28.00 USD
The Last of the Plainsmen: The Story of Buffalo Jones
by Zane Grey
Second Edition
Published 1911
"I need this wild life, this freedom." -Zane Grey
—CONDITION—
This book is well preserved for its' age. The front cover image has some scuffs. There are a few scribbles here and there and some library stamps. The pages are tanned as to be expected, but still in fine reading condition.There is a glossy photo of Buffalo Jones at the title page. Please see photos for accurate representation of condition.
—ABOUT THE AUTHOR—
Zane Grey was an interesting man. An author, a dentist, and man who faced many mental health issues. His books became wildly successful in the western genre and were adapted into many films and tv shows.
Grey suffered bouts of depression, anger, and mood swings, which affected him most of his life. As he described it, "A hyena lying in ambush—that is my black spell! I conquered one mood only to fall prey to the next … I wandered about like a lost soul or a man who was conscious of imminent death."
A little bit of humor, Grey was dating a woman name Dolly (whom he eventually married), and frequently cheated on her with his ex-girlfriends. But he warned her upfront with this piece of pure gold:
"But I love to be free. I cannot change my spots. The ordinary man is satisfied with a moderate income, a home, wife, children, and all that. … But I am a million miles from being that kind of man and no amount of trying will ever do any good … I shall never lose the spirit of my interest in women."
—-ABOUT THE BOOK—
After attending a lecture in New York in 1907 by Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones, western hunter and guide who had co-founded Garden City, Kansas, Grey arranged for a mountain lion-hunting trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. He brought along a camera to document his trips and prove his adventures. He also began the habit of taking copious notes, not only of scenery and activities but of dialogue.
His first two trips were arduous, but Grey learned much from his compatriot adventurers. He gained the confidence to write convincingly about the American West, its characters, and its landscape. Treacherous river crossings, unpredictable beasts, bone-chilling cold, searing heat, parching thirst, bad water, irascible tempers, and heroic cooperation all became real to him.
He wrote, "Surely, of all the gifts that have come to me from contact with the West, this one of sheer love of wildness, beauty, color, grandeur, has been the greatest, the most significant for my work."
Upon returning home in 1909, Grey wrote a new novel, The Last of the Plainsmen, describing the adventures of Buffalo Jones. Harper's editor Ripley Hitchcock rejected it, the fourth work in a row. He told Grey, "I do not see anything in this to convince me you can write either narrative or fiction."
Grey wrote dejectedly,
"I don't know which way to turn. I cannot decide what to write next. That which I desire to write does not seem to be what the editors want … I am full of stories and zeal and fire … yet I am inhibited by doubt, by fear that my feeling for life is false."
The book was later published by the American magazine, Outing, which provided Grey some satisfaction. Grey next wrote a series of magazine articles and juvenile novels.