Mexican Game Trails: Americans Afield in Old Mexico, 1866-1940 [Hardcover]

Neil B. Carmony (Author), David E. Brown (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr; 1st edition (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806123613
• ISBN-13: 978-0806123615
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,982,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Brown practices law in the Monterey, California area, where he has represented both landlords and tenants in hundreds of court cases -- most of which he felt could have been avoided if both sides were more fully informed about landlord/tenant law. Brown, a graduate of Stanford University (chemistry) and the University of Santa Clara Law School, also teaches law at the Monterey College of Law and is the author of Fight Your Ticket (CA version), Beat Your Ticket (the national version), The Landlord's Law Book, Vol. 1: Rights and Responsibilities; The Landlord's Law Book, Vol. 2: Evictions and co-author of How to Change Your Name in California and The Guardianship Book for California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Mexico, June 14, 2008

By 

Ron Braithwaite "Hummingbird God" (El Indio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexican Game Trails: Americans Afield in Old Mexico, 1866-1940 (Hardcover)

"Mexican Game Trails" is a compendium of short stories written by Americans hunting in Mexico between 1866-1940. Almost all the stories are excellent. One of the memorable ones concerns a huge herd of buffalo in, I think, Chihuahua, a place bison didn't ordinarily occur. Apparently, the the buffalo herds in the north were being decimated and this herd migrated south to avoid the apocalypse. The local Mexicans decided to add a few bullets of their own but, when they discovered the body of an Apache hunter crushed by the thundering herd, they rushed, en masse and terrified, back to the safety of their town--such was their fear of the Apache.

Another great story involves the Seri Indians of Tiburon Island in the Sea of Cortez. Some American sportsmen from Yuma build a boat and sail down the Colorado into the Gulf. They have multiple trials and tribulations but nothing like what they would face on Tiburon. They meet the Indians and all seems well. One of the gringos is stupid enough to marry the chief's daughter. One guy goes hunting with the Seris killing a mule deer. His Indian guides become apoplectic with excitement--they fall to the ground and have something like epileptic fits. Now this would have been enough for me to have rapidly retreated to the boat but these guys, despite evidence that things were "going south", stick it out. The Seris stage an underhanded attack and kill two or three Americans. They then try to lure those who had remained in the boat into the shore. Fortunately for them, they stayed out of reach but their comrades were dead and possibly cannibalized.

This, and other murders, finally led to the Mexican Army going to war against the Seris. The Seri survivors were picked up, placed on a reservation on the mainland and carefully watched by Mexican soldiers. Now, many years later, the Seris are permitted back onto the island where they sell desert bighorn sheep hunts [released in the 1970s] for $100,000.00 each. They also go up to Arizona and sell handmade trinkets in southwestern art stores. As far as I know, they haven't eaten any Arizonans during the past few years.

Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Conquest of Mexico