The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942 Page: 219

Book Reviews

are of little importance; they cannot detract from the general
excellence of the work. The volume is an indispensable aid to
research in the history of the Territory of Orleans.
GRADY D. PRICE.
Southwestern Louisiana Institute.
The Territorial Papers of the United States: Vols. VII, VIII.
The Territory of Indiana, 1800-1816. Compiled and ed-
ited by Clarence E. Carter.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1939. VII, pp. xi, 784.
$2.00. VIII, pp. v, 496. $1.50.
The appearance of these volumes in which are published the
territorial papers of the Territory of Indiana adds to the sig-
nificance of an already important series of government publica-
tions. The papers illustrate various phases of the expansion of
the United States, as, the government of the territory, its bitter
political squabbles, land speculation, the advance of mail routes
and post offices, slavery north of the Ohio, an early proposal for
a canal at the Falls of the Ohio, the militia, Aaron Burr's
activities, and the statehood movement, as well as many other
things too numerous to mention. The arrangement and nature
of the contents are indicated very briefly by the headings of
the nine chapters, which present the papers of each of the
various gubernatorial administrations. The documents of the
five regular administrations and the one ad interim adminis-
tration of William Henry Harrison are included in the first six
chapters which form the more important part of the two vol-
umes. The last three chapters include the papers of the admin-
istration of Acting-Governor Gibson and the two administra-
tions of Governor Posey. These last three, through no fault
of the editor, form something of an anti-climax. Many excel-
lent footnotes, two comprehensive indexes, large clear type, and
superior editorial work add to the usable qualities of the books.
Historical students will long be grateful to the editor and to
the government for these volumes.
There is some evidence, although it is not at all conclusive,
that the task of preparing the territorial papers of the United
States is a somewhat larger one than was anticipated. The
enormity of the work is well illustrated by the size of these
volumes which contain nearly thirteen hundred pages, but which
are not a complete presentation of the territorial papers of Indi-

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