Books published by publisher The Arthur H. Clark company

Between 1841 and 1866, more than a half-million people followed trails to Oregon, California, and Utah in one of the largest mass migrations in American history. The Great Medicine Road, Part 4 collects the letters, diaries, and reminiscences of some of the emigrants who made this journey between 1856 and 1869, as a second generation of miners, farmers, town builders, and religious believers turned their adventurous eyes westward in search of new beginnings. Here, in their own words, are the experiences of young men hoping to make their fortunes in mining operations that had sprung up as the gold rush wore down, in California but also now in the silver mines of Nevada’s Comstock Lode and the recently discovered gold mines of Colorado’s Denver and Pike’s Peak regions. Here also are families and farmers looking for land in the fertile Willamette Valley of Oregon, or joining the Mormon community in Utah. And here are the stories of intrepid sojourners traveling with—or without—military escorts as the Civil War, conflicts with Indians, and the Mormon stand against the U.S. government altered the circumstances of westward traffic. These documents, with an introduction and editorial notes written by historian Michael L. Tate to provide context and commentary, comprise the fourth and final installment in a documentary history of the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. They give a living voice to the history of the American experience at a time of westward expansion and profound, unprecedented change.

Mountain Men were the principal figures of the fur trade era, one of the most interesting, dramatic, and truly significant phases of the history of the American trans-Mississippi West during the first half of the 19th Century. These men were of all types―some were fugitives from law and civilization, others were the best in rugged manhood; some were heroic, some brutal, most were adventurous, and many were picturesque. The typical trapper was a young man―strong hardy and adventure loving. Having succumbed to the lure of the wilderness, his thin veneer of civilization soon rubbed off. In the wilds he had little need for money―barter supplied his simple wants. Possibly short on book-learning, he could read moccasin tracks, beaver sign, and trace of the travois. Memorials to them cover the West. Mountain peaks, passes, rivers and lakes carry their names. Towns and counties have been christened in their honor. Their trails have become our highways―their campfire ashes, our cities. Included in Volume 1 are the biographies of Manuel Alvarez; Abel Baker; Jean Baptiste Charbonneau; Francis A. Chardon; Henry Chatillon; James Clyman; Alexander Culbertson; Jimmy Daugherty; Job Frances Dye; Thomas Eddie; Gabriel Franchere; Mark Head; Charles Larpenteur; Joseph L. Meek; George Nidever; Hiram Scott; Isaac Slover; Pinckney W. Sublette; Solomon P. Sublette; and Charles Town.

The history of California, the missions, architectural restoration, and photography are combined in this new book. It is the perfect combination of text and illustrations, and will make a marvelous addition to your library or be a stunning gift. A visual cornucopia, the book is replete with more than 450 images from many media, reproduced in full color, duotone, and black and white. The hundreds of images collected by the authors over the course of their research are so numerous and extraordinary that choosing among them was a daunting task. Photographs of Mission San Fernando from the 1860s to the present chronicle the deterioration of the buildings and their restoration. Photographers such as Henry T. Payne, Stephen A. Rendall, Isaiah W. Taber, William M. Godfrey, Carleton E. Watkins, Francis Parker, George Wharton James, Adam Clark Vroman, and Charles Fletcher Lummis grace the pages of the book. More than twenty-five years of research illuminate the text and illustrations. Manuscripts and correspondence of the early missionaries; governmental and military documents from Spain and Mexico; Church records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths; journals by adventurers and travelers; newspaper articles; and printed books all have been utilized. The text recounts the mission's story from the earliest years. Accounts of early Spanish exploration and the founding of the mission give word-pictures of the land as it was between 1769 and 1800. Additional chapters discuss agriculture and commerce, land grants, the mission's ranchos, secularization, its bells, water system, and the mission today. The life and culture of both the priests and the Indians are examined. Controversial historical matters regarding the conquest and colonization of Alta California and the treatment of the indigenous inhabitants receive a balanced approach. The reader is referred to sources on both sides of these issues. In the wake of secularization, 1835-37, Mission San Fernando gradually fell into dreadful decay and disrepair through human neglect. The text and illustrations tell the story of the public's renewed interest in restoring California's historical treasures at the end of the nineteenth century, spearheaded by the California Landmarks Commission, a task now enhanced by the recently established California Missions Foundation. The mission's long and arduous restoration is graphically captured in a myriad of photographs, paintings, sketches, lithographs, maps, and architectural drawings. Three appendixes conclude the work, including a biography of Ferdinand III of Spain, after whom the mission was named; a short biography of second mission president Lasuen; and a list of all the friars and priests resident at the mission. Also included are a glossary, bibliography, and index. A special limited edition of 100 copies, signed and numbered, bound in bonded leather and slipcased, with special commemorative bronze medallion celebrating the bi-centennial of the mission laid in, also available on a first-order basis.

400 pp., index, bibliography, notes, with elusive erratum, twenty-eight photographs, epilogue, end-paper plat map of Tombstone. A fine, unread, unmarked, tight copy in a fine bright dust jacket. The author takes the reader on a tour-de-force into the history of this famous mining camp. He strips away the romantic hyperbole and allows the reader to re-discover the rough mining town of boomers and investors, of hard men and women seeking their fortunes. He relates the true saga of those who founded and built the town, including (but not dominated by) the infamous Earps, Clantons and their cohorts. Simply, one of the best books ever written about Tombstone and the people that inhabited it. Limited to 1,000 copies, long out of print. Required reading for all interested in early Tombstone history! Exceptional condition!