Book Reviews

Visions of Antelope Island and Great Salt Lake

By Marlin Stum.Photographs by DanMiller (Logan:Utah StateUniversityPress,1999.xx 4-185pp.Cloth,$36.95; paper,$19.95.)

THIS LARGE-FORMAT COLLECTION of essays and photographs of Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake may appear on the surface to be another coffee-table collection of rich photos and thin text It is much more than that Focusing primarily on Antelope Island with occasional excursions tothe lake's other islands and its shoreline, the essays range widely over geology, paleontology, archaeology, prehistory, nineteenth- and twentieth-century history, climate, wildlife, parks policy, and management practices

Combining interviews "with former Antelope Island residents and managers;historical texts byJedediah Smith,Kit Carson,John C Fremont,Alfred Lambourne, and others; observations by naturalists;and occasional lyrical passages of his own, Stum attemptsto provide the reader with athoroughly complete portrayal of the complexities of a rocky island in abriny inland sea Like DaleL Morgan and his path-breaking The Great Salt Lake (1947), Stum uses the setting of the lake asanoccasion for broad speculation and insights into Native—European contacts, exploration and settlement, environmental change, and even urbanization Where Morgan was primarily interested inregional history after 1820, Stum isprimarily interested inthe environment of the lake and the island,and he addresses the reader from an avowedly preservationist perspective

Some of the highlights of the book are Stum's tense encounter with what might have been alynx, the reminiscences of the residents of the now-restored Fielding Garr Ranch, an illegal island camping trip that nearly ended inwatery disaster, and a solid overview of the debates over what todoabout the ever-rising lake inthe period 1984—89 Occasionally, Stum's poetic impulses become abit overwrought, but overall he manages to capture well the magic timelessness of alake still almost unknown to most residents oftheWasatch Front

One major disappointment inthis book, however, is Stum's approach to the native peoples of the region,past and present His first chapter, "Coyote Creates a Sanctuary for the Animals," attempts tore-create American Indian myths asaconnective to goals for the preservation ofAntelope Island, but inso doing he generalizes about all native myths rather than specifying those ofa single tribal group or region To declare, as Stum does, that "American Indians might say that Coyote built this [beach] highway for himself,for easier passage up and down the island" (91) is to appropriate a complex belief system by romanticizing it and homogenizing it The inclusion of Gary Holthaus's imitative but non-native poems "Hunter's Song to the Antelope" and "Antelope's Song to the Hunter" isanother example of appropriation, as is the last chapter, "Touching the Bison Spirit," in "which Stum describes his participation in various synthetic ceremonies attended primarily by Euro-Americans seeking spiritual value in another culture Given the relatively short shrift that prehistoric and historic native peoples are given in this book, afuller description of these cultures -would have been far preferable to the New Age conclusion of the book Nevertheless, this is a valuable and compact overview of one ofthe rarest and most precious environmental resources in North America

DAVID STANLEY Westminster College

The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico

ByVirginia McConnell Simmons (Niwot:UniversityPressofColorado,2000.xxii + 323pp.$29.95.)

VIRGINIA MCCONNELL SIMMONS has worked for fortyfive years as a researcher, instructor, writer, and editor (her publications include Bayou Saldo, revised in 1996, and The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-armed Cross, second edition 1998). She has now filled a void in Native American and regional history by producing a clear, concise, chronological narrative of the Nuu-ci, the people who for generations occupied Utah, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Simmons has pulled together tribal histories,legal documents, and the last forty years of scholarly research into Ute experiences and lifeways and has created a text that should be included in academic and community libraries as the best currently available one-volume history of the Ute Indians. The text will also appeal to general readers.

In aconfident, crisp style,Simmons presents an overview of the Ute Indians and their history to the mid-twentieth century This overview includes adescription of the varied lands the Utes occupied, the stories they tell of their origins, and a chronology of events and strategies,from Ute contacts with the Spaniards to Ute claims against the federal government. Clear maps and several photographs strengthen the presentation.

Simmons has carefully sorted through fictional accounts about Ute Indians;redundant accounts of dramatic episodes,such as the Meeker Massacre of 1879;and imaginative accounts of renowned individuals such as Ouray, Chipeta, and Walkara—convincingly demonstrating that Ute history is both greater and richer than those accounts suggest.She has doggedly worked her way through ethnographic materials, collections of folktales and language studies, government documents, unpublished theses and dissertations, and scholarly articles scattered throughout the historical and anthropological journals of the region. This is a thoroughly researched, competent job. Her bibliography is a much-needed update to the checklist produced in 1964by S.LymanTyler.

