John Gregory Bourke

The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona John Gregory Bourke

With his characteristic wry wit, incredible attention to detail, and instinct for what readers wanted, famed soldier-scholar John Gregory Bourke penned this wonderful tale of adventure. Like all of Bourke's works, he provides a scholar's examination of his topic while wrapping it in the narrative of the adventure he experienced while gathering his data. In this book, Bourke relates a trip to Arizona to witness the Snake Dance of the Moquis Indians. Despite a lifelong horror of serpents, he sits in and among them during the secret ceremonies that no white man had seen before. He also provides a broad overview of snake worship around the world. Bourke's ability to capture everything he sees and draw his readers into the adventure make this another signature triumph. Born in 1846, Bourke was a Medal of Honor recipient in the American Civil War, a West Point graduate, biographer of his friend and superior General George Crook, and an ethnographer of Native American rites recognized as an authority in his day. He was with Crook at the Battle of the Rosebud just eight days before Custer's disaster at the Little Bighorn.