The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 129
544 p. : ill., ports., maps. (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
including the President, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Treas-
ury, Attorney General, Postmaster General, and Congress. One
may piece out any particular phase of administration, but no
effort is made by Dr. Carter to include all important documents
comprehending Indian affairs. The same would be true of land
claims, patents, and controversies.
The territorial governor held a multilateral position, and he
certainly earned his annual salary of $2,ooo. In addition to his
civil authority, he was commandant of the territorial militia,
nominal director of Indian affairs, and superintendent of the
postal service to the extent of hiring and firing postmasters by
delegated authority. He was constantly harassed by territorial
politics, land controversies, a perverse population, and by isola-
tion and remoteness from the seat of the government. Governor
Lewis complained in 18o8 that it required a letter forty-two
days to reach St. Louis from Washington.
Interested historians will find a wealth of material on any
phase of the territorial life and administration which they wish
to pursue. It is of general reader interest to single out one docu-
ment as being somewhat typical and useful, and the letter of
Acting Governor Browne to Secretary of State James Madison in
August, 18o6, is selected. This general report indicates much
bickering among territorial officials. Governor Browne wrote
that the "local" Spanish and French residents were most desir-
able but that American settlers were, in the mass, malcontents
and semi-savage. They were illiterate and unreliable and with-
out loyalty and love of country. He surmised that they had been
"driven" from the states by debts and crimes. These backwoods-
men would make good Indian fighters if they could be disci-
plined, but he doubted that they could be controlled.
J. HORACE BASS
A. & M. College of Texas
Expansionists of 1812. By Julius W. Pratt. New York (Peter
Smith; reprinted by permission of Macmillan Company),
1949. Pp. 309. $3.25.
This provocative and original study of the War of 1812 burst
like a bombshell in 1925 on the students of that period. It pur-129
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951, periodical, 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101133/m1/157/?rotate=90: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.