The Ute Indians were never united by a single political or social organization. The various groups of Utes "who traveled throughout, used,and honored the region were fairly independent of each other. However, they shared alanguage,various technologies,and ceremonies.Simmons uses one ofthose ceremonies—the Bear Dance,which originated "long,long ago,before anyone can remember,"—as leitmotif, as symbol of the change and continuity, sorrow and survival that mark Ute history.And she convinces us that the Utes' scheduling of this ancient dance again this year -will help them survive.

Even as she has drawn on her own earlier work, Simmons has not done much original research for this text That was not the necessary task She has done what was needed She has brought the research scattered in articles, reports, books, studies, exhibits, and tribal histories together in a cogent, thoughtful, accurate account ofthe Nuu-ci

Even as she places the Nuu-ci at the center of their history, Simmons does not use much of the "new Indian history." That history seeks to understand the Indians' own reasons for their actions;it has the Indians speak for themselves ashuman beings to -whom we must listen,with whom -wemight argue.Most texts of Indian history are actually the history of Indian—white relations. And these are usually either stories ofconquest and assimilation of the Indians or stories of cultural persistence.The book Simmons has"written issuch atext.But Indians are not curiosities, marginal to the history ofAmerican regions. Indians also helped create the world asit is today.Hopefully, another scholar will write a history of the Utes that uses the Ute point of view to help us better understand the human condition Such a work will build upon Simmons's fine work.

KATHRYN L MACKAY Weber State University

Kit Carson and the Indians

By Tom Dunlay (Lincoln:University ofNebraskaPress, 2000.xxii + 525pp.$45.00.)

AMONG THE PANTHEON of legendary and controversial western heroes,none occupies the space held by Kit Carson. His reputation and celebrity reached mythic proportions before he was middle-aged. His exploits (both real and fictitious) dominated the press ofhis day and continue to fascinate aswell asrepel modern-day readers of the history of the AmericanWest.Tom Dunlay makes a significant foray into our understanding of this American icon in this study of Kit Carson and his relationships with the nativepeoples oftheWest

Dunlay brings to his analysis years of reading the primary sources available on the subject as well as a mastery of the varied and numerous articles and books that have been written about Kit Carson, particularly in the past thirty years. Since the 1960s and 1970s the reputations of many western figures have suffered the sting of revisionism, and none more than Kit Carson, who has been described by one of his most vociferous detractors as a "genocidal racist."What Dunlay attempts to accomplish isto place Carson in his own time and place (instead of ours) so that we might understand the life of a common man who lived an extraordinary life In the end, the author reveals "a man trying to deal with moral issues and intractable real-life problems that would try anyone's consciencejudgement, and resolution."

While the definitive biography of Kit Carson is still awaiting publication, Dunlay has delved specifically into Carson's professional and personal relationships with Indians. Carson's earliest memories began on the contested ground of Boone's Lick, Missouri,where young Kit recalled families being"forted up" and men standing watch for hostile Indians as their neighbors cleared the forest and plowed their fields. This book traces his career as a trapper, ascout onJohn C Fremont's famous explorations (where his celebrity began), an Indian soldier, a Civil War officer, and finally as an Indian agent in New Mexico It tracks the evolution of a man whose life focused on Indians and his role as a cultural and political intermediary between Indian society and the aggressively dynamic society that was the United States during the mid- and late nineteenth century

In addition to the author's adept examination of one man, he also brings to his analysis a significant body of "work on the cultures and peoples of "western NativeAmerica In aprevious book, Wolves for the Blue Soldiers (University of Nebraska, 1982), Dunlay studied the role of Indian scouts and soldiers in the conquest of theAmericanWest A common thread the reader will find in both works is exhaustive research and aclear and engaging writing style that illuminates the truth within stories that have been clouded for decades -with emotionalism, misconception, and myth. Tom Dunlay has found the middle ground in which we can understand the complexity ofboth aman and the times in -which he lived.

CLIFFORD P COPPERSMITH College of Eastern Utah

Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place

ByDavidE.Stuart (Albuquerque:University ofNew Mexico Press,2000.xvi + 249pp. Cloth,$29.95;paper,$15.95.)

DAVID STUART HAS SUCCEEDED in accomplishing something that many of his contemporaries, baby-boomer archaeologists,talked alot about during theirVietnamWar-era college days: He has made the findings of archaeology directly "relevant" to weighty, modern social and political issues. Stuart draws together the findings ofacentury ofarchaeological research in his interpretation of Puebloan cultural history, which he presents in the form ofamoral tale with explicit lessons for modern America.

