1935.” Dykes, Fifty
Great Western Illustrators (Hurd 72). Guns 710. In addition to Lincoln
County War and Billy the Kid coverage, included is a chapter on Albert J. Fountain
(served as attorney for the New Mexico Stock Association following “The
Kid” era), Black Jack Ketchum (discussing his propensity to seek work as
cowhands when laying low from the law), etc. $50.00
1894. FERGUSSON, Erna. Murder and Mystery in New Mexico. Albuquerque: Merle Armitage Editions, [1948]. Another copy. Carl Hertzog’s copy, with his bookplate. A few light stains to fore-edges, otherwise fine in slightly worn d.j. $35.00
1895. FERGUSSON, Erna. Murder and Mystery in New Mexico. Albuquerque: Merle Armitage Editions, [1948]. Another copy. Light shelf wear, bookplate on front pastedown, fine in worn, soiled and chipped d.j. The Josey copy, with Dorothy and Clint Josey’s bookplate on endpaper. $35.00
1896. FERGUSSON, Erna. New Mexico: A Pageant of Three Peoples. New
York: Knopf, 1951. [1] xii [2] 408, vi [1] pp., tinted frontispiece map, photographic
plates, text map. 8vo, original pale green pictorial cloth. Spine slightly
darkened and with a few abrasions, otherwise fine in chipped d.j. Leaf with
author’s signature laid in.
First edition. Campbell, p. 106. Dobie, p. 19: “Essayical
in form, it treats only of the consequential. It evaluates from the point of
view of good taste, good sense, and an urbane comprehension of democracy....
A cultivated mind can take pleasure in this interpretation of New Mexico—and
that marks it as a solitary among histories of neighboring states.” Herd 801.
A general history of New Mexico, with particular emphasis
on the cultural dynamics among and between Native Americans, Hispanics, and Anglos,
with cattle and sheep raising constituting a pervasive background. Included is
material on Oñate’s bringing cattle to New Mexico, the Bell Ranch,
Eusebio Kino (father of cattle ranching in the southwest), Albert B. Fall, Albert
J. Fountain, John Chisum, Agnes Morley Cleaveland, the “Rawhiders,” etc.
The excellent documentary photographs include several relating to ranching $50.00
1897. FERGUSSON, Erna. New Mexico: A Pageant of Three Peoples. New York: Knopf, 1951. Another copy. Front endpapers with some offsetting from a related newspaper article laid in (book review by J. Frank Dobie), otherwise fine in slightly worn d.j. Carl Hertzog’s copy, with his bookplate. $40.00
1898. FERGUSSON, Erna. New Mexico: A Pageant of Three Peoples. New York: Knopf, 1951. Another copy. Binding slightly discolored, otherwise a fine copy in price-clipped d.j. with a few small voids on rear panel. $35.00
1899. FERGUSSON, Erna. Our Southwest. New York: Knopf,
1952. [13] 376, vi [2] pp., photographic plates (by Ruth Frank and Laura Gilpin),
foldout maps, colored double-page map by Miguel Covarrubias, endpaper maps.
8vo, original red cloth. Very fine in fine d.j. illustrated by Miguel Covarrubias
(price-clipped). Carl Hertzog’s copy, with his bookplate.
First edition, fourth printing. Campbell, p. 106. Dobie,
p. 14. Guns 711. Herd 802. Saunders 4083n: “History, description,
manners and customs, language, industries.” Fergusson opens with that perennial
question, “What is the Southwest?” Fergusson includes information
on the range cattle business as it evolved in the Southwest (Charlie Goodnight,
Will C. Barnes, Lincoln County War, John Chisum, Jesse Chisholm, Maxwell grant,
cattle trails, etc.). Some of the excellent photographic plates relate to ranching.
Includes material on Big Bend. $20.00
1900. FERGUSSON, Harvey. Rio Grande. New York:
Knopf, 1936. [3] x, 296, viii [2] pp., photographic plates. 8vo, original tan
pictorial burlap. Slight shelf wear, small spot to upper fore-edge. Otherwise
fine in torn and worn d.j.
