Martha Maxwell: Rocky Mountain Naturalist by Maxine Benson (review)

Reviews 179 Martha Maxwell: Rocky Mountain Naturalist. By Maxine Benson. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986. 335 pages, $23.95.) Surrounded by her extensive collection of stuffed mammals and birds, a petite and shy woman from Colorado offered visitors to the 1876 Philadel­ phia Centennial Exposition a radically different view of “woman’s work.” This woman, Martha Maxwell, gained notoriety during the later part of the nineteenth century as the first woman field naturalist to shoot, trap or other­ wise obtain specimens which she then artistically preserved and mounted in displays resembling their natural habitats. In this thoroughly researched and documented book, author Maxine Benson traces the life and largely forgotten accomplishments of Maxwell as she ventured beyond the realm of domesticity to make important contributions in natural history and taxidermy while show­ ing the world, as she expressed, “what a woman could do.” Benson’s biography of Martha Maxwell focuses as much on the woman herself as it does her accomplishments. Using a variety of sources ranging from letters to earlier biographies, the author reveals how Maxwell’s inde­ pendent and tenacious character, together with her acquired love of nature and learning, led her to pursue an education and career in spite of constant financial problems and family conflicts. Benson further expands this view of Maxwell’s personal life by including information about the broader events and issues affecting women’slives in the nineteenth century,such as the femi­ nist movement, the Colorado gold rush, temperance, health and dress reform and the education of women. While Benson’s book provides insight into many facets of this pioneer naturalist’s life, few of the field experiences recounted in the 1879 Maxwell biography, On The Plains, are reproduced here. Nevertheless, Martha Max­ well: Rocky Mountain Naturalist provides the reader with both a fascinating human interest story aswell as a rich historical account of the times. Maxwell’s story and the accompanying photographs, specimen catalogs, bibliographic notes and references should become a particularly useful resource for readers with interests in natural history, western history, women’s studies and taxi­ dermy. NANCY WARNER Utah State University Blessed by Light: Visions of the Colorado Plateau. Edited by Stephen Trimble. (Layton, Utah: Gibbs M. Smith, 1986. 76 pages, $34.95.) Gibbs M. Smith, Inc., publishers of this book, claim a threefold goal in publishing: “to delight the reader, to contribute to the culture of our era, and to help expand human consciousness. . . .” Blessed by Light successfully meets their objective on all three accounts. ...