The tale is structured around an interesting model that contrasts power and efficiency as alternative strategies for cultural survival. Power-driven cultures are expansionistic, growth-dependent, complex, and generally short-lived Efficiency-based cultures emphasize stability rather than growth, are less complex, consume less energy, produce less "waste, and survive longer than powerbased cultures Power-based societies typically expand rapidly at the expense of less powerful cultures, but they also tend to overexploit their energy base then collapse like a souffle, leaving their more efficient victims to inherit the earth, at least for a time. In his version of the Pueblo story, Stuart describes the rise and collapse of a power-based Anasazi cultural system, followed by the emergence of a much more stable, efficiency-based Puebloan cultural system The earlier system arose and fell between about 900 and 1150 A.D., leaving behind a spectacular array of abandoned "greathouse"- centered communities and formal roads, with an apparent power center in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Following the Chacoan collapse and a troubled period of regional and local cultural experimentation, the Pueblo people reorganized themselves and reinvented their culture "with a strong emphasis on efficiency rather than growth and power. This new "efficiency" strategy resulted in the establishment of large, stable, plazacentered villages with an intensive, agrarian energy base and a social/religious organization that emphasized community survival over socioeconomic differentiation among individuals and families Many of those communities have survived largely intact to the present time despite almost four centuries of terrific pressure from European diseases and cultures.

At the end of each chapter and in a dedicated chapter at the end of the book, Stuart explicitly pursues and explores parallels between ancient Puebloan cultural developments and the modern world The global techno-industrial culture led by the United States is the very essence of a growth-dependent, expansionistic, predatory power culture, unprecedented in its consumption of energy, production of -waste,and subduction of less-powerful cultures Only the most ardently conservative and entrenched of the "efficient" cultures, including the Pueblo villages, have been able to stand relatively intact against it.The moral lesson to be drawn from the Puebloan experience is that, unless we are somehow able to balance and moderate our power drive with increasing efficiency, we face a future even more catastrophic than that of the ancient Chacoans. Our powerful culture will collapse, leaving more-prudent, less-ambitious,more-efficient cultures to survive in its ashes

Some of the book's qualities may be a bit irksome to knowledgeable students of southwestern archaeology, but it will be refreshing to most readers Stuart's clear and straightforward prose is "written to a popular audience, largely free of the technical and philosophical jargon that often suffocates archaeological and anthropological literature On the other hand, the popular-audience orientation allows for some minor sloppiness and inaccuracy in facts, some unqualified assertions of fact regarding matters that are not only unproven but probably unprovable, and a near absence of primary source citations While troublesome to some of Stuart's peers, none of these weaknesses -will significantly compromise the effectiveness of his message for the general audience to which the book is addressed.

Whether Stuart's model and "just-so" moral tale is elegantly simple or simply simplistic,it is a compelling and interesting idea Regardless of how the reader responds to its philosophical message,the book offers an interesting and insightful journey through Puebloan history, guided by a seasoned and richly experienced scholar of south-western cultures It is recommended reading but should be approached as a philosophical essay rather than as a textbook on Puebloan archaeology or cultural history.

WINSTON HURST Blanding, Utah

Sunk without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde

ByBradDimock (Flagstaff:FretwaterPress,2000 xii+ 282pp Cloth,$28.00;paper,$18.00.)

ON THE LAST DAY of November 1928,Glen and Bessie Hyde were nearing the end of their honeymoon river trip Over a month before, they had launched their twenty-foot -wooden scow at Green River, Utah Using twenty-foot sweeps to steer the boat they had built at the put-in, they had successfully navigated some of the most fearsome rapids in North America Glen -was twentynine, an experienced outdoorsman and scow oarsman, educated and handsome Bessie "was twenty-two, recently divorced, a poet, and beautiful.They "were,says author Brad Dimock,"two brilliant young people on a daring adventure." But something happened that day,probably at the relatively easy 232-Mile Rapid, and their bodies were never found again Their disappearance remains one ofthe great"unsolved mysteries"of Colorado River history.

In the seven decades since, all kinds of extraordinary rumors have surfaced as to -what really happened: Bessie killed Glen and changed her identity;Bessie reappeared in the form of Liz Cutler on a Grand Canyon River trip in 1971; a skeleton found in Emery Kolb's garage in 1976 "was Glen's;and so on and so on. Of course, there -was also a simple explanation: they fell out of the boat and drowned, not having brought life preservers.

