The Geography of To the Last Man

Abstract

To the Last Man was Zane Grey’s first book set in Arizona’s Tonto Basin and along the section of the Mogollon Rim that he popularized as the Tonto Rim (Fig. 1). Like The Mysterious Rider, Grey’s adventures in the American West influenced how and when he was able to write To the Last Man. To get this story, Grey made three hunting trips to the Tonto Rim in the autumn of 1918, 1919, and 1920, and wrote the book between November 1920 and February 1921. When Harper and Brothers published it in 1922 it became the # 9 bestseller. 1922 was a big publication year for Grey as Harpers also published The Day of the Beast and Tales of Lonely Trails.