First edition, fourth printing (first printing 1933).
Campbell, pp. 106, 167: “History of the valley of the Rio Grande and the
Southwest region, beginning with the Pueblo builders and continuing to the present
day.” Dobie, p. 40: “Best interpretation yet written of upper Mexican
class.” Guns 712n: “Has quite a bit of material on Elfego
Baca, as well as some on Billy the Kid, Joel Fowler, and others.” Herd 803n.
Saunders 4086n.
The chapter “Longhorns and Six Shooters” has information
on the cattle industry in the Rio Grande Valley: “With the buffalo went
the Indian and with the cattle came the cowboy. Created by that northward sweep
of the longhorned herds he was briefly the dominant figure in the whole southwest
as the mountain man had been before him and the Mexico rico before that” (p.
240). $10.00
1901. FERGUSSON, Harvey. Rio Grande. New York:
Knopf, 1945. [2] x, 296, viii pp., photographic plates. 8vo, original dark
blue cloth. Light shelf wear, otherwise a fine copy. Carl Hertzog bookplate.
Dallas bookseller McMurray’s printed label on rear pastedown.
First edition, fifth printing. $10.00
1902. [FERRIL, Will C. (ed.)]. Sketches of Colorado in Four
Volumes, Being an Analytical Summary and Biographical History of the State
of Colorado.... Volume 1 [all published]. Denver: Western Press Bureau
Co., 1911. 419 pp., illustrations, portraits. 4to, original black gilt-lettered
leatherette. Hinges cracked and slight outer wear, otherwise fine and fresh,
much better than usually found.
First edition. Wilcox, p. 44. Wynar 33. This mug book
includes biographies and photographs of prominent Colorado stockmen, such as
John Iliff, among the first of the Colorado ’59ers seeking gold. Realizing
that the vast army of gold-seekers must be fed, Iliff quickly turned his attention
to supplying provisions and within a year and a half invested all he had in a
small herd of cattle that was the beginning of his vast fortune on the hoof.
“[Iliff] made the cattle business a study, giving to
it his almost entire attention and best efforts. He mastered its every detail,
gaining experience as the business developed. The influence of his life upon
the pastoral interests of Colorado and the West cannot be overestimated. He blazed
the cattle trails for the great industry from Texas to the ranges of Montana.
His operations were bold and daring. He was a man of indomitable will and perseverance.
Whether facing the blizzards of the mountains and plains, or sweltering in the
heat of the southern trails, or with courage checking a stampede of startled
or storm-driven herds, he was quiet and unassuming, but always the man of nerve
and steel. He declined to carry the weapons borne by many a cowboy of a later
period, and at all times refused to take intoxicating liquors. He lived on friendly
terms with the Indians and they with him. In business tact, integrity, and good
morals his name was a synonym for all that is best in a business career and that,
too, amid the wild life of the Far West. At the time of his death, he owned perhaps
the best cattle range in the world, containing 20,000 acres of pasturage, and
some of the finest springs and grazing valleys of the West” (pp. 282-83).
$350.00
Item 1902
Item 1902
1903. FERRIS, Benjamin G. Utah and the Mormons: The History,
Government, Doctrines, Customs, and Prospects of the Latter-Day Saints. From
Personal Observation during a Six Months’ Residence at Great Salt Lake
City. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1854. 347 pp., wood-engraved frontispiece
portrait of Joseph Smith and numerous text illustrations (7 attributed to
Theodore Rabuske, all engraved by Richardson-Cox). 8vo, original blue embossed
cloth. Shelf-worn, mild to moderate age-toning to endsheets and first and
last few leaves, hinges loose, internally fine.
