Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Ladies of the Canyons is the true story of a group of remarkable women whose lives were transformed by the people and landscape of the American Southwest in the first decades of the twentieth century"--Provided by publisher.Prologue : ladies of the canyons -- Imperfectly independent -- Land of ineffable light and sudden shadow -- Capturing the wind -- The Indians' book -- Time and the world -- Secrets and dualities -- Creating a brave new world -- Desert euphoria -- Walpi rendezvous -- A fine woman to be out with -- The city different -- Remarkable time, remarkable place -- A rare thing : becoming oneself -- A country of things in light -- Death in Paris -- City of ladies -- New women of the Rio Grande -- Roughneck and low-brow -- Everything and nothing -- Afterword : something of the spirit.