California Joe by Joe E. Milner and Earle R. Forrest, with an Authentic Account of Custer's Last Fight by Colonel William H. C. Bowen, Together in One Volume, First Edition, 1935

Milner, Joe E. and Earle R. Forrest. California Joe: Noted Scout and Indian Fighter. [with] An Authentic Account of Custer’s Last Fight by Colonel Willam H. C. Bowen. Caldwell: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1935. First Edition. Octavo. In publisher’s green cloth boards, with gilt silhouette and titles to the front, gilt titles to the spine. Missing dust jacket. Presented is a first edition printing of California Joe: Noted Scout and Indian Fighter by Joe E. Milner and Earle R. Forrest, together with An Authentic Account of Custer's Last Fight by Colonel William H. C. Bowen. The book was published by The Caxton Printers, Ltd., in Caldwell, Idaho in 1935. It is presented in the publisher’s green cloth boards, with a gilt silhouette of California Joe and gilt titles on the front board and gilt tiles on the spine. It is lacking its original dust jacket. This 1935 biography recounts the life of Moses Embree Milner (1827–1876), known as California Joe, whose career encompassed western exploration, the California gold rush, and service as an army scout. A contemporary of Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Buffalo Bill Cody, Milner traveled and trapped with Jim Bridger, accompanied General Stephen Watts Kearny during the campaign to seize New Mexico and California, and served as chief of scouts for Custer’s Seventh Cavalry during the 1868 Washita campaign, with subsequent pursuits as a mountain man, gold seeker, and pioneer. Although he ranked among the notable scouts and adventurers of his generation, his life had received comparatively little sustained historical attention before the publication of this 1935 biography. The book draws upon family recollections, historical records, and a collection of firsthand testimonies to document Milner’s career and also place it within the broader history of the nineteenth-century West. When the book was first published, The New York Times Book Review commended the biography for bringing overdue attention to Milner, observing that this account was “the first time their subject has had the due honor paid him of an effort to collect the facts of his life and relate his narrative in authentic, reliable form and against its own background.” The review further noted that the authors had produced “a vital sort of narrative that gives the personal story a broad base in the general history of the subduing of the West, and in all this California Joe was a leading player.” The volume is especially significant for its inclusion of Colonel William H. C. Bowen’s An Authentic Account of Custer’s Last Fight, which complements the biography with a study of one of the most consequential military engagements of the Indian Wars. Bowen’s account was based on extensive research at the Little Bighorn battlefield and interviews with individuals who possessed knowledge of the engagement. His narrative also includes a listing of the soldiers killed with Custer. According to the New York Times Book Review, Bowen’s account was praised by Seventh Cavalry Captain Frederick W. Benteen as “the best account of the Custer fight ever written.” Author Joe E. Milner was the grandson of Moses Embree Milner. His family connection provided an important starting point for the biography, but his work extended well beyond personal recollection. He spent years corresponding with the War Department and pursuing primary-source documentation to verify his grandfather’s military service and frontier exploits. His research, supplemented by family testimony and interviews with individuals familiar with the Old West, formed the documentary foundation of the volume. Co-author Earle Robert Forrest (1883-1969) was a well-known writer, historian, and photographer who specialized in the American Old West, amassing a collection of over 8,000 negatives documenting Navajo and Hopi culture. CONDITION: Very good+ condition. Octavo. First edition. In the publisher's original green cloth boards with gilt silhouette and titles to the front board, gilt titles to the spine. Green cloth and gilt are vibrant, with only very few, faint scratches to the back board. Light bumping to corners. The previous owner’s name “Hoop” inked on top of the text block, “J. W. Hoop” inscribed on front fly leaf, remnant of glued newsprint on front flyleaf. Else, very clean and bright pages. Illustrated throughout. Missing original dust jacket. Book Dimensions: 7 5/8" H x 5 5/8" W x 1 5/8" D.. REFERENCES: “O Pioneers!; California Joe. By Joe E. Milner and Earle R. Forrest. Introduction by Franklin W. Hall. Introduction by the Late Colonel W. H. C. Bowen. With an Authentic Account of Custer’s Last Fight. By Colonel William H. C. Bowen.” New York Times Book Review, June 16, 1935. Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.