The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 73, July 1969 - April, 1970 Page: 561

Book Reviews

standard divisions and topics of Western history. Part I covers the
eastern frontier, while Part II encompasses the Trans-Mississippi West.
While supplementary works utilizing selections one to three pages in
length make for interesting and informative reading for the student,
they plague the professor who must search for a meaningful way to
test for comprehension. I ponder, too, the wisdom of having all six
selections on transcontinental railroads dealing with the Union Pacific.
In the first half of the book, accounts describe travel on the National
Road, the Ohio River, and the Erie Canal, but nothing is included
on the philosophic promotion and construction of internal improve-
ments. The editors also might have inserted some material on the pro-
motional activities of the urban frontier. Readers of Texas history will
wonder why, in a section entitled "Texas Colonization and Revolution,
182o-1845," only one selection of twelve deals with the period of the
Republic, during which many pressing frontier problems developed.
It should be emphasized that the omissions are few and that Ridge
and Billington have given us a revealing look at the frontier, as seen
by the people who comprised it. An outstanding portfolio of photo-
graphs serves to enhance the meaning of the readings.
University of Toledo THOMAS B. BREWER
Never Again. Volume I: Texas B.c.-z82z; Volume II: Texas 182:-
1848; Volume III: Texas 1848-1861. By Clayton Williams. (San
Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1969. Pp. xviii+20o5; xii+-190o;
xxiv+257. Illustrations, maps, notes, index. $1o.oo each; $25.00oo
boxed set.)
Clayton Williams, according to the dust-jacket blurb, became con-
vinced that all Texans "should know more about the history of their
state" and therefore "undertook extensive research" which "turned up
a wealth of new data." His goal thus was commendable and his intent
worthwhile. Yet Volume I, Texas B.c.-182z, reveals few new facts, and
it often contains misstatements of facts. For example, Cabeza de Vaca
wrote that he and three companions survived the ill-fated Narvaez
expedition; Williams states that only three survived. Curiously, the
author apparently did not consult Cabeza de Vaca's Relacidn. The
story of Fray Marcos de Niza likewise is incorrect, while Spanish names
and the numbers of men on Spanish expeditions are usually wrong.
The matter of balance also is curious: the Aztec Indians of Mexico are

561