ABOUT AMERICA WEST ARCHIVES

Warren Anderson founded America West Archives in 1980 and has now issued over 140 catalogues, offering some of the finest historical documents, old letters, western ephemera, ghost town collectibles, old photos, gold rush memorabilia, and western outlaw/lawman items related to the American West.

Growing up on the edge of California's Mojave Desert in the 1960's whetted his appetite for western and mining history.  He amassed several collection of glass insulators, old bottles and barbed wire and his family's annual outing to their desert mining claims fueled his interest in ghost towns, mining camps and geology.

AN INTRODUCTION TO HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, OLD LETTERS AND WESTERN COLLECTIBLES

His introduction to old historical documents began in 1972 when he found a small group of old documents and antique paper in an abandoned pioneer cabin in rural Utah.  His curiosity aroused, he kept the documents and framed several of them.  Later he decided to look into the values of western collectibles and historical documents.  Unfortunately, collecting guides and reference information was scarce.

After spending time collecting, meeting other collectors and starting a reference library, he launched America West Archives in 1980 with its first catalogue.  The following year, he wrote and self-published A Collector's Guide to Scripophily which introduced others to collecting old stocks certificated and bonds.

In 1983 he focused his interest in old historical documents and decided to specialize in the "old west" period of American history.  Another self-published book called A Collector's Guide to Documents From the Old West was released - a "how to" guide for collectors of western ephemera and paper Americana.

In the 1990's, a growing public interest in ghost towns and old west history led to the 1993 publishing of this third book OWNING WESTERN HISTORY: A Guide to Collecting Rare Documents, Historical Letters and Valuable Autographs from the Old West published by Mountain Press Publishing in Montana.  The book contains a dozed chapters and over 70 photographs of many types of historical documents and western autographs. 

In the past, the public mistakenly assumed that the documentation of our western heritage was collected only by museums, libraries, university collections and governmental archives.  Old documents, old manuscripts, old photographs, and old letters have indeed been donated to formal repositories as a "document"ation of our pioneer past.  But in the past decade, the general public has discovered that they too can have their own private collections of rare and historical documents of the old west.

OUR COLLECTING PHILOSOPHY

The collecting philosophy of America West Archives is simple.  We buy material for our clients as though we were buying material for ourselves.  We strive to be selective about the type of material we acquire for our clients.  We try to focus on quality instead of quantity.  Over two decades of searching for material has taught us what is common and what is rare.

America West Archives keep all collecting budgets in mind, but at the same time, our goal is to raise the quality level of our client's collections by raising the quality level of the material we offer for sale.  Our goal is to find historical documents from the old west that are unique, uncommon and unusual for your collection.

In the new century, America West Archives will continue to be a leader in the sale of historical documents and collectible auctions from the old west.  Our goal will be to continue the tradition of selling and auctioning some of the finest historical documents and western collectibles available today and that  your collection will have the standards that guarantees a future enjoyment and rewarding experience by all who see it.

America West Archives
P.O. Box 100, Cedar City, Utah 84721.