The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 329

Book Reviews and Notices

that the author's style contrives to enliven subject matter which
might easily have been made to seem dull. Further, the intimate
glances allowed the reader of the great among the Populists tone
up the narrative quite satisfactorily, as do the numerous illustra-
tions which are included. It must be said in simple justice that
the work is not free from flaws-for example, Governor James
Stephen Hogg of Texas is referred to as "H. H. Hogg" (p. 177)-
but fortunately most of these are of a minor nature, and the re-
viewer is able to maintain his position that the work is withal
well done. Thus material which is not always new is made to
retain its interest, and portions of the book, as Chapter I ("The
Frontier Background"), fire the imagination even of the student
of third party movements.
Leave should not be taken of the book without citation of its
very complete bibliography, which gives evidence by its inclusive-
ness of a prodigious amount of work on the part of the author,
and its index, which serves materially to increase the usefulness
of the work.
ROSCOE C. MARTIN.
The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth. By T. D. Bon-
ner. Edited, with an Introduction, by Bernard De Voto.
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp. xl, 405. Price, $4.00.)
A few men have left written records of their own thrilling ex-
periences and many have entertained readers with imaginary ad-
ventures, but it is unusual to find a man who has done both.
James P. Beckwourth, or Jim Beckwith, as he was known to his
contemporaries, had more than his share of adventures. His
book as written by T. D. Bonner, is, however, something more
than a narrative of what actually happened. It is a structure of
fancy built on a foundation of fact.
In 1823 Beckwourth took employment with General William
Henry Ashley, one of the promoters of the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company. This took him to the Green River country and sur-
rounding territory where he trapped, explored, and traded with
Indians in company with the most renowned mountain men whose
names are recorded in the chronicles of that tough and hardy
breed. He mentions Thomas Fitzpatrick, Robert Campbell,

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