The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 247

Book Reviews

Topographical Engineers, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (whose Ele-
phant Butte project is Kelley's archvillain on the Rio Grande), and the
various boundary commissions to temper his zeal for demonology.
Kelley's treatment reveals the potential for further study in a vast
range of topic areas on Texas. Now that the Lone Star State heads for
its bicentennial, more analysis of the Rio Grande, including its environ-
ment and cultures, would be a major contribution to western and
American historiography. Pursuit of "lost dreams" in the quest for
understanding of Texas still obtains in a region that in its poverty,
harshness, and beauty continues to haunt the American soul.
Cameron Unzverszty MICHAEL WELSH
Essays on the History of North American Discovery and Exploration. By David
B. Quinn, Robert H. Fuson, Olive Patricia Dickason, Cornelius J.
Jaenen, Elizabeth A. H. John, and William H. Goetzmann. Intro-
duction by Howard R. Lamar. Edited by Stanley H. Palmer and
Dennis Reinhartz. (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University
Press for the University of Texas at Arlington, 1988. Pp. xiii+ 140.
Preface, introduction, illustrations, notes. $17.50.)
The studies included in this volume with one exception were read at
the Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures at the University of Texas
at Arlington on March 12-13, 1986.
In the opening essay, "Colonies in the Beginning: Examples from
North America," David B. Quinn compares and contrasts the French,
British, and Spanish colonization experiences. He concludes that the
French came to make money by trading with the Amerindians, the
Spaniards to find gold and silver and to convert the natives to Catholi-
cism, and the English to acquire land. Although exceptions can be
found to all of these generalizations, they are essentially correct.
In "The John Cabot Mystique," Robert H. Fuson shares with his
readers the results of his impressive research. He analyzes the contro-
versy about Cabot's son, Sebastian, who claimed for himself his father's
exploration fame. Florida's colonial historians will undoubtedly ap-
plaud Fuson's conclusion that Cabot probably reached the northeast of
the continent but did not sail as far south as La Florzda.
In her essay, "Old World Law, New World Peoples, and Concepts of
Sovereignty," Olive P. Dickason, points out that no matter what the legal
argument, New World people did not possess sovereignty when "push
came to shove" between European conquerors and Amerindians.
Cornelius J. Jaenen discusses "Characteristics of French-Amerindian
Contact in New France," in which he argues that the French experience

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