1915. FIFE, Austin E. & Alta S. Fife (eds.). Cowboy and
Western Songs: A Comprehensive Anthology. New York: Clarkson N. Potter,
[1969]. xii, 372 pp., illustrations by J. K. Ralston, printed music. 4to,
original maize cloth. Fine in fine d.j.
First edition. Two hundred songs with printed music,
guitar chords, lyrics, commentary, notes, lexicon, and variants of words and
melodies. $50.00
1916. FINERTY, John F. War-Path and Bivouac, or the Conquest
of the Sioux, a Narrative of Stirring Personal Experiences and Adventures
in the Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition of 1876, and in the Campaign on
the British Border, in 1879. Chicago: [Donohue & Henneberry, 1890].
460 pp., frontispiece photogravure in sepia of Mulvany’s painting of “Custer’s
Last Rally,” plates (portraits), folding map printed in sepia ink: U.S.
Service Map of the Seat of War, 34.2 x 24.5 cm. 8vo, original
dark blue gilt-pictorial cloth, designs in black on upper cover and spine,
marbled edges. Moderate shelf wear (mainly to corners and spinal extremities),
one light spot on spine, hinges starting (but strong), overall a very good
and bright copy.
First edition. Dustin 105: “Contains much on
the Custer battle; reliable; has lists of killed and wounded.” Graff 1325: “Copyrighted
1890, apparently published by the author.” Howes F136. Jennewein, Black
Hills Booktrails 62. Larned 636: “Contains a very good map of the scene
of operations, and several portraits of notable participants.” Luther, High
Spots of Custer 38: “A newspaper correspondent’s account
of expeditions and campaigns that cannot be overlooked.” Rader 1384. Smith
3064.
Finerty includes descriptions of good grazing land and prospects
for livestock in Wyoming and Montana, as well as accounts of Crow depredations
and livestock rustling, firsthand information on Buffalo Bill Cody, mention of
Captain Jack Crawford, Native American horsemanship, bad women and worse whiskey,
etc. $275.00
1917. FINGER, Charles J. The Distant Prize: A Book about Rovers,
Rangers, and Rascals. New York & London: D. Appleton-Century Company,
1935. ix [1] 330 pp., text illustrations by Henry Pitz. 8vo, original gilt-lettered
red cloth. Light foxing to edges of text block, otherwise fine in lightly
worn d.j.
First edition. Guns 719: “Scarce.... Has
some mention of such outlaws as Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Bob Ford, and Sam
Bass.” Chapter IX includes sections on the origins of Texas cattle, hide
trade, wheat vs. beef, Mason County War, “Cattle Thief Kings,” “Tremendous
Ranches,” etc. $35.00
1918. FINGER, Charles J. Foot-Loose in the West: Being the
Account of a Journey to Colorado and California and Other Western States. New
York: William Morrow and Company, 1932. viii [4] 302 pp., text illustrations
and sketch maps of the route by Helen Finger. 12mo, original orange blindstamped
cloth. Ex-library of the Lotos Club of New York: presentation label with
signature on front pastedown, library label on front flyleaf, ink stamp on
title and dedication page. Binding moderately soiled and spine shelf-slanted,
edges of text block foxed.
First edition. Guns 720: “Scarce.... Has
material on Captain Jack, the Modoc outlaw, and some slight mention of the Jameses
and the Daltons, as well as the California outlaws Vásquez, Murieta, and
Black Bart.” Paher, Nevada 596. Rader 1386. Saunders 4090. The chapter
on California includes the author’s visit with cowboy-artist Edward Borein.
$20.00
1919. FINGER, Charles J. A Note on Texas. [Austin]: Privately
printed [by John S. Mayfield], 1927. [11] pp. 8vo, original tan pictorial wrappers,
purple cord tie. Except for one short tear to lower wrap, very fine. Presentation
card signed by J. Frank Dobie tipped onto title page.
