The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 94, July 1990 - April, 1991 Page: 622

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Chapters 4, "Industrial Parameters," and 5, "The Future of Growth
and Policy," were tierra inc6gnita to this reviewer and hence very valu-
able. Of course, a nagging doubt remains: if the historical survey is syn-
thesized and less than original, is it not possible that an economist re-
viewing this volume would find the historical sections valuable and the
economic analysis somewhat commonplace? That strikes me as a major
dilemma facing any author tackling an interdisciplinary topic, particu-
larly in a short study such as this. It also seems to me that this selfsame
"flaw" is the major strength of such an interdisciplinary work. It may
well be that any volume this length that readers in several disciplines
can profit from is well worth writing and publishing.
University of North Texas G. L. SELIGMANN
Pedro de Rivera and the Military Regulatzons for Northern New Spain,
1724-1729: A Documentary History of Hzs Frontzer Inspectzon and the
Reglamento of 1729. Compiled and edited by Thomas H. Naylor
and Charles W. Polzer, S.J. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press,
1968. Pp. viii+365. Acknowledgments, introduction, illustrations,
maps, notes, appendices, glossary, bibliography, index. $40.)
Views from the Apache Frontier: Report on the Northern Provinces of New
Spain, by Jos Cortis, Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Engineers, 1799.
Edited by Elizabeth A. H. John. Translated by John Wheat. (Nor-
man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. Pp. xx+ 163. Editor's
preface, editor's introduction, preface, maps, illustrations, epi-
logue, notes, bibliography, index. $21.95.)
The appearance in rapid succession of two documentary publica-
tions from distinct and distinguished university presses, both written by
Spanish army career officers in the eighteenth century, is a hallmark
event. Separated by a chasm of several generations, the two officers' re-
ports reflect the inquisitive nature of the Bourbon reformers who influ-
enced crown policy for much of that period.
Brig. Gen. Pedro de Rivera, between 1724 and 1728, conducted an
exhaustive inspection of Spanish presidial defenses from Sonora to
Texas. Accompanied by two exceptionally competent aides-Francisco
Alvarez Barreiro (engineer and cartographer) and Francisco de Sa~nchez
(all-around secretary and bookkeeper)-and two clerical assistants,
Rivera visited each fortification to assess soldiers' combat readiness, offi-
cers' efficiency and leadership, and conditions of weapons and ancillary
equipment including presidial horses. Since presidios normally offered
protection to nearby towns and missions, those frontier institutions
came within the purview of the inspector general's commentary. Besides

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