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Description of  A Marriage Out West: Theresa and Frank Russell's Explorations in Arizona, 1900 1903

A Marriage Out West is an intimate biographical account of two fascinating figures of twentieth-century archaeology. Frances Theresa Peet Russell, an educator, married Harvard anthropologist Frank Russell in June 1900. They left immediately on a busmans honeymoon to the Southwest. Their goal was twofold: to travel to an arid environment to quiet Franks tuberculosis and to find archaeological sites to support his research. During their brief marriage, the Russells surveyed almost all of Arizona Territory, traveling by horse over rugged terrain and camping in the back of a Conestoga wagon in harsh environmental conditions. Nancy J. Parezo and Don D. Fowler detail the grit and determination of the Russells unique collaboration over the course of three field seasons. Delivering the first biographical account of Frank Russells life, this book brings detail to his life and work from childhood until his death in 1903. Parezo and Fowler analyze the important contributions Theresa and Frank made to the bourgeoning field of archaeology and Akimel Oodham (Pima) ethnography. They also offer never-before-published information on Theresas life after Franks death and her subsequent career as a professor of English literature and philosophy at Stanford University. In 1906 Theresa Russell published In Pursuit of a Graveyard: Being the Trail of an Archaeological Wedding Journey, a twelve-part serial in Out West magazine. Theresas articles constituted an experiential narrative based on field journals and remembrances of life in the northern Southwest. The work offers both a biography and a seasonal field narrative that emphasized personal experiences rather than traditional scientific field notes. Included in Read more