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 inLincolnshire, 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 onCalifornia and theAmerican Southwest.

George Wharton James was born inLincolnshire, 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 ofThe Craftsman (1904–05), and editor ofOut West (1912–14).^[4] In the style of the times, he was a popular lecturer in the region. He also lectured at both thePanama-Pacific andPanama-California expositions 1915–16.^[1]

James had a long-running feud withCharles Fletcher Lummis, a California writer with similar regional interests.^[3] Both men also explored the American Southwest, becoming acquainted with FatherAnton Docher, a French-bornmissionary priest who served atPueblo of Isleta in New Mexico for 34 years.

James's books included the well-receivedThe Wonders of the Colorado Desert (1906),^[5]ThroughRamona's Country (1909),In and Out of the Old Missions of California (1905), andThe Lake of the Sky (1915). Characteristics of his writing includedromanticism, an enthusiasm for natural environments, the idealization of aboriginal lifeways, and the promotion of health fads.

After his divorce, James married again, living inPasadena, 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 boosterLummis' Los Angeles followers. He founded the PasadenaBrowning 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]

• His books and pamphlets were collected by theCalifornia State Library and theUniversity of California, Berkeley.
• A collection of his photographs is on file at theUniversity of New Mexico.
• TheSouthwest Museum inLos Angeles has some of his papers and photographs.
• TheHuntington Library inSan Marino, CA has some of his papers and photographs.
• TheUniversity of Nevada, Reno inReno, NV has some of his papers and photographs.

• The Wonders of the Colorado Desert. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1906.OCLC 3313620.LCC F868.S15 J2 (with illustrations byCarl Eytel)^[8]
• Indian basketry. Henry Malkan. 1909.ISBN 0-486-21712-4.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• ThroughRamona's Country. Little, Brown. 1909.OCLC 1710960.
• Indian Blankets and Their Makers. A.C. McClurg and Co. 1914.ISBN 0-486-22996-3.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• 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 978-1-4068-2950-1.
• The Lake of the Sky. The echo library. 2009.ISBN 978-1-4068-2952-5.
• The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It. The echo library. 2009.ISBN 978-1-4068-5328-5.
• In and Out of the Old Missions of California. 2003.ISBN 978-0766142237.
• Quit Your Worrying!. The Echo Library. 2009.ISBN 978-1-4068-5330-8.
• Indian Basketry, and How to Make Indian and Other Baskets. BiblioBazaar. 2011.ISBN 978-1-178-58712-8.
• New Mexico, the Land of the Delight Makers. The Page Company. 1929.ASIN B008LH6ZN0.
• The Legend ofTauquitch and Algoot. Forgotten Books. 2008.ISBN 978-1605068480.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGeorge Wharton James.

• Works by George Wharton James atProject Gutenberg
• Works by George Wharton James atFaded Page (Canada)
• Works by or about George Wharton James at theInternet Archive
• Works by George Wharton James atLibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• "An Adventure in Beaver Canyon 1899" at theWayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)
• "Basket Makers,"Sunset 8(1) (1901)
• "A Saboba Origin-Myth" (1902)
• "The Legend of Tauquich and Algoot" (1903)
• The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It at theWayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009) (1910)
• The Old Franciscan Missions Of California by George Wharton James atProject Gutenberg (1913)
• George Wharton James atFind a Grave
• George Wharton James as minister at Cedarville Methodist Church[1]

• American nature writers
• American non-fiction outdoors writers
• American travel writers
• American male non-fiction writers
• Writers from California
• 1858 births
• 1923 deaths
• American naturists
• Social nudity advocates
• British emigrants to the United States
• Writers from Lincolnshire

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• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined
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