Book Reviews

The Pioneer Camp of the Saints: The 1846 and 1847 Mormon Trail Journals of Thomas Bullock.

Edited by WILL BAGLEY. Vol.I of Kingdom in the West:The Mormons and the American Frontier. (Spokane:Arthur H. Clark Co., 1997. 393 pp. $39.50.)

With the focus of the last several years on overland trail history including the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, the editing and publication of the 1846 and 1847 trail journals of Thomas Bullock have made an important contribution to the understanding ofwestern trail history and of Mormon history. The Bullock journals are the first of a proposed fifteen-volume set focused on the Mormon experience in the West to be published by the Arthur H Clark Company under the editorial direction of Will Bagley. Bagley has previously published A Road from Ft Dorado: The 1848 TrailJournal of Ephraim Green and Frontiersman: Abner Blackburn's Narrative.

Thomas Bullock was born on December 23, 1816, in Leek, Stratfordshire, England, and in his teens became a law clerk He married Henrietta Rushton in 1838 and two years laterjoined the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Bullocks traveled to Nauvoo during the spring of 1843, and by October Thomas had become a clerk for Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon prophet. During the next eight months until Smith's death, he was privy to many of the public and private affairs of Smith and the church. Asthe Quorum of the TwelveApostles under the direction of Brigham Young moved into the vacuum left by Smith's death, Bullock continued his role as clerk to the church leadership. He became deeply involved in the practices of Mormonism at Nauvoo, embracing plural marriage when he married Lucy Caroline Clayton as a second wife and, later in Utah, Betsy Prudence Howard as a third wife. He wasinvolved in Mormon temple ordinances at Nauvoo, and he also became the adopted son of Willard Richards through the "Law of Adoption."

Bullock's 1846 and 1847 journals describe his experiences, along with those of his family and his neighbors, during the Nauvoo exodus, the migration across Iowa (the Poor Camp Journal), and winter on the Missouri River. Most important is the narration of thejourney of the first Mormon pioneer company directed by Brigham Young to the Great Basin and the return trip to the Missouri River In his writing style, Bullock is descriptive and direct. Both he and Brigham Young come into much clearer focus with the publication of these journals. The inclusion of the National Park Service Mormon Pioneer Trail map appended to the back cover of the book is helpful in following the day-by-day journal accounts.

Bullock's vantage point in relating the exodus should not be overlooked. He was both an insider and an outsider. A relatively new convert to Mormonism, he was allowed to witness virtually all that made Nauvoo Mormonism what it was by the time of the Nauvoo exodus; yet he was a clerk and as such experienced and recorded events but did little to shape them. Eventually, in 1865, released by Brigham Young from the clerk's position that he had held for more than two decades, Bullock moved to Summit County He died in 1885.

Bullock was kept busy doing many tasks, including writing, during the pioneer treks of 1846 and 1847, and the writing style in his journals reflects the varied nature of his life. H e drove oxen, took a turn at guard duty, and tended cattle in addition to clerking for Brigham Young and Willard Richards His often brief journa l phrases are descriptive and reveal a subtle sense of humor from an individual who is often self-effacing. Brigham Young appears as a strong and very direct leader. Bullock complains to his journa l of hardships and difficulties but also revels in the westward trek of the Mormons and the place that h e sees this trek has in history.

The footnotes are informative and well done There is a question concerning the date of Bullock's marriage to his second wife as cited by Bagley (31) The date noted is January 23, 1843, when the Bullocks were preparing to leave England It is questionable whether plural marriages were being performed outside of the environs of Nauvoo during this era, and it seems more likely that Bullock married Lucy Caroline Clayton Bullock following his arrival in Nauvoo in the spring of 1843 Many Mormon historians would take issue with the statement mad e by Bagley that, at the time of his death, Joseph Smith, Jr., "probably would have wanted his offices to go to his son" (42). Despite some minor differences of opinion on issues of fact and interpretation, this edition of Bullock's journals is an important addition to the history of western trails and the Mormons.

RICHARD W SADLER Weber State University

The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846-1848.

By NORMA BALDWIN RICKETTS (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996. xx + 375 pp. Cloth, $39.95; paper, $22.95.)