First edition, limited edition (71 copies). Stream-of-consciousness
sketch of Texas in the early days by this fascinating author, privately issued
on his seventy-first birthday. Pungent vignettes of the social life and entertainments
of a vanished Texas, from the heyday of the cowboy to the early oil boom and
Mollie Bailey’s circus to Paderewski bravely performing for a rowdy, rebel-yelling
Confederate Reunion in Dallas. See Major & Smith (The Southwest in Literature) for
a short sketch on the author. $150.00
1920. FISHER, A. T. Through the Stable and Saddle-Room. London:
Richard Bentley and Son, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen, 1890.
xx, 302 pp. 8vo, original brown gilt pictorial cloth. Light to moderate outer
wear, spinal extremities with a few short tears and fraying, front hinge broken,
scattered mild foxing, overall a good copy with contemporary purple ink stamp
on title “Property of the Field” and a few contemporary pencil
notations in margins.
First edition. Major A. T. Fisher (late of the 21st
Hussars) gives comprehensive instructions for running a stable and managing horses.
Chapter XIII is devoted to saddles and spurs. $60.00
1921. FISHER, H. D. The Gun and the Gospel: Early Kansas and
Chaplain Fisher. Relation of Kansas to Freedom. John Brown. Jim Lane. Days
that Tried Men’s Souls. Circuit Riding in the Fifties. Quantrell’s
Raid. Army Life in the Southwest. Work among the Contrabands. Church Life
among the Mormons. Congressional Chaplaincy Canvass. Chicago: Kenwood
Press, 1896. 317 pp., frontispiece portrait, plates (photographic portraits).
8vo, original navy blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Binding dull, rubbed,
and stained on lower cover, text browned.
First edition. Dary 2633. Flake 3363. Rader 1393. Reverend
Fisher of the Methodist faith ministered in the cattle country, and although
he does not engage in any extensive discussions of ranching, his work is an important
background text for developments and events in the West during that time. According
to Dary, the author was born in Ohio, came to Kansas in 1858 to serve as a minister
at Leavenworth and in 1861 at Lawrence, where he was chaplain of the Fifth Kansas
Cavalry. He witnessed Quantrill’s raid in August 1863, and later served
churches at various posts in the West. $125.00
1922. FISHER, H. D. The Gun and the Gospel...Second Edition. Chicago & New
York: Medical Century Company, 1897. xi, [9]-344 pp., frontispiece portrait,
plates (photographic portraits). 8vo, original navy blue gilt-pictorial cloth,
gilt-lettered spine. Binding faded and rubbed, interior fine. Contemporary
ink ownership inscription on back of frontispiece. Rubber ink stamp of Acres
of Books on front pastedown.
Second edition of preceding. $75.00
1923. FISHER, H. D. The Gun and the Gospel...Fourth Edition. Kansas
City: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co., 1902. xii, [9]-347 pp., frontispiece
portrait, plates (photographic portraits). 8vo, original brown gilt-pictorial
cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Spine a bit light, otherwise fine and bright.
Fourth edition of preceding, with some re-writing. $75.00
1924. FISHER, Harrison. Untitled portrait of a romanticized cowgirl
measuring 34.7 x 26 cm. The front cover from The Saturday Evening Post, June
19, 1915. Very short tear at lower left and faint coffee cup stain at lower
right, not affecting image.
Profile of a dark-haired, fine-featured woman with rosy cheeks
wearing a red bandana. In her gloved right hand, she holds her hat and quirt.
$15.00
1925. FISHER, O. C. It Occurred in Kimble. Houston: Anson
Jones Press, 1937. 237 [3] pp., frontispiece, full-page text (photographs and
illustrations by Lonnie Rees). 8vo, original tan pictorial cloth. Mild marginal
staining to binding, endpapers browned, text block split (but strong), mostly
unopened. Very scarce.
First edition, limited edition (500 copies, this copy
not numbered). CBC 2825. Dykes, Western High Spots, p. 118 (“Ranger
Reading”). Guns 722: “Scarce.” Herd 805. Not
in Tate. Includes many chapters on fighting Native Americans, as well as sections
on “The Big Outlaw Roundup of ’77,” “Outlaws and Trigger-Pulling,” and “Some
Early-Day Killings,” “Creed Taylor.” $200.00
1926. FISHER, O. C. The Texas Heritage of the
Fishers and the Clarks. Salado, Texas: Anson Jones Press, 1963. 241 [1]
pp., frontispiece, photographic illustrations. 4to, original white pictorial
cloth. Fine, partly unopened, in publisher’s brown slipcase.
