Life in the Far West

Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1849. First Edition. 312pp. Duodecimo [19.5 cm] Red cloth with the title gilt stamped on the backstrip. About very good. Cloth at front joint is splitting with the crown bumped. True first edition of Ruxton's classic travel narrative of his time in the southwest and interior west in 1846-1847. George Frederick Ruxton (1821-1848) was born in England and like other men in his family pursued a career in the Military after a few years he felt confined by a soldier's life and resigned and set sail for America where he traveled through Mexico and the southwest in 1846 and 1847 working as a trapper and hunter. Returning to England, he submitted this work and 'Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains' for publication. This series of sketches first appeared in Blackwood's magazine in 1848. Of particular interest in this work is Ruxton's description of the Walker expedition of trappers to California. Ruxton would return to America in 1848 with the intention of visiting Salt Lake City and South Pass. He became ill in St. Louis and died there in September of 1848. Howes 554. Howes 173:2. Eberstadt 114: 950. Graff 3623.