The book jacket announces, "Norma Ricketts has written the first thorough history of the battalion's march and subsequent experiences." The foreword lauds Ricketts as the "foremost authority" on the battalion (xi). If the jacket and foreword can be believed, the author has brought to publication what others have attempted but failed to do.

Ricketts provides preliminary statements about research methodology, appreciative expressions of past and recent publications, and the hope that battalion stories will become a part of Mormon folklore. Then the text begins with a day-by-day historic record of the trek From "Fri., Jun e 26, Mt Pisgah, Iowa, to Fri., July 16, Pueblo de Los Angeles," the story of the unparalleled military march unfolds (11, 160) Maps, rosters, lithographs, and sketches are interspersed in the daily entries.

The remaining text highlights the contributions of battalion veterans Th e epilogue is a collage of diverse themes—illness, festivities, accolades, mothers, and sweethearts. If the reader is not diverted by the epilogue, battalion rosters in the appendix are worth perusing.

The few missing entries in the dayby-day trek (March 5, 9, 11, 12) are too infrequent to criticize The sparsity of diarist reflections augmenting the heavily quoted Coray journa l is of minor concern. However, Ricketts's textual contradictions and failure to compare or analyze rosters with Carl V. Larson, A Data Base of the Mormon Battalion (1997) or Mexican War records is problematic. For example, Ricketts lists Private William Bush as arriving in California, while Larson and Mexican War records place him on detached assignment at Pueblo.

If it were not for a serious concern over scholarly protocol, the reviewer would join in declaring Ricketts to be the "foremost authority" on the Mormon Battalion since Daniel Tyler The concern stems from a comparison of the Ricketts text with the dissertation, "A Ram in the Thicket: Th e Mormo n Battalion in the Mexican War," byJoh n F. Yurtinus (1975).

In the following quotations Ricketts makes no reference to Yurtinus Under the entry August 29, 1846, Yurtinus wrote, "Twenty-eight member s of Captain Brown's quarrelsome company were unde r the waters of the Neosho River for the remission of their sins" (1:100). Th e Ricketts entry for that date reads, "Twenty-eight members of Captain Brown's 'quarrelsome' company were baptized in the Neosho River for the remission of their sins" (48) For September 4, 1846, Yurtinus recorded, "At least the sun appeared in the afternoon brightening the soldiers' hopes. For the first time on their journey, the Mormons saw prickly pear cactus and other semi-arid plants" (1:126). Ricketts wrote, "The sun finally appeared in the afternoon and brightene d the soldiers' outlook They saw prickly pear cactus and other desert plants for the first time" (51) For the October 2, 1846, entry Yurtinus wrote, "Hancock built an altar and prayed" (1:161). These exact words are recorde d by Ricketts (61). For the Decembe r 11, 1846, entry Yurtinus wrote, "One of Paymaster Jeremia h Cloud's pack mules was gored to death " (2:397) Ricketts recorded, "Paymaster Jeremia h Cloud's pack mule was gored to death" (94). Yurtinus continued his entry with, "While attempting to fire at another, two lead bullets accidently fell into a cylinder causing one of the balls to misfire and rip off the uppe r join t of Stoneman's thumb " (2:399) Ricketts continued the December 11 entry, "Lieutenant Stoneman was reloading his rifle, when two bullets fell into a cylinder causing one ball to misfire. It ripped off the uppe r join t of Stoneman's thumb" (94).

After the day-by-day entries a short editorial by Ricketts begins Chapter Five, "Colonel Cooke, the strict, orthodox disciplinarian, was shocked at the military situation in California" (132) Yurtinus penned, "Colonel Cooke, the strict, rigid, orthodox disciplinarian, was shocked at the United States military situation" and adds on the same page, "Fremont refused to obey General Kearney's orders because he considered the countryside unsafe" (2:499) Surprisingly, Ricketts concludes, "Fremont refused to obey General Kearny's orders because he considered the countryside unsafe" (132).

However similar the text is to the dissertation, no reviewer of The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 18461848 can take away from the author the fact that she accomplished what other moder n historians have not achieved She has made available to the public a readable account of the march an d accomplishments of the Mormo n Battalion.

