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University of Arizona Press

Ladies of the Canyons: A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the American Southwest

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WILLA Literary Award, 2016Reading the West Book Award for Nonfiction, MPIBASilver Medal, US History, 2016 IPPY AwardsWestern Writers of America Spur Award finalistLadies of the Canyons is the true story of remarkable women who left the security and comforts of genteel Victorian society and journeyed to the American Southwest in search of a wider view of themselves and their world. Educated, restless, and inquisitive, Natalie Curtis, Carol Stanley, Alice Klauber, and Mary Cabot Wheelwright were plucky, intrepid women whose lives were transformed in the first decades of the twentieth century by the people and the landscape of the American Southwest. Part of an influential circle of women that included Louisa Wade Wetherill, Alice Corbin Henderson, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Mary Austin, and Willa Cather, these ladies imagined and created a new home territory, a new society, and a new identity for themselves and for the women who would follow them. Ladies of the Canyons is the story of New Women stepping boldly into the New World of inconspicuous success, ambitious failure, and the personal challenges experienced by women and men during the emergence of the Modern Age. "Poling-Kempes's command of social history, cultural anthropology, and prehistorical archaeology is evident throughout this volume. The lives depicted in "Ladies of the Canyons" is yet another narrative of lives well lived and a reminder that no person is an island." -- Canadian Journal of Archaeology "Poling-Kempes is an experienced writer of both history and fiction, and deftly weaves a clear and engaging narrative from what could have become an overwhelming barrage of people, places, and events"--The Journal of Arizona History "This book fills an important niche in the history of the Southwest"-- New Mexico Historical Review "The members of her 'league of extraordinary women' come together in the Southwest much like the members of television's A-Team assemble for their maverick adventures"--Western Historical Quarterly Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Arizona Press


Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 17, 2015


Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 383 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0816524947


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 45


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.96 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #213,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #160 in West Mountain United States Travel Books #327 in Women in History #991 in U.S. State & Local History


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Fascinating women come alive in adventurous and dramatic life stories!
Format: Paperback
Reading this book is like having the stiff-looking ladies in old photos come alive and walk off the page, telling the stories of their fascinating lives.There's more drama and adventure than you would ever expect! If Southwest and/or women's history is your delight, you will love this book. Poling-Kempes digs deeper into the lives of some of the women included in her wonderful earlier nonfiction books, Ghost Ranch and Valley of Shining Stone, adding an often surprising and always entertaining cast of real-life sojourners and lovers of the Southwest. She has done an amazing feat of research to find out so many lively stories about women and men who have mostly been remembered only by names on title pages or in sparse footnotes until now. The text, extensive notes, and bibliography may well send history buffs on many new research trails. Thank you! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2015 by Maida
    • American Southland Adventures and the Women Who Were There in the Early Days.
Format: Paperback
Review Image by Ginny Mapes
I love how Natalie Curtis was ahead of her time in wanting to learn all she could from the indigenous people of this land. She learned the language, wrote down their songs, played games, and fully appreciated their life style. She was appalled how the government was changing the housing, and making their children go to white man's school. Full of history and ceremony . . . this book holds a wealth of information for the reader. Artists who traveled the land jump off the page: The moonlight flooded that great silent land . . . The senses were too feeble to take it in, and every time one looked up into the sky, one felt unequal to it, as if one were sitting deaf under the waves of a great river of melody. ~ Willa Cather The author tells of visiting the Mesas and kivas, and when Theodore Roosevelt and his crew arrived to witness the Snake Dance, Walpi, August 21, 1913. Totally engaging reading that takes a step back in time in the lives of women who were truly remarkable individuals as well as their friends, colleagues, artists, writers, musicians, cowboys and Indians. Photo: Edward Curtis Hopi dwelling on Mesa ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2021 by Ginny Mapes
    • Interesting facts of different lives
Format: Paperback
This book is a combination of different accounts of different people that all blended together. It was interesting and informative.
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015 by Carolyn Stacey
    • Captivating
Format: Kindle
Although I have to agree with the commenters who found this book slow going at times -- a better editor could have been of immense help -- I still give it five stars because once you stop thinking about the occasional repetition or worrying about who some of the many referenced artists are, you are drawn in. We were at Ghost Ranch in October, and I saw the museum exbihits about some of these women. Wanting to know more, I followed up on a gift shop display and ordered the Kindle version to read on a trip. Wonderful. I'll be sending gift copies to my daughter, who recently moved to Sandia Park, and to an old friend who's moving to Santa Fe next spring. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2023 by Small-business owner
    • Deeply Moving
Format: Paperback
It is important to note that although I rate this a five-star book, I absolutely agree with reviewers who found it a slog and difficult to get into. I found the early parts dry and somewhat pedantic, but kept going because I live in Santa Fe and was interested in its history and in the history of these early feminists. However, as I read, I became more engrossed in the tales of these fascinating women and their largely unrecognized contribution to the arts through their recognition and appreciation of the Native American way of life. Their interwoven stories gained traction and I found I could not wait to get back to the book to find where they led. By the time I finished, I was profoundly moved and felt spiritually enriched by my immersion the lives of these remarkable women. My love of Santa Fe has deepened as well, and my travels around the Southwest will now be based on this book, and if you live in or are planning a trip to the Southwest you need to read it.. I highly recommend it and am purchasing two more for some Santa Fe friends. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2017 by Jesse A.
    • Women who Dared
Format: Kindle
Courageous women but despite their daring the book drags in places.
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2018 by Elissa
    • A much-needed history of an extraordinary group of women and their influence on the American Southwest
Format: Paperback
"Ladies of the Canyons" is a history of a remarkable set of women who forged a creative and innovative society in the American Southwest during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Lesley Poling-Kempes's book tells the story of Natalie Curtis-Burlin, Carol Stanley, Alice Klauber, Mary Cabot Wheelwright, and other women who discovered the haunting beauty of Santa Fe and its environs, and who undertook and supported important cultural studies of American Indians in the Southwest during that period. I was already familiar with the story of Natalie Curtis, having written about her during the 1990s. However, I have to say that my own poor efforts at biography are dwarfed by Poling-Kempes's meticulous research and excellent writing, as well as her talent at weaving together the stories of Curtis and important contemporaries and collaborators, and illuminating the historical, social, and geographical context of the work they did. ARK ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2016 by A.R. Bredenberg
    • Very good, well-researched
Format: Kindle
Very good, well-researched, helped me understand the history of the southwest through the women's stories. It's funny that one reviewer thought the writer made the women come alive, but I didn't have that experience, they seemed rather two-dimensional. Still I'm glad to have read this, just returned from Santa Fe and found my experience was a little richer than in the past. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2015 by Ghost Pepper

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