Book Notices

Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870—1903

By ChrisJ Madoc (Albuquerque:University ofNew MexicoPress,2000 xvi+ Cloth,$49.95;paper,$19.95.)

The author was drawn to this story by the paradox of a "national nature-loving aesthetic" coexisting simultaneously -with the nation's "rapacious natural resource development.""It seemed possible,"Madoc writes,"that the story of the first national park might reveal something of the contradictory impulses of Americans toward the natural world" (xii) Notjust anatural areabut a deliberately created "landscape" in the American consciousness,Yello-wstone Park has from its inception been a commodity This history describes the late-Victorian values that drove the park's formation and approaches toward its protection, tourist marketing and development, and extraction of resources within theYellowstone ecosystem; it also shows the negative effects on the ecosystem of tourism and industrial development,including heavy logging adjacent to the park

Scots in the North American West, 1790—1917 ByFerencMorton Szasz

(Norman:University ofOklahoma Press,2000.xvi + 272pp.$29.95.)

Among the various nationalities that explored and colonized the West, Scots are highly visible. Scots were the leadership core of the Hudson Bay and NorthWest companies;Alexander MacKenzie,the most familiar name,is only one of many In several cases, the mixed-blood sons of Scots and Indians rose to prominence both in their tribes and in the Euro-American world and served as "cultural brokers" (70);for instance, Flathead—Scot Duncan McDonald wrote an early Indian-perspective history and systematically compiled Coyote tales in the early 1900s Scots also gained influence in such endeavors as cattle and sheep ranching and writing EnvironmentalistJohn Muir was one ofthe most influential ofhis compatriots.Both the famous and the unknown are surveyed in this book.

Managing Historical Records Programs: A Guide for Historical Agencies

By Bruce W. Dearstyne (Walnut Creek,CA:AltaMiraPress,2000.xvi+ 271pp. Cloth,$62.00;paper $24.95.)

A useful handbook for any organization concerned with historical records,this book describes both the current philosophies ofrecords management and the nuts and bolts of storing, organizing, and making records available to the public Topics include the selection of records, arrangement and description, electronic archiving, and the providing of public services Several appendices give additional help; they include a self-assessment guide for historical records programs,suggestions for cooperative approaches, ahypothetical program plan, guides for donations of personal papers and deeds of gift,lists of vendors, and more.

Evil among Us: The Texas Mormon Missionary Murders

By KenDriggs (SaltLake City:SignatureBooks,2000 xi+ 290pp Paper,$19.95.)

In 1974 in Texas Robert Kleason brutally murdered Mormon missionaries Gary Darley and Mark Fischer Author Driggs has reconstructed the background, the murders, the trial, and Kleason's subsequent life in detail Research sources include extensive interviews, public and legal records, and LDS records.

Patterns of Vengeance: Crosscultural Homicide in the North American Fur Trade

ByJohnPhillipReid (Pasadena:NinthJudicial CircuitHistoricalSociety,2000 248pp $40.00.)

This innovative monograph addresses a"multicultural legal world" (28) in which customs and laws among various Native American nations and fur traders differed -widely An examination of how these groups interacted, how they viewed and punished homicide and other disputes, and how they misunderstood and adapted to the others'"laws"makes for a fascinating study The author points out that even the most culturally sensitive present-day historians often make the same mistake that some of their historical subjects did; that is, they "impose [European] legal values upon Indian actions and...judge those actions by nonIndian values"-when they use such legal terms as"murder" and"theft" (26)

Nearby History, Second Edition: Exploring the Past around You

By DavidE Kyvig andMyronA.Marty (WalnutCreek,CA:AltaMiraPress,xvi +285pp.Cloth,$65.00; paper,$24.95.)

Packed with guidance,information, and sources ofhelp,this handbook is a useful resource for local historians.The authors have set out to help history students see the value of examining a single family; help genealogists and other local historians enrich their work by examining itwithin abroader context; help researchers become more effective; and help everyone realize the relevance of the past to the present.To this end, they provide provocative investigative questions, information on historical "traces," methods and sources of research, and discussions of the scholarship that has been and could be done in local and community history.

The New West of Edward Abbey

By Ann Roland;afterword byScotSlovic (2nded.;Reno:University ofNevadaPress,2000 xvi + 285pp Paper,$18.95.)

Roland's 1982 study was the first book-length literary analysis of the work ofthis influential western writer When it was first published,Abbey was stillliving and writing This new edition exploresAbbey's published work from his 1954 novel, Jonathon Troy, to his last novel, Good News. It also contains a reflective essay written by Roland atAbbey's death in 1989 and an essay on his later works by environmental scholar Scott Slovic

From Pioneers to Powder: A History of Big Cottonwood Canyon

By Bob Flodine (Sandy,UT:self-published,2000.xu + 156pp.Paper,$24.00.)

