Utah Historical Quarterly Volume XLIII

UHQ 1975 - VOL XLIII - no 1 - Book Notices

96 Utah Historical Quarterly ters from and to Thomas Larkin, Jose Castro, John D. Sloat, John B. Mont­gomery, Robert F. Stockton, James K. Polk, Stephen W. Kearny, Richard B. Mason, and Archibald Gillespie, to men­tion only a few. Spence and Jackson have organized this book in a way to optimize its useful­ness to the historian. The introduction is copiously annotated with materials drawn from over fifty archival and library sources, in addition to the sec­ondary materials already mentioned. The section divisions, which outiine the con­tents of the whole volume, are "The 1845 Expedition and the Clash with the Californias," "The Bear Flag Revolt and the Conquest of California," "The Quarrel with Stephen Watts Kearny," and "The Arrest and Court-Martial of Fremont." The correspondence itself is arranged chronologically and is listed in the table of contents by author, recipient, and date. There is appended a roster of the 1845-47 expedition, including names of voyageurs, guides, and even mule drivers. The bibliography embraces over one hundred sixty entries. It, as well as the detailed and functional index, will prove helpful to the scholar. What other­wise might have come off as a monot­onous catalog of letters is brightened by over twenty colorful illustrations of major characters, photographs, engrav­ings, lithographs, and maps. All libraries as well as historians specializing in California history, the West, or the Mexican War will want to add this attractive, well-written, and well-organized volume to their holdings. NORMAN E. TUTOROW Foothill College, Los Altos, West Valley College, Saratoga, California Shoot Me a Biscuit: Stories of Yester­year's Roundup Cooks. By DANIEL G. MOORE. (Tucson: University of Ari­zona Press, 1974. x 4- 172 pp. Paper, $3.95; cloth, $8.50.) Shoot Me a Biscuit adds some hilar­ious chapters to the folklore of the cow­boy and his camp life. Cooks and other engaging characters people its pages: Old Pud who made a great suet pudding but refused to budge when he was in his cups; LeClair, a former dining car chef, who served working cowboys one poached egg on toast wedges for break­fast and French potato soup for lunch; Chicken Henry, a Black man who loved to tease dudes; Trapper Jack, a Mormon from one of the Mexican colonies, who baited his traps with a most unusual substance. Dan Moore's collection of personal anecdotes will be appreciated by anyone who loves the authentic lore and lan­guage of the West of thirty and forty years ago. Book Reviews and Notices 97 Martin Murphy, Jr., California Pioneer, 1844-1884. By SISTER GABRIELLE SULLIVAN. (Stockton, Calif.: Pacific Center for Western Historical Studies, 1974. xiii + 76pp. $4.50.) This little monograph is well worth examining for the light it sheds on the challenges of historical research. Mur­phy, a native of Ireland, went overland to California in 1844 and made his for­tune as a rancher and businessman. Ban­croft included him in his Chronicles of the Builders of the Commonwealth as one of the key figures in the development of California. Nevertheless, contempo­rary research on the man was stymied by a dirth of primary source material. Sister Gabrielle's persistence finally led to the discovery of a "trunk of Murphy papers" in the storeroom of a San Fran­cisco auction house. These primary materials filled in many details of Mur­phy's life and justified his inclusion by Bancroft as a pioneer settler of the first rank. The author's research also helped to explain the lack of readily available data on a man of such importance; he was evidently illiterate. Many figures of great significance to Utah's development lie similarly buried in forgotten storerooms or attics await­ing their due exposure in the state's his­tories. Somos Chicanos: Strangers in Our Own Land. By DAVID F. GOMEZ. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1973. xxxvi + 204 pp. $8.95.) Somos Chicanos is a powerful per­sonal statement of one man's search for self. David Gomez, a Chicano activ­ist, Catholic priest, and writer relates his own experiences in the white world, looks to the historical past for the roots of the Chicano people, and examines important events in the contemporary Chicano movement. Of special interest to Utahns will be the author's brief account of his assign­ment to minister to a migrant com­munity in northern Utah. American Diaries in Manuscript, 1580- 1954:A Descriptive Bibliography. By WILLIAM MATTHEWS. (Athens: Uni­versity of Georgia Press, 1974. 176 pp. $12.50.) Contains more than five thousand an­notated entries for reference by the re­searcher in American history. Gold Fever. By HELEN E. WILSON. (Jar-bidge, Nev.: Author, 4830 Harbinson, La Mesa, Calif. 92041, 1974. viii + 129 pp.) A family chronicle of prospector J.D. Goodwin, the author's father, Gold Fever is also full of fact and folklore about turn-of-the-century mining and life in Jarbidge near the Nevada-Idaho border. The text is accompanied by several excellent historic photographs. The Last Stand: Ralph Nader's Study Group Report on the National Forests. By DANIEL R. BARNEY. (New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974. 185 pp. $7.95.) Quest for Empire: The Political King­dom of God and the Council of Fifty in Mormon History. By KLAUS J. HANSEN. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1974. xxii + 237 pp. Paper, $3.95.) This profound and provocative study of church organization, originally pub­lished by Michigan State University Press in 1967, has been reprinted as a Bison paperback. In a new preface the author explains why he considers a re­vision inappropriate.