Mary Hunter Austin

Although often remembered as a nature writer, Mary Austin (1868-1934) wrote prolifically on a variety of subjects and in a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, essays and drama, in addition nonfiction. After she graduated college, her family moved from Illinois to California where she immersed herself in the study of the natural history and indigenous peoples of the Mojave Desert, became involved in the fight for water in the Owens Valley, and then settled into Carmel's artist colony. Austin first visited Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1918, and then moved there permanently in 1925, where she was active in the local arts and preservation community.