“Mesa Verde: The First 100 Years,” by Rose Houk and Faith Marcovecchio (Mesa Verde Museum Association/Fulcrum, 144 pages, $21.95)
Mesa Verde is the first and only National Park in the country created to preserve archaeological values. The park turned 100 this year, and “Mesa Verde: The First 100 Years” is a worthy birthday present. It is an oversize book containing a collection of essays, old and new photographs, advertising brochures, postcards and other ephemera.
From the beginning, the park attracted diverse visitors. One of the first was Gustaf Nordenskiold, who photographed the park in 1891. He was arrested for trying to ship some 700 artifacts to his native Sweden. But the charges were dismissed, because no laws existed protecting American antiquities. Nordenskiold named many of the Mesa Verde sites, including Kodak House, where he kept his film. William Henry Jackson and Laura Gilpin were other early photographers. Writers include Willa Cather and Louis L’Amour.
“Mesa Verde: The First Hundred Years” emphasizes what a treasure America has in this Colorado park.
“The Life and Times of Nathaniel Hale Pryor,” by Lawrence R. Reno (Turkey Creek Publishing, 256 pages, $24.95)
Is there anything more to be said about Lewis and Clark and their Voyage of Discovery? You bet there is. Lawrence R. Reno proves that in this biography of Nathaniel Hale Pryor, a member of that expedition.
Actually, this is a dual biography of Pryor and his cousin, Charles Floyd. But Floyd expired early on, so he’s disposed of in one chapter.
Instead of selecting the sons of friends and politicians to accompany them on their expedition, Lewis and Clark were careful to pick competent men with necessary wilderness skills. Pryor possessed those abilities and was so highly valued by the leaders that he was given special responsibilities. Meriwether Lewis called him “a man of character and ability.”
Denver attorney Larry Reno has done a fine job of fleshing out the scant information available on Pryor, and writes not only about the man’s experiences with Lewis and Clark but his life as well. The man died in 1831 at about age 55. Pryor’s adventures weren’t limited to the Corps of Discovery. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans and later moved to Oklahoma, married an Osage Indian and became a voice of moderation in confrontations between Indians and whites.
Reno tracked down a number of Pryor’s Osage descendents and gathered tidbits about the family patriarch. Among them: Pryor’s favorite meal was fat dog.
“Saddling Up Anyway: The Dangerous Lives of Old-Time Cowboys,” by Patrick Dearen (Taylor, 192 pages, $24.95)
“Happy Trails” might sum up the life of a Tinseltown cowboy, but for a real old-time cowpoke, the trail was anything but jolly. Just getting on a horse was dangerous. Who knew what the bronco under you might do? There was the danger from wildlife. Gophers left holes into which a horse could step and throw its rider. There were buffalo and bear, coyotes and snakes. One cowboy shook out his blankets to find a rattler with eight rattles.
Patrick Dearen tells about the myriad disasters that lay in wait for old-time cowboys, drawing on words of the cowboys themselves. In fact, he includes a glossary of cowboy lingo. Among the terms is “great divide,” which means death.
“Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide: All About Rodeo,” by Melody Groves (University of New Mexico, 176 pages, $34.95)
Life isn’t all that easy for a modern cowpoke either, especially a rodeo star. Bull riding is dubbed America’s most dangerous sport, writes Melody Groves. “Ropes, Reins and Rawhide” is a history of rodeo in America as well as a primer on the elements of the sport. She tells what stock contractors do and explains the various categories of rodeo: bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing (the only segment dominated by women). She even tells how to get into the sport and lists professional organizations to contact.
The first rodeo was held in Colorado, in Deer Trail, in 1869, although professional rodeos got underway in Cheyenne a few years later. Today, it’s big business, with stars splitting hefty purses put up by corporations.
For the few who make it to the top, there’s plenty of profit, not to mention the adulation of buckle bunnies. Rodeo animals don’t have such a bad time of it either, Groves relates. Despite charges of animal rights activists, animals are rarely hurt, and they enjoy pampered lives.
Sandra Dallas is a Denver novelist who writes a monthly column on regional nonfiction.
