A Sailor's View Of The Naval Conquest Of California.

Charlie Siringo (1855-1928) lived the quintessential life of adventure on the American frontier as a cowboy, Pinkerton detective, writer, and later as a consultant for early western films. Siringo was one of the most attractive, bold, and original characters to live and flourish in the final decades of the Wild West. Siringo's love of the cattle business and of cowboy life were so great that in 1885 he published a rollicking, picaresque account of his experiences in 'A Texas Cowboy,' or 'Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony -- Taken From Real Life,' which Will Rogers dubbed 'The Cowboy's Bible'. In short, Siringo was a key player in shaping the romantic image of the Wild West cowboy. Howard Lamar's biography deftly shares Siringo's story with historians and the general public interested in the American West. Lamar's account is structured within seventy-five pivotal years of western history, from the Civil War in Texas to Hollywood's glorification of the West in the 1920s. Siringo was not a mere observer, but a participant in major historical events including the Coeur d'Alene mining strikes of the 1890s and Big Bill Haywood's trial in 1907. Within this framework, Lamar focuses on Siringo's youthful struggles to employ his abundant athleticism and ambitions and how Siringo's varied experiences helped develop the compelling national myth of the cowboy.

First published in 1977, Robert Day's "The Last Cattle Drive"--an instant bestseller and Book-of-the-Month Club selection--is now a modern-day Western classic. This raucous, rollicking novel of a cattle drive in the age of the automobile revived a genre and added its own special twists in capturing the imagination of readers nationwide. To honor the thirtieth anniversary of its publication, the University Press of Kansas is proud to announce a new 30th anniversary edition of this much-loved work.

This edition includes these new features: a foreword by acclaimed Western historian Howard R. Lamar, reflecting on the novel's enduring popularity; an afterword by Robert Day recalling the experience of writing the novel and commenting on his own literary heroes (among them Mark Twain); "The Last Cattle Drive Stampede," Day's hilarious piece about failed attempts to make a movie of the book; and special endpaper maps of the cattle-drive route. Whether you're renewing your affection for an old favorite or coming to the work for the first time, this new edition will be a book to treasure and return to time and time again.

This revision of a classic study long recognised as the most insightful and original account of the territorial period in the American Southwest will be welcomed by all readers of western history. The book traces the history of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona from 1846 to 1912. Lamar analyses the evolution of American political and economic systems to show, in particular, their impact on the racial and ethnic groups already present in the Southwest in 1846. In describing how American government and institutions such as the two-party system, trial by jury, and free schools were established in the Far Southwest, Lamar also puts into perspective both the local territorial history and the relationship between the region and the nation, particularly as regards issues of land tenure and church-state relations. This revision to the 1966 edition includes a new introduction, substantial additions to the bibliography, and some changes to the text and notes.