Limited edition. Guns 723: “Has a section
on John King Fisher and gives some new information on his early life.” Much
of the book is devoted to the trail drive experiences of Fisher’s father,
Jobe. $125.00
1927. FISHER, O. C. & J. C. Dykes. King Fisher: His Life
and Times. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, [1966]. xvii [1] 157
[1] pp. 12mo, original red boards, spine gilt. Top fore-edge lightly foxed,
else very fine in d.j.
First edition. Guns 724: “One of the few
original publications in the Western Frontier Library Series. Has material on
King Fisher, Ben Thompson, Bat Masterson, the Taylor-Sutton feud, and the Texas
Rangers.” This account, by a relative of Fisher, insists that the King
had reformed, that the last several charges which he beat were manufactured by
an overzealous Lee Hall, and that Fisher would have remained a model citizen
had he not been shot soon after his exoneration. Fisher was an outlaw turned
lawman who operated a sprawling ranch in South Texas near the Rio Grande. $30.00
1928. FISKE, Frank Bennett. Life and Death of Sitting Bull. Fort
Yates, North Dakota: Pioneer-Arrow Print, [1933]. [8] 72 pp., photographic
text illustrations (portraits and scenes). 12mo, original orange pictorial
wrappers. Fragile wraps moderately worn, interior fine. Rare.
First edition. The author, who is sympathetic to the “raw
deal” meted out to Native Americans by the U.S. government, mentions cattle
raising by the Standing Rock Sioux, stating that they prospered before the land
was invaded by whites and their own operations subverted. Against the pervasive
backdrop of the Marlboro-man Anglo cowboy mythos, accounts such as this, of “Indian
cowboys” are uncommon.
Frank Bennett Fiske (1883-1952), born at Fort Bennett, Dakota
Territory, spent most of his life in the Fort Yates area, arriving there in 1889
with his father, who worked as a civilian wagon master with the U.S. Army. Young
Frank learned the photography trade from S. T. Fansler, operator of the post
studio. When Fansler abandoned the studio in 1900, the teenage Frank Fiske took
over, and continued to operate primarily at Fort Yates until his death in 1952.
Fiske, best known for his Indian portraits, won the North
Dakota Art Award in 1950. His portraits appeared on postcards and calendars as
well as in art exhibitions. Fiske’s photographs (about 7,000 extant images
are housed at North Dakota State University) richly document life in central
and southern North Dakota during the first half of this century, with particular
emphasis on people and everyday life in and around the Fort Yates area. Although
the photographs in this book are unattributed, it seems likely they are the work
of Fiske. $450.00
1929. FITCH, Michael Hendrick. Ranch Life and Other Sketches. Pueblo:
Franklin Press Company, 1914. 309 [2] pp. 8vo, original gilt-lettered dark
olive green cloth. Binding shaken and worn, spine varnished, gilt lettering
dull, front hinge cracked, front endpapers abraded from bookplate removal,
interior very good. Bookplate. The condition problems are somewhat ameliorated
by the presence of J. Frank Dobie’s signed commentary in ink on front
flyleaf: “Not much ranching, and what there is, is mostly of sheep. Horses
from Texas are mentioned rather than treated of. This is a range item all right,
but nothing more. The writer was educated and not provincial. J. Frank Dobie
April 5, 1949.”
First edition, limited edition (150 copies). Herd 807: “Scarce.
Most of this book is comprised of patriotic speeches and miscellaneous writings,
but it contains a good chapter on ranch life in Colorado. Privately printed in
an edition of 150 copies, 50 of which were given away by the author, hence its
scarcity.” Howes F157. Wilcox, p. 44. Wynar 6408.
Michael Fitch rose through the ranks during the Civil War
from First-Sergeant to Lieutenant-Colonel in the Twenty-First Wisconsin Infantry.