For Ricketts, the preparation of the text revealed glimpses of the personalities of the battalion members "Each has a name and each shines in the spotlight when his story is being told" (xvi). For a brief momen t Ricketts has also bee n seen in the spotlight, bu t this reviewer finds that the light-generating plaudits may have been misplaced.

SUSAN EASTON BLACK Brigham Young University

Southern Ute Women: Autonomy and Assimilation on the Reservation, 1887-1934.

By KATHERINE M. B. OSBURN. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. xiv + 165 pp Cloth, $45.00; paper, $19.95.)

In Southern UteWomen: Autonomy and Assimilation on theReservation, 1887—1934, Katherine M B Osburn examines interaction between government officials, white reformers, and members of the Ute tribe in southern Colorado during the years when the Dawes Severalty Act dictated government policy. The Office of Indian Affairs sought to "civilize" the Indians and transform them into farmers by breaking up communal reservations into allotments for individuals and educating Indian children in government schools Osburn tells her story from the point of view of Ute women.

At the heart of federal policy lay late nineteenth-century Euro-American values that decreed that men and women reign over separate spheres; me n would be breadwinners and women would keep house Prior to European contact, Utes hunte d and gathered food in territorial bands Lacking a centralized political structure, their lives revolved around localized kin networks; hence Euro-American notions of separate public and private spheres did not apply. Politically, men did not dominate women; age and experience rather than gender functioned as the most important prerequisite for power Osburn finds that as white officials tried to control them, ".. Ute women carried out an agenda of selective cooperation and resistance" (p. 114).

Together, Ute men and women fought poverty by mixing small-scale farming and ranching, annuities and rations, and the selling and leasing of land. Women supplemented family incomes by producing and selling crafts Few Utes of either sex took jobs off the reservation As they settled into their new lives, women insisted on being heard at public meetings that focused on land issues, rations, reservation policy, and education Though they resisted efforts to turn them into quiet housewives, Ute women did adopt white sanitation and health care procedures that resulted in lower infant death rates. But when whites attempted to impose their own standards of sexual behavior on Ute women, many refused to be forced into a life-long commitment to a relationship they judge d to be harmful Osburn's conclusions seek to dispel common notions of Indians that either have them disappearing completely or living in isolated squalor, rejecting all white ways out of hand.

By necessity, Osburn's sources are those produced mostly by whites, the majority of them government documents. She is mindful of the difficulties inherent in such accounts and proceeds carefully, informing readers about what can and cannot be concluded from such records. Many times, reports of disputes produce snapshots of conflict, then the combatants disappear from view, leaving the researcher without "the rest of the story." In addition, white accounts obscure Ute motives, forcing Osburn to speculate often, but she always provides die reader with a variety of possible interpretations. The author also pays close attention to details; for instance, she carefully notes the differences between the reservation superintendents over the years and always takes those differences into account Osburn treats all parties concerned—Utes and whites, men and women—in a very even-handed fashion As a case study, Southern Ute Women provides us with an interesting and illuminating portrait of life on one reservation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

KIM M. GRUENWALD Kent State University Kent, Ohio

White Man's Medicine: Government Doctors and the Navajo, 1863-1955.

By A. TRENNERT (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998 xii + 290 pp $39.95.)

The Navajo Tribe not only enjoys one of the largest Native American populations in North America, but it is also one of the most intensively studied Many scholars have attempted to explain the complicated workings of Navajo ceremonial practices, which relate a world-view embedded in spirituality Central to this view is the belief that physical ailments are symptoms of an illness caused by transgressing spiritual bound s established by the Holy Beings. Until the mid-nineteenth century, healing ceremonies were the Navajos' main defense erected between the m and the diseases introduce d through white contact Yet times were changing, and with them a new system of beliefs and practices challenged traditional thought.

Robert Trennert's work is a fresh view of an old issue: How did the dominant society infuse its theories and practices, in this case its medical knowledge, into a native culture? The story is enlightening. The process began with the army doctors at Fort Sumner during the Navajos' forced incarceration (1864-68); continued with the efforts of missionaries, political appointees, and untrained professionals; then shifted direction to the enlightened attempts to provide self-determination and cultural sensitivity of the New Deal administration of Joh n Collier, commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Each of these phases, though sometimes marred by malpractice and conflict, moved the Navajos closer to accepting alternative forms of healing without shaking their beliefs in the power of their ceremonies.

