The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 36, July 1932 - April, 1933 Page: 237

Book Reviews and Notices

A consideration of the facts outlined above should make clear
the extraordinarily difficult task that confronted Fitzpatrick's
biographers. Though both are eminently qualified as historical
investigators, they have not been able to achieve what seems
nearly impossible, a unified and vivid biography. There are gaps
in the story, and here and there uncertainty as to Fitzpatrick's
part in the events narrated. There is nowhere an effort on the
part of the authors to catch up the records in a sweeping succes-
sion of dramatic events. Had they given their minds to it, they
could have written stirring accounts of the rendezvous of the
mountain men for the fur hunt, or of the meeting with the Hud-
son Bay men, or of the assembling of the great Indian Council
in 1851 where B. Gratz Brown served as a reporter. But Hafen
and Ghent stay close to their sources and tell only what they can
support with references. They have taken the rl1e of historians
rather than of story tellers.
Scholars may turn with confidence to this work for informa-
tion about Fitzpatrick, Ashley, Bridger, and other mountain men.
Biographers of Fremont or Kearney will also find something
here. The sober historical quality of the book causes one to in-
quire why the notes are placed at the back rather than at the
bottom of the page. Those who will use this work most will
want to read the notes, and will feel some impatience at having
to hunt them out. The index adds to the usefulness of the book
as the illustrations-mainly photographs of mountain men or ex-
plorers-heighten the interest. The double-page map of the trails
and forts is exceptionally well done.
Both authors are well known. Dr. LeRoy Hafen is best known
for his book The Overland Mail; while Mr. W. J. Ghent's Road to
Oregon placed him among the foremost writers on the West.
W. P. WEBB.
Pioneer Days in Arizona. By Frank C. Lockwood, New York,
1932. (Macmillan. 387 pages. Price, $4.00.)
The colorful civilization of the Southwest has been interpreted
by Professor Lockwood in his recent book, Pioneer Days in Ari-
zona. Such a volume is much more than a narrative of past
events composed by a secluded scholar. It is a history of the

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