Wild Life In The Far West; Personal Adventures Of A Border Mountain Man. Comprising Hunting And Trapping Adventures With Kit Carson And Others; Captivity And Life Among The Comanches; Services Under Doniphan In The War With Mexico, And In The Mexican War Against The French; Desperate Combats With Apaches, Grizzly Bears, Etc., Etc

CAPTAIN JAMES HOBBS

Publication: Wiley, Waterman & Eaton, 1873, Hartford

First edition. 8vo. Original blind-stamped green cloth, with titles and decorations stamped in gold gilt on the front cover and spine, 488 pp., frontispiece (chromolithograph "The author as a Comanche), introduction, illustrated, plates, conclusion. Hobbs includes many adventures relating to cattle and ranching, such as a description (“Cattle Speculation”) of his action-packed and at times perilous cattle drive in the 1850s during the Gold Rush to purchase stock at a low price in Sonora and drive the herd to California to make a big profit ($16,000) by selling to a U.S. government contractor in San Francisco. He used his profits to hire a team of eighteen men and the necessary tools and equipment for mining rich placer diggings. In Tucson, Baja California, and other places, Hobbs recovered cattle rustled by Apache and other tribes. Tiring of the dangerous life, Hobbs decided to become a stock raiser in Tulare, where he was also hired by area ranchers to assist with catching wild cattle (“No wild bullock could escape me when I had a good horse a good lasso”). Mountain man, Indian captive, participant in the Mexican-American War, California Gold Rush, witness to Maximillian’s execution in Mexico, etc., etc. Six Guns 997 says "Scarce." " Contains a chapter on Joaquin Murieta." Eberstadt 120: 114 says "An authentic narrative full of excitement and adventure in the far southwest from the middle '30's onward." Howes H 550 says "Hobbs was a companion of Kit Carson, Kirker and other mountain men of the Southwest." A good read with great detail. Lower fore-corner missing, 1" x .5" chip to fore-edge, and previous owner's name written on front free-endpaper, else a clean, tight, attractive copy of a scarce work. Very good-near fine. Protected in custom slipcase with gilt-stamped leather label on spine.

Inventory Number: 52745