The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 120
566 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
its pages acquaint the reader with a country, a land at war, a legacy
-all part of our heritage.
Louisiana State University JOHN MILTON PRICE
Marion T. Brown: Letters from Fort Sill, 1886-1887. Edited by C.
Richard King. (Austin: Encino Press, 1970o. Pp. xiv+8o. Illus-
trations. $7.50.)
These letters from the John Henry Brown Collection of the Uni-
versity of Texas Archives were writen by Brown's daughter who re-
sided at Fort Sill during the winter of 1886-1887 while recovering
her health. The correspondence to her family at Dallas contains much
information pertaining to social life on an isolated military post in
the transition period between the Indian wars and the twentieth
century.
The post society described by the writer revolves around the amuse-
ments of officers and their ladies, rather than the drabness of enlisted
men's activities. "Hops," dinners, progressive card-game parties, strolls,
riding, and conversation are vividly described. A meeting with Quanah
Parker, conversation with an officer who believed that Custer "was
a mean low man and it was a pity he had not been killed sooner,"
and interviews with an elderly Indian fighter round out her activities
at Fort Sill.
Insights into racist attitudes of the period occasionally crop out.
Miss Brown describes how a convicted cavalryman is further shamed
by being marched through the post between two black infantrymen
guards. Upon observing a group of Indian children at play, she ex-
presses amazement that the little folk actually display their emotions:
"It had never occurred to me that Indian children ever laughed or
cried."
The editor gives a fine introduction in which he sketches the his-
tory of the founding of Fort Sill, contemporary events at Dallas, and
background information on Marion Taylor Brown and her family.
The only criticisms which might be offered are purely mechanical.
Explanatory footnotes for primary works would better serve the re-
searcher at the bottom of each page rather than at the end of each
group of letters. In addition, the unfortunate omission of an index
will limit the usefulness of this book as source material.Central (Oklahoma) State College
120o
DONALD E. GREEN
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972, periodical, 1972; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101201/m1/132/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.