The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981 Page: 373
502 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
the town progressed. Often, in the case of large centers, such as San
Francisco, Reps notes their establishment in an early chapter and takes
up their subsequent growth in a later chapter.
The conclusions drawn from this vast survey are that most western
towns were planned from the start, the gridiron design was pervasive,
and the towns led the way in the settlement of the region. Reps con-
firms Ricard C. Wade's contention in The Urban Frontier (1959) that
the towns represent the "spearheads" of settlement. They came ahead
of the farms and ranches. Furthermore, even though establishment is
complete, according to Reps, the evolution of the western cities con-
tinues. They are yet to develop along lines of beauty, safety, and health.
There is little to say in serious criticism of this study of western town
planning. Reps stands alone for this kind of work, and here his effort
is magnificent. Although expensive, the book is important for the ur-
banist, library, and collector. For others it will be a helpful reference.
Most likely, there will never be another book like this one for the West.
Colorado State University DAVID G. McCOMB
Hard-Rock Miners: The Intermountain West, 186o0-920. By Ronald
C. Brown. (College Station: Texas A&cM University Press, 1979.
Pp. xvi+o21. Illustrations, bibliography, index. $15.95-)
As anyone knows who follows the historiography of western mining,
the last few years have witnessed a flowering of noteworthy books about
western miners and their organizations. In addition to studies of the
ubiquitous Cornishmen and a spate of studies of the Industrial Work-
ers of the World several years ago, the most notable of these are
Richard E. Lingenfelter's The Hardrock Miners: A History of the
Mining Labor Movement in the American West, 1863-i893 (1974),
and Mark Wyman's superb Hard Rock Epic: Western Miners and the
Industrial Revolution, z860-1gro (1979).
In his Hard-Rock Miners: The Intermountain West, z860-192o,
Ronald C. Brown of Southwest Texas State University focuses not
upon the entire West, but rather upon the intermountain region,
which he defines as including the states of Wyoming, Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. His book does not especially
parallel Lingenfelter's, which deals mainly with organization and with
the pre-1893 era; but it does invite comparison with Wyman's work,
which studies the entire region and which broadly addresses "the im-
pact of the Industrial Revolution upon the men who mined gold, sil-373
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981, periodical, 1980/1981; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101225/m1/421/?rotate=90: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.