Two of Fitch’s other books deal with that war: Echoes of the Civil War and The
Chattanooga Campaign. $350.00
1930. FITZHUGH, Bessie Lee. Bells Over Texas. El Paso:
Texas Western Press, 1955. xi [1] 159 [1] pp., frontispiece, photographs, illustrations
by José Cisneros. 8vo, original “brass” pictorial cloth
with illustration of bell in dark green on upper cover, spine lettered in gilt
and with gilt vignette of bell. Very fine in double dust jackets. Signed by
Hertzog. Laid in are a promotional brochure, a photocopy of a handwritten document
by Hertzog describing production of the book (“This project had more
scholarship than most Ph.D.’s ...so it qualifies for publication”),
describing the overcritical editor who made Bessie Lee Fitzhugh cry, (“If
I had known this...I would have killed him.... ”), plus acerbic denunciation
of the binder whose sloppy work “probably shortened my life”. Also
laid in is a carbon copy of a 1975 letter to Bess Davis about Mrs. Fitzhugh
and the Alamo Bell (including the statement that the Haley Library paid $125,000
for the Alamo Bell).
First edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators (Cisneros
73). Lowman, Printer at the Pass 94: “The ‘brass-colored’ cloth
binding offers an interesting, refreshing, and appropriate change of pace for
this subject”; (quoting Lon Tinkle): “Everything here is of masterly
simplicity and perfectly proportioned.” One chapter (“Camel and Cow
Bells,” pp. 112-119) deals with the cow bell: “Texas and the cattle
industry have developed concurrently. In the early days, during the long cattle
drives, a bell fastened to a leather strap around the neck of a lead cow helped
to keep the herd together as all other cattle habitually followed the tinkling
tones of their leader’s bell” (p. 111). $200.00
1931. FITZHUGH, Bessie Lee. Bells Over Texas. El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1955. Another copy. Some stains to endpapers, otherwise fine in moderately soiled and worn d.j. Author’s signed presentation copy. $75.00
1932. FITZPATRICK, George (ed.). Pictorial New Mexico. Santa
Fe: Rydal Press, 1949. 191 pp., numerous photographic illustrations (some in
color). Small folio, original tan buckram with lettering and vignette in dark
brown. Binding slightly discolored, otherwise a fine copy.
First edition. Dykes, Western High Spots, p.
72 (“High Spots of Western Illustrating” #116). There are some ranching
photographs among the many images of the state. $30.00
1933. FITZPATRICK, George (ed.). This Is New Mexico. Santa
Fe: Rydal Press, [1948]. x [2] 328 [1] pp., text illustrations by Wilfred Stedman,
endpaper maps. 8vo, original tan cloth. Light shelf wear, small dent to first
twenty leaves.
First edition. Campbell, p. 106. Guns 729. Herd 809: “A
collection of stories from the New Mexico Magazine, among which are some
about cowboys.” McVicker B70. Includes J. Frank Dobie’s “Don
Quixote of the Six-Shooter.” $25.00
1934. FLAGG, Oscar H. (Jack). A Review of the Cattle Business
in Johnson County, Wyoming, since 1882, and the Causes That Led to the Recent
Invasion. Cheyenne: The Vic Press, [1967]. 50 pp., 2 full-page illustrations
(photographic). 8vo, original orange pictorial wrappers. Very fine.
First book edition, limited edition (#410 of 500 copies). Guns 2481: “Scarce....
Articles which originally appeared in the Buffalo Bulletin about the Johnson
County War [in 1892], the hanging of Jim Averill and Cattle Kate and the killing
of Nat Champion and Nick Ray.” $150.00
1935. FLANAGAN, Sue. Trailing the Longhorns: A Century Later. Austin:
[Designed by Ward Ritchie for] Madrona Press, [1974]. xix [1] 209 [3] pp.,
frontispiece, numerous photographic illustrations, illustrated maps by Cisneros.
4to, original dark brown calf over orange linen, spine gilt-lettered, photographic
label of longhorn drive on upper cover. Mint, with original packing box. With
the book four prints by José Cisneros to accompany this limited edition
(“Trailing the Longhorns”; “Goodnight-Loving Trail 1866-1886”; “Western
Trail 1876.... ”; and “Chisholm Trail 1867-1884”). Each print
measures 40.0 x 30.5 cm. Very fine. All are signed. “Trailing the Longhorns” is
inscribed: “Para Vivian y CH [Hertzog device], nuestros buenos amigos.
