# George Wharton James

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American lecturer, photographer and journalist (1858–1923)

George Wharton James Born (1858-09-27)27 September 1858 Lincolnshire, England Died 1923(1923-00-00) (aged 64–65) Occupation lecturer, photographer, journalist Subject California and the American Southwest

**George Wharton James** (27 September 1858[1] – 8 November 1923[2] was an American popular lecturer, photographer, journalist and editor. Born in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire), England, he emigrated to the United States as a young man after being ordained as a Methodist minister.

He served in parishes in Nevada and Southern California, gradually beginning his journalism and writing career. An editor of two magazines, he also wrote more than 40 books and many articles and pamphlets on [California](/source/California) and the [American Southwest](/source/Southwestern_United_States).

## Biography

George Wharton James was born in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire), England. He married and was ordained as a Methodist minister. He and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1881.

He served in parishes in Nevada and southern California. However, in 1889 his wife sued for divorce, accusing him of committing numerous acts of adultery. He was tried by the Methodist Church, charged with real estate fraud, using faked credentials, and sexual misconduct. He was defrocked, although he was later reinstated.[3]

In addition to writing his own books, James was associate editor of *[The Craftsman](/source/The_Craftsman_(magazine))* (1904–05), and editor of *[Out West](/source/The_Land_of_Sunshine)* (1912–14).[4] In the style of the times, he was a popular lecturer in the region. He also lectured at both the [Panama-Pacific](/source/Panama-Pacific_Exposition) and [Panama-California](/source/Panama-California_Exposition) expositions 1915–16.[1]

James had a long-running feud with [Charles Fletcher Lummis](/source/Charles_Fletcher_Lummis), a California writer with similar regional interests.[3] Both men also explored the American Southwest, becoming acquainted with Father [Anton Docher](/source/Anton_Docher), a French-born [missionary](/source/Missionary) priest who served at [Pueblo of Isleta](/source/Pueblo_of_Isleta) in New Mexico for 34 years.

James's books included the well-received *The Wonders of the Colorado Desert* (1906),[5] *Through [Ramona](/source/Ramona)'s Country* (1909), *In and Out of the Old Missions of California* (1905), and *The Lake of the Sky* (1915). Characteristics of his writing included [romanticism](/source/Romanticism), an enthusiasm for natural environments, the idealization of aboriginal lifeways, and the promotion of health fads.

After his divorce, James married again, living in [Pasadena, California](/source/Pasadena%2C_California) with his second wife at 1098 North Raymond Avenue. Writer Lawrence Clark Powell later described James's home as serving as "a kind of museum salon in the same way that El Alisal served as the center for his rival booster [Lummis'](/source/Charles_Fletcher_Lummis) Los Angeles followers. He founded the Pasadena [Browning](/source/Robert_Browning) Society and the Anti-Whispering Society. According to Powell, the Anti-Whispering Society was "devoted to the suppression of (1) talking audiences, (2) peanut fiends, and (3) crying babies."[6]

James was an advocate of outdoor nakedness or nudism.[7]

## Honors

- His books and pamphlets were collected by the [California State Library](/source/California_State_Library) and the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley).

- A collection of his photographs is on file at the [University of New Mexico](/source/University_of_New_Mexico).

- The [Southwest Museum](/source/Southwest_Museum) in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) has some of his papers and photographs.

- The [Huntington Library](/source/Huntington_Library) in [San Marino, CA](/source/San_Marino%2C_CA) has some of his papers and photographs.

- The [University of Nevada, Reno](/source/University_of_Nevada%2C_Reno) in [Reno, NV](/source/Reno%2C_NV) has some of his papers and photographs.

## Bibliography

George Wharton James in his workshop.

- [*The Wonders of the Colorado Desert*](https://archive.org/details/wonderscolorado00jamegoog). Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1906. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [3313620](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/3313620). [LCC](/source/LCC_(identifier)) [F868.S15 J2](https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=CALL%2B&searchArg=F868.S15+J2&searchType=1&recCount=25) (with illustrations by [Carl Eytel](/source/Carl_Eytel))[8]

- [*Indian basketry*](https://archive.org/details/indianbasketry000jame). Henry Malkan. 1909. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-486-21712-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-486-21712-4). {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

- *Through [Ramona](/source/Ramona)'s Country*. Little, Brown. 1909. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1710960](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1710960).

- [*Indian Blankets and Their Makers*](https://archive.org/details/indianblanketsth00jamerich). A.C. McClurg and Co. 1914. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-486-22996-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-486-22996-3). {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

- *The Story of Captain, the Horse with the Human Brain*. Radiant Life Press, Pasadena. 1917.

- *The Old Franciscan Missions of California* (Illustrated ed.). The echo library. 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4068-2950-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4068-2950-1).

- *The Lake of the Sky*. The echo library. 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4068-2952-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4068-2952-5).

- *The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It*. The echo library. 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4068-5328-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4068-5328-5).

- *In and Out of the Old Missions of California*. 2003. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0766142237](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0766142237).

- *Quit Your Worrying!*. The Echo Library. 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4068-5330-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4068-5330-8).

- *Indian Basketry, and How to Make Indian and Other Baskets*. BiblioBazaar. 2011. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-178-58712-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-178-58712-8).

- *New Mexico, the Land of the Delight Makers*. The Page Company. 1929. [ASIN](/source/ASIN_(identifier)) [B008LH6ZN0](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LH6ZN0).

- *The Legend of [Tauquitch](/source/Tahquitz_(spirit)) and Algoot*. Forgotten Books. 2008. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1605068480](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1605068480).