Unable to find a complete history of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Flodine began combing through dozens of sources to satisfy his curiosity The result is this useful and interesting compilation of the canyon's history from 1847 to 1999.Well-organized and illustrated, the book includes a detailed table of contents, documentation, an index, and a helpful mileage guide to the canyon's present and historical sites

North American Cattle-Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion, and Differentiation

By Terry G. Jordan (1993;secondprintingAlbuquerque:University of New Mexico Press,2000.456pp.Paper,$24.95.)

The western cattle-ranching culture isnot monolithic; each "frontier" has been influenced by various cultures, as this innovative study shows. The author explores varied cattle-raising traditions, including Spanish, British, Sudanese,Antillean,Floridian,Mexican, Carolinian,Texan,and Californian (aswell as sub-cultures within these regions),tracing influences in ranching practices, language, and gear. He analyzes the geographical diffusion of ranching tradition and concludes that "Each cattle frontier was unique and far more accidental than predictable,the result ofchancejuxtapositions ofpeople and places"(308).

Encyclopedia of Local History Edited

By Carol Kammen and Norma Prendergast (Walnut Creek,CA:AltaMiraPress,2000.$79.95.)

This book has entries on almost all conceivable (and some nonconceivable) topics in local and public history Some omissions, inclusions, and subject treatments are head-scratchers, but in general this is a useful reference for anyone working in the field. Since each entry can only touch on its subject and raise a few important issues, many entries include recommendations for further reading By compiling the expertise and insights of dozens of historians and scholars in associated fields, Kammen and Prendergast have made an important contribution

A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement

ByMarkW.T.Harvey (1994;reprint ed.,Seattle:University ofWashington Press,2000. xviii + 368pp Paper,$19.95.)

Initially created in 1916 and greatly enlarged in 1938, Dinosaur National Monument was to become the focus ofasharply contested political battle over dam building in the 1950s Sitting astride the northern Utah—Colorado border, the monument contained some extraordinarily scenic sites, including beautiful Echo Park,that would have been inundated by the proposed dam.

In this carefully researched and well-written work—part of which was published in volume 59 of Utah Historical Quarterly—Mark Harvey tells the Echo Park story It is a most instructive study, one that adumbrates all the issues and most of the players that define environmental issues today.

Utahns, regardless of their stand on conservation issues, will be particularly interested in the details of this history. The personal roles played by Bernard DeVoto,Wallace Stegner, and Arthur VWatkins are illuminated, and the broader context of the Colorado River Storage Project and the Central Utah Project are given context.

With its defeat in 1956,the proposed Echo Park Dam slipped into history but not oblivion. In fact, as William Cronon reminds us in his preface, this dam that was never built is indeed one of the most important in its narrative significance and under Mark Harvey's skillful hands becomes an "intricate and appropriately ambiguous moral fable."Thanks to this paperback reprint, countless new readers will now be able to mine the full meaning of those generalizations.

Saints on the Seas: A Maritime History of Mormon Migration 1830—1890

ByConwayB.Sonne (1983;reprint,SaltLakeCity:University ofUtah Press,2001. 212pp Paper,$24.95.)

Treating the Mormon migration by water as the important topic that it is—some 85,000 converts undertook the voyage to "Zion"—this book recounts the experiences of missionaries and converts as they traveled by ocean and river. It explains how the careful organization of emigrant companies resulted in successful passages, and it gives details of ships, captains, and ports.Among the book's strengths are its fine writing, extensive research, and appendices that provide more data than the average reader could ever dream of wanting to know about the ships and their devout passengers.

Excavation of the Donner-Reed Wagons: Historic Archaeology along the Hastings Cutoff

By Bruce R. Hawkins and David B. Madsen (1990;reprint,SaltLake City: University of Utah Press,1999 178pp Paper,$14.95.)

In 1986 a team of archaeologists worked to excavate and recover what remained of the wagons left by the Donner-Reed party in the Salt Lake Desert The wagons had been visited and"mined" for artifacts several times before, but this was a final, scientific investigation, motivated by the state's plan to flood the desert by pumping water from the rising Great Salt Lake Among other goals, the project sought to ascertain what physical remains and evidence ofthe Hastings Cutoff had survived; investigate the story that some emigrants had buried their wagons in the mud; and determine the kinds ofgoods left at the wagon sites,what had happened to abandoned items described by Howard Stansbury, and whether these goods were indeed left by the Donner-Reed party Besides a report of the team's findings, this volume contains chapters on the Hastings Cutoff, Stansbury's 1849—50 expedition, and visits to the wagon sites made between the 1870s and 1962