Book Notices

Alexander William Doniphan: Portrait of a Missouri Moderate.

By ROGER D LAUNIUS. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997. xiv + 316 pp. $37.50.)

Alexander William Doniphan emerged as a hero of the 1838 Mormon War for his refusal to carry out the orders of his commanding officer to execute Joseph Smith and for his assistance to the LDS church during the difficult days in Missouri At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he was elected commander of the First Missouri Mounted Volunteers. He led his men into Santa Fe as the vanguard and largest component of Stephen Watts Kearny's Army of the West. From Santa Fe the Missouri volunteers moved south to El Paso, across the Mexican border, and on to Chihuahua City, winning national fame for their commander Prize-winning biographer Roger Launius offers a highly readable account of Doniphan's life—one that he finds was built on the principles of loyalty, hard work, patriotism, and active charity.

The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power.

By D MICHAEL QUINN (Salt Lake City: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, 1997. xii + 928 pp. $44.95.)

Although Quinn says that his study on Mormon power politics "can be faith-promoting for believers," for most believers it will probably be a bitter pill to swallow Quinn, after all, has been researching the LDS leadership since he was a teenager, including fifteen years working in the then-unrestricted church archives, so he has acquired an impressive pile of data on church politics

In his study, Quinn focuses on the "dark side" of those politics in the postJoseph Smith era, covering topics as disparate as finances and familial relationships. Some chapters focus on single periods of time. In one, Quinn describes the struggle within the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles over Ezra Taft Benson's promotion of the John Birch Society, giving an inside look at a conflict that most church members saw only through veiled references in conference talks The chapter "Post-1844 Theology and a Culture of Violence" suggests that during the mid-1800s "blood atonement" was no mere theory.

With 220 pages of notes and five appendices, the book is indeed a weighty statement that power can be misused—even in the most saintly of causes

Native American Verbal Art: Texts and Contexts.

By WILLIAM M. CLEMENTS (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996. x + 252 pp. Cloth, $45.00; paper, $19.95.)

Since the 1600s European and EuroAmerican scholars have recorded the stories and speeches given by Native Americans What appears as a simple task of transcribing what was said is in reality far more complex, depending on the situation, the participants' cultural background, their emotions and body language, and the skill of the translator. Many texts, supposedly representing the speech and manner of an Indian orator, actually say more about the beliefs of white society during a specific historical period.

Clements, in scholarly fashion, reviews some of the main participants who have provided Native American texts to the public Included in the list are Jesuit priests, Henry Timberlake, Henry Schoolcraft, Natalie Curtis, and producers of contemporary anthologies. The author believes that only a few people have really succeeded in providing sufficient context for an accurate rendering of this oral literature The book is recommended for academicians and specialists in Native American studies.

Religion in Modern New Mexico.

Edited by FERENC W ETULAIN (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997 x + 217 pp. Cloth $60.00; paper, $19.95.)

A diversity of experiences characterizes religion in twentieth-century New Mexico Centuries old Native American ceremonies and sacred mountains contrast with "televangelists" and arena-like mega-churches. Although historians cannot be accused of overlooking religion in explaining Utah's development, editors Szaz and Etulain find that for much of the West there has been a conspicuous lack of interest in religion. "A cadre of 'New Western Historians'" they note, "has focused on 'race, class, and gender' as the chief means of unlocking the secrets of the past. . . . To marginalize the religious aspect of western history is to overlook an essential component of human experience" (vii)

The eight chapters that follow a brief introduction do a fine job of bringing the religious elements of modern New Mexico into focus and serving as a model for similar studies in other states. LeonardJ. Arrington is the author of the chapter on Mormons in twentieth-century New Mexico Other chapters deal with Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, the religious culture of the Jews, competition for Native American converts, and the evolution of alternative spiritual communities. A concluding chapter places the New Mexico experience within a national context.

Japanese Americans in Utah.

Edited by TED NAGATA. ([Salt Lake City]: JA Centennial Committee, 1996 viii + 201 pp.)

This engaging history gets off to a fine start with an article on the first Japanese in Utah—the Iwakura Delegation of 1872—by Dean Collinwood, Ryoichi Yamamoto, and Kazue Haag, and it maintains that same standard of excellence to the last page Alice Kasai, Raymond Uno, Sandra Taylor, Ted Nagata, and many others have also lent their talents in researching and writing the fifty or more articles and features that adorn this work. The reader will be well rewarded with a new appreciation for the wide range ofJapanese American activity and achievement in Utah

The book is an attractive object to behold. It is beautifully designed, nicely printed, and generously illustrated with over 500 interesting and well-captioned photographs