BYU Studies Quarterly BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 25 Issue 3 Article 17

7-1-1985

Zane Grey's Arizona Kandace C. Kant Kandace C. Kant

Charles S. Peterson

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Peterson, Charles S. (1985) "Zane Grey's Arizona Kandace C. Kant," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 25 : Iss. 3 , Article 17. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol25/iss3/17

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126 BYU studies

KANDACE C KANT zanezone greys arizona foreword by loren greyflagstaff ariz northland press 1984 1495149514.95

reviewed by charles S peterson professor of history at utah state university and editorof the western historical quarterly

this small volume examines zane greys interest in arizona andsurrounding areas and assesses the role arizona played in shaping hisattitudes as well as the attitudes of his readers and ofmoviegoersmoviegoers whosaw films made from his novels according to kandace C kant ari-zona made a powerful impression on grey grey in his turn bycombining the spell it cast over him with nostalgia optimism roman-ticism and strong but simplistic feelings about nationalism race andrelations between the sexes did much to place arizona at the heart ofthe national perception of the west

A foreword by greys son loren makes use of his fathers descrip-tion of canyon scenery to establish a feeling for greys writing andspirit kant follows with an introduction thatmakes grey a child of theturn of the century era showing how he was influenced by socialdarwinism progressivism and a longing for values that were slippingaway greys arizona experience is organized under chapters entitledcanyon reservation desert and forest his books dealingrespectively with the canyon lands the reservation the borderlandsand the tonto basin are then considered the concluding chapters dealwith greys role in promoting the 113 films that were based on hiswriting the impact of those films and the zane grey legend thatemerged from both the novels and the movies the final paragraphschronicle greys growing disenchantment with arizona as it changedand more importantly one might speculate as his initial responseswere tempered with more realistic views

kants work is successful in its organization and presentationthere can be no doubt that arizona was central to greys regionalinterests nor that he didmuch to enhance the states image throughoutamerica As one who grew up between greys canyon country andtonto basin locales I1 well recall my own sense that I1 was at the heartof the west to my youthful mind it seemed an almost unbelievablestroke of good fortune

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Peterson: <em>Zane Grey's Arizona</em> Kandace C. Kant

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however kants effort to put grey entirely into the perspective ofthe political boundaries of a single state detracts from both her presen-tation of his interests and the accuracy of her book where the canyoncountry was concerned at least greys interest was attached to topog-raphy and extended well into utah beginning with loren greysforeword descriptions that clearly pertain to utah appear in kantsanalysis while it is true that fredonia is on the arizona strip and hencean arizona mormon village and that grey had opportunity to observemormonscormons elsewhere in arizona his mormon treatment is clearly tiedto utah kant mentions at least three books heritage of the desertriders of the purple sage and the rainbow trail that deal withmormonscormons and with colorado plateau mormon country but this by nomeans completes the list of greys utah references other importantbooks based at least partly in utah include wild horse mesa andarizona ames in them grey ranges well north of the arizona border

my arizona background notwithstanding I1 will confess to a littlepique at the spirit of arizona expansiveness that in kant as so often inthe pages and photographs of arizona highways follows geographybeyond state boundaries and without a by your leave to poetic licenseor anything claims utah for arizona the extension ofgreys interestsbeyond political boundaries is apparent not only in his own preoccu-pation with the scenic wonders of utah but also interestingly enoughin the people kant tells us influenced grey most deeply in his views ofthe canyon country these were james emmett and david rust bothwere mormonscormonsMormons rust lived at kanabcanab and outfitted pack trips emmettlived at lees ferry when grey knew him but had spent most of his lifein utah

the significant point here is that in zane grey and now in kantwhat may be called the literature of southwestern regionalism extendsto southern utah grey and others who like him trafficked in romanticsettings peopled by heroic figures influenced the way southern utah islooked at enriching its imagery and relating it to the southwestgenerally this is a perspective lacking in the mormon and antimormon idiom of much utah writing

there has been a tendency in utah to take umbrage at greysportrayal of the mormonscormonsMormons kant it seems to me frees us from thisdefensive posture she points out greys acknowledgment of indebted-ness to james emmett as she does his progression from profoundrespect for mormon pioneering to denunciation of mormonscormons as polyg-amist conspirators to a return to a more favorable view one is inclinedto accept kants conclusion that overall mormonscormons do not come offbadly in greys canyon country writing on the other hand there is

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little evidence either in greys own writing or in kants that his quicktrips allowed him to see deeply into mormon society indeed one isdisappointed at how little he really saw and reflected this is particu-larly apparent in greys essay about emmett the man who influ-enced me most in the american magazine august 1926 of whichkant makes much actually the article reveals little of how emmettwas a role model and indeed it is generally a quick little item whichsought to capitalize on a lion catching expedition grey and emmettmade on the kaibab plateau

all told however kants work is a welcome addition to south-western studies scholarship is sound style appealing the book isnicely gotten out and enhanced by carefully chosen photographscertainly our understanding of greys writing is increased we haveoccasion to contemplate again his influence on the images of ourregion and to some degree see in him our own flaws and strengthszane grey gets as much as he deserves in the book as no doubt doesarizona but while kant makes no specific point of it her bookprovides insight into broader regional connections

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Peterson: <em>Zane Grey's Arizona</em> Kandace C. Kant

Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1985