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Hornaday, Lumholtz, and the grandeur of nature.

Article Excerpt
TO THOSE WHO LOVE NATURE IN ALL ITS ASPECTS

--CARL LUMHOLTZ, dedication, New Trails in Mexico

One sunny December day in 1990, I was spending some leisurely time with my wife, Barbara, in downtown Mexico City, browsing old editions in the antique bookstores of Reforma Avenue. Glancing along the dusty shelves, I unexpectedly spotted the worn brown back of an old hardcover that made my heart thump with excitement. The spine read "New Trails in Mexico--Lumholtz." The text itself was not new to me; in 1980 I had read Lumholtz's account of his travels in the Gran Desierto in a 1971 edition of New Trails from Rio Grande Press; and the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona had printed a new edition in early 1990, just a few months before my book-search promenade down Reforma Avenue. But the volume I was observing looked much older; it was weathered by time and its colors were mellowed by age and usage. Could it be the original 1912 edition?

In tense anticipation, I took the book from the shelf and opened it. On its age-ambered pages I could read very clearly "New Trails in Mexico: An Account of One Year's Exploration in North-western Sonora, Mexico, and South-western Arizona, 1909-1910 by Carl Lumholtz, M.A." And right below, at the bottom of the page, was the final proof of authenticity: "Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912." Even more surprisingly, the first page was signed by its original buyer: "Guy S. Norvell, Capt. 8th U.S. Cavalry, Manila, Philippine Islands. May 15th, 1913." How did the book find its way from New York to an American cavalry garrison in Manila in 1913, then to Mexico City almost eighty years later? I won't speculate, but miracles happen, even for skeptics like me.

Pretending to be uninterested at first, I engaged in an...

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