# Is "The Way to Rainy Mountain" by N. Scott Momaday a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (University of New Mexico Press, 1969) is identified by: First edition, first printing 1969 University of New Mexico Press, illustrated by Al Momaday; first-issue copyright state with no later-printing line. The 1969 University of New Mexico Press edition is the recognized first trade edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing 1969 University of New Mexico Press, illustrated by Al Momaday; first-issue copyright state with no later-printing line
- Issued in cloth (and a wrappers issue); first-issue dust jacket on the cloth state with front-flap price
- Publisher imprint reads University of New Mexico Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | N. Scott Momaday |
| Publisher | University of New Mexico Press |
| Year | 1969 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing 1969 University of New Mexico Press, illustrated by Al Momaday; first-issue copyright state with no… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing 1969 University of New Mexico Press, illustrated by Al Momaday; first-issue copyright state with no later-printing line. Issued in cloth (and a wrappers issue); first-issue dust jacket on the cloth state with front-flap price.

## Is this the true first?
The 1969 University of New Mexico Press edition is the recognized first trade edition. Its antecedent text, 'The Journey of Tai-me,' was issued in a limited run of about one hundred copies in 1967 at the University of California, Santa Barbara (not a Santa Fe printing); The Way to Rainy Mountain reworked and expanded that material with added commentary, prologue, epilogue, poems, and Al Momaday's drawings.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later UNM Press paperback and reprint editions are distinguished from the 1969 cloth first by added printing statements and the absence of the original priced first-issue jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Way to Rainy Mountain* by N. Scott Momaday a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-way-to-rainy-mountain
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.