First edition. Flake 3328. Hamilton, Early American
Book Illustrators and Wood Engravers 1174. Howes F98. Mattes, Platte River
Road Narratives 1164. Mintz, The Trail 149: “The plates include
many of the well known overland scenes such as Chimney Rock and Devil’s
Gate, plus a number of scenes of Mormon life.” Paher, Nevada 589. Plains & Rockies IV:238b:1: “Ferris
served in the Utah Territorial government in 1852-53. His wife...accompanied
him and also wrote of Utah and the Mormons.” Brief mention made of various
cattle enterprises of the Mormons in Utah, including the unsuitability of the
saltwater basins of northern Utah for livestock. $250.00
1904. FERRIS, Benjamin G. Utah and the Mormons.... New York: Harper and Brothers, 1854. Another copy, variant binding. 8vo, original purple embossed cloth. Spine sunned, one spot on upper cover, front endpaper removed, internally fine. $225.00
1905. FERRIS, Mrs. B. G. [Cornelia] . The Mormons at Home;
with Some Incidents of Travel from Missouri to California, 1852-3. In a Series
of Letters. New York & London: Dix & Edwards, Sampson Low, 1856.
viii, 299 [4, ads] pp. 8vo, original dark brown ribbed embossed cloth, spine
gilt decorated and lettered. Slightly shelf-worn and slanted, extremities
lightly chipped and frayed, spine a bit faded, intermittent light stains
and spotting to text, small piece missing from upper corner of front flyleaf
and pastedown with four abraded spots where bookplate was removed, overall
a good copy. Contemporary ink ownership inscription of Lucy Ellsworth on
front free endpaper.
First book edition (first issued in a series of letters
in Putnam’s Monthly under the title “Female Life among the
Mormons”). Bradford 1652. Cowan, p. 207. Flake 330. Graff 1308. Howes F99.
Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives 1165: “In her cultivated journalistic
style, she dwells on the peculiarities of some of her traveling companions as
well as sharp vignettes from the vantage point of a non-emigrant.” Mintz, The
Trail 150. Plains & Rockies IV:274. The author, who was the wife
of the late U.S. Secretary for Utah, includes much of interest for women’s
history (“Elder Snow and his Six Wives,” “A Wife’s Confession,” “Conversation
with a Wife of Brigham Young,” “A Wedding,” “A Woman’s
Martyrdom”). Her account encompasses several cattle-related incidents and
observations during her overland journey: stampedes, roundups, presence of imported
breeds in Mormon herds, Capt. Egan’s cattle drives from Utah to California,
corrals constructed in stockade style, white hunter at Ogden Hole who married
a chief’s daughter and gathered a large herd he drove to California, etc.
$200.00
1906. FETLER, John. The Pikes Peak People: The Story of America’s
Most Popular Mountain.... Caldwell: Caxton Printers, 1966. [2] 296 pp.,
frontispiece after an 1879 print, photographic plates. 8vo, original aqua
decorative cloth. Very fine in very fine d.j.
First edition. Wynar 549. Introduction by Marshall
Sprague. The section on trail rides from Colorado Springs to Pikes Peak includes
descriptions of area ranches along the way. Chapter 39 is devoted to the establishment
in 1949 of the riding club known as the Range Riders. $40.00
1907. FIELD, Maria Antonia. Where Castilian Roses Bloom, Memoirs.... [San
Francisco: Grabhorn Press] Privately printed, 1954. [12] 142 [1] pp., frontispiece,
numerous plates. 4to, original beige linen over gilt decorated blue boards,
paper label on spine. Gift inscription on front free endpaper, otherwise a
fine copy.
Limited edition (500 copies). Grabhorn 548. Rocq 5685.
Memoirs of Maria Antonia Field, a lifelong resident of Monterey who descended
from a family of rancheros. $60.00
1908. [FIELD, Matt]. Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail, Collected
by Clyde and Mae Reed Porter. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, [1960].
xxix [1] 322 pp., photographic plates (scenes, views, portraits). 8vo, original
green cloth. Very fine in fine d.j. Signed by editor.
First edition. Rittenhouse 470: “In 1839 Matt
Field went over the Santa Fe Trail with a caravan.” See Plains & Rockies IV:104.
