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John Ringo: The Final Hours
Michael M. Hickey , Ben T. Traywick , and Paul R. Taylor Manufacturer: Talei Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0963177249 |
Customer Reviews:
A Treasure Chest of Earpiana.......2002-08-18
"John Ringo: The Final Hours" is yet another superb volume on Earpiana from Michael M. Hickey and a must for all true enthusiasts. Like his earlier book which delved into the mystery surrounding the killing of Warren Earp, this work centres on another controversial death, that of John Ringo. Also, like the other book, it is as big as the great outdoors, exhibiting a remarkable generosity in the vast amount of information it has to offer pertaining to the Earp saga. In fact, basically, here is yet another Hickey treasure chest of Earp lore for those of us who just cannot get enough of the doings of Wyatt and Co.
The book is well written and immensely readable. Hickey has the knack of keeping the reader enthralled, never quite sure along which trail he is going to be taken next. His writing style reminds me of the classic whodunit crime writers who always loved to surprise their readers. Such a style is particularly appropriate here for Mr. Hickey is, as he says, telling a "Tale of the Old West", and the first third of the book is a vivid dramatisation of the events immediately leading up to Ringo's assassination as the author sees it.
Michael Hickey has not been afraid to use contemporary hearsay and local legend as a starting point for his theories but he is always determined to find documentary evidence to back it up if at all possible. This is clearly proved by reading the final two thirds of the book which is described as the "Author's Working Notes and Documentation". Here the reader will revel in a veritable cornucopia of reference material: maps (including Wyatt's own map of the Ringo killing), documents of all kinds, letters, newspaper reports, excerpts from other authors' work and, of course, a myriad of photos, each with a detailed caption. Even here, in the "documentary" part of the book, Hickey keeps us guessing, keeps the tension going for the reader as, little by little, he feeds us more and more information about that time and that place.
For this book is far more than just the story of how one notorious outlaw came to meet his end. It is a detailed analysis, told with extraordinary insight, of how Wyatt Earp and his posse put an end to the Cowboy depredations in Cochise County with the backing of Wells Fargo, the Pinkertons, various national and local government agencies and even the U.S. and Mexican governments.
As an author, Michael M. Hickey combines an imaginative and intellectual grasp of the Arizona milieu of the late nineteenth century, the intellectual fervour of a detective determined to ferret out the truth, together with a vivid and most entertaining writing style. Long may he continue to give us these treasures of Earpiana.
Compelling!!.......2002-02-14
Spectacular!.......2002-02-03
WOLA Review.......2002-01-01
Mr. Hickey's longtime friend, advisor and "resident historian" for Tombstone, Arizona, Ben Traywick, admirably sets the stage and covers the background (while dispelling many of the myths) of John Ringo. As Ben Traywick relates, "The death of John Ringo has remained one of the great mysteries of the Old West." This book will also inflame the long-standing debate as to when, and how, Ringo died, a controversy that began the instant he was buried. Some may agree with the coroner's jury and it's hasty conclusion that John Ringo died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Other's see murder most foul. "This volume by Mr. Hickey deals specifically with the circumstances immediately preceding Ringo's demise, and includes the moment, in Mr. Hickey's opinion, the cowboy leader met his end...by assassination!
Paul R. Taylor, noted publisher and managing editor of Route 66 magazine states in the forward; "One thing is bound to result from this effort: Before, a lot of us Ringo aficionados only considered it a possibility. Now more and more of us will believe Ringo could not have died by his own hand,"
Mr. Taylor continues, "Because this title comes with a tag-line A Tale of the Old West, Hickey's critics will probably lean towards dismissing the manuscript as a work bordering on fiction, especially when the facts-or-else historians take offense with the authors abundant references to hearsay of the era and legends that survive today. Better watch though, Tale or no Tale, this book has a 'Working Notes and Documentation' section that for the most part, backs up the tale with some never-before-seen evidence including a slate of photographs and maps published for the first time." I concur with Mr. Taylor.
As I have noted in other reviews, I am not a conspiracy buff and am somewhat noted for being what Paul Taylor described as a facts-or-else historian. But this volume has opened up many other possibilities and suspects for me in a personal long time battle with the facts surrounding the Ringo "death scene" and the coroner's jury report. With Mr. Hickey's focused analysis it enhances the theory that the death scene may have been staged.
