Taste of Tombstone: A Hearty Helping of History $19.95
"Ms. Monahan shows us the glitz and grits of old-time Tombstone. It’s a delightful seven-course treat. What a book! What a read! Let's eat!"
~Bob "Boze" Bell, True West Magazine
"When I first glanced at this book, I have to confess I groaned to myself, thinking it was yet another rehash of the gunfight at you-know-where. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it is more about baking than bullets, which truly proves you can't judge a book by its cover...Monahan serves a tasty book that is part history and part cookbook. When we think of the cuisine of the Old West, we assume that it was fairly basic and consisted mostly of beans, salt pork and hard tack. Monahan declares we couldn't be more wrong, then sets out to prove her case. Following the silver strike of 1879, the small community of Tombstone exploded in size. The crude huts and tents were replaced by buildings of substance. The town soon boasted restaurants that even rivaled establishments found in much larger cities, such as Denver and San Francisco. In addition to snippets of intriguing history, Monahan has gathered more than 140 recipes from the 1880s, mostly from Tombstone restaurants. She has tested and adjusted them so that readers can easily experience their own taste of Tombstone. This is a delightful collection. I could not resist preparing three recipes. This is the real deal."
~Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen
Taste of Tombstone is an award-winning book that reveals the sophisticated atmosphere unrivaled west of New Orleans and outside San Francisco during the late 1880s. Monahan’s detailed history of the people, restaurants, and hotels describes life in Tombstone, where six-shooters hung on most men’s hips, and miner picks were a common sight. Tombstone’s restaurants varied from simple fare, to exotic creations, and included trendy French cooking, along with fresh oysters. Monahan painstakingly cataloged the essence of how the “West Was Won” in Tombstone by presenting facts about real people and places that shaped the most famous town in Arizona. Included are recipes from the era with actual Tombstone photos. You can see a review of the new edition on Southwest Blend.
The first edition of TOT won two 1999 Glyph Award Winner for Best History/Biography and Best Book Promoting Arizona History
Tombstone's Treasure: Silver Mines and Golden Saloons $16.95
"...In an entertaining and fact-laced book, author Sherry Monahan concentrates on the mines that supported the town, producing about $5 million each year during its short boom, and on the town itself, rather than on the famous 30-second fight between the Earps and the Clantons.
She does recount a lesser-known story about the death of Morgan Earp. Wyatt Earp, undressing for bed, had a premonition that Morgan was in trouble, a feeling so strong that he put this clothes back on and went out in search of his brother."
~Sandra Dallas, Denver Post
"...there was much more to Tombstone, as Sherry Monahan makes evident in her informative and lively history of one of the Southwest's most renowned towns...The gunfight made Tombstone famous. Monahan makes Tombstone live."
~Tom Clagett, Santa Fe New Mexican
This mining boomtown sat atop one of the most productive mining areas in the Southwest. Tombstone’s mines peaked from mid 1879 to late 1882, and during this pinnacle, the mines produced, on average, over five million dollars annually in silver and gold.
In addition to the breweries, wine rooms, saloons, and dance houses, there were other types of entertainment available for hard-working men. The sources of entertainment covered the spectrum from sophisticated theater programs, to rough and rowdy cockfights, and everything in between.
Tombstone saloonkeepers entertained their customers with classical music, or tunes played by Tombstone’s brass band, or an Italian string ensemble. Even though these saloons were more or less respectable, Tombstone’s society women did not go into them because no respectable woman dared enter a saloon—it was just not proper. Not to mention that men did not want them there; this was a place where they could seek solace among their brethren.
Tombstone’s glory days lasted until about 1887, even though mining had all but ceased in 1886. Hopeful investors tried to mine Tombstone once more in the 1890s and early 1900s, but their efforts eventually failed.
The Wicked West: Boozers, Cruisers, Gamblers, and More $15.95
Tucson Weekly wrote: “Literary voyeurs will love this one. It features everything from whiskey to whores, faro to fisticuffs, and hedonism to homicide. This was the Old West of the late 1800s, untouched and untamed, as told through memoirs and eyewitness recollections of the men and women who lived the era.
Although the 176 pages of scandal, sex, sin and saloons discuss events that took place more than a century ago, The Wicked West: Boozers, Cruisers, Gamblers, and More offers enough detail to paint a vivid picture... ‘I thought I knew how wicked the West was until I read this book. Now I really wish I'd been there!’ wrote a reviewer for American Heritage magazine. ~Lee Allen, Tucson Weekly
The Wicked West takes readers on a sinful journey back to frontier days. Learn how our forefathers—and foremothers—enjoyed life’s wild little pastimes, such as drinking, smoking, gambling, and of course, prostitution. Your guide for this riotous trip through saloons and bordellos all across the Old West is popular historian Sherry Monahan. She shows you how to mix a mean whiskey cocktail and gives the rules for the high-rolling game of faro. Best of all, she introduces you to a crowd of rough, tough, real-life men and women who tell their unforgettable stories in their own salty words.
Pikes Peak: Adventurers, Communitites and Lifestyles $19.99
“A fascinating photographic history of the Pikes Peak region, with black-and-white images from the 1800s to the 1940s. It is written by a descendant of a couple who lived in the Colorado Springs area starting in the 1920s (Ivah and Bert Elliott). It's particularly fun to compare the photos to places that one can visit today: the Pikes Peak Road to the summit, Seven Falls, the Broadmoor, Helen Hunt Falls, Garden of the Gods, and more.”
Captured here in about 200 vintage images are the lives, trials, adventures, and recreations of some of the Peak's early pioneers and visitors, covering a span of almost 60 years.
Along with rare images of the Pikes Peak area from the late 1800s, this collection contains a number of previously unpublished photographs. These include female pioneers traversing mountains in Cheyenne canons and other vicinities in the 1920s; Colorado Mountain Club members on their hiking trips in the area; and pictures of local prospectors who remained long after the large gold deposits were discovered.
Also featured is the development of the surrounding communities of the Peak, including Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Cripple Creek, Cheyenne Mountain and Canons, Garden of the Gods, Canon City, Royal Gorge, the Broadmoor Hotel, and the Cliff House.
Using family photographs that have survived almost 100 years, author and historian, Sherry Monahan tells the colorful history of Pikes Peak and its neighbors.
