Vanished Arizona
Recollections of the Army Life of a New England Woman
Volume II of "Living Voices of the Past"
By Martha Summerhayes
Beverly's Ltd - 1999
ISBN: 096718851-2 - Audio Book
Nonfiction / Memoir

Reviewed by: Jo Rogers, MyShelf.Com
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VANISHED ARIZONA is a look at the old West by someone who lived through the hardships and privations of Army life on the frontier. As a young bride, Martha Summerhayes joined her 2nd Lt. husband, Jack Summerhayes, at Fort Russell in Wyoming Territory in 1874. She had grown up in the civilized East at Nantucket, and nothing there prepared her for life on the frontier. With no doctor and no woman on base to help her, Mattie had her baby, and barely survived.

Before she fully recovered from the birth of her son, they were transferred to Camp Ehrenburg in Arizona, a place as harsh and desolate as any place could be. They traveled overland by Army ambulance, not the most comfortable of conveyances. They were in constant danger from Indian attacks, and ran short of food while they followed their guide to their new home. In Arizona, the bitter cold winters of the north were replaced by the scorching heat of the desert in summer. The climate was good for sick children, but it took its toll on Mattie.

You will laugh with her, though, as she sees the reaction of the officer's wives to their "butler," a Maricopa Indian named Charlie, who wore a G-string and nothing else. You will smile as she bemoans the lack of servants, something most of us know how to do without, and you will sympathize as she recounts her desire to shuck the dresses of the "civilized" East for the cooler and more comfortable dress of the Mexican women. Truly, Martha Summerhayes is a living voice from the past.