Other editions of book Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life of a New England Woman

"Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" is the story of Martha Summerhayes, a Nantucket woman who married a cavalry officer and moved with him to various Army forts in the late 19th century. It is a very personal story of Army life in Indian country, raising children under trying conditions, a travelog and adventure all wrapped up into one. The tales of getting back and forth between Nantucket and Arizona are worth the reading alone. "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" is a collection of Martha's memories of life in various Army forts, and particularly in Arizona-which at that time was still considered a "dreaded and unknown land." Along the way, the reader meets a variety of characters such as a nearly-naked Indian cook and a "dentist" who accidentally extracts the wrong tooth. There is also the incident where Martha feels more in danger from her husband than the hostile Indians nearby. First printed in 1908, "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" was extremely well-received, becoming one of the essential primary records of the frontier-military West. Martha Summerhayes' narrative skill and her delight in life make her book a joy to read. Summerhayes offers not only a woman's perspective, but the views and memories of an army wife. The only comparable books are the trilogy of cavalry life by Libbie Custer, which were filtered by Libbie's desire to glorify her husband, General George Custer. Summerhayes' description of the Arizona landscape and conditions of Army life are memorable, adding much to the history of the Southwest. Justifiably considered a classic, "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" features guileless storytelling, unvarnished truth, and an honest appraisal of the rather brutal trials of an army wife in that era. Great reading for anyone interested in frontier America and the brave people who settled the land.

In 1874, when Martha Summerhayes came as a bride to Fort Russell in Wyoming Territory, she "saw not much in those first few days besides bright buttons, blue uniforms, and shining swords," but soon enough the hard facts of army life began to intrude. Remonstrating with her husband, Jack, that she had only three rooms and a kitchen instead of "a whole house," she was informed that "women are not reckoned in at all in the War Department," which also failed to appreciate that "'lieutenants' wives needed quite as much as colonels’ wives." In fact, Martha had only a short time to enjoy her new quarters, for in June her husband’s regiment was ordered to Arizona, "that dreaded and then unknown land." Although Martha Summerhayes’s recollections span a quarter of a century and life at a dozen army posts, the heart of this book concerns her experiences during the 1870s in Arizona, where (as Dan L. Thrapp observes in his introduction) the harsh climate and "perennial natural inconveniences from rattlesnakes to cactus thorns and white desperadoes, all made [it] a less than desirable posting for the married man and his wife." First privately printed in 1908, Vanished Arizona was so well-received that in 1910 Mrs. Summerhayes prepared a new edition (reprinted here), which was published in 1911, the year of her death. Among "the essential primary records of the frontier-military West," the book "retains its place securely because of the narrative skill of the author, her delight in life—all life, including even, or perhaps principally, army life and people—and because it is such a joy to read.

"This is a charming book - both as to manner and matter. For the first, it has the simplicity of truth combined with a vivid descriptive power. For the rest the author has drawn upon a rich fund of experience as a subaltern's wife who 'followed the drum' with her husband for thirty-three years. Tales of campaigns, of forced marches, of bloody battlefields are not rare, but the many instances of wifely fortitude and personal sacrifice through all the vicissitudes of military service on the frontier are seldom recorded. Therefore Mrs. Summerhayes' contribution to the literature of camp and garrison is welcomed as a chronicle of 'the days of the Empire' vanished from sight, but dear to memory." -Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States "The book is such a straightforward, simple story, of how a refined woman lived through almost incredible difficulties and hardships at desert-posts, that is has found a demand far outside the circle of fellow campaigners, and hence has been reprinted. It is, indeed, a narrative rarely surpassed in that 'human interest' which is the staple of our best books." -Book Review Digest "In our time when we can fly across the world in a day and cross the breadth of the North American continent in a few hours, it is wonderful to read a book that reminds us what it was like to live in the Southwest nearly a century-and-a-half ago — or, indeed, even to travel there. When Martha Dunham Summerhayes, a young Army wife, and her older Civil War veteran husband needed to get there from his first posting at Fort Russell in Wyoming Territory’s Cheyenne, it was no simple matter....What she had found there was aridity and cactuses and the ubiquitous rattlesnakes that necessitated 'buffalo robes under our mattresses and around them a hair lariat, ‘Snakes won’t cross over that.' No wonder she writes, 'I did not like these desert places, and they came to have a horror for me.' Not surprising for one whose notion of the desert came from the eponymous novel by the French writer Pierre Loti. However, with time, she came to appreciate its strange attractions and even to admire aspects of the American Indian culture she observed....A delightful glimpse into a past era." -The Washington Times "We take pleasure in recommending to our readers Mrs. Summerhayes' delightful book 'Vanished Arizona,' as a classic on the interesting subject." -The Magazine of History "Martha Summerhayes tells of the perilous journeys over desert and mountain roads, and of their constant fear of the Indians. Upon returning to Arizona years later they found their Arizona vanished. Hence her title 'Vanished Arizona,' 1908. No volume gives in so entertaining a manner the perplexities of the women's side of army encampments." -Mary G. Boyer, "Arizona in Literature," 1970

The seventh day after the birth of the baby, a delegation of several squaws, wives of chiefs, came to pay me a formal visit. They brought me some finely woven baskets, and a beautiful papoose-basket or cradle, such as they carry their own babies in.... [I]t was their best work. I admired it, and tried to express to them my thanks... -from "Chapter 13: A New Recruit" Martha Summerhayes was a respectable Victorian lady when she left civilized society behind, in 1874, to follow her cavalry-officer husband West, to the Wyoming Territory and then to unknown and inaccessible Arizona. Written "at the urgent and ceaseless request" of her children and first published in 1908, this compulsively readable account of her life on the frontier is a unique document of the American exploration and settling of the West, offering a little-heard woman's perspective on an historical era that continues to echo in contemporary American society. From the deprivations of her kitchen-where she has no choice but to make do with army pots and pans designed for cooking for dozens-to terrifying encounters with wildlife, attacks by Indians, and the challenge of giving birth alone, Summerhayes' indomitable spirit and sense of adventure shines through.

"Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" is the story of Martha Summerhayes, a Nantucket woman who married a cavalry officer and moved with him to various Army forts in the late 19th century. It is a very personal story of Army life in Indian country, raising children under trying conditions, a travelog and adventure all wrapped up into one. The tales of getting back and forth between Nantucket and Arizona are worth the reading alone. "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" is a collection of Martha's memories of life in various Army forts, and particularly in Arizona-which at that time was still considered a "dreaded and unknown land." Along the way, the reader meets a variety of characters such as a nearly-naked Indian cook and a "dentist" who accidentally extracts the wrong tooth. There is also the incident where Martha feels more in danger from her husband than the hostile Indians nearby. First printed in 1908, "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" was extremely well-received, becoming one of the essential primary records of the frontier-military West. Martha Summerhayes' narrative skill and her delight in life make her book a joy to read. Summerhayes offers not only a woman's perspective, but the views and memories of an army wife. The only comparable books are the trilogy of cavalry life by Libbie Custer, which were filtered by Libbie's desire to glorify her husband, General George Custer. Summerhayes' description of the Arizona landscape and conditions of Army life are memorable, adding much to the history of the Southwest. Justifiably considered a classic, "Vanished Arizona: Recollections of My Army Life" features guileless storytelling, unvarnished truth, and an honest appraisal of the rather brutal trials of an army wife in that era. Great reading for anyone interested in frontier America and the brave people who settled the land.

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This is a true story about a pampered New England young woman who falls in love with an army officer and they get sent to Arizona in 1873. This superbly entertaining account of the adventures of the wife of a lieutenant in the army is a fast and absorbing read. Summerhayes was raised in Nantucket and partly educated in Germany so imagine her shock when she follows her husband to Wyoming and then Arizona during the Apache wars of the 1870's. Fascinating story of a young bride with her army husband and their experiences in Arizona during the late 18th century. She is a young woman who is totally unprepared for life in the 'wild' west. Her stories of traveling from camp to camp in Arizona and having to make a home in extremely harsh and primitive conditions is awe inspiring. Especially moving is when she has her first child, far from anyone who can help her . She is completely ignorant of childbirth and caring for a newborn.

Published by Time-Life from 1980-1984 in leather binding. The Classics of the Old West series is one of the most remarkable undertakings of Time-Life Publications. Each title and author was especially selected to represent the stories of or works about the Old West as written by those who actually lived it. Each volume is a reprint of an original Old West book including illustrations, plates, and even errors. Each book measures about 8 ½ by 6 inches, and together, cover almost 4 linear feet of shelf space. Time-Life issued these hardcover books with genuine leather binding

The stalwart men of the Prussian army, the Lancers, the Dragoons, the Hussars, the clank of their sabres on the pavements, their brilliant uniforms, all made an impression upon my romantic mind, and I listened eagerly, in the quiet evenings, to tales of Hanover under King George, to stories of battles lost, and the entry of the Prussians into the old Residenz-stadt; the flight of the King, and the sorrow and chagrin which prevailed. For I was living in the family of General Weste, the former stadt-commandant of Hanover, who had served fifty years in the army and had accompanied King George on his exit from the city. He was a gallant veteran, with the rank of General-Lieutenant, ausser Dienst. A charming and dignified man, accepting philosophically the fact that Hanover had become Prussian, but loyal in his heart to his King and to old Hanover; pretending great wrath when, on the King’s birthday, he found yellow and white sand strewn before his door, but unable to conceal the joyful gleam in his eye when he spoke of it. The General’s wife was the daughter of a burgomaster and had been brought up in a neighboring town. She was a dear, kind soul. The house-keeping was simple, but stately and precise, as befitted the rank of this officer. The General was addressed by the servants as Excellenz and his wife as Frau Excellenz. A charming unmarried daughter lived at home, making, with myself, a family of four. Life was spent quietly, and every evening, after our coffee (served in the living-room in winter, and in the garden in summer), Frau Generalin would amuse me with descriptions of life in her old home, and of how girls were brought up in her day; how industry was esteemed by her mother the greatest virtue, and idleness was punished as the most beguiling sin. She was never allowed, she said, to read, even on Sunday, without her knitting-work in her hands; and she would often sigh, and say to me, in German (for dear Frau Generalin spoke no other tongue), "Ach, Martha, you American girls are so differently brought up"; and I would say, "But, Frau Generalin, which way do you think is the better?" She would then look puzzled, shrug her shoulders, and often say, "Ach! times are different I suppose, but my ideas can never change."