The Vanishing Messiah: The Life & Resurrections of Francis Schlatter

Part detective story and part American religious history, historian Wetzel (I Looked in the Brook and Saw a Face) draws deeply on archives and the one extant contemporary account of Francis Schlatter to offer a fascinating glimpse of this little-known figure. On November 13, 1895, Schlatter, a cobbler who had arrived broke in Denver just two years earlier from New York, stood outside a home performing healings on the gathered multitude of individuals who had come seeking his miraculous touch. The next day, he had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind perplexed, disappointed, and angry townsfolk. Wetzel retraces Schlatter's footsteps from Denver through the desert, where people who encountered him compared him to Christ, and eventually to New Mexico, where he retreats to the home of Ada Morley, preparing himself for his final journey. When he leaves Morley's, headed to Mexico, Schlatter disappears forever, though numerous imposters later appear. Wetzel's portrait of Schlatter and his times is a well-told tale of religious mystery and spiritual fervor on the American frontier. (June)