This book has a lot of new information and never before seen photos. One of the jems in this volume is to give the reader a sense of the intense political climate Cochise County found itself in by early 1882, both before, during and after the Earp vendetta ride, with the Territorial, Federal and Mexican governments, Wells Fargo, the Railroads, Mining interests, and the large corporate ranchers breathing down County official's necks to "clean up" the county of it's outlaw element, or else.
Included in the book is an end map that is a 22"x22" color poster featuring Mike James beautiful artwork on one side and a layout of Cochise County and the various paths the involved parties on the other. The reader may, or may not, agree with Mr. Hickey's final conclusions on whom the prime suspects are but I still found the book fascinating, and a good read. There are a couple of historical errors, lack of an index, footnotes and endnotes which I like to see, but I would still recommend this book for everyone interested in, or researching, Ringo, Earpiana and Cochise County.
Making Sense of Ringo's Death.......2001-12-01
This is another Michael M. Hickey large book, you might say coffee-table size, much like the author's previous book on Warren Earp. This one has 496 pages cover-to-cover, with well over 100 photos, original oil paintings, documents, and maps (24 pages contains photos or documents that are believed to have never been published before). It is a magnificent volume to behold. It is hard to take your eyes off the Mike James artwork on the dust jacket cover, both front and back. There is a pull-out map of Cochise County with all of the important locations in the Tombstone saga, Wyatt Earp's Vendetta, and the locations of the events of John Ringo's last days clearly marked with colored indicators. This map is absolutely fantastic. The other side of the fold-out features crisp copies of some of Mike James' colorful oil paintings of Ringo and of important people and places during the subject's last days.
How Ringo met his death is one of the most controversial mysteries in western history. Many scholars believe that Ringo took his own life. There are already several excellent books and articles which take this point of view. Michael M. Hickey, however, after spending a period of several months in Cochise County where he personally interviewed pioneer descendents (including some whose relatives viewed Ringo's body), and after prolonged research, paints his readers a different picture. According to this manuscript, John Ringo was assassinated. The author describes in detail all the who's, what's, where's, when's, how's and especially the why's.
Speaking of the why's, readers of this book will benefit from a brilliant analysis by the author of the local politics at the time of Ringo's death in July, 1882.
As one who has studied the Tombstone saga for 30 years, it amazes me how many of the notable cow-boys and lawmen of the early days of Tombstone met violent deaths. A chapter called "The Secret" is one not to be overlooked for the author's insight into the real reason behind the deaths of characters like Bill Leonard, Harry Head, and the Haslett Brothers. There are most interesting sections in this chapter on the massacre at Skeleton Canyon and a new prospective on the retribution at Guadalupe Canyon.
Actually the book is divided into two halves. The first half contains ten chapters which chronicle Ringo's last days up to and including his murder. The second half contains the author's working notes and documentation. It is important to note that both halves are presented in a totally reader-friendly format. This is Michael M. Hickey's style. He refuses to allow his readers to get bogged down in straight text with microscopic type. Instead, photos and documents, maps and illustrations seem to be everywhere. The text is of a size that is easy on the eyes.
There is an introduction, analysis and commentary by Tombstone historian Ben T. Traywick, a foreword and debate with the author by Paul R. Taylor, and much more to this book than can be stated without running the risk of ruining the absolute joy of reading it.
For years many scholars and enthusiasts alike have argued that the explanation of suicide is unsatisfactory for the death of the legendary John Ringo. Michael M. Hickey offers through this book intelligent and easy to follow reasons why Ringo was assassinated. The assassin is named. It makes perfect sense.
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John Ringo - The Final Hours A Tale of the Old West
Michael M. Hickey Manufacturer: Talei Publishers Inc ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000NYK7YM |
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A River in the Desert: 12 Retreats for Women's Groups
Ellen Shepard Manufacturer: Abingdon Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0687050901 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource.......2007-10-10
Looking for a more uplifting retreat.......2007-09-07
A Piece of Art.......2001-05-09
Refreshed by "A River in the Desert".......2001-04-06
The twelve themes of the retreats, from "Seeking Growth" to "Joyful Heart-Dancing Spirit," cover a wide range of important topics for Christian women. Well-written, easy to follow plans include everything from "ice breakers" to closing worship ideas, with suggested time allowances for each activity.
