The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 309

Book Reviews

with fourteen points of call. Thus in the early nineties was
Parson Hanks introduced to "The Far West," the Panhandle
High Plains above the Cap Rock. Here he grew up with a new
ranching land where his appointments before 1906 finally took
him over much of the Panhandle.
The account of the trials and tribulations of the circuit rider,
the building of churches, the spreading of the doctrines of
Methodism are told in straightforward, colloquial phraseology.
There is much on the West Texas way of life. It is a rewarding
book for any who will read-and it may become a Texas and
American classic. It is an honest account of the energetic frontier
preacher.
Not only was Parson Hanks successful in building churches but
on the side he was equally successful in building a herd of
cattle-a herd that finally came to be composed of polled
Herefords.
The first edition of this booklet of 162 pages was done in 19o6.
Six additional pages bring the story in the second edition into
1950. As an octogenarian, Parson Hanks there relates that he
quit breaking broncs only when past eighty and now he is "taking
things easy, thank the Lord," he says.
Parson Hanks has made an enduring contribution to frontier
literature.
H. BAILEY CARROLL
The University of Texas
The Florida of The Inca: A History of the Adelantado, Hernan-
do de Soto, Governor and Captain General of the kingdom
of Florida, and of other heroic Spanish and Indian cavaliers,
written by the Inca, Garcilaso de la Vega, an officer of His
Majesty, and a native of the great city of Cuzco, capital of
the realms and provinces of Peru. Translated and edited by
John Grier Varner and Jeannette Johnson Varner. Austin
(University of Texas Press), 1951. Pp. xlv+655. $7.50.
Time seems to have increased the spellbinding literary appeal
of the Spanish conquistadors, for books on the theme have mul-
tiplied like rabbits since 90oo. Some of the greatest names of the
historical profession, including many nationalities, stand among

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