Basil Woon

Arizona's Yesterday: "Illustrated" Basil Woon First edition

This book, in affectionate tribute to the gallant courage, rugged indepen-dence and wonderful endurance of those adventurous souls who formed the vanguard of civilization in the early history of the Territory of Arizona and the remainder of the Great West, is DEDICATED TO JOHN H. CADY and BASIL D. WOON PATAGONIA, ARIZONA, NINETEEN-FIFTEEN. When I first broached the matter of writing his autobiography to John H. Cady, two things had struck me particularly. One was that of all the literature about Arizona there was little that attempted to give a straight, chronological and intimate description of events that occurred during the early life of the Territory, and, second, that of all the men I knew, Cady was best fitted, by reason of his extraordinary experiences, remarkable memory for names and dates, and seniority in pioneership, to supply the work that I felt lacking. Some years ago, when I first came West, I happened to be sitting on the observation platform of a train bound for the orange groves of Southern California. A lady with whom I had held some slight conversation on the journey turned to me after we had left Tucson and had started on the long and somewhat dreary journey across the desert that stretches from the "Old Pueblo" to "San Berdoo," and said: "Do you know, I actually used to believe all those stories about the 'wildness of the West.' I see how badly I was mistaken." She had taken a half-hour stroll about Tucson while the train changed crews and had been impressed by the?to the casual observer?sleepiness of the ancient town. She told me that never again would she look on a "wild West" moving picture without wanting to laugh. She would not believe that there had ever been a "wild West"?at least, not in Arizona. And yet it is history that the old Territory of Arizona in days gone by was the "wildest and woolliest" of all the West, as any old settler will testify.