"A River in the Desert" will help individuals and women's groups leaders as they seek to provide opportunities for community and significant spiritual introspection.
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River And Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon
Kristin Huisinga , Lori Makarick , and Kate Watters Manufacturer: Mountain Press Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0878425233 Release Date: 2006-09-30 |
Product Description
The Grand Canyon's isolation, great elevational range, and position at the convergence of three North American deserts-the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin-have created unique habitats from an unusual assemblage of plants. Some grow only at seeps and springs, others emerge from cracks in the bedrock, and some live only in the Grand Canyon-for example, Roaring Springs prickly poppy and Grand Canyon flaveria. River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyonthe first comprehensive field guide devoted to plants that live below the canyon rims, is bursting with beautiful color photographs and detailed line drawings of more than 250 ferns, grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. Narratives organized by life form and common family name describe each plant and its natural history, and thumbnail photographs arranged by flower color and shape offer a key for easy identification. Essays by contributing experts explore such topics as Grand Canyon ecology, desert-plant adaptations, biological soil crust, plant pollination, invasive species, and domesticated plants of the canyon's indigenous people.
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Desert Notes/River Notes
Barry Lopez Manufacturer: Quill (HarperCollins) ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0380711109 |
Book Description
Here, for the first time in one volume, are two of Lopez's masterpieces, River Notes and Desert Notes. From the thundering power of the river's swift current, to the stillness of clear freshwater pools; to desert springs, birds and wind, and rattlesnakes . . . and the terrible intrusion of man, Lopez allows us to share moments of intense personal experience as man tries to come to terms with the Earth's landscape, and with his own existence.Customer Reviews:
Patience.......2004-06-24
As usual, Barry Lopez's way with words takes your breath away but the words also stop the reader in his/her tracks as the full meaning of patience and watchfulness is displayed. To stop and be immersed in a place is something few people in Western society take the time to do. This book is a guide to what might await us if we dare to sit and watch with extraordinary patience.
Desert Notes.......2003-07-11
I was expecting nature writing, which this isn't. I'm not sure what it is. Maundering philosophy? Unconnected rambling?
It's so not my thing that I don't really feel that my judgment of whether it's any good or not is relevant. But for readers who are looking for nature writing in the vein of Arctic Dreams... this ain't it.
River Notes.......2001-06-17
best book.......1999-06-19
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Escalante: The Best Kind of Nothing (Desert Places)
Brooke Williams Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0816524580 |
Book Description
"There is nothing out there." Such is the claim, at least, of politicians and oil company executives, amazed that anyone would fight to protect the miles of plateaus and canyon bottoms that stretch across southern Utah. Even tourists see this region as an empty spot on the mapan excuse to drive directly from Capitol Reef to Arches National Park. But it is precisely thisnothingthat writer Brooke Williams and photographer Chris Noble find captivating about Escalante. In this thoughtful and exquisitely illustrated rumination, the authors tour the network of chasms and gorges that began forming millions of years ago on the Colorado Plateau and today constitute a desert paradise of mesas, buttes, and boundless solitude. At the center of this landscape is the region known as Escalante, 1.7 million mostly roadless acres, where silence, darkness, and emptiness have no intrusions. With refreshing originality and a haunting rhythm to his prose, Williams reflects on the notion of space and seclusion both internally and externally. Williams also celebrates the landscape: its geology, flora and fauna, its people from the ancient Fremont to its Mormon pioneers, hiking aficionados and recluses such as Everett Ruess, and the controversial politics involved with the creation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Chris Noble's photographs break down the distinction often felt even in very fine photos, that between the observer and the place. These images pull the reader into the landscape, seamlessly merging the experience and the setting. Part narrative, part poetry, and part meditation, this book charts the quiet places where the human spirit delights in solitude. It reminds us of our intimate connection with the wild and of the landscape's powerful pulse especially when there is nothing to be found.Customer Reviews:
Escalante - The Best Kind of Nothing.......2007-03-28
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Rivers in the Desert
