Martin S. Garretson died in 1957. He was a naturalist of his time, which is not ours. Garretson's professional role was as the first curator of the National Museum of Heads and Horns in New York City (itself an artifact of its era). His personal passion was the history of the North American West, and particularly the buffalo. Like many other men of his time, he amassed a collection of Western memorabilia. Unlike them, he was an important part of the first systematic effort to save the American bison from extinction, and was active in buffalo conservation in Canada (as well as early conservation efforts for other species such as pronghorn antelope). Garretson also wrote a history of the species called The American Bison and used his influence to lobby for the preservation of wild bison and the value of bison-cattle crossbreeds in ranching. His collection was vast and varied. After he died, George W. Arthur (anthropology, U of Regina in Saskatchewan) used the two thousand books and twenty-three boxes of photographs and other materials for research and then donated it to the U of Alberta libraries. This catalog accompanies an exhibit of the Garretson collection at the U of Alberta. Large for a catalog, this is a nicely produced small book featuring text by Ken Tingley (Edmonton's first Historian Laureate) and many sepia-printed photographs, drawings, and ephemera from the collection. Of interest to researchers in US and Canadian prairie history, and to fans of Old West memorabilia or the buffalo. Distributed in the US by Wayne State University Press. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)