The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998 Page: 259
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
The book's virtues make it seem petty to point out a few minor errors.
Ranald Mackenzie's 1872 defeat of the Comanches occurred on the North
Fork of the Red River and not "near the mouth of Blanco Canyon" (p. 113).
Instead of John Hittson, it was his son Jesse who had the celebrated fight with
the Comanches near modern Ballinger (p. 92). Nevertheless, the work is a
model regional history and will be appreciated both by scholars and the gen-
eral public.
Arkansas State University CHARLES KENNER
Brothers on the Santa Fe and Chihuahua Trails: Edward James Glasgow and William
Henry Glasgow, z846-z848. Edited and annotated by Mark L. Gardner.
(Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1993. Pp. xv+229. Foreword, preface,
acknowledgments, introduction, notes, appendix, illustrations, bibliogra-
phy, index. ISBN o-87o81-291-2. $29.95, cloth).
In May 1846, at Independence, Missouri, St. Louis merchants Edward
Glasgow and his younger brother William joined a large caravan of freight
wagons bound for the Santa Fe and Chihuahua markets. What followed
became a nightmare for the traders. The United States declared war on
Mexico that month, and the progress and fate of the caravan was quickly tied
to military considerations. In this book, Mark L. Gardner, a historian residing
in Colorado, has gathered and edited a highly interesting collection of
Glasgow family letters and related materials concerning the 1846-1848 trad-
ing experience. The result is a firsthand view of the interplay of economics
and war on the Mexican border.
In a lengthy editorial introduction, Gardner provides biographical informa-
tion on the Glasgow family and describes their involvement in Mexican trade.
Edward Glasgow sought markets first by sea to Mazatlan (1841-1842), and then
joined Dr. Henry Connelly on four overland freighting trips (1843-1846) to
Chihuahua. In the postwar years the Glasgow brothers shifted away from freight-
ing, and ran a commission business in St. Louis until it collapsed in 1879, then
went their separate ways. The essay displays masterful detective work, but the
quotes seem excessive. The annotations are massive-but valuable.
The Glasgow materials are divided into three parts. First, the editor presents
1846-1848 letters home (Edward wrote eight letters and William seventeen).
The brothers describe delays on the trail, camp life, Alexander Doniphan's "bat-
tles" with the Mexicans, and the sale (finally) of their goods in Chihuahua. Next,
in a fragmentary memorandum-journal, William recounts his overland trip in
the spring of 1848 from Chihuahua to New Orleans. Finally, in eleven replies
(1906-1907) to inquiries by historian William E. Connelley, Edward adds detail
to his mercantile ventures. A 1906 newspaper interview with Edward appears in
an appendix. The Glasgow documents are absorbing reading and frame a story
that could easily form the basis for a movie.
The book is enhanced by over forty illustrations, a bibliography, and an index.1997
259
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998, periodical, 1998; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117155/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.