Activities
of
a
Lifetime.
By Joseph Amasa Munk. (Los Angeles:
The Times-Mirror Press. 1924. Pp. 221.)
Of the eleven chapters in this book five are either autobiograph-
ical in character or are descriptive of conditions and institutions
in the Southwest and as such are of some historical interest.
These five chapters are: Chapter I, Early Recollections; Chapter
II, Army Days; Chapter IX, The Munk Cattle Ranch; Chapter
X, The Munk Library of Arizoniana; Chapter XI, The Munk
Botanical Garden and Arboretum. The other chapters are either
essays on abstract subjects or addresses given by Dr. Munk during
his career as a practicing physician. In this review only the five
above-indicated chapters will be discussed.
Chapter I narrates the experiences of "an average country lad
living on an Ohio farm sixty-five years ago." The primitive con-
ditions which surrounded country life at that time, boyhood sports
and amusements, family sorrows and misfortunes, and rural social
life are all touched upon. While these descriptions are of more
personal than general interest, they do constitute intimate word
pictures of rural conditions in the heart of our country in the
middle of the last century.
experiences of the young private during the several months' service
in Tennessee, the transfer of his regiment from Tennessee to Fort
Fisher, North Carolina—the trip being made down the Tennessee
River, up the Ohio River to Cincinnati, thence by rail to Wash-
ington, and from there by army transport to the North Carolina
Coast—and the maneuvering of General Schofield's army until
and even after the junction with Sherman's army had been effected
only shortly before Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Comparatively
little actual fighting was seen by young Munk and the chief in-
terest and value of Chapter II lies in the personal details and
reminiscences recounted.
No institution is more characteristic of the Southwest or com-
mands more general interest than the cattle ranch. Chapter IX
begins with the location of the Munk Brothers cattle ranch in
Arizona in 1882 "in the days of free grass and the open range
upon the Public Domain." Indian depredations, thrilling experi-
ences of the range, financial "ups and downs" of the early cattle
business, and the later revolution in the ranching industry con-
stitute the chief subjects discussed in the usual intimate manner
in this chapter.
Interest in Arizona ranching was responsible for the develop-
ment as early as 1884 of an interest in Arizona history by Dr.
Munk, although at that time he was actively engaged in the prac-
tice of medicine at Topeka, Kansas. Upon returning to Kansas
from his first visit to Arizona Dr. Munk at once began to collect
all books that he could find which described that country. The
fruit of these happy labors, a Library of Arizoniana, now number-
ing 15,000 volumes, was donated in 1908 to the Southwest Museum,
where it has since been opened to the public. Chapter X briefly
describes the genesis of the idea of a Library of Arizoniana and
some of the more notable items in it. The major part of this
chapter consists of an exceedingly brief but fairly reliable sketch
of Arizona during the Spanish regime. The historical data foi
this sketch were compiled by the librarian, Miss Adelaide Cham-
berlain.
Chapter XI narrates in a few pages the founding by the author
of the Munk Botanical Garden and Arboretum at Compton, Cali-
fornia..
Charles W. Hackett
How to cite:
"Activities of a Lifetime", Volume 28, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v028/n3/review_DIVL3318.html
[Accessed Thu Dec 4 12:53:00 CST 2008]
