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Editor's note:
John Elliott asked me to type the manuscript of this memoir in 1988.
I was delighted to accept the project, but it presented me with a dilemma:
the manuscript required quite a lot of editing, and I was by no means qualified
to perform such a task. So I decided merely to type it, altering it as little
as possible — removing some of the major repetitive passages, but adding nothing,
and trying to preserve the unique voice that I found in the original handwritten manuscript.
I was assuming that he would
present the result to a publisher, someone who could help
him work the bugs out of it. To my surprise (and consternation) he took the
raw manuscript (139 typed pages) and had it printed and bound, without revision!
The reader who takes the time to read the entire memoir will notice a few
annoying omissions. Perhaps the most glaring concerns his two marriages.
He makes only passing reference to his first marriage to Mary Berkley
whom he neglects to mention
by name. The circumstances surrounding his divorce and subsequent marriage to Kathleen Giles
receives similarly vague treatment.
Also troubling are his well-meaning but paternalistic (and even racist) opinions of
the Plains Indians, whom he nonetheless worked with closely and even considered his friends.
In any case, what follows is John's summation of his life. Apart
from being a testament to his interpretation of events of his times, it also
reveals interesting information about the technology and practices of a by-gone era.
If you encounter typos, please leave me a note via the
contact form and I will correct them as soon as possible.
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