70. [CAZNEAU, Jane M. McManus Storms]. Eagle
Pass; or, Life on the Border by Cora Montgomery. New
York: Putnam, 1852. 188 pp. 12mo, original stiff printed
wrappers repaired, else near fine. Preserved in a half calf
and marbled boards clamshell case. Presentation inscribed
on the title-page: "To Charles Frederickson, Esq. from his
friend, the author." Very rare.
First
edition, first issue, wrapper dated September 29, 1852.
Graff 2873. Howes C251. Raines, p. 252: "An unpleasant
picture of maladministration on the Rio Grande." Wallace
(Destiny and Glory, Chapter 12) states that the
author "was the most adventurous of any American woman on
record and deserves far more than the oblivion which has
been her fate." Pingenot: An interesting account of life
along the recently acquired Rio Grande frontier by one of
the first settlers of Eagle Pass. Contains much on Fort
Duncan, the Seminoles including Wild Cat and Gopher John,
Indian raids, Capt. Harry Love’s exploration of the
Rio Grande, peon slavery, etc. The author, who wrote under
the pseudonym, Cora Montgomery, was one of the most
adventuresome women of the nineteenth century. See
Handbook of Texas, Streeter (1572), and Winegarten,
Texas Women’s History Project Bibliography, p.
107.
($200-400)