Vicenta y José.” The suite of plates is seldom found with the
book.
First edition, limited edition (#131 of 250 copies).
Foreword by Wayne Gard. The author focuses on three major trails: Goodnight-Loving,
Chisholm, and Western. The history of these trails is enhanced by excellent contemporary
documentary photographs of surviving trail landmarks. $400.00
1936. FLANAGAN, Sue. Trailing the Longhorns: A Century Later. Austin:
Madrona Press, [1974]. xix [1] 209 [3] pp., frontispiece, numerous photographic
illustrations, illustrated maps by Cisneros. 4to, original brown pictorial
cloth, spine gilt-lettered. Very fine in fine d.j.
First trade edition of preceding. $50.00
1937. FLEMING, E. B. Early History of Hopkins County, Texas:
Biographical Sketches and Incidents of the Early Settled Families. N.p.,
1902. 183 pp. 8vo, original blue cloth. Binding abraded and moderately stained,
slightly shelf-slanted, acidic paper browned. A few contemporary ink corrections.
First edition. CBC 249. The author interviewed
the early pioneers of Hopkins County in northeast Texas in order to compile this
history. Included are biographies of early cattlemen (Lodwick Vaden, J. R. Lindley,
John B. Sparks, B. R. Cargile, et al.), a directory of businesses in Sulphur
Springs and Nelta (including Warrick France, “the only gin man in the place”),
and a chapter on women and their social activities (washing, soapmaking, and
quilting). These intrepid pioneers feared the wolves, bears, panthers, and other
wild animals more than the Native Americans. The second murder in the county
occurred when Mr. Crook enclosed some water holes on White Oak Creek, to the
extreme displeasure of Bushrod Musgrove, who was unable to water his herd of
cattle. $500.00
1938. FLENNER, John D. Syringa Blossoms. [Caldwell: Caxton
Printers, 1912]. [4] 225 [1] pp., frontispiece portrait, decorative title page
in color, photographic plates (portraits). 8vo, original green limp suede wrappers,
title in gilt on upper wrapper, dark green satin moiré wrappers). Fragile
binding beginning to deteriorate and faded, interior fine and bright. Because
of the fragile nature of the binding material, the book is difficult to find
in collector’s condition.
First edition. Smith 3160. This book is a series of
essays on events and people in early Idaho history, some of which first appeared
in the Idaho Daily Statesman (a second volume appeared in 1915). There
are some references to cowboys and ranching, including biographies of ranchers
such as John Hailey, who migrated from Oregon to Idaho in 1862 and wrote a history
of Idaho (q.v.). Another biography of note is that of Walter Edgar Pierce, who
was born on a ranch in Waco in 1860 and went on to be a leading citizen of Boise.
This unusual book was published by the Caxton Printers, who
published so many books of interest for ranching and the West and who continue
their good work to the present time. The book is a fairly early and ambitious
Caxton imprint, founded in 1896 by J. H. Gipson, who declared: “Books to
us never can or will be primarily articles of merchandise to be produced as cheaply
as possible and to be sold like slabs of bacon or packages of cereal over the
counter. If there is anything that is really worthwhile in this mad jumble we
call the twentieth century, it should be books.” $100.00
1939. FLETCHER, Herbert (ed.). Harris County, Republic of
Texas, 1839-45. Houston: Anson Jones Press, 1950. 30 pp. 8vo, original
white self-wrappers. Very fine. Signed by author on front wrapper.
First edition. CBC 2232. In 1842 farms and ranches
were feeling a shortage of manpower due to on-going conflicts with Mexico. Advertisements
called for sober, capable, industrious men who knew how to raise cotton or corn,
or handle cattle. Cattle drives to New Orleans were inaugurated that year, and
immigrants poured into Texas. Cattle were cheap, and even poor men could stake
a claim and work with established cattlemen, receiving part of their pay in calves. “Many
vast heards [sic] of later days were started in this way by men of scanty
financial resources.” $35.00
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