The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 541

Book Reviews

This book provides substantial basis for further study of Santana. The great
chief of the Mescalero, until his death in 1876, most certainly deserves, as Jerry
Thompson underscores in his foreword, the esteem accorded Mangas
Coloradas