{"product_id":"chronicles-of-the-big-bend-a-photographic-memoir-of-life-on-the-border-paperback","title":"Chronicles of the Big Bend: A Photographic Memoir of Life on the Border - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eW. D. Smithers\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eKenneth Baxter Ragsdale\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter 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 \u003ci\u003eChronicles of the Big Bend\u003c\/i\u003e, a critically acclaimed work that until now has long been out of print. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere are illustrated chapters on the military, law enforcement, \u003ci\u003ecuranderos\u003c\/i\u003e (healers), liquor smugglers, \u003ci\u003eavisadores\u003c\/i\u003e (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. \u003ci\u003eChronicles of the Big Bend\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWILFRED 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 160\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 9.8 x 7 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 15, 2013\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47457538310397,"sku":"9780876112618","price":48.42,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/TzBjZVpWK3RQYWFKdFNHUlBWR1pYUT09.webp?v=1777238128","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/chronicles-of-the-big-bend-a-photographic-memoir-of-life-on-the-border-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}