Stanley Vestal
Encyclopedia
Stanley Vestal was an American
writer
, poet
and historian
best known for his book Dodge City, Queen of the Cowtowns.
on August 15, 1877. Vestal’s father died when he was young. His mother remarried and Vestal took the surname Campbell from his stepfather. In about 1889, the Campbell family relocated from Kansas
to the Oklahoma Territory
.
Vestal graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University
and was Oklahoma's first Rhodes Scholar, earning a B.A. and a M.A. in English at Oxford
.
Vestal became a professor at the University of Oklahoma
after serving as a Captain in an Artillery regiment in World War I.
Between 1927 and his death from a heart attack on Christmas Day 1957, Vestal wrote over twenty books and as many as 100 articles about the old West. He is buried at the Custer National Cemetery in Big Horn County
, Montana
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
best known for his book Dodge City, Queen of the Cowtowns.
Biography
Walter Stanley Vestal was born to Walter and Isabella "Daisy" Vestal near Severy, KansasSevery, Kansas
Severy is a city in Greenwood County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 259.-Geography:Severy is located at , along K-99 south of its intersection with U.S. Route 400...
on August 15, 1877. Vestal’s father died when he was young. His mother remarried and Vestal took the surname Campbell from his stepfather. In about 1889, the Campbell family relocated from Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
to the Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
.
Vestal graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Southwestern Oklahoma State University is a public university in Weatherford and Sayre, Oklahoma. It is one of seven state regional universities in the state of Oklahoma.The current president of SWOSU is Randy Beutler.-History:...
and was Oklahoma's first Rhodes Scholar, earning a B.A. and a M.A. in English at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Vestal became a professor at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
after serving as a Captain in an Artillery regiment in World War I.
Between 1927 and his death from a heart attack on Christmas Day 1957, Vestal wrote over twenty books and as many as 100 articles about the old West. He is buried at the Custer National Cemetery in Big Horn County
Big Horn County, Montana
- National protected areas :* Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area * Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument- Economy :Coal Mining and Agriculture both play major roles in Big Horn County’s economy...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
Partial bibliography
- Fandango; Ballads of the Old West, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1927
- Mountain Men, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1927
- Kit Carson, the Happy Warrior of the West, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1928
- Dobe Walls a Story of Kit Carson's Southwest, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1929
- Sitting Bull-Champion of the Sioux-a Biography, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1932
- New Sources of Indian History 1850-1891. The Ghost Dance. The Prairie Sioux . A Miscellany. University of Oklahoma PressUniversity of Oklahoma PressThe University of Oklahoma Press is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. It has been in operation for over seventy-five years, and was the first university press established in the American Southwest. It was founded by William Bennett Bizzell, the fifth president of the University of...
, Norman, 1934 - The Wine Room Murder, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1935
- *Revolt On The Border, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1938
- Happy Hunting Grounds, Lyons and Carnahan, 1938, Chicago, IL
- The Old Santa Fe Trail, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1939
- King of the Fur Traders: The Deeds and Deviltry of Pierre Esprit Radisson, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1940
- Big Foot Wallace, A Biography, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1942
- Jim Bridger Mountain Man, William MorrowWilliam Morrow and CompanyWilliam Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, and sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981. It was sold along to the News Corporation in 1999...
, New York, 1946 - Joe Meek, The Merry Mountain Man, Caxton, Caldwell, Caldwell, ID, 1952
- Short Grass Country, Duell, Sloan and PearceDuell, Sloan and PearceDuell, Sloan and Pearce was a publishing company located in New York City. It was founded in 1939 by C. Halliwell Duell, Samuel Sloan and Charles A. Pearce. It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances or children's books...
, New York, NY., 1941 - The Missouri, Farrar & RinehartFarrar & RinehartFarrar & Rinehart was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Nero Wolfe corpus of Rex Stout...
, New York, 1945 (Volume 26 of the Rivers of America SeriesRivers of America SeriesThe Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years.- History :...
) - Warpath and Council Fire: The Plains Indians' Struggle for Survival in War and in Diplomacy, 1851-1891, Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, New York, 1948 - Queen of Cowtowns: Dodge City,: "the wickedest little city in America," 1872 - 1886, Harper Brothers, New York, 1952
- The Book Lover's Southwest: A guide to good reading, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1955
- The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use, (with Reginald LaubinReginald LaubinReginald Laubin was an American writer, dancer and expert on Native American culture and customs.-Biography:Performed dances of the American Plains Indians during the 1930s, 40's and 50's. Married to Gladys Laubin. The two lived in and extensively wrote about tipis and other structures and...
& Gladys Laubin, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1957