JOHN MARSH, PIONEER: THE LIFE STORY OF A TRAIL-BLAZER ON SIX FRONTIERS. by Lyman, George D - 1930

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930. 394 pp, 8 3/4" H. Dark blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine/front board, map endpapers. B&w illustrations - all present. "John Marsh graduated from Harvard in 1823. He was the first schoolmaster in Minnesota. He wrote a dictionary and a grammar of the Sioux language. He married a beautiful French/Indian woman, and by her had a son whom he believed dead for many years, ultimately to find him begging at his door unaware that he besought his own father. John Marsh was an Indian agent; some of his acts incited Indian wars; some of them terminated such wars. He traded furs, ran a store into bankruptcy, and then started on the long trek over the Santa Fe trail to California. Without having studied medicine he acted as a doctor in Los Angeles in 1836 - the first in California. He became a cattle baron, participating in the revolutions which preceded California's entrance into the Union, which he helped effect. He discovered gold. He was finally murdered, leaving a vast fortune hidden, undiscovered to this day. His life story is better than fiction. So also is the story of his time, of the life on our Western frontier, and in California before the days of '49." Previous owner's stamp and an area of foxing at the top of the half-title page; light toning to the pages; a few scattered small foxing marks throughout the pages; a slight separation between the page gatherings at pages 130/131, but pages are firmly held in the binding; moderate browning and some foxing on top of the text block; light browning and some foxing on the fore-edge and on the bottom of the text block; very light edge wear; light wrinkling at the bottom of the spine, some areas of light colour loss on the bottom half of the boards. Dust jacket has moderate browning, edge wear/wrinkling, several very small edge tears and chips, a few rub marks and one very small stain, now protected in a removable mylar sleeve.. Not Signed. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/Good.