Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the
Army Life of a New England Woman
by Martha Summerhayes
University of Nebraska Press
1979
pp. 341
Paperback
ISBN 978-0-8032-9105-8
$15.95
Synopsis
Martha Summerhayes came as a bride to Fort Russell in Wyoming Territory in 1874. But she had only a short time to enjoy her new quarters, for in June her husband’s regiment was ordered to Arizona, "that dreaded and then unknown land."
Although Martha Summerhayes’s recollections span a quarter of a century and life at a dozen army posts, the heart of this book concerns her experiences during the 1870s in Arizona, where (as Dan L. Thrapp observes in his introduction) the harsh climate and "perennial natural inconveniences from rattlesnakes to cactus thorns and white desperadoes, all made [it] a less than desirable posting for the married man and his wife." First printed in 1908, the book was so well-received that Summerhayes prepared a new edition that was published in 1911. Among "the essential primary records of the frontier-military West," the book "retains its place securely because of the narrative skill of the author, her delight in life—all life, including even, or perhaps principally, army life and people—and because it is such a joy to read.”
Read an excerpt“--courtesy of the University of Nebraska Press. Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life of a New England Woman by Martha Summerhayes is available wherever books are sold or from the University of Nebraska Press 1-800-848-6224 or customerservice@longleafservices.org.
About the author
Martha Summerhayes (1846-1911) was born in Massachusetts and spent two years studying in Germany before her life on the American frontier with her husband, John Summerhayes, second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After his retirement the Sumerhayes’ lived in Washington, D.C. and then returned to Massachusetts. Martha and John both died in 1911 and are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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