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Show WINTER 2013 UHQ pp 91-104_UHQ BReviews/pp.271-296 12/5/12 9:50 AM Page 92 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Among some of the interesting tidbits that arise from this research is the Apache recollection of place names far to the north that describe geographical sites along a possible migration route; the fact that DNA for Navajos “shows the greatest evidence of Southwestern ancestry . . . . [and that they] most resemble the Puebloans and least resemble the northwestern Athapaskans”(125). Other points of interest are that Navajo mythology may hold important answers that have previously been ignored; and that a specific tribe—the Chipewyan—actually is the most likely candidate for being the northern ancestor of the Navajo and Apache based on “linguistics, glottochronology, and Saskatchewan and Barrenland archaeological site material” as well as radiocarbon dating of specific sites along a tentative migration route(338). Regardless of the fact-based arguments each author makes, there is an opportunity for everyone to raise a hand off of his or her armchair and vote. This book is recommended as the latest and best summary of the literature examining the Athapaskan migration into the Southwest. As in most volumes with multiple contributors, some chapters are more compelling, better written, and documented than others. But in general, this is an excellent work that Deni Seymour has pieced together. ROBERT S. MCPHERSON Utah State University, Eastern–Blanding Campus West from Salt Lake City: Diaries from the Central Overland Trail. Edited by Jesse G. Petersen. (Norman: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2012. 328 pp. Cloth, $34.95.) IN 1858, CAPTAIN JAMES H. SIMPSON of the U.S. Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers was ordered to Utah during the so-called Utah War. He was stationed at Camp Floyd, south of Salt Lake City. In 1859, he was ordered to survey a travel route from Camp Floyd across the Great Salt Lake Desert and the Great Basin that ended at present-day Genoa, Nevada. This route became the Central Overland Trail and was used by the Pony Express and the Overland Stage. Simpson’s route would be an alternative for travelers from Salt Lake City to California who had to travel a much longer distance either by a northern route or a southern route. Research for West from Salt Lake began over a decade ago by James O. Hall who was curious about how many overland emigrant parties traveled the Central Overland Trail. Because of health problems, Hall was unable to complete his research. Jesse G. Petersen, author of the book A Route for the Overland Stage: James H. Simpson’s 1859 Trail Across the Great Basin, stepped in to complete the research and bring this book to publication. 92 |
