Book Notices

Desert between the Mountains: Mormons, Miners, Padres, Mountain Men, and the Opening of the Great Basin, 1112-1869

By Michael S. Durham (Reprint ed.; Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. 336 pp. Paper, $18.95.)

Th e title aptly describes this work. Largely a narration of various explorations but also including chapters on Mormo n settlement, polygamy, and the Utah War, Desert between the Mountains has little to say about the lives of indigenous peoples. Both the title and the content imply that the Great Basin was a closed, unknown, and useless place before Europeans and Americans arrived.

As a single volume on the first non-native incursions into the Great Basin, this book may be useful to some readers. But the accounts are summarized from standard sources—readers familiar with Utah history will find the material mostly familiar—and little attempt has been made to create new interpretations. The narrative does not even remain focused on the book's subject; for instance, it follows Jedediah Smith around the entire West instead of covering more deeply his time in the Great Basin. And a certain shallowness of research comes through at times; for instance, the author recounts without a blush the apocryphal story of Ji m Bridger offering Brigham Young $1,000 if the pioneers were able to raise a bushel of corn in the Salt Lake Valley.

Although the book jacket calls this "the definitive, dramatic, and multifaceted study of the Great Basin," the book is something less than that.

Sanpete Tales: Humorous Folklore from Central Utah

By William Jenson Adams (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1999 xxii + 128 pp Paper, $15.95.)

In 1930 Edgar M Jenson, the author's grandfather, began writing down the impudent folk tales told by the Scandinavian settlers of Sanpete County An example: "Whe n Doc Olstein was called in to see Requel Nielsen's wife, wh o was very ill, he made a very careful examination, but finally shook his head and said, 'Requel, I am worried I yoost don't like your wife's looks at all.' 'Veil, I neffer like dem either,' answered Requel, 'but she surely haf been a faithful vife oond modder"'(57)

Although these stories had entertained and united the community for decades, by 1930 the old tradition of storytelling was dying out, and the then-current generation of Sanpeters was mostly ashamed of the dialect and situations in these tales. Though many disliked the way the stories made the settlers look unsophisticated, Jenson loved the stories, and he wanted his children to know them.

Lucky for us. The hand-typed, hand-illustrated volumes he left for his posterity have been compiled and abridged into this volume Besides making us laugh, the dry humor in this collection helps us to enjoy the people—the "tough-bodied, warm-hearted, sly-humored" (xx) Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes wh o passed them around

Home Away from Home: A History of Basque Boardinghouses

By Jeronima Echeverria (Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1999. xv + 359 pp. $44.95.)

Th e man y Basqu e boardinghouse s an d hotels— ostatua k Amerikanuak—located in towns around the West nourished Basque immigrants in many -ways. Here, newcomers could find compatriots wh o also spoke Euskara and -who would help the m adjust to America Here they could dance, eat, listen to music, and celebrate as they had in their native country. They also might find -work, a spouse, or various kinds of social support through the boardinghouses

In Utah, the cities of Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Price all had Basque hotels, including the Hogar Hote l run by Joh n and Claudia Landa in Salt Lake City. Here, Joh n helped man y sheepherders find wor k on Basque-owne d ranches; Claudia's "legendary cooking skills" provided countless meals; and the couple regularly cared for injured herders Th e Landas opened their hotel in 1927 and ran it for fifty years.

Basques, wh o claim to be Europe's oldest ethnic group and wh o speak Europe's only remaining pre-Indo-European language, cherish their ethnicity. The y have "for centuries...spoken of themselves as a unique people and believed it fervently" (15). This boo k explores the role of a unique institution within this distinctive culture

Where Rivers Change Direction

By Mark Spragg (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1999. 270 pp. $21.95.)

A couple of annoying questions too often intervene in the reading of a personal essay: Di d this really happen as the writer says it did? Is this writer, as he seems to be, really so muc h wiser, braver, and more present in the momen t than the rest of us mortals are?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Writers do exploit the opportunity of looking back at memor y and either finding or creating a meaning that was not apparent at the time Like anybody narrating the past, they have the opportunity to shape their history; like anybody, they can choose to assume a pose through their stories, making themselves larger than they really are.

