Customer Reviews

Arizona: A Cavalcade of History, Second Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first time I leafed through Marshall Trimble's "Arizona, A Cavalcade of History." I found it difficult to put down. Trimble's descriptive style of writing combined with the richness of Arizona's true stories of hardship and danger instills an admiration for the spirit that created legends and left a legacy that remains on Arizona horizons. One cannot view Arizona without sensing its majestic past set in a geographical masterpiece of wild beauty that takes one's breath away. Trimble captures this majesty and weaves it into a record of history from prehistoric eras to Arizona's more recent times. Trimble's epic journey begins with Arizona dinosaurs, disappearing cultures, Native American sagas, mountain men, and spirited pioneers living through turbulent times where war and peace seesawed back and forth, and on into the formation of Arizona territories and statehood with the complexities of politics and the rapid introduction of technology. Trimble tells stories of men like Henry Clay Hooker who headed to Arizona with turkey profits and changed the face of Arizona ranching with his purebred cattle and magnificent stallions, or women like Nellie Cashman who had a thirst for adventure coupled with a charitable spirit, earning her the title "Angel of the Mining Camps." Trimble's frontier stories include famous legends like Cochise and Tom Jeffords, the white man who befriended him, or the terrifying Geronimo who taunted two well-known Generals - George Crook and Nelson Miles - who built (and lost) reputations in their quest to tame him. Arizona's rugged history finds ruffians and barbarism mixed with true generosity and courageous spirits. Trimble's stories are always interesting, often causing a chuckle or a cold shiver up the back. His narrative won't "feel" like a history lesson, but rather like an invitation to curl up next to a cozy fire and listen as he shares true stories about heroism in the face of tragedy, hope laced with humor, weakness counterbalanced with strength, good versus evil, and a spirit of determinism that defied the odds. Marshall Trimble's "Arizona, A Cavalcade of History" is well worth reading. I highly recommend it and hope other readers and history buffs enjoy their fireside chat as much as I have.

The word "cavalcade" means a ceremonial procession, especially of horsemen.It takes a good storyteller to turn historical facts into a ceremonial procession, but in _Arizona: a Cavalcade of History_ , Marshall Trimble has done just that.

There are 19 chapters in Trimble's book. They begin with a chapter on the paleological eras of Arizona and conclude with a chapter called "recent Arizona history," but what that means is that it focuses on events since WW II.

There are chapters on the Spanish attempts at settling and controlling Arizona, and there is a very interesting chapter on Arizona's Native Americans. However, my favorite stories are from the many chapters on the time of the Old West.

I will wager that most American history books do not include the story that Arizona almost had a seacoast. One legend has it that when engineers were surveying west of Nogales, someone pointed out that the nearest saloon was in Yuma. So the thirsty engineers made a right angle turn.

This makes an interesting story, but the truth of the matter was that when James Gadsden arrived in Mexico City in 1853, he had five different offers to make to the Mexican government. The largest was a $50 million offer that would have given Arizona seacoast on the Gulf of California. However the Mexican government declined that offer because they wanted to maintain a land bridge to the Baja Peninsula.

Globe, Arizona, was a mining town. The first major mine was developed there in 1873 and the town grew. In time a school was built, but unfortunately no one realized that it was near a bordello. Since the law said that a bordello could not be within 400 feet of a school, some of the citizens of Globe requested that the sheriff shut down the bordello. At the same time, another group of citizens requested that the sheriff move the school. The sheriff measured the distance between the two structures and found that the 400 foot limit extended 4 feet into the front of the bordello. To solve the problem, the sheriff told the madam to conduct her business in the back rooms of the bordello which were just outside the legal limit.

In the mining town of Jerome, the miners were paid once a month. For a few days afterward, the mines were closed as the miners spent their hard-earned cash at the local saloons. Some ended up spending a night in jail and some ended up before the local magistrate, a fellow named Lewis St. James who was totally deaf and could not hear any of the testimony. "But he seemed to know most of the defendants personally and ruled accordingly. Like most judges, he had an uncanny ability to know just how much money they were carrying and to set the fines accordingly." (p. 145)

These delightful stories are among the many in Trimble's cavalcade. To help out his readers, Trimble has included numerous maps and photographs of the places and people about which he writes. There is also an index and a bibliography.

Marshall Trimble has truly written a ceremonial procession of history.

I've read several of Trimble's books on Arizona and have thoroughly enjoyed each. Trimble has two gifts that make his books special.

The first is his writing style. Although I enjoy reading about Arizona history, some books can make this tedious at times. I read a chapter or two, and then I need to take a break. When reading Trimble you find yourself wrapped up in history. His lively prose and frequent use of humorous and fascinating anecdotes make the pages fly by. This book is no exception. Even those that are bored by history will probably enjoy this book.

The second of Trimble's gift is his knowledge of Arizona and the southwest. His books are packed with information about the state. There is a reason that he has been named the state's Official Historian.

If you want to learn about Arizona's fascinating past, this book is one of the ones that you should start with.

Pay no attention to the two individuals who gave this book negative reviews -- Marshall Trimble's "Arizona, a Cavalcade of History" is an excellent introduction to the colourful and interesting history of our 48th state. Trimble is a master storyteller and brings history down to level of the ordinary person, and after all, that's it belongs to. It's not a text book per se, but it's not really supposed to be -- and quite frankly, has there ever been a textbook that is truly "readable"?

"Good history is a well-told story" -- and Trimble excells a storyteller. I would use this book for my history classes, because I believe my students would enjoy it -- and history should be enjoyed.

The way this book is written, it's as though you are back in the exciting historic days of Arizona, experiencing the colorful people and unique places that are the foundation of today's Arizona. Trimble takes history and makes it a palatable subject, which is not a simple thing to do, when dealing with numerous dates.