Margaret Leslie Davis Manufacturer: Olmstead Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1587541076 |
Book Description
Over the past two decades, the history of Los Angeles has attracted a growing number of scholars drawn to the City of Angels because its story is at once intriguing in and of itself and illustrative of larger American issues. In Los Angeles, after all, was first achieved a paradigm - an aqueduct city in an arid to semi-arid environment, created through engineering and sheer force of will - that has since come to characterize other Southwestern cities as well, most notably Phoenix and Las Vegas. The creation of Los Angeles - or, more correctly, its re-creation - in the early twentieth century as an aqueduct city dramatically asserted that urban civilization could flourish in environments once thought hostile and prohibitive, provided that there be vision, engineering, enlightened self-interest, political will, and (if the truth be told) a certain willfulness, ruthlessness even, capable of imposing a city on an environment resistant of urbanization in traditional terms. From this perspective, the re-creation of twentieth-century Los Angeles through water engineering is a case study (for better or for worse) of how Americans have reorganized their environment through technology and how cities have been created in the wilderness.Customer Reviews:
One of the Great Books on Los Angeles.......2007-08-13
Definitive SoCal History.......2004-06-17
Accuracy is Lacking.......2004-01-21
I have compared Davis' dramatic account of this event with the actual court reporter's transcript and found numerous egregious misquotes, quotes taken out of order and context, and entire passages that appear to have been woven out of whole cloth. Davis has Mulholland providing verbatim answers to questions he was not asked. The purpose appears to be to cause Mulholland to appear shiftless, defensive, self-pitying, and possibly incompetent.
It is difficult to turn a page in this book without finding similar errors of fact. On page 148, for instance, Davis suggests that Mulholland selected San Francisquito Canyon as the site of the main Los Angeles storage reservoir because it was "located next to Powerhouse Number One... making it cheaper for the reservoir to generate hydroelectric power." In fact, the St. Francis Reservoir never generated any hydroelectric power whatsoever, and it was never designed with this purpose in mind. The powerhouses (in fact there were two) were entirely separate facilities and functionally unrelated to the dam and reservoir. They were co-located only due to their proximity to the Owens Valley Aqueduct. All of the primary and secondary literature makes this fact perfectly clear.
This book is not so much a work of historiography as it is a popular tract designed to exploit and perpetuate a mythology, and in particular the "Chinatown" tale of greedy Los Angeles robber-barons manipulating a system for their own gain. The truth is of course far more complex. Many other books do far better service to the important story of William Mulholland and water development in Los Angeles. (Catherine Mulholland's biography of her grandfather, "William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles" is a much more serious effort.) Look up one of those, and skip this one.
Great Historical Review of Los Angeles.......2003-06-01
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''Sierra and Desert Rails'': DONNER, FEATHER RIVER, OWENS VALLEY AT THE END OF THE STEAM END
Fred Matthews Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 1425722415 |
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Mountain to Desert: Building the Ho Scale Daneville & Donner River
Pelle K. Soeberg Manufacturer: Kalmbach Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
Product Features:
ASIN: 0890246750 |
Product Description
Mountain to Desert:Building the HO D&DRCustomer Reviews:
Mountain to Desert: a Good Resource for Layout Builders.......2007-05-05
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Standing Rocks and Sleeping Rainbows: Mile by Mile Through Southeast Utah
K. E. Rivers Manufacturer: Great Vacations ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0965890147 |
Book Description
This mile-by-mile guide takes you into the depths of canyon country and to the dizzying brink of its lofty plateaus, where you will find mystery, majesty and a monumental appreciation for the beauty of Southeast Utah. An in depth guide to the area's national parks and monuments, hiking routes, mountain bike rides, campgrounds, and picnic areas, unique geologic features, ancient rock art and ruins, backcountry drives, local history, curious stories, and flora and fauna along the way.Customer Reviews:
Best auto touring guide for SE Utah .......2005-07-04
Desert Magic.......2002-04-10
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Cheyenne Double Edition: River of Death/Desert Manhunt (Cheyenne Double Edition)
Judd Cole Manufacturer: Leisure Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 0843946768 |
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Ditches Across the Desert: Irrigation in the Lower Pecos Valley
Steve Bogener Manufacturer: Texas Tech University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 089672509X |
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