In the case of this book—essays looking back at a boyhood spent working the family dude ranch o n the Wyoming/Idaho border—those bothersome questions could loom large This is no ordinary life The boy must shoulder a man's responsibilities, handling horses, dudes, blizzards, accidents. The events he recounts are astonishing But this is writing that gets each moment right, putting the reader into the "kidney-warm manure cake of the corrals," at the side of a mentor who has just nearly sliced part of his hand off, or on the bare backs of horses walking belly-deep in a river.

And because the moments as well as the instincts of these stories—of relations between males, animals, and land—are right, the question of authenticity does not intrude on the reading Factual or not, the stories are true and completely compelling

What E'er Thou Art Act Well Thy Part: The Missionary Diaries of David O McKay

Edited by Stan Larson and Patricia Larson (Salt Lake City: Blue Ribbon Books, 1999. xlviii + 301 pp. $24.95.)

At first glance, this book, with its sentimental dustcover illustration, appears to be more concerned with promoting an image than with scholarship A heartfelt tribute to LDS church president David O. McKay by Marion D. Hanks strengthens that impression But essays by Leonard Arrington and Eugene England show that neither the book nor its subject is one-dimensional. Arrington discusses McKay's open-mindedness and other positive qualities but also mentions that McKay was sometimes "arrogant and subject to toadyism" (xvi). England describes a man who valued intellectualism and who combined conservative, moderate, and liberal thought; believed in evolution as God's method of creation; disbelieved in the "curse of Cain" justification for denying the LDS priesthood to African Americans; and took important steps that led toward a reversal of that policy.

With such introductory essays, the diaries of this influential man during a formative period in his life become more interesting. The entries show McKay's intellectual curiosity, his spiritual and emotional development, and his growth as a leader through his experiences in Scotland As the editors point out, this is a rare look at the private writings of someone wh o was not at the time a general authority but who would later become church president; no other such missionary diaries have ever been published. Along with a solid and insightful introduction to the diaries, the editors have provided annotations and period photographs of sites mentioned by McKay.

The Animals Came Dancing: Native American Sacred Ecology and Animal Kinship

By Howard L Harrod (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2000 xxv + 171 pp Cloth, $35.00; paper, $17.95.)

A professor of social ethics, sociology of religion, and religious studies, Harrod writes about the relationships between Norther n Plains Indians and animals Th e myths and rituals of these tribes show a view of animals as transcendent others—not only sentient, intelligent beings but also powerful agents wh o could mediate between humans and the natural and supernatural worlds. In these stories animals are creators, rescuers, husbands and wives, parents, and providers of food, well-being, and renewal

In a final chapter, the book explores and deconstructs humans' current relationships with animals In almost all cases the Nort h American culture views animals from a utilitarian standpoint: that animals, including wildlife, exist to serve huma n needs and desires. Thoug h the author speaks against a direct appropriation of Native American attitudes—such appropriation would lead to shallow sentimentality, disembodied traditions, and continued cultural imperialism—he does argue for a reimagining of our relationship to animals If our culture can view animals as sentient, complex, transcendent, and other, he says, -we can transform the current paradigm of the natural world as commodity.

To Build, to Create, to Produce: Ephraim P. Ellison's Life and Enterprises, 1850-1939

By William G Hartley (Ellison Family Organization, 1997 xvii + 556 pp.)

A no-nonsense businessman, leader in his LDS congregations, and father of nine, E. P. Ellison was one of those men -who shaped Utah through his entrepreneurship His business interests were many and included enterprises in Canada as well as in the Mountain West With Jesse Knight as a sometimes partner, he directed operations in banking, sugar processing, flour milling, livestock, and merchandising. Perhaps among his largest contributions -was his work as vice president and president of the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company whe n it built the East Canyon and Echo dams

Using a variety of primary sources, this volume details the history of Ellison's businesses, his church and civic work, and his family Although the progress of the companies may be tracked, Ellison himself, wh o was not prone to show or write about his deepest feelings, is somewhat more cryptic. But the book is a valuable account of economic activity in a variety of enterprises