Library Check: Ghost Riders of the Mogollon

[AZRedhawk44]

Anyone in the APS brain-trust have a copy of Ivan Lee Kuykandall's Ghost Riders of the Mogollon?

I figure most likely not.  The book has a fascinating history for central rural Arizona, and only a handful of copies escaped sequester in a lawsuit over it.  But it doesn't hurt to ask.

[HankB]

I just checked ebay - there's a copy listed there for $700 plus shipping.

[230RN]

You mean nobody's reduced it to digital and bootlegged it yet?  I guess it was the basis for conflict for a great many movie Westerns.

I thought every library was connected to a grand Library Searcch data base.  I've dug up several archaic books when my local Jefferson County Library searched for them.  (One was found in San Franciscoi and they shiipped it to my library, no charge.)

To save time for others who don't know what it was all about, from a hit on a duckduckgo search:
 
"Show Details
Description: San Antonio, TX: Naylor, 1954. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good+ in Very Good+ DJ. 5 1/2 x 8, 158 pgs. This is the story of the Graham-Tewksberry feud in Arizona. When the book was released, the publishers were sued by some of the descendants of the characters involved. Less than 200 copies reached private hands and, today, is very hard to find. Dust jacket price has been clipped."

US$700 seems to be the going price.

Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Valley_War

Wow !  Contains the plot elements for every Western you've ever seen or ever will see. 

Cow herders, sheep herders, conflicts, compromises, Indians shooting people, houses burned  down, crooked judges, un-crooked judges, bar shootin' fights, Tonto Basin, Deputies shooting dogs, long distance shooting,  "Remington six-shooter,"  ten percenrt of a town's population killed, herds driven into a river to drown...  whew!

"The Pleasant Valley War gave Arizona Territory a reputation for not being ready for statehood."

No     , Sherlock.

Terry, 230RN

[AZRedhawk44]

I was just hoping there was a chance one of the old salts here might have a copy, by chance.  I wouldn't ask for it to be shipped to me (it's nearly irreplaceable), just for permission to maybe stop by and read it (owner is free to dictate how I do so... gloves, no beverages nearby, whatever).  I'd make a road trip out of it if need be. 

I'm really hoping to buy some property in the Young / Pleasant Valley area in the next few years.  Almost did last winter, it wasn't QUITE the right parcel of land.

I only have encountered one copy of this book in my search:  The local restaurant in Young, called Antlers, used to have a copy in a locked display case, on the wall.  Antlers closed 2 years ago and only recently re-opened, under new ownership.  Stopped in yesterday while out on a break-in ride of my new motorcycle and the copy was no longer on the wall.  Talked to the new owner, who then introduced me to the old owner who happened to be in the restaurant, and the book is safely in the custody of the old owner, at home. 

[RocketMan]

Muggy On!

ETA:  The pronunciation of Mogollon always seemed odd to me.  When I lived in Arizona, folks looked at me strangely the first time or two the area came up in conversation.

[230RN]

<joke>  Betcha there are a couple of copies in various Western movie studio libraries.</joke>

I still wonder why you need to read an original copy of the novel.  My second link above seems to have dealt in great detail  with the (presumably) actual sequence of events and the actual names of the many parties involved.

I also wonder what brought the descendants to sue to have the book suppressed.  Given that the court ordered that distribution be stopped, there must have been a valid legal reason, that is, perhaps there really was unsupported defamation of their ancestors.

Which implies that elements of the book were false.

And we get enough BS about the Old West from the old dime novels.

By the way, the book I got from the San Francico library was not mine to keep and there were very rigid return requirements.  The library even called me a couple of days before it was due to remind me.  Apparently they had their own rigid return requirements with the San Fran library.  And it wasn't even a rare book.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Check with an LDS stake near you or the ones in Heber/Overgaard or the Snowflake/Taylor.  They are the most likely to have the actual story, or even the book.

[Hawkmoon]

Muggy On!

ETA:  The pronunciation of Mogollon always seemed odd to me.  When I lived in Arizona, folks looked at me strangely the first time or two the area came up in conversation.

It's from Spanish. In Spanish, two 'L's are pronounced as 'Y'. Is in "Llama" and "Amarillo."

[RocketMan]

It's from Spanish. In Spanish, two 'L's are pronounced as 'Y'. Is in "Llama" and "Amarillo."

Thanks for the explanation.  Should have made that connection when I lived in AZ years ago.