I found learning about the cultural background of the various native American people's tribes particularly interesting; their beliefs, customs and how they have adapted to the present times is a testament to their resiliency.

I highly recommend "Arizona: A Cavalcade of History" as a learning tool to anyone who is truly interested in the history of our 48th state!

Marshall Trimble has been writing books about Arizona since pappy was a babe. He has written extensive texts about the Grand Canyon State and this effort offers a great introduction on the history of Arizona from prehistoric times up to the first few years of the 21st Century. The book has 307 pages of text along with short sections on facts and chronology of the state along with an extensive bibliography that gives the reader additional information on each of the chapters covered in the book. The book also has a nice index to look at information earlier in the book.

I like the way the author wrote the book in a storytelling manner as if he were telling it to you. There are no footnotes and endnotes, but the bibilography would give the reader the references that one needs. If you like T.R. Fehrenbach's books about Texas, then you will be in love with Marshall Trimble's books about Arizona. Make no mistake, this guy knows his stuff.

No substitute for a good text book, but respectable to say the least. Has accurate accounts of Arizona great history, but a short book dedicated to a subject matter that really deserves VOLUMES!

I have been spoiled by history books like the one on Texas by Fehrenbach and The Devil Knows how to Ride on Quantrell. This book is NOT a bad history book. However, it is very choppy and is difficult to use to learn about Arizona if you know nothing about it to start with. My biggest problem initially was that I am not familiar with the geography so references to the Colorado Plateau left me cold without a map. References to cities that weren't mapped also gave me problems.

Trimbell does have an exceptional sense of humour and that does come out in the book. It is probably the first history book to make me laugh. However, when he starts getting down and dirty with facts, it just doesn't have a flow to it that helps me put things together. For instance, one of the first chapters is on the indigenous peoples of Arizona. He goes down the list and says that these people lived here and this is how they lived and this is where they are now (if they still exist). But there are so many different tribes and their stories are so isolated from the others that I now get them all mixed up in my head or their involvement in Arizona history simply holds no meaning for me.

From this book, I get the distinct impression that Arizona simply does not have the kind of rich history that Texas has. It currently appears that people may have passed through Arizona but, by and large, the state simply has never been settled. 70% of the population lives in the 2 major cities, Phoenix and Tucson, so this hypothesis may be correct. However, I will withhold my judgment on that until I find a more exhaustive history book on the state.

In my opinion, great history books explain how either historical or current events have been shaped by major events in the past. They also critically examine major events and historical figures and make strong judgements on the morals and ethics of the people involved and the intelligence of people's actions. Poor history books simply recite facts and stories while heroizing all individuals mentioned. According to these criteria, Trimble's book is a poor history book.

The book covers history from prehistoric times to the present. The coverage of topics, however, is not comprehesive. Some topics are covered more than they need to be, particularly if they fit romantic notions of the Old West. For example, while I would not argue that cowboys do not deserve a chapter, I would say that Trimble spent too much time simply dwelling on the specific details of cowboy life. As another example, his early chapter on the Indian tribes of Arizona spends many pages discussing details on warlike tribes that more closely fit the romantic images of the Old West (such as the Apache) but far fewer pages for distinctly different tribes that live more mundane farming existences but still play an important role in Arizona history (such as the Tohono Oodham). Some poor tribes only get briefly mentioned in a single paragraph.

While too much time is spent on some topics, other topics are completely ignored for no apparent reason. Sam Hughes, a prominent 19th century Tucson citizen who developed many schools and hospitals in the city, goes unmentioned. So does the development of the state's national parks, especially the Grand Canyon. Route 66 garners only a sentence, despite the development of towns and tourism along the route.

Even with the topics that Trimble covers, he often fails to explain why the topics are relevant in any context, and he also almost never critically examines any issues. Many individuals are named throughout the text. While specific information about many of these people, such as their birthplace, childhood, physical characteristics, and personality, are often described in detail, the importance of their contribution to history is not. Trimble simply mentions that they were present in Arizona, sometimes listing off people in an almost rote-like fashion. His attempt to describe their colorful personalities or specific humorous events involving these people adds nothing to the text. However, the author rarely says anything negative or judgemental about the people; the people are simply made into heroic abstractions that Trimble seems to worship.

Historic events are likewise treated in this bland fashion. Especially in the coverage of 19th and early 20th century history, Trimble likes to tell stories about specific events, such as a feud in Pleasant Valley in 1887 or a drilling contest in Bisbee in 1903, that delve into details about the individuals involved and the sequence of events but never say anything about how this affected Arizona in the past or present or why the readers should care. Meanwhile, other topics that are enshrouded in controversy, such as 19th century prostitution, polygamy and its connection to child abuse along the Utah border, and a 1917 incident in Bisbee where thousands of unionized miners were deported to a prison camp in New Mexico, are simply mentioned by the author as having occurred with only a few words describing anything negative or controversial about the events. The only topic that the author does seem to discuss critically is water use, but his pro-Arizona, anti-California attitude did not appeal to me.

Ulitmately, I cannot recommend this book, as it does more bad than good. The book fails to be comprehensive in discussing Arizona and thereby presents a distorted history of the state. Historic events and individuals are often simply mentioned, with no critical discussion of the people or events. To cover up these problems, the author attempts to use colorful descriptions and stories, but they only appear to be pointless ramblings that put nothing in a historical context. Trimble effectively gave me no reason to care about Arizona history.

If Trimble's book was the only Arizona history book available, I would be less harsh. However, I know that two other books on general Arizona history are currently in print. I have not read those books, but I would recommend reading those alternatives instead of this book.