The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 247

Book Reviews and Notices

One naturally searches for anachronisms in such a piece of writ-
ing, but Professor Hulbert is very circumspect. This reader notes
but three instances of possibly recent words in this narrative of
1849-and one never knows, perhaps they are contemporary, too:
express wagon, a rickety vehicle for hauling odd loads; buddy, a
companion; and profiteering.
There are nearly a hundred drawings and cartoons and twelve
maps. There are a score or more of trail songs, some with music.
And the bibliography seems all inclusive. The book was awarded
the prize of $5000 offered by the Atlantic Monthly and Little,
Brown, and Company for the best manuscript (nonfiction) "deal-
ing with the American scene."
As a vivid presentation of the experiences of the Forty-Niners
on the California Trail, the book leaves nothing to be desired-yet
there will always be a demand for other veritable diaries of the
trail, for it is the infinite personal qualities of diaries that make
us want to read them.
EUGENE C. BARKER.
Francisco de Urdifiola y el Norte de la Nueva Espaa. By Vito
Alessio Robles. (Mexico: Imprenta Mundial, Miravalle,
13; 1931. Pp. xxv, 333. Illustrations and maps. $3.00.)
The history of the Province of Nueva Vizcaya for the quarter-
century following the death of its founder and first governor,
Francisco de Ibarra, has never been adequately told. This period
has persisted as a serious gap in the historical chronicles of New
Spain. Sefior Vito Alessio Robles in presenting a comprehensive
and scientific study of a conspicuous figure active in this region
during these years has aided materially in reconstructing the
historical narrative of the frontier province. Francisco de
Urdifiola, soldier, miner, cattle-raiser, agriculturalist, colonizer and
governor was a prominent actor in the stirring drama of Spanish-
American discovery and colonization, and in his activities, extend-
ing from about 1575 to the time of his death in 1618, much of the
history of Nueva Vizcaya can be read. This study is particularly
valuable therefore, not as the biography of a man, but as an im-
portant contribution to the history of the northern frontiers of
New Spain.
It is indeed surprising that, prior to the appearance of the
present study, so little was known regarding a person so prominent

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