Alaska had been a U.S. possession barely a decade when Lieutenant P.H. Ray led his expedition to the northern most reaches of this frozen land. Ray's expedition lasted from 1881-1883, and he reported back to Congress in 1885 in this Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska... This is a detailed report on the natural history, natives, weather, magnetism, auroras, and more of the far north. Item 1. $240.

For even earlier information about Alaska, item 2 is a 1967 reprint of Lieutenant Zagoskin's Travels in Russian America, 1842-1844. The First Ethnographic and geographic investigations in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Valleys of Alaska. This was one of the earliest detailed accounts of natural conditions in Alaska, and lives of the natives when they were still Russians. $62.50.

Here's one for California/Indian collectors. The book is To The American Indian, published in Eureka, California, in 1916. The author, Mrs. Lucy Thompson, was the first full-blooded California Indian woman to have her work published. This book is a memoir and history of her people, the Yurok Indians. Item 199 is a first edition signed by the author. $230.

What is a book titled A Short History of Munich...doing in a western catalogue? The answer is: when the remainder of the title is ...Western Cavalier County, North Dakota. This Munich is a bit smaller than the one in Germany, recent population of just 251. Munich is only a stone's throw from Dresden (much closer than is its German counterpart), and if none of this makes sense, just remember that the capital of North Dakota is not Washington or Lincoln, but Bismarck. The author, Usher Burdick, helped to survey the town, sold its lots, and put up the first building. He wrote this historical pamphlet from memory. If you are one of those 251 people, item 233 is a must for your collection. $37.50.

Item 6 recounts a tragic event most people over 50 recall only too well, one that is tied to the West because it occurred in Dallas. It is The Torch is Passed...The Associated Press Story of The Death of a President. Profusely illustrated with photographs, it recounts the assassination of President Kennedy and the days thereafter, from November 22-25, 1963. It was the day the world stood still, and some would say it has not spun quite right ever since. $25.

Clark not only sells older books, but is a noted publisher of western material. Usually, they have a few new titles in their catalogues as well. This month, they are issuing a book entitled History May Be Searched in Vain, by Sherman Fleek. In this day of government support of "faith based" organizations, it's a good time to recall the only faith based military unit in American history. This is the story of the Mormon Battalion, recruited in 1846, and used to help occupy what would soon become the American Southwest during the Mexican War. Perhaps it is little remembered because the Mormon Battalion never saw combat, though it participated in some grueling marches through the desolate Southwest in its year of existence. The battalion was disbanded in California in 1847. This is a limited edition (750 copies), priced at $37.50, or $125 for the collector's edition (50 copies), signed and bound in leather. You might want to put one of these away for your children.

The Arthur H. Clark Company can be contacted online at www.ahclark.com or by phone at 800-842-9286.