From the Federal Writers’ Project, interviews with pioneer men who first rode into the Arizona Territory when the law of the land was a gun. A saga of incredible action of gun battles, deadly weather, Indian attacks, outlaws, and evasive fortunes. Some found success, some found poverty, and some found an early grave. These are the true-life stories of Arizona characters including outlaw John Ringo, lawman Commodore Perry Owens, tough Pete Kitchen, and miner Henry Wickenburg, the man who found a rich mine and died a pauper.
Arizona history did not sneak up on Barbara Marriott but arrived with guns blazing and the air filled with hootin’ and hollorin’. It captured her so completely that she wrote eight books about living in Arizona’s unpredictable small Territorial towns. Most of her books are award winners. Living in various states and two foreign countries has taught her to watch, listen and learn. Earning a Ph.D. gave Marriott the tools to capture the vivid, fascinating history of the southwest. Among her other ventures Marriott started a popular newspaper in France, wrote a series of information booklets for American children living in foreign countries, and foreign port booklets for the US Navy.