author

James Stevenson

1840–1888

A self-taught explorer of the American West, he turned fieldwork into vivid reports on geology, natural history, and Indigenous life in the Southwest. His books preserve firsthand observations from major survey expeditions of the late 19th century.

4 Audiobooks

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Pueblos of Zuñi, New Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 511-594

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Pueblos of Zuñi, New Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 511-594

by James Stevenson

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico And Arizona in 1879 Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 307-428

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico And Arizona in 1879 Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 307-428

by James Stevenson

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico in 1880 Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 429-466

Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico in 1880 Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 429-466

by James Stevenson

Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and Mythical Sand Painting of the Navajo Indians

Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and Mythical Sand Painting of the Navajo Indians

by James Stevenson

About the author

Born in Kentucky in 1840, James D. Stevenson built an unusual career as a geologist, naturalist, and ethnologist without formal scientific training. He worked with major government survey expeditions in the American West and later became an executive officer of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Stevenson is especially remembered for his work in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, and for collecting and documenting material related to Zuni, Hopi, Ute, Arapaho, and Navajo communities. His published writings include detailed accounts of Navajo ceremonial life and illustrated catalogs of collections gathered in New Mexico and Arizona.

He died in 1888. Today, his books are read both as records of western exploration and as part of the early history of American anthropology, often alongside the work of his wife and collaborator, Matilda Coxe Stevenson.