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Campfires on Desert and Lava
Dr. William T. Hornaday, presiding genius of the “Bronx Zoo,” learned naturalist and mighty hunter, has more than once set every man's sporting blood on fire with his tales of the chase of big game in the far West. Mr. Hornaday's 1908 book is a companion volume to "Campfires in the Canadian Rockies." It is the story of an expedition which he and a party of friends made from Tucson, Arizona across the desert to the hitherto unknown region surrounding Pinacate in Northwestern Mexico. As a narrative of unique experiences in the trackless desert of Southern Arizona and in the rugged, uncharted, and almost waterless mountains of Northwestern Mexico, the book will appeal to all lovers of the free out-of-door life. The marvelous varieties of animal and plant life encountered, the incidents of the trail and camp life, and the adventures of the party, are all told with a raciness of phrase, unconventional vigor, and a keen sense of humor that make the book of unusual interest.
In 1907, in company with Dr. MacDougal, of the Desert Botanical Laboratory at Tucson, Ariz., an expert amateur photographer, and a geographer, he plunged into the deserts of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, the unexplored Pinacate region. Campfires on Desert and Lava is the story of this trip. It is in the first place a free and easy record of a jolly fellowship. It is also of scientific value for its maps and its careful records of the flora and fauna of the desert enriched by many fine photographs, some of them printed in colors, and finally it is a chronicle of good shooting among the lava beds. They bagged pronghorn antelope and mountain sheep, the prize being a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, weighing over 192 pounds and having horns over 14 inches in circumference half way from base to tip, and over a yard long on the outer curve. Lest the reader of this notice should suppose that these men were game-butchers, we hasten to say that never did hunters better exemplify the principles of Dr. Hornaday's “Sportsmen's Platform,” of which the tenth plank is: “An ideal hunting-trip consists of a good comrade, fine country and a very few trophies per hunter,” and the fifteenth: “A particularly fine photograph of a large Wild animal in its haunts is entitled to more credit than the dead trophy of a Similar animal.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Moving Pictures Of The Iron Trail
CHAPTER II
Tucson, And The Desert Botanical Laboratory
CHAPTER III
Trailing Into A New World
CHAPTER IV
First Impressions Of An Arboreal Desert
CHAPTER V
A Desert Botanical Garden
CHAPTER VI
Unrolling The Panorama Of The Desert
CHAPTER VII
From The Quijotoa Pass To The Mexican Oasis
CHAPTER VIII
The Sonoyta Oasis
CHAPTER IX
A Small Deer Hunt To The Cubabi Mountains
CHAPTER X
Down The Sonoyta To The Lava
CHAPTER XI
An Eventful Day At The Edge Of The Lava
CHAPTER XII
The Panorama Of Macdougal Pass And Volcano
CHAPTER XIII
The Papago Tanks And The Lava Fields
CHAPTER XIV
Extinct Volcanoes And Mountain Sheep
CHAPTER XV
Dogs In Camp
CHAPTER XVI
The Cactus Display, From Tucson To Pinacate
CHAPTER XVII
A Journey Over The Lava And Another To The Gulf
CHAPTER XVIII
A Great Day With Sheep On Pinacate
CHAPTER XIX
The Ascent Of Pinacate
CHAPTER XX
"lying-out" On Pinacate, And The Final
In 1907, in company with Dr. MacDougal, of the Desert Botanical Laboratory at Tucson, Ariz., an expert amateur photographer, and a geographer, he plunged into the deserts of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, the unexplored Pinacate region. Campfires on Desert and Lava is the story of this trip. It is in the first place a free and easy record of a jolly fellowship. It is also of scientific value for its maps and its careful records of the flora and fauna of the desert enriched by many fine photographs, some of them printed in colors, and finally it is a chronicle of good shooting among the lava beds. They bagged pronghorn antelope and mountain sheep, the prize being a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, weighing over 192 pounds and having horns over 14 inches in circumference half way from base to tip, and over a yard long on the outer curve. Lest the reader of this notice should suppose that these men were game-butchers, we hasten to say that never did hunters better exemplify the principles of Dr. Hornaday's “Sportsmen's Platform,” of which the tenth plank is: “An ideal hunting-trip consists of a good comrade, fine country and a very few trophies per hunter,” and the fifteenth: “A particularly fine photograph of a large Wild animal in its haunts is entitled to more credit than the dead trophy of a Similar animal.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Moving Pictures Of The Iron Trail
CHAPTER II
Tucson, And The Desert Botanical Laboratory
CHAPTER III
Trailing Into A New World
CHAPTER IV
First Impressions Of An Arboreal Desert
CHAPTER V
A Desert Botanical Garden
CHAPTER VI
Unrolling The Panorama Of The Desert
CHAPTER VII
From The Quijotoa Pass To The Mexican Oasis
CHAPTER VIII
The Sonoyta Oasis
CHAPTER IX
A Small Deer Hunt To The Cubabi Mountains
CHAPTER X
Down The Sonoyta To The Lava
CHAPTER XI
An Eventful Day At The Edge Of The Lava
CHAPTER XII
The Panorama Of Macdougal Pass And Volcano
CHAPTER XIII
The Papago Tanks And The Lava Fields
CHAPTER XIV
Extinct Volcanoes And Mountain Sheep
CHAPTER XV
Dogs In Camp
CHAPTER XVI
The Cactus Display, From Tucson To Pinacate
CHAPTER XVII
A Journey Over The Lava And Another To The Gulf
CHAPTER XVIII
A Great Day With Sheep On Pinacate
CHAPTER XIX
The Ascent Of Pinacate
CHAPTER XX
"lying-out" On Pinacate, And The Final
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1908
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19 people want to read
About the author
William T. Hornaday
284 books6 followersFrom Wikipedia:
William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and he was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.
William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and he was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 7, 2021
19th century sportsmen are an interesting bunch. The class-based rules of the good kill. The open racism in classifying types of hunters. The gendered understanding of what constitutes fair game. The contradictions in the rules of the hunt. (Blast that dastardly coyote.) All that said, I recognize the important role that this group played in early conservation efforts. This book is not about that though. It a travelogue of Hornaday’s excursion from Tucson to the Pinacate region of Mexico. I read it for the description of cacti, not the blasting of bighorns. The cacti description was relatively slim, but it was a’ight. Saguaros rule. Time to time it was funny seeing him explain Spanish pronunciation to the reader. He never did get the spelling of cholla right. Despite its annoyances to the contemporary eye, it was an interesting window into the past and a good description of the landscape.
April 6, 2022
Interesting, a little slow.
January 30, 2011
Hornaday writes of a long trip taken with several others to do research in the Sonoran Desert. This occurred in the early 1900's before many of the conveniences that we have now for camping were available. Seems like they were fixing flat tires all the time! Excellent imagery of the desert.
October 5, 2023
Interesting life and times.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews