Mary Hunter Austin

AUSTIN, MARY HUNTER (1868-1934), American nov elist and essayist, was born at Carlinville (Ill.), on Sept. 9, 1868. After graduating at Blackburn university in 1888 she went to California to teach. Later she settled in New Mexico and became the friend and chronicler of the nearby Indian tribes. Her first book, The Land of Little Rain, a poetical description in prose of the desert and its denizens, was published in 1903 and brought her immediate renown. She published several novels with scenes in the west and in the artistic centres of New York, where she spent much time, and wrote for the magazines on feminism, social problems, and the art of writing; but her chief interest and best work have been in her interpretation of the American Indian and his contribution to American life.

Besides

The Land of Little Rain, her most notable books are The Basket Woman (19o4) ; The Flock (1906) ; Lost Borders (1909); Woman of Genius (1912) ; The Arrow Maker, a play produced in New York in 1911; 26 Jayne Street (1920) ; The American Rhythm, interpretation and translations of Indian poetry ; A Small Town Man (1922) ; and The Land of Journey's Ending (1924).