Charles Fletcher Lummis

Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928) was an American author, journalist, photographer, and activist who walked across the continent from Cincinnati to Los Angeles in 1884, later becoming city editor of the Los Angeles Times and a key figure in preserving Southwestern culture. He founded the Southwest Museum in 1907 to house Native American artifacts, advocated for Indigenous rights after encounters with Geronimo and the Apache, and contributed to the restoration of California missions through efforts like the Landmarks Club Cook Book. A Harvard dropout and eccentric bon vivant, Lummis chronicled the Southwest's landscapes, peoples, and history amid a life marked by strokes, blindness, multiple marriages, and prolific writing.