Dimock begins by admitting that very little is really known about the Hydes and their disappearance and that his narrative is "by necessity,amosaic,a collage,apastiche ofbits and pieces."But a fine mosaic it is. To understand the Hydes and who they "were, Dimock probes deeply into -what is known of their families' history, past and present He also unravels all the scattered and sometimes conflicting information about the extensive search for them by Glen's father, R. C. Hyde.That in itselfisatouching and fascinating story Dimock skillfully looks at all the rumors and theories and examines each carefully in light of the background materials and evidence available Most important, he intersperses all this valuable information with an account of a Grand Canyon trip he and his wife,Jeri Ledbetter, took in their own homemade replica of the Hydes' scow The counterpointed narrative is a brilliant strategy It not only provides enormous insight into how a scow handles in the Grand Canyon but also creates abig payoff at the end when Dimock finally offers his own opinion about what happened to the Hydes at 232-Mile Rapid I will not give that away One willjust have to read this excellent work to find out

Dimock is afine river historian.The book is elegantly written, prodigiously researched,and intricately plotted It isalso beautifully designed and well-illustrated with numerous photographs, maps, and charts.My only criticism is that Dimock chose not to cite his sources.Although much of his material obviously came out of the Marston Collection at the Huntington Library,there is so much more footwork that he did Not having these sources easily noted will hinder future river historians searching for information on the Hydes.Dimock has,however,promised to leave an annotated copy of the book aswell asallhis collected materials at NorthernArizona University's Cline Library

That criticism notwithstanding, this is afascinating read that all interested in Colorado River history will want in their libraries. Dimock has spent thirty years rowing professionally for the Grand Canyon Dories During that time he has clearly acquired a vast knowledge of the place and its history He helped found the Grand Canyon River Guides and its very fine publication, Boatman's Quarterly Review, he has conducted many oral histories with Grand Canyon river-runners, old and not-so-old; and he coauthored a fine book on Buzz Holstrom, the first person to solo the Grand Canyon Now, with this excellent addition on the Hydes,he is establishing himself as one of the preeminent historians of one of the most sublime places on earth. I recommend this book highly

JAMES M ATON Southern Utah University

World War II and the American Indian

By Kenneth William Townsend (Albuquerque:University ofNewMexico Press,2000.xii + 272pp.$35.00.)

NO EVENT IN THE TWENTIETH century had a greater impact on world history than the Second World War. Even the most isolated citizens in countries around the globe felt the changes wrought by this conflict Typically, when authorities cite Native Americans' participation in the -war, they mention the bravery of Ira Hayes or the work of the Navajo code talkers. However, asKennethW Townsend points out in World War II and the American Indian, the story is much more involved As a history professor at Coastal Carolina University and aspecialist on the war years,Townsend was able to unearth a plethora of material that reveals every aspect of Indian involvement. He profoundly demonstrates the ironic twists that left native people at the beginning of the conflict in the crossroads of their lives and yet,by the end,in astate ofdisillusionment and despair.

Some readers may be thrown off course by the author's initial chapter because it deals "with the "work of Commissioner John Collier and the benefits ofthe Indian New Deal Townsend's purpose is to show even non-experts how this innovative program prepared Native Americans for their immersion into the mainstream of American culture after war broke out. Whether involved in wartime industry or military service, Indians came out of the 1930s with skills needed for service to their country The Indian Reorganization Act, however, served as a double-edged sword, for "while it prepared them for full inclusion in American society, it also renewed traditional lifestyles

Townsend's most surprising chapter focuses on the use of Nazi propaganda to entice America's natives in a direction away from national unity Nazi methods to achieve this goal "were quite surprising, including the argument that Indians were actually lost tribes of Germanic people and therefore Aryan. The author provides a thorough account of numerous pro-German activists who sought to brand the New Deal as Jewish and communist inspired

When the war began, there were two choices for Native Americans: enlist or try to avoid the draft. Given their historic mistreatment by the federal government, one might expect a great deal of resistance, but they enlisted at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in America Townsend lists numerous reasons for this phenomenon, including the efforts of the New Deal to inspire patriotism, the racial genocide under National Socialism in Germany, the Indian warrior tradition, and financial benefits

Resistance to the draft was, for some, a matter of religious conviction, but the author also focuses on a unique twist of racial factors that played a major role in Virginia. Usually, Native Americans were classified with white units, but inVirginia the state registrar treated them asblacks Townsend boldly lays out the case of Indian resistance to this system and how it led to tribal revitalization in the state. In a complete reinterpretation of John Collier's well-known vision of Indian America, Townsend also demonstrates Collier's insistence on total native compliance even ifit necessitated the use offorce and paternalism

