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Campfires and Cattle Trails; Recollections of the Early West in the Letters of J. H. Harshman.
Campfires and Cattle Trails Recollections of the Early West in the Letters of J H Harshman Author:J. H. Harshman, Neil M. Clark (Editor) The Harshman letters concern a colorful and eventful period in the winning of the West. They are fragments of history, not history as usually understood. They attempt no explanations of major events. They do tell, vividly, some of the best-remembered things that a boy and young man of no special importance saw and took part in. — For eight years ... more »he knocked about Colorado, Texas, and what was then simply called Indian Territory, but would become the states of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. For the most part, this book describes those years. In 1884, Harshman returned to visit relatives in Kansas City and while there took a job with Wells Fargo. That became his career (mostly in Chicago except for two years in San Francisco) until his retirement in 1920. In one of the letters, Harshman describes what he did during his eight years in the west: "While in the cattle country I made Tascosa my principal hang out and worked on the ranch, carried U S mail, done some cooking, loafing and so on, and in Las Vegas I worked in a Hide and Wool house and made trips out among the Mexican settlements buying pelts, wool and furs. Worked in a saw mill up in the mountains and for a short time I worked in a small hotel on the southwest corner of the plaza I think it was and up in the mountains I was night cook in restaurant, worked in mines, prospected, drove mule teams, worked in saw mills, on R R grades and most anything when I needed work." He refers here to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The letters describe a young man (Mr. Clark calls him a wonderer) who worked when he had to, but never at anything for very long. As such, he apparently never gained much skill at any one job and was relegated to handy man tasks such as herding horses, or cooking. This gave him a view of events that is missing in most history books and makes his letters intriguing. We are indebted to Mr. Clark for doing the research needed to present the letters and record this bit of history for us.
Illustrated with black and white photos throughout.« less