Recollections of a Western Ranchman

Since its first limited American printing in 1928, Recollections of a Western Ranchman has been largely unavailable and, even when found, affordable only by collectors. Herein is Captain French's original volume in a reader's edition, the story of a man who lived through the wildest years of the New Mexico/Arizona border country to leave us a frontier memoir with a human voice. In the midst of the final astonishing stand of Geronimo and his renegades, French displays a perceptive and balanced admiration for both the soldiers and the Apache tribe. At the siege of Elfego Baca, the author deftly delineates the hero from the bullies. When the outlaw Black Jack steals his horses, the Captain delightedly steals them back. And nobody has written better of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch than French. Finally, his descriptions of ranch life and the Southwest wilderness are those of a natural reconteur who still held to the facts. Never the hero, though often heroic, French saw it all, with balance, perception, and a droll British wit.

Let me recommend as the best Western book I have read, Recollections of a Western Ranchman, New Mexico, 1883-1899, by Captain William French. It is written in first hand, with humor and insight... --Eugene Manlove Rhodes, from The Hired Man on Horseback

When I want to learn what the frontier Southwest was really like, I consult William French's Recollections. Whether writing about the region's daily happenings or its natural history, Captain French presents an objective, yet lively, portrayal of his observations in the best tradition of that unique genre of British explorer-participants that includes Sir Richard Burton and continues with Wilfred Thesiger, Recollections of a Western Ranchman is a must for any library on Southwest Americana. --David E. Brown, author of The Last Grizzly, and, Arizona Game Birds