The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 477
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
nature of the survey's personnel contributed in large measure to its
difficulties. Men from frequently antagonistic backgrounds-scien-
tific, military, and political-had to work harmoniously if the survey
was to accomplish its mission. Their contentiousness, projected against
the backdrop of Southern Democrats' vital interest in a suitable route
for a transcontinental railroad, contributed to Bartlett's failures. His
inability to reconcile opposing parties, his unbending Yankee nature
incapable of adapting to frontier mores or conditions, and his inepti-
tude with the survey's finances and logistics doomed his cause. It
may have been, however, that any commissioner would have failed,
given the circumstances prior to the Gadsden Purchase. The great
strength of Hine's book is that it analyzes so successfully both Bart-
lett's shortcomings and accomplishments. The vigor and grace of
the prose, reflecting the author's cultivated tastes, greatly enhance
the study's appeal.
Despite Bartlett's final failure, his record of the survey, preserved
in his writings and art, provided valuable information on this terri-
tory new to the United States. As a scientist, the commissioner created
important ethnological records, as well as providing information on
the flora and fauna of the Southwest. Hine thinks that in Bartlett
the dual role of scientist and artist did not conflict. The commis-
sioner saw himself primarily as a man of science and acted consciously
as such. He and others in the survey painted and sketched to provide
a visual record of the land they traversed. In the absence of suit-
able cameras, the artist played an important part in the West, but
Bartlett never made artistic values paramount. Nonetheless, accord-
ing to Hine, Bartlett was an artist of stature and should be remem-
bered as much for his esthetic achievements as for the scientific.
The volume's superb reproduction of Bartlett's art, and that of other
members of his expedition, easily documents Hine's contention. All
those involved with the book-the author, the Yale University Press,
the John Carter Brown Library, and the Amon Carter Museum of
Western Art-deserve warm congratulations.
Inevitably, Hine's book must be compared with Odie B. Faulk,
Too Far North ... Too Far South. Evidently Faulk's volume appeared
too late to be included in Hine's bibliography. Both books cover
much the same ground in dealing with Bartlett, though Faulk con-
siders the entire history of the boundary survey. Hine's study en-
compasses archival and manuscript sources, whereas Faulk restricts
himself to printed materials. Consequently, Hine gives a more round-277
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/311/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.