Bison Books

The Bison Books imprint of the University of Nebraska Press is a great boon to scholars of western history, to fans and writers of western fiction.

It's true that many of the older documents and narratives that form their backlist are now available digitally from Gutenberg and other online sources as free electronic files. But it's nice to have a printed edition on one's shelf, close to hand, and the spine of which can trigger a thought that leads to digging through the pages of one or another of these tomes.

I have several Bison books on my shelves. I've been particularly fortunate the past couple of months to add to this collection thanks to my wandering thrift stores and library sales. Here are my recent acquisitions:

Magoffin, Susan Shelby: Down the Sante Fe Trail and into Mexico, The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin, 1846-1847. Edited by Stella M. Drumm. Foreword by Howard R. Lamar. 1982.

Majors, Alexander: Seventy Years on the Frontier, Alexander Majors' Memoirs of a Lifetime on the Border. Edited by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham. With a Preface by Buffalo Bill Cody. Introduction by David Dary. 1989.

Lavender, David: Bent's Fort. 1972

Adams, Andy: Wells Brothers, The Young Cattle Kings. Introduction by Jim Hoy. 1997.

These are all nice-looking books, filled with interesting info. I intend posting a review of the Magoffin volume soon.

Many thanks for Bison Books' keeping these texts readily available!