REMINISCENCES OF A RANGER OR, EARLY TIMES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. - 1881

Los Angeles: Yarnell, Caystile & Mathes, Printers, 1881., 1881. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Rebound in quarter leather and marbled boards, 457 pp., preface, illustrated. Portrays pioneer life as it then existed, not only among the American pioneers, but also the California Spaniards. Los Angeles Ranger Horace Bell reports that, "Midnight raids and open day robbery and assassinations of defenseless or unsuspecting Americans were of almost daily occurrence" in southern California, a territory newly acquired from Mexico. To combat this lawlessness, in 1853 the citizens of Los Angeles formed a volunteer mounted police force known as the Los Angeles Rangers. Bell includes accounts of his exploits of notorious western badmen (Joaquin Murieta, et al), overland travel, Indian fighting, etc. Major Bell was also a member of Walker's filibustering expedition. Adams 150 #9 says, "This is said to be the first cloth-bound book printed, bound and published in Los Angeles. Its scarcity is largely the result of the fact that the publishers had the only print shop in town, and since this was the biggest job they had undertaken, they did not have sufficient type for the complete book. So, after printing the first half, they took the type down and reset it for the second half. The result was a small edition." All editions have much information on the lawlessness of early California. Cowan page 44 says, "Bell has written more minutely upon the "seamy side" of society than any other California author, and there is a fascination about his book." A handsome copy that could have been better cared for yet a very good, tight copy with some rubbing to the leather spine and corners and light wear to the boards at fore-edges. The original cover is glued in to the rear of the copy.