The study of Joseph Smith and his writings have long been shaped by the polemical atmosphere that surrounds Smith's claims to divine authorship. Even after a half-century of serious scholarship devoted to Smith, fundamental questions remain about how to best interpret features of his life and writing. Smith's own History of Joseph Smith (edited ......
"John Wesley Powell: explorer, writer, geologist, anthropologist, land planner, bureaucrat. Which one do we focus on?" This is the question author James M. Aton poses at the beginning of his biography of Powell, though he soon decides that it is impossible to ignore any facet of Powell's life. Powell was a polymath, one whose "divergent interests ......
When John Muir died in 1914, the pre-eminent American naturalist, explorer, and conservationist had not yet written the second volume of his autobiography, in which he planned to cover his Yosemite years. Editors Robert Engberg and Donald Wesling have here provided a remedy. Their account begins in 1863, the year Muir left the University of ......
The Life, Lies, and Legend of Grand Canyon's Greatest Storyteller
A legend in his own lifetime, John Hance (1837-1919) was synonymous with early Grand Canyon tourism. Between the late 1880s and early 1900s, to say "John Hance" was to say "Grand Canyon." Hance was well known to travelers and visiting dignitaries alike, men such as William "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Theodore Roosevelt, the president who ......
A History of Archaeological Dating in North America
Archaeologists with expertise in stratigraphy, ceramic dating, obsidian hydration, and luminescence dating present historical and nontechnical reviews of the growth, development, and application of their techniques.
Scattered throughout the Great Plains are many isolated areas of varying size and ecology, quite distinct from the surrounding grasslands. Such spaces can be uplands like the Black Hills, low hills like the Nebraska Sand Hills, or linear areas such as shallow river valleys and deeply incised canyons. While the notion of ""islands"" is not a new ......
Scattered throughout the Great Plains are many isolated areas of varying size and ecology, quite distinct from the surrounding grasslands. Such spaces can be uplands like the Black Hills, low hills like the Nebraska Sand Hills, or linear areas such as shallow river valleys and deeply incised canyons. While the notion of ""islands"" is not a new ......
Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Investigations of Isla Cedros, Baja California
Located off the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, Isla Cedros - Island of Fogs - is site to some of the most extensive and remarkable archaeological discoveries on the continent. Two sites dated to before 12,000 cal BP have been excavated, as well as portions of two large village sites dated to the last one thousand years. Among ......
Twelver Shiite Responses to the Sunni Legal System
This book surveys and analyzes Twelver Shiite relations with the Sunni legal establishment, comprising the four recognized Sunni legal schools, which the author defines as "Islamic Legal Orthdoxy.
