The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 267

Book Reviews

finds the field already overcrowded with computerized dabblers and
suggests that an intensified education for the few most capable stu-
dents would both lessen the quantity and improve the quality of
published products. The late Howard F. Cline was much more
pleased with the qualifications and initial efforts of the latest aca-
demic arrivals. Yet the authors who treat the matter of training
fail to grapple adequately with the problem. They seem to under-
stand that graduate education requires fundamental reform rather
than the occasional "innovative" tinkering that now occurs, but they
provide no suggestions for meaningful change. It would well serve
the profession if the men of deserved stature represented in this
book joined with their new colleagues to effect a bold renovation of
an educational process widely recognized as inadequate.
San Diego State College PAUL J. VANDERWOOD
San Jose de Palafox: "The Impossible Dream" by the Rio Grande.
Translated and Edited by Carmen Perry. (San Antonio: St.
Mary's University Press, 1971. Pp. xviii+96. Illustrations, bibli-
ography, index. $1 o.oo.)
An Introduction to El Paso's Scenic and Historic Landmarks. Text
and pictures by Charles H. Binion. (El Paso: Texas Western
Press, 1970. Pp. 61. Photographs, maps. $12.50 cloth, $3.50
paperback.)
San Jose de Palafox illustrates an excellent way to preserve and
make available Spanish documents. It relates to the town which was
founded northwest of Laredo in 1804. The documents date from 1812
to 1827 and concern the governing of the town; military correspond-
ence; cow, horse, and wood thefts; the continuing problem of paying
priests; and the census. Photographed reproductions of actual docu-
ments accompany the typescript translations on each page, enabling
one to compare the old Spanish calligraphy with the translations.
The documents repose in the St. Mary's University Library at San
Antonio.
The introduction could have been improved by condensing. Also,
although a verbatim rendition of the lawsuit describing the location
of Palafox is probably of value, it would have been easier for the
reader if the location had been pinpointed in clear, crisp, nonlegal
English; the back map does, however, accomplish this well enough.

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