Chasing Cattle and the Cure: Oral Histories from Yavapai County, Arizona by Mona Lange McCroskey

McCroskey is well known for the oral histories she has collected over the years, establishing a legacy of past generations for the enjoyment of those to come.  

During her 21 years as a contract historian for Sharlot Hall Museum, she interviewed more than 300 people. One hundred of these one-on-one visits comprise Chasing Cattle and the Cure: Oral Histories from Yavapai County, Arizona.

As McCroskey writes in the book's introduction, she covers the military presence at Fort Whipple, miners, ranchers and health-seekers who came to the area in search of relief for respiratory illnesses and tuberculosis. Readers learn of many whose names they will recognize, as well as others who might have faded into oblivion if it were not for Chasing Cattle and the Cure: Oral Histories from Yavapai County, Arizona.

Not only are the book's stories of pioneers classic narratives, McCroskey has also included scores of photographs she has collected that give a dimension of life to her writing.

Author

Mona Lange McCroskey is a fourth-generation Arizonan who grew up on the Yolo Ranch near Camp Wood and the SV Ranch northeast of Wikieup. Mona has bachelors and master’s degrees in southwest history from Arizona State University and a master’s of library science from the University of Arizona. In 2000 she received the Sharlot Hall Award for her contributions to the preservation of Arizona History.