The most exciting and re-warding chapters are the ones focusing on the role of Indians at -war and in related industries. For readers who are unfamiliar with the courage displayed by Native American soldiers, this section will be highly informative But as usual "with this book,Townsend offers new interpretations of the war and its impact on the gradual breakdown of racial attitudes concerning Native Americans and their growing sense of inclusion in the white society Reservation life during the war served as a microcosm of "white America, including the purchase of war bonds, women working in industry and the conversion of Indian resources for defense needs. But, enticed byjobs and mainstream acceptance, many Indian people "who left their homelands faced an unclear future choice between two worlds

The end of the conflict brought a downturn in the wartime economic boom for America's native people. Faced with heavy job competition from returning white veterans and aloss of New Deal programs that had bolstered sagging reservation economies in the previous decade, they had nowhere to turn Ironically, the very success of Indians during the war led many Americans to encourage assimilation and the termination of the Indian Bureau. Townsend interprets Collier's futile attempt to salvage his program asboth defensive and paternalistic and yet also as an idealistic venture -whoselong-term goal was anew "world order based on peace and prosperity.The greatest tragedy in this story is that in spite of the 25,000 Indians "who served in the armed forces and the 40,000 "who -worked in defense industries, the post war payoff was a return to pre-New Deal conditions of economic stagnation and cultural rejection. Still, Indian self-determination had asserted itself in the form of draft resistance and renewed pride These beginnings, the author claims, laid the foundation for the Red Power movement of the 1960s.This final conclusion marks the high point ofabook that makes for great historical reading World War II and the American Indian isquintessential history.Itis at once impeccably researched, highly interpretive, and beautifully -written This is not simply a book for students of the military or of Native Americans but rather for anyone who loves a provocative examination ofour past.

JIM VLASICH Southern Utah University

The Journey of Navajo Oshley: An Autobiography and Life History

EditedbyRobert S.McPherson (Logan:Utah StateUniversityPress,2000.xiv + 226. Cloth,$39.95;paper,$19.95.)

BORN AT DENNEHOTSO in northeastern Arizona sometime between 1879 and 1893,Navajo Oshley lived most of his life in Utah's SanJuan County until his death in Blanding on October 16, 1988.A few months before his death,Bertha Parrish translated and transcribed fourteen taped interviews conducted with Navajo Oshley in Navajo by his sonWesley Oshley in 1978.Using these interviews,along -with earlier interviews and interviews with individuals -who knew Navajo Oshley, including his daughters,Joanne Oshley Holiday and Marilyn Oshley,historian Robert McPherson hasproduced amemorable book that offers the reader an unbiased look into the real world of the Navajo at many critical junctures of history. Oshley was not a great political or religious leader but made his living herding sheep. Nevertheless, as anthropologist Winston Hurst noted, he lived a life that was "completely free of any self-consciousness and totally at ease -with himself." For McPherson, Oshley's life is one that "speaks to the human experience ofusall."

Written history has not been friendly to the American Indian, particularly in theWest I -would commend Dr McPherson in his effort to cross cultural bounds to reveal a quiet giant in Navajo Oshley My own experience living for a time in the area that Navajo Oshley traveled helped me to understand better the isolation, desolation, and beauty of the land, the simplicity and complexity of Navajo traditional life Also, being an avid reader of biographies, I find that this book could very well have been describing other Indian people throughout theWest

Navajo Oshley was all that was good about Navajo life. Oshley lived through the good, the bad,and the ugly He isbest described by the word "hozho," roughly translated as truth, beauty, and goodness. The Journey of Navajo Oshley isnot abook that is elaborate or overly descriptive;it isastory ofrespect for differences and similarity and of the interaction between two cultures in shaping the history ofsoutheastern Utah

Oshley was especially respectful ofthe simple ritual ofprayer as well as the more traditional ceremonies Through his acceptance into the Mormon church and being partly visible to the white community, he would show and teach "that a person should not talk of another person in a harsh way."The book reflects and shows his amazing ability to preserve and have an open mind in dealing with the Utes, Paiutes, Mormons, and others.He showed his resilience in his example to his family, clan, and tribe. He exuded all that is good, simple, and beautiful. For me, there was that underlying theme of family and tradition in the book Even though Oshley never attended school in the formal sense, he knew it was important enough that he encouraged his children and grandchildren and could be seen accompanying them to and from school in Blanding

McPherson has done a commendable job in making sure that Navajo's voice is heard throughout the book, from the simple truth and Tightness he expressed to his disgust for the disrespect for the earth and all that live on it This was especially difficult, because the writing, researching, and translation was done over a period often years.The Oshley family should alsobe commended for beingwilling to share their father, grandfather, and friend

This book is well written and shows that the journey Navajo Oshley traveled was rough but beautiful I believe that in today's world the many great human qualities that he exemplified are sorely needed in making anyone abetter person.

GARY TOM Cedar City