Contagious diseases found an easy breeding ground on the reservation during this period In the earliest era of contact, today's current germ theory of disease was unknown. Unsuspected vectors spread sickness in various ways, leaving Navajo medicine men to ponder the cause and the white doctors to find a cure While there were many different types of illness, the three most prevalent were venereal disease (particularly rife during and shortly after the Fort Sumner years), trachoma (an infectious eye disease that could eventually result in blindness), and tuberculosis. Discomfort, pain, and death occurred In some instances, the new cures produce d similar results Not until the 1950s and early 1960s were these scourges brought under control and a unified health system set in place to maintain a stable source of medical assistance.

At the same time, Navajo faith in the white man's system of healing had also grown. Th e initial battles waged by "enlightened" doctors against medicine me n were long and bitter; the Navajo were reluctant to give u p a world-view and healing practices that had carried them effectively through centuries Their culture, however, accepted and even fostered inclusion rather than exclusion. Once certain Anglo-American healing arts ha d proven themselves worthy, large numbers of Navajos welcomed them, even with the blessing of medicine men Today, the Indian Health Service employs full-time traditional Navajo practitioners in certain hospitals serving reservation communities.

Trennert is to be congratulated for his well-documented and readable book His research and interpretation add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the Navajo At the same time, h e has enough human-interest examples to allow the reader to understand the impact of federal policy and cultural practices on both sides of the reservation fence. He has tried to include the voice of the Navajo people although his predominant sources are government records and published manuscripts. This book is recommended for both the scholar and lay reader interested in the history of medical practices, the Navajo, or Native American studies.

ROBERT S. MCPHERSON College of Eastern Utah— San Juan Campus

Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier.

By LINDA PEAVY an d URSULA SMITH (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.144pp.Paper, $17.95.)

In Pioneer Women Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith provide an overview of women in the West by combining illustrations and words to describe "westering women of varied origins, ethnicity, and circumstances." The book consists of an introduction and five chapters, with a notation system that replaces endnotes but may confuse readers. The bibliography contains mainly secondary references, published first-hand accounts, and only a few unpublished primary sources. With so few primary documents, one opinion may appear to represent many viewpoints For example, an emigrant who crossed the plains as a child reminisced that it was "one long, perfect picnic," yet many youngsters did not feel this way. Peavy and Smith recognize this limitation and state that overviews lead to generalizations.

Since Pioneer Women is not a scholarly work, it can be enjoyed by various audiences, including young people. Chapter headings and subheadings help readers focus on the content. The writing has vivid explanation and detail The illustrations complement the text, but the time frame is confusing because dates are not identified on many photographs and sketches Apicture of sun-bonneted pioneers in covered wagons is quite different from one of early twentieth-century travelers riding in a surrey.

Several items are not clear in the text. What do Peavy and Smith define as "pioneer," "the West," and "American Frontier"? How does a quote from a Canadian Indian woman and a photograph of Russian immigrants in Saskatchewan fit a possible definition? How many years are discussed in the book? The authors blend time periods, places, and pioneers together. Yet within various decades of settling the West, pioneers faced distinct problems and challenges.

Peavy and Smith also lack research on Mormon history and culture. They emphasize polygamy and state that a "goodly percentage of the early Latter-day Saints had two or more wives. "In reality, less than one-fourth of the men practiced polygamy, and these usually had two wives. The authors state that Brigham Young banned plural marriage, yet he died more than a decade before the edict was issued With the book's multicultural perspective, Peavy and Smith fail to mention that some Indian tribes also practiced polygamy They note handcart pioneers coming from factory towns in England but ignore other British Isle countries, Scandinavia, and parts of western Europe. They imply that one pioneer's impression of handcart travel was the general consensus: "This isa glorious wayto come to Zion." Most emigrants did not consider it glorious.

What is valuable about this book? It appeals to a variety of reading audiences It provides illustrations and an overview that can whet the reader's appetite to dig deeper into the lives of pioneer women of various races and cultures. The authors include several Native American, Hispanic, black, and Asian American voices Although more should be written from a multi- cultural perspective, this boo k is a beginning.

ROSEMARY G. PALMER Boise State University Boise, Idaho