Fort Bowie Material Culture

The Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona is a peer-reviewed monograph series sponsored by the School of Anthropology. Established in 1959, the series publishes archaeological and ethnographic papers that use contemporary method and theory to investigate problems of anthropological importance in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and related areas.

In the spring of 1874 a handful of men and one women set out for the Texas Panhandle to seek their fortunes in the great buffalo hunt. Moving south to follow the herds, they intended to establish a trading post to serve the hunter, or "hide men." At a place called Adobe Walls they dug blocks from the sod and built their center of operations After operating for only a few months, the post was attacked one sultry June morning by angry members of several Plains Indian tribes, whose physical and cultural survival depending on the great bison herd that were rapidly shrinking before the white men's guns. Initially defeated, that attacking Indians retreated. But the defenders also retreated leaving the deserted post to be burned by Indians intent on erasing all traces of the white man's presence. Nonetheless, tracing did remain, and in the ashes and dirt were buried minute details of the hide men's lives and the battle that so suddenly changed them. A little more than a century later white men again dug into the sod at Adobe Walls. The nineteenth-century men dug for profits, but the modern hunters sere looking for the natural time capsule inadvertently left by those earlier adventurers. The authors of this book, a historian and an archeologists, have dug into the sod and into far-flung archives to sift reality form the long-romanticized story of Adobe Walls, its residents, and the Indians who so fiercely resented their presence. The full story of Adobe Walls now tells us much about the life and work of the hide men, about the dying of the Plains Indian culture, and about the march of white commerce across the frontier.

A courageous young woman heads west in search of a new home in this stirring saga from a Spur Award–winning author. The Civil War robbed Brittany Laird of her family, her home, and her past. She has no choice but to set out for Fort Bowie in the Arizona Territory to become governess to her cousin’s children. The attentions of handsome cavalry officer Zach Tyrell stir Brittany’s heart, but her instinct to protect a captive Apache boy raises the ire of a community poisoned by prejudice and fear. So Brittany takes Jody to Soapsuds Row, where she exhausts herself scrubbing the soldiers’ heavy garments and searches for a way to get the child back to his people. When they’re carried off by a band of Apaches led by Jody’s father, Kah-Tay, Brittany is brought to the group’s camp in the Sierra Madre. She befriends Kah-Tay’s sister, Sara, who tells the story of her people and explains the mutual hatred between the Apaches and Mexicans. Kah-Tay soon sends Brittany to the silver mining town of Alamos, where a local aristocrat courts her. This world of sprawling haciendas and silk petticoats is enticing, but Brittany knows her future lies elsewhere—she must find the courage and fortitude to follow her heart. A deft storyteller whose novels of frontier life are rich in drama and historical detail, bestselling author Jeanne Williams transports readers to a fascinating time and place in this unforgettable saga.

"Western Apache Material Culture is a collection of essays specifically about the Guenther and Goodwin Western Apache ethnographic collections at the Arizona State Museum, and about Western Apache culture. . . . This is an important book and will become the standard reference on Western Apache material culture." —American Indian Quarterly "This book will surely appeal not only to those who are interested in the Apache, material culture studies, or the potential of Native American museum resources as cultural and historical documents, but also to those who are concerned with the way humans adapted to the environment and thus 'utilized their world so well.'" —African Arts "It is a remarkably beautiful and detailed catalog of the Goodwin and Guenther collections of Wester Apache artiffacts in the Arizona State Musuem—and a lot more! . . . A section of thirty-two color photographs by award-winning photographer Helga Teiwes is the delectable frosting on this rich and satisfying cake." —Journal of Arizona History

A groundbreaking case study that links social and cultural interpretation with descriptive classification and historical context.

First published in 1981. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.