The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, July 1953 - April, 1954 Page: 401

Book Reviews

of prediction has already been vindicated as evidenced by press
notices of suits filed attacking the quitclaim legislation.
Nor does he regard as ephemeral the paramount rights doctrine
and the national entity theory. These he insists are subject to
still further exploration in the development of our jurisprudence.
The timely appearance of this volume so ably presented and
so thoroughly documented is not only a valuable accession to the
fast-growing body of petroleum literature but a permanent con-
tribution to the study of state and federal powers.
DAN FERGUSON
Jeferson, Texas, Queen of the Cypress. By Winnie Mims Dean.
Dallas (Mathis, Van Nort & Company), 1953. Pp. 8o. $2.75-
Any student of Texas history finally comes to realize that the
early metropolis of Jefferson was tremendously important to its
northeast Texas area and eventually to the development of the
prairie region of north Texas. With balance, charm, and lucidity
Winnie Mims Dean has done a slim volume of eighty pages on
Jefferson which may well be a model for local history enterprise
for any town or city. The reviewer cannot think of eighty pages
anywhere in Texas history doing more toward revealing the past
and present of a given area.
Jefferson is the Natchez of Texas; the Dean book contains
numerous well-chosen illustrations showing the old and distinc-
tive homes of Jefferson where a cultured people still follow fine
traditions in an annual pilgrimage to the numerous historical
places, gardens, and dwellings with which Jefferson abounds.
The book contains no "gush" but is written with a deep appre-
ciation and with feeling for its many subjects. There is not an
ounce of antiquarian dullness in this distinguished little volume,
which will reward the tourist, the local resident, and all readers
with a respect for a fine old culture which, somehow, keeps re-
asserting itself in Jefferson, the Queen of the Cypress.
H. BAILEY CARROLL
The University of Texas

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