The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie: The True Wild West of New Mexico and California

Pattie was a young fur trapper from Kentucky, vainly seeking his fortune in the American southwest. The Narrative describes his sometimes outrageous exploits in New Mexico, along the Gila River, and in California from 1824 to 1830. He traps beaver, fights Indians, digs for gold, and saves thousands of Mexicans during a smallpox epidemic. This is a sweeping and generally accurate saga of the southwest and California of the time. A classic, and rightfully so.