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_1-1) Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). ["James, George Wharton"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Encyclopedia_Americana_(1920)/James,_George_Wharton). *[Encyclopedia Americana](/source/Encyclopedia_Americana)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Thrapp1991_2-0)** Dan L. Thrapp (1 August 1991). [*Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: G-O*](https://books.google.com/books?id=hc35mM0PqSQC&pg=PA720). U of Nebraska Press. p. 720. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8032-9419-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-9419-0).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-starr_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-starr_3-1) [Starr, Kevin](/source/Kevin_Starr) (1985). *Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era*. New York: Oxford University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [3687761](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3687761) and [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [702604648](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702604648)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Adams, Cyrus C. (March 2, 1907). ["Wonders of the Far West: George Wharton James's New Book on the Colorado Desert"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/03/02/104980987.pdf) (PDF). *[The New York Times Saturday Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Times_Book_Review)*. Retrieved August 30, 2012. ...[James] has gifts of observation far above the common and the literary art of vivid and picturesque description.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Powell, Lawrence (1971). [*California Classics*](https://archive.org/details/californiaclassi00powe/page/57). Santa Barbara: Calpra Press. pp. [57](https://archive.org/details/californiaclassi00powe/page/57). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-88496-184-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-88496-184-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEShrank20192_7-0)** [Shrank 2019](#CITEREFShrank2019), p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Eytel contributed the color plate *Mirage in the Desert* (1905) and over 300 drawings – Edwards, Elza Ivan (1962). *Desert Harvest*. Los Angeles: Westernlore Press. p. 128. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [2022836](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/2022836). [LCC](/source/LCC_(identifier)) [Z1251.S8 E3](https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=CALL%2B&searchArg=Z1251.S8+E3&searchType=1&recCount=25)

## References

- Bourdon, Roger Joseph (1966). *George Wharton James, Interpreter of the Southwest*. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles. Ph.D. thesis. pp. 375. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [28143279](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28143279), [32290472](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32290472), [52598780](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52598780)

- [Farquhar, Francis Peloubet](/source/Francis_P._Farquhar) (1953). [*The Books of the Colorado River & the Grand Canyon: A Selective Bibliography*](http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3911386;view=1up;seq=70). Los Angeles: Glen Dawson. p. 54. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [31136472](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/31136472).

- Larson, Roger Keith (1991). *Controversial James: An Essay on the Life and Work of George Wharton James*. San Francisco, CA: The Book Club of California. p. 90. [ASIN](/source/ASIN_(identifier)) [B0006EY8AS](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006EY8AS). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [24570433](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/24570433). [LCC](/source/LCC_(identifier)) [F865.J35 L37 1991](https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=CALL%2B&searchArg=F865.J35+L37+1991&searchType=1&recCount=25)

- [Starr, Kevin](/source/Kevin_Starr) (1973 and 1986). *Americans and the California Dream, 1850–1915*. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 494. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0195016444](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0195016444) (1986) [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [641725018](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/641725018), [254930084](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/254930084)

- Shrank, Sarah (2019). [*Free and Natural: Nudity and the American Cult of the Body*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Dp67DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2). University of Pennsylvania Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8122-5142-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8122-5142-5).

- [Wild, Peter](/source/Peter_Wild); Chatterton, Wayne; Maguire, James H. (1990). *George Wharton James*. Boise, ID: [Boise State University "Western Writers Series"](/source/Boise_State_University#Publishing) (#93). p. 52. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-88430-092-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-88430-092-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [754890912](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/754890912), [22357424](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22357424)

## External links

- [Biography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [George Wharton James](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:George_Wharton_James).

- [Works by George Wharton James](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/892) at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg)

- [Works by George Wharton James](https://fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=James%2C%20George%20Wharton) at [Faded Page](/source/Distributed_Proofreaders_Canada) (Canada)

- [Works by or about George Wharton James](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22James%2C%20George%20Wharton%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22James%2C%20George%20W%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22James%2C%20G%2E%20W%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22George%20Wharton%20James%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22George%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22G%2E%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20Wharton%20James%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22G%2E%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22G%2E%20Wharton%20James%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%2C%20George%20Wharton%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%2C%20George%20W%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%2C%20G%2E%20W%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%2C%20G%2E%20Wharton%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20Wharton%20James%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20title%3A%22G%2E%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20description%3A%22George%20Wharton%20James%22%20OR%20description%3A%22George%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20description%3A%22G%2E%20W%2E%20James%22%20OR%20description%3A%22James%2C%20George%20Wharton%22%20OR%20description%3A%22James%2C%20George%20W%2E%22%29%20OR%20%28%221858-1923%22%20AND%20James%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

- [Works by George Wharton James](https://librivox.org/author/9877) at [LibriVox](/source/LibriVox) (public domain audiobooks)

- ["An Adventure in Beaver Canyon 1899"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091028034037/http://www.geocities.com/shioshya/1899beaver/index.htm) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 28, 2009)

- ["Basket Makers," *Sunset* 8(1)](http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/basketmakers/) (1901)

- ["A Saboba Origin-Myth"](http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/som/index.htm) (1902)

- ["The Legend of Tauquich and Algoot"](http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/lta/index.htm) (1903)

- [*The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It*](https://web.archive.org/web/20091028034037/http://www.geocities.com/shioshya/1899beaver/index.htm) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 28, 2009) (1910)

- *[The Old Franciscan Missions Of California by George Wharton James](https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/13854)* at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg) (1913)

- [George Wharton James](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13833080) at [Find a Grave](/source/Find_a_Grave)

- George Wharton James as minister at Cedarville Methodist Church [\[1\]](https://californiagenealogy.org/modoc/cedarvillechurch.htm)

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