Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon

by Zane Grey

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Westerns, Cats

196 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Pearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

So overall this was just a fun adventure novel that Zane Grey wrote about his own experiences hunting mountain lions and in the Grand Canyon. What I did not like was the racism towards the Native American in their group. They clearly thought of him as dispensable and did not treat him that well. Zane Grey treated him the best out of all of them, which was nice at least. It was accurate for the time period but still sad.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun account of one of my dad’s ancestors who roped lions in the Grand Canyon with the famed western author Zane Grey!

[Lesa Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true account of Zane Grey along with Buffalo Jones, scouting the depths of the Grand Canyon for lions. Quite an interesting book.

[Jess Mukavetz · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you read my last review, then you'll know why I read Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon. (Also, I went to the Grand Canyon just a few weeks ago.) Zane Grey books have been sitting on my family's bookshelves for as long as I've been around. After Unbroken, I finally decided to pick up one, particularly the one with Grand Canyon in its title. The edition that I read was printed in 1924.

This book was incredibly racist. The Native American in Grey's hunting party was never given a name. They simply called him the Navajo, the Indian, or a slew of racial slurs: black head, red skin, and Navvy. The hunting party thought he died at one point, having fallen off of his horse, and they just stood around in mild amusement. The plainsman idea of a really good Indian was a dead one.

Despite the racism, an unabashed reflection of the time (the hunting trip took place in 1908), there were a few striking passages throughout the book. Grey vividly described the Grand Canyon, pre-National Park designation, with grace and reverence. He opened the 1924 edition of the book with an address to the Boy Scouts of America:

"To love hikes and camps and horses and dogs, to seek the wild creatures with more desire to study them than to kill, to learn to accomplish with the hands, to meet difficult situations that arise, to endure pain and privation, to cultivate strength of body and simplicity of mind—these are the things that make a good Scout."

[Russ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title sums up the content. A small group of men hunt mountain lions (aka cougars or pumas) in the Grand Canyon. It's interesting to learn about the tactics involved in hunting them. The men use dogs to tree the cats, then the men lasso the lions, hopefully one on the hind legs and one around the front. They stretch/immobilize the cat.

If the tactics bother you, don't read it. But the prose mostly struck me as a factual description of the steps involved; it wasn't a glorification of killing cougars.

I made the mistake of listening to an audio version of this story. The performer spoke extremely quickly, which often made it difficult to follow. (The speed was pointless since the story is so short anyway.) Also, the audiobook producers must have been uncomfortable with the depiction of the Navajo scout, because I think they swapped out the Indian for an Anglo with a random name.

Yeah, the story isn't politically correct, and it isn't thrilling either, but if you're going to read it, read the original text.

[Drew Fasse]

This book was not one of my favorite books. It didnt have as much action that i would have hoped for it to have since it is a western book. There was some but it didnt involve much human fighting it was mainly man vs. animal.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Books true stories of Zane Grey's life with pictures of some of the things and places he seen.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zane Grey trapped mountain lions in Arizona, and this book is what happened.

He doesn't really say why they were trapping mountain lions. And I read it with a 2024 lens, so it's hard for me to respond to this story without context. I don't see glory in doing this, which I imagine was the draw 100 years ago to this story? It's especially hard to read this knowing a few of the mountain lions were killed in the process, and the lions that were captured were essentially tortured.

I don't know. Maybe this just isn't relevant anymore other than to document the way things were.

Zane Grey is in my universe because he had a compound on Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles, and Chris's family are kind of fangirls of that history.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author doesn't say why they are roping lions, but I gather it's to deliver them to a zoo. I liked the adventure component and the author's compassion for the lions (in the middle of hurting them.) I disliked the racism against the Native American character (although he added grudging respect), and the hurting of the lions.

[Alicia Hagee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa, a very action packed read! So much action that a few times I felt like I was rereading the last page. Exciting. Slightly saddening.