The West (and Everything Else) from Back of Beyond Books

Item 1 is Zuni Folk Tales, written by a pioneer in immersing himself in the culture of a native tribe, Frank Hamilton Cushing. Cushing rode the rails to eastern New Mexico, as far as they went at the time, with the Stevenson anthropological expedition of 1879. They proceeded to the Zuni Pueblo, but when the others left, he stayed on. Cushing spent most of the next five years there, except when he traveled east with some of the Zuni to show them his land. Cushing became completely immersed in Zuni culture, being accepted into its highest circles as a member. He would write several books about his experiences, sympathetic to and understanding of the culture, rather than seeing it as something primitive from a western viewpoint. This book consists of stories told by the Zuni which Cushing translated and retold. The book was originally published in 1901. This is a copy of the 1931 reprint, which not only includes John Wesley Powell's original introduction, but a new one by Southwestern writer Mary Austin. $325.

Item 55 is a photograph of 14 climbers at the summit of Mt. Hood in 1892. Four of them are women. It is accompanied by a photocopied manuscript narrative of the expedition by Earl Morse Wilbur, which was later published in Outing magazine. Wilbur was a noted Unitarian minister, at the time serving in Portland. He would later serve for 20 years as President of the Pacific Unitarian School for Ministry in Berkeley (now known as the Starr King School). $225.

Back of Beyond Books may be reached at 435-259-5154 or andy@backofbeyondbooks.com. Their website is www.backofbeyondbooks.com.