author
David Lavender
1910–2003
A gifted storyteller of the American West, he turned frontier history into lively, readable books for general audiences. His work drew on firsthand experience in Colorado mining and ranch country as well as decades of careful research.
1 Audiobook
De Soto, Coronado, Cabrillo: Explorers of the Northern Mystery
by David Lavender
About the author
Born in Telluride, Colorado, in 1910, David Lavender became one of the best-known popular historians of the American West. He studied at Princeton, but his early adult life also included work connected to mining and ranching in Colorado—experience that helped give his writing a grounded, lived-in feel.
Lavender went on to publish more than 40 books, including history, memoir, fiction, and books for younger readers. He was especially admired for making western history vivid and accessible, blending solid research with strong narrative drive in books about expansion, conflict, landscape, and the people who shaped the region.
He spent much of his later life in Ojai, California, and continued writing for decades. By the time of his death in 2003, he was widely recognized as one of the most prolific and engaging chroniclers of the American West.