As a young teamster on a pack-mule train, Wilfred Dudley Smithers saw the Rio Grande's Big Bend for the first time in 1916, and it captured his imagination forever. For decades thereafter he returned to Texas' last great frontier-the great bend of the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border-chronicling the region and its people in words and photographs. After half a century of photography, Smithers' superlative collection of nine thousand images ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1976 more than one hundred ...
Read More
As a young teamster on a pack-mule train, Wilfred Dudley Smithers saw the Rio Grande's Big Bend for the first time in 1916, and it captured his imagination forever. For decades thereafter he returned to Texas' last great frontier-the great bend of the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border-chronicling the region and its people in words and photographs. After half a century of photography, Smithers' superlative collection of nine thousand images ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1976 more than one hundred of these were reproduced in Chronicles of the Big Bend, a critically acclaimed work that until now has long been out of print. The years that Smithers chronicled in the Big Bend were sometimes violent ones. Pancho Villa and Chico Cano were among the many "bandits" playing hide-and-seek with the U.S. Cavalry-events Smithers recorded. He was also an eyewitness to liquor-running and smuggling during Prohibition. His principal subjects, however, were the people of the Big Bend: local ranchers, Mexican American and American families, miners, Texas Rangers, and others living simple lives in this harsh and beautiful land. With words and camera Smithers wanted to capture "vanishing lifestyles, primitive cultures, old faces, and odd, unconventional professions. Before my camera I wanted huts, vendors, natural majesties, clothing, tools, children, old people, the ways of the border." He also told his own life story along with that of the Big Bend. There are illustrated chapters on the military, law enforcement, curanderos (healers), liquor smugglers, avisadores (secret-message senders), and the national park. Smithers' word sketches and black-and- white photographs capture the harsh reality and stark beauty, the dust and the mystery of the frontier era of the Big Bend that ended in 1944 when it became a national park. Chronicles of the Big Bend is a rare documentary look at a frontier region as it was known by only a few and as it will never be seen again. It is a deeply personal human portrait of the majestic Big Bend. WILFRED DUDLEY SMITHERS (1895-1981) was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 1895. He began taking photographs at age fifteen while living in San Antonio, and later worked as a teamster, joined the U.S. Army, operated a photo studio, served as a news correspondent, and helped pioneer aerial photography.
Read Less
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $21.21, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Madrona Pub.
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $21.21, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Madrona Pub.
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $23.18, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Texas State Historical Assn.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $32.95, very good condition, Sold by Daedalus Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Texas State Historical Association.
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $38.45, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Texas State Historical Assn.
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend-a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $50.00, very good condition, Sold by Becker's Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Madrona Press, Inc..
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $55.67, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Madrona Pub.
Add this copy of Chronicles of the Big Bend: a Photographic Memoir of to cart. $58.37, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Texas State Historical Assn.