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Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark A new collection from the American West from Arthur H. Clark. By Michael Stillman The Arthur H. Clark Company has just issued its 918th catalogue, with their focus on Americana and the American West. Arthur Clark has not only been selling books for over a century, but publishing them as well. Many of the best works of the past century about the American West have been published by Clark, and while you will find these books offered by any bookseller with a Western orientation, there is no better source for them than a Clark catalogue. Of course, the Clark catalogues are also great sources for older western books, and most of their listings are well within the price range of the typical collector. Thomas Hart Benton was one of the great orators of the senate during the period from 1820-1850, along with such other renown names such as Webster, Clay and Calhoun. As a Missouri senator from its induction into the Union in 1820 until 1850, he was instrumental in encouraging the nation's expansion into the West. Ultimately, his political career would come to an end as the nation began to crumble under the divisions caused by slavery. A slave owner himself in pro-slavery Missouri, he became increasingly uncomfortable with the institution and called for a ban on its spread to any new states. This position was unpopular in Missouri and led to his defeat. But, this is not what item 8 in the Clark catalogue is about. Now that we recall what made Benton a major figure in his time, we can read about the dirt. The book is Holographic letter to Senator Benton regarding national scandal, by General Henry Dodge and published in 1845. It seems that Benton's niece, Sally McDowell, lived with the Bentons while attending school. In 1841, at the age of 20, she married 42-year-old Maryland Representative (and soon to be governor) Francis Thomas. It was not a good marriage. Thomas was a jealous husband. Among the accusations he made was that McDowell had carried on numerous affairs, including one with Senator Lewis Linn, the deceased half-brother of author Henry Dodge. Thomas charged that Senator Benton had encouraged his niece in an affair before her marriage, and then persuaded a naive Thomas to marry her. Benton then asked General Dodge to investigate the claims. Eventually, Thomas would file a libel suit against Benton, but was unsuccessful establishing any of his claims. As for Ms. McDowell, the Virginia legislature would pass a resolution permitting her to divorce the Maryland Governor (divorce not being legal in those days). A decade later, she would remarry, this time to a minister, John Miller. In a case of all's well that ends well, despite initial difficulties caused by her being a divorcee, her second marriage would last for 40 years until both died a few weeks apart in 1895. There is a recent book called "If You Love That Lady Don't Marry Her" about this wonderful love story, but Clark is offering General Dodge's book on the scandalous earlier time in her life. Priced at $550.
Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark Samuel Bowles, early conservationist, foresaw greatness of the West. Item 144 is a Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting information relating to an engagement between the United States troops and the Sioux Indians near Fort Laramie. The Secretary of War was one Jefferson Davis, better remembered for unrelated events a few years later than the 1855 date of this piece. Instead, the topic of this message is the "Grattan Massacre." In 1854, a cow escaped from a Mormon settler traveling the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie. The cow found its way into a camp of Brule Sioux where one of the Indians killed it. The traveler requested compensation at Fort Laramie. A group of 29 volunteers, under the command of a brash young recent West Point graduate, John Grattan, set out for the Indian camp. Evidently, Grattan was looking to establish a name, as he told other officers he was prepared to take back the offender at all costs in this silly incident. In response to Grattan's demand that the Indians turn over the party responsible for killing the cow, Chief Conquering Bear proposed a reasonable alternative. The Indians would instead give them a few horses, the value being considerably greater than that of a cow. Grattan would have none of it. When Conquering Bear turned and walked away, one of Grattan's men shot him in the back. The enraged Indians, far outnumbering Grattan's company, returned the fire and wiped out Grattan and his men. The incident would lead to punitive measures by the government, most notably the Battle of Bluewater Creek, where 85 Indians, including women and children, were killed. One of those who witnessed this series of events was a young man named Crazy Horse, and they would have a major impact on his thinking later in life. $72.50. Samuel Bowles published a significant work on the opening of the West in 1869 titled Our New West. This was actually a combination of two travel titles he had previously written. This was an important time for the American West. With the Civil War over, the nation could again turn its attention to expansion. Bowles foresaw that the opening of the transcontinental railroad would open the West to development on an entirely different scale. This Massachusetts newspaper publisher promoted the region both for production, be it through mining or agriculture, and for tourism. He recommended that the Indians consider such pursuits as stock raising as a means of preserving their independence. He visited the Mormon settlements and correctly predicted that the opening of the West to mass migration would doom the practice of polygamy, saying only a "kingdom in the sea" could perpetuate the practice. Bowles is also recognized as an early conservationist. He noted that Yosemite had been set aside for protection, and recommended this be done for other natural wonders he had visited in his travels. Item 231. $65.
Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark none Item 85 is the sad tale of an American filibustering expedition to Mexico headed by one Henry Crabb, a former California State Senator. The year was 1857 and Crabb was one of those adventurers who hoped to colonize a portion of Mexico. Having married into the Ainsa family, prominent in California and the Mexican state of Sonora, Crabb may have thought he would be welcome. On top of that, Sonora was in the midst of a political struggle between followers of Ignacio Pesqueira and Manuel Gandara. Supposedly, Pasqueira made a deal with Crabb to provide him land in northern Mexico in return for his military support. If there were any truth to this, and Pasqueira denied it, he had no need for Crabb well before the latter crossed the border, as he achieved power without the American's aid. From that point on, any association with Crabb would have been an embarrassment to Pasqueira. Nevertheless, Crabb and a band of around 70 men crossed the border near Yuma, Arizona. Some 90 miles inland, near the town of Caborca, Crabb's forces were attacked by a group of Mexicans, who killed a few of them before fleeing to town. The Mexicans barricaded themselves inside a church, while Crabb's forces holed up in a nearby house. With superior forces, the American's kept the church surrounded for several days as they tried to force the Mexicans out. What they weren't prepared for was a gathering large force of Mexicans surrounding the town. The Americans found themselves trapped, and negotiated a surrender with Mexican Commander Hilario Gabilondo, providing they would be treated as prisoners of war. Gabilondo had no intention of keeping the deal. Mexicans had seen vast amounts of their country taken by the Americans only a few years earlier in the Mexican War, and had no sympathy for Americans trying to grab even more. Crabb and all but one of his men, a sixteen-year-old, were shot the next day. The other men were executed on the outskirts of town, but Crabb was taken to the town plaza where he was shot and his head cut off. The Mexicans wanted to send a message to any other American adventurers with thoughts of taking over parts of Mexican territory. They proceeded to track down some of Crabb's troops that were following behind, and even four of his men still across the Arizona border, and implemented the same justice. The book is History of the Crabb Expedition into North Sonora. Decapitation of the State Senator of California, Henry A. Crabb and massacre of ninety eight of his friends, at Caborca and Sonoita, Sonora, Mexico 1857, by J.A. Ainsa. $110. You may find The Arthur H. Clark Company, and this catalogue, online at www.ahclark.com or they can be reached by phone at 800-842-9286.

Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark

A new collection from the American West from Arthur H. Clark.

By Michael Stillman

The Arthur H. Clark Company has just issued its 918th catalogue, with their focus on Americana and the American West. Arthur Clark has not only been selling books for over a century, but publishing them as well. Many of the best works of the past century about the American West have been published by Clark, and while you will find these books offered by any bookseller with a Western orientation, there is no better source for them than a Clark catalogue. Of course, the Clark catalogues are also great sources for older western books, and most of their listings are well within the price range of the typical collector.

Thomas Hart Benton was one of the great orators of the senate during the period from 1820-1850, along with such other renown names such as Webster, Clay and Calhoun. As a Missouri senator from its induction into the Union in 1820 until 1850, he was instrumental in encouraging the nation's expansion into the West. Ultimately, his political career would come to an end as the nation began to crumble under the divisions caused by slavery. A slave owner himself in pro-slavery Missouri, he became increasingly uncomfortable with the institution and called for a ban on its spread to any new states. This position was unpopular in Missouri and led to his defeat.

But, this is not what item 8 in the Clark catalogue is about. Now that we recall what made Benton a major figure in his time, we can read about the dirt. The book is Holographic letter to Senator Benton regarding national scandal, by General Henry Dodge and published in 1845. It seems that Benton's niece, Sally McDowell, lived with the Bentons while attending school. In 1841, at the age of 20, she married 42-year-old Maryland Representative (and soon to be governor) Francis Thomas. It was not a good marriage. Thomas was a jealous husband. Among the accusations he made was that McDowell had carried on numerous affairs, including one with Senator Lewis Linn, the deceased half-brother of author Henry Dodge. Thomas charged that Senator Benton had encouraged his niece in an affair before her marriage, and then persuaded a naive Thomas to marry her. Benton then asked General Dodge to investigate the claims. Eventually, Thomas would file a libel suit against Benton, but was unsuccessful establishing any of his claims. As for Ms. McDowell, the Virginia legislature would pass a resolution permitting her to divorce the Maryland Governor (divorce not being legal in those days). A decade later, she would remarry, this time to a minister, John Miller. In a case of all's well that ends well, despite initial difficulties caused by her being a divorcee, her second marriage would last for 40 years until both died a few weeks apart in 1895. There is a recent book called "If You Love That Lady Don't Marry Her" about this wonderful love story, but Clark is offering General Dodge's book on the scandalous earlier time in her life. Priced at $550.

Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark

Samuel Bowles, early conservationist, foresaw greatness of the West.

Item 144 is a Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting information relating to an engagement between the United States troops and the Sioux Indians near Fort Laramie. The Secretary of War was one Jefferson Davis, better remembered for unrelated events a few years later than the 1855 date of this piece. Instead, the topic of this message is the "Grattan Massacre." In 1854, a cow escaped from a Mormon settler traveling the Oregon Trail near Fort Laramie. The cow found its way into a camp of Brule Sioux where one of the Indians killed it. The traveler requested compensation at Fort Laramie. A group of 29 volunteers, under the command of a brash young recent West Point graduate, John Grattan, set out for the Indian camp. Evidently, Grattan was looking to establish a name, as he told other officers he was prepared to take back the offender at all costs in this silly incident. In response to Grattan's demand that the Indians turn over the party responsible for killing the cow, Chief Conquering Bear proposed a reasonable alternative. The Indians would instead give them a few horses, the value being considerably greater than that of a cow. Grattan would have none of it. When Conquering Bear turned and walked away, one of Grattan's men shot him in the back. The enraged Indians, far outnumbering Grattan's company, returned the fire and wiped out Grattan and his men. The incident would lead to punitive measures by the government, most notably the Battle of Bluewater Creek, where 85 Indians, including women and children, were killed. One of those who witnessed this series of events was a young man named Crazy Horse, and they would have a major impact on his thinking later in life. $72.50.

Samuel Bowles published a significant work on the opening of the West in 1869 titled Our New West. This was actually a combination of two travel titles he had previously written. This was an important time for the American West. With the Civil War over, the nation could again turn its attention to expansion. Bowles foresaw that the opening of the transcontinental railroad would open the West to development on an entirely different scale. This Massachusetts newspaper publisher promoted the region both for production, be it through mining or agriculture, and for tourism. He recommended that the Indians consider such pursuits as stock raising as a means of preserving their independence. He visited the Mormon settlements and correctly predicted that the opening of the West to mass migration would doom the practice of polygamy, saying only a "kingdom in the sea" could perpetuate the practice. Bowles is also recognized as an early conservationist. He noted that Yosemite had been set aside for protection, and recommended this be done for other natural wonders he had visited in his travels. Item 231. $65.

Wild Times in the Wild West from Arthur H. Clark

none

Item 85 is the sad tale of an American filibustering expedition to Mexico headed by one Henry Crabb, a former California State Senator. The year was 1857 and Crabb was one of those adventurers who hoped to colonize a portion of Mexico. Having married into the Ainsa family, prominent in California and the Mexican state of Sonora, Crabb may have thought he would be welcome. On top of that, Sonora was in the midst of a political struggle between followers of Ignacio Pesqueira and Manuel Gandara. Supposedly, Pasqueira made a deal with Crabb to provide him land in northern Mexico in return for his military support. If there were any truth to this, and Pasqueira denied it, he had no need for Crabb well before the latter crossed the border, as he achieved power without the American's aid. From that point on, any association with Crabb would have been an embarrassment to Pasqueira.

Nevertheless, Crabb and a band of around 70 men crossed the border near Yuma, Arizona. Some 90 miles inland, near the town of Caborca, Crabb's forces were attacked by a group of Mexicans, who killed a few of them before fleeing to town. The Mexicans barricaded themselves inside a church, while Crabb's forces holed up in a nearby house. With superior forces, the American's kept the church surrounded for several days as they tried to force the Mexicans out. What they weren't prepared for was a gathering large force of Mexicans surrounding the town. The Americans found themselves trapped, and negotiated a surrender with Mexican Commander Hilario Gabilondo, providing they would be treated as prisoners of war. Gabilondo had no intention of keeping the deal. Mexicans had seen vast amounts of their country taken by the Americans only a few years earlier in the Mexican War, and had no sympathy for Americans trying to grab even more. Crabb and all but one of his men, a sixteen-year-old, were shot the next day. The other men were executed on the outskirts of town, but Crabb was taken to the town plaza where he was shot and his head cut off. The Mexicans wanted to send a message to any other American adventurers with thoughts of taking over parts of Mexican territory. They proceeded to track down some of Crabb's troops that were following behind, and even four of his men still across the Arizona border, and implemented the same justice. The book is History of the Crabb Expedition into North Sonora. Decapitation of the State Senator of California, Henry A. Crabb and massacre of ninety eight of his friends, at Caborca and Sonoita, Sonora, Mexico 1857, by J.A. Ainsa. $110.

You may find The Arthur H. Clark Company, and this catalogue, online at www.ahclark.com or they can be reached by phone at 800-842-9286.