The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 107, July 2003 - April, 2004 Page: 635

                                
Book Reviews

didn't really like her) of dime novels and movies galore. The authors strive to
present a more realistic portrait of the women and their time.
One of the most fascinating selections is the biography of Emily D. West
(Morgan), better known as the Yellow Rose of Texas. The song she inspired is fa-
miliar to millions around the world, but very little is known about her actual
life-and much of what is commonly reported is not true. For instance, she was
not a slave but a free mulatto who hired on as a bonded servant and traveled to
Texas with her employer, James Morgan. And her famous tryst with Santa Anna,
which supposedly distracted the general at a crucial moment, allowing the Tex-
ans to win the battle of San Jacinto, was probably a myth. However, her persona
(true or no) has entered the annals of Texas history, making her one of the
most beloved characters in the lore of the state.
This book should prove equally interesting to those interested in the Old
West and to feminist historians. The insights into the lives of these extraordinary
women, many of whom would be seen as high achievers even in today's more
equal environment, can show us much about our own abilities and the history of
women's participation in the making of the West.
Olathe, Colorado                                          AprilJ. Chase
Clencal Ideology in a Revolutionary Age: The Guadalajara Church and the Idea of the
Mexican Nation (1788-z853). By Brian F. Connaughton. (Boulder: Universi-
ty Press of Colorado, 2003. Pp. x+426. Acknowledgments, notes, bibliogra-
phy, index. ISBN 0-87081-732-9. $27.95, paper.)
Connaughton traces the ideological changes that the Catholic Church hierar-
chy in the diocese of Guadalajara underwent during the turbulent period from
the Bourbon reforms to independence and the federalist-centralist struggles. His
thesis is that Mexican nationalism was not merely the "secular product of nine-
teenth-century secular liberalism" (p. o). He argues persuasively that in defend-
ing itself the Church provided Mexico with a transcendent vision of nationhood
with "Providence as the motor of [its] history" (p. 11). The author does an ex-
cellent job of analyzing the creative way the hierarchy reformulated conservative
ideas in order to meet the challenges of the anticlerical liberals. Quoting exten-
sively from printed sermons, pastoral letters, and pamphlets, he shows how the
clergy utilized liberal concepts of the general will, social contract, constitutional-
ism, liberty, and human rights to defend themselves.
The Guadalajara diocesan hierarchy, especially the members of the cathedral
chapter, had always been involved in political matters. It earned respect and
trust by fomenting regional interests during the Bourbon reforms of the late
eighteenth century. Clerics supported and praised the royal government for cre-
ating an intendancy in 1786, a university in 1792 which dealt with modern phi-
losophy and science as well as canon law, a merchant guild in 1795, the port of
San Blas in 1796, and a mint in 1812. High praise turned to caution when Fa-
ther Hidalgo initiated the independence movement in 1810 and Bishop
Cabafias (1796-1824) favored Spain. Although well aware of the excesses of the
French Revolution, the hierarchy still supported gradual modernization, but a

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