Tate, Indians of Texas 2240: “Contains some discussion of Comanches
along the Santa Fe Trail and around Bent’s Fort.” There is a good
section on the Mexican ranchero, including their method of roping buffalo
(pp. 244-247). $65.00
1909. FIELDING, Loraine Hornaday. French Heels to Spurs. With
an Introduction by Will James. New York & London: Century Company,
[1930]. viii [2] 203 pp., numerous text illustrations by Eve Ganson (author
of Desert Mavericks). 12mo, original blue cloth over orange diced
cloth with title and illustrations of bucking horse and rider, gilt-lettered
and illustrated spine. Binding with a few spots and abrasions, interior fine.
J. Frank Dobie’s signed comment on front flyleaf: “The girl who
wrote this book is much more real and sincere than the one introducing it—Will
James. The illustrations by Eve Ganson, author & illustrator of delicious Desert
Mavericks, are delightful. J. Frank Dobie. Aug. 3, 1942.”
First edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators (Dufault
[James] 114). Herd 804. Smith 3053: “Author’s experience on
TZ Ranch in Montana.” A humorous and enthusiastic account of life on a
Montana dude ranch by a seventeen-year-old girl from the East, including rodeo,
roundup, branding, Native American dances, etc. $100.00
Item 1909
1910. FIERMAN, Floyd S. The Impact of the Frontier on a Jewish
Family, the Bibos. [El Paso]: Texas Western College Press, 1961. 32 pp.,
photographic plates, facsimiles. 8vo, original brown wrappers with map by
Cisneros, stapled. Light shelf wear, otherwise fine.
Limited edition (300 copies, one of 275 in wrappers).
Lowman, Printer at the Pass 134B. Nathan Bibo, one of the subjects of
this study, owned a herd of sheep in the Bernalillo area, and the author quotes
Arthur Bibo in discussing a land feud concerning the Acoma Cattle company. $50.00
1911. FIERMAN, Floyd S. Peddlers and Merchants—on the
Southwest Frontier 1850-1880 [caption title]. [El Paso: El Paso
County Historical Society, 1963]. 17 [1] pp., photographic illustrations.
8vo, original grey printed wrappers, stapled. Fine. Carl Hertzog’s
printed slip on colophon.
First separate printing, limited edition (150 copies).
Lowman, Hertzog 159. Reprint from the Password of the El Paso County
Historical Society 8:2 (ca. 1962), with two appendices, footnotes, and corrections.
Includes brands and brief mention of area cattlemen. $30.00
1912. FIERMAN, Floyd S. Some Early Jewish Settlers on the
Southwestern Frontier. El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1960. [2] 58 [2]
pp., text illustrations by Russell Waterhouse. 8vo, original brown cloth.
Very fine in d.j. with José Cisneros illustration. Second d.j. folded
and laid in. Signed by Fierman and designer Carl Hertzog. Very scarce.
Limited edition (250 copies, of which 30 were bound
in cloth and signed by Fierman and Hertzog). Lowman, Hertzog 120. Powell, Arizona
Gathering II 571: “The Lesinsky, Solomon, and Freudenthal families.” The
cattle industry is always a background feature in any history of the Southwest.
Here that author mentions the change that occurred in area banks as they transformed
from “cattle banks” to banks dealing with copper and other mineral
wealth. $200.00
1913. FIERMAN, Floyd S. “The Spiegelbergs of New Mexico,
Merchants and Bankers, 1844-1893” in Southwestern Studies 1:4
(Winter 1964). 48 pp., photographic plates. 8vo, original grey pictorial wrappers.
Very fine.
First edition. Lowman, Hertzog 173. The entire
issue is devoted to the author’s article discussing trials of frontier
life, the economy of New Mexico Territory, conflicts with Native Americans, land
grants, mining, hide trade, etc. $25.00
1914. FIFE, Austin [E.] & Alta [S.] Fife. Saints of Sage
and Saddle: Folklore among the Mormons. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1956. xiv [2] 367 pp., photographic plates, endpaper maps. 8vo, original
blue cloth. Light shelf wear, otherwise a fine copy in price-clipped d.j.
with some wear and short tears.
First edition. Mormon history, legends, and lore, including
ranching, particularly Native Americans and their rustling of sheep, cattle,
and horses. $45.00
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