Vanished Arizona
by Martha Summerhayes
University of Nebraska
1979
pp. 308
Paperback
ISBN 0803291051
$14.95
Synopsis
Martha Summerhayes was a respectable Victorian lady when she left civilized society behind, in 1874, to follow her cavalry-officer husband West, to the Wyoming Territory and then to unknown and inaccessible Arizona. Written “at the urgent and ceaseless request” of her children and first published in 1908, this compulsively readable account of her life on the frontier is a unique document of the American exploration and settling of the West, offering a little-heard woman’s perspective on an historical era that continues to echo in contemporary American society.
From the deprivations of her kitchen-where she has no choice but to make do with army pots and pans designed for cooking for dozens-to terrifying encounters with wildlife, attacks by Indians, and the challenge of giving birth alone, Summerhayes’ indomitable spirit and sense of adventure shines through.
Read an excerpt - courtesy of the University of Nebraska Press
Read reviews
“Beecher reads the adventures of a nineteenth-century U.S. cavalry wife in the Old West with vigor and aplomb. Taking place first in Wyoming and then Arizona, this memoir describes in graphic detail the grim realities of life in Western forts; it was quite a shock for a New England Victorian lady. Beecher uses a consistent tone but varies pacing and volume when expressing Martha's fear, despair, and dismay. Braving Indian attacks; childbirth alone; and extreme heat, cold, and dirt, Martha remains upbeat, and Beecher's lilting presentation adds more charm to this oral history. Listeners will agree that it is too short.”
- AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
About the author
American writer Martha Summerhayes (1846-1911) was born in Massachusetts and spent two years studying in Germany before her life on the American frontier with her husband, John Summerhayes, second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After his retirement the Sumerhayes’ lived in Washington, D.C. and then returned to Massachusetts. John died in March 1911 and Martha Summerhayes died in Schenectady, May 12, 1911. Both are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Visit your local library to borrow a copy of Vanished Arizona. Or purchase it wherever books are sold, or from the University of Nebraska Press at 800.526.2617 and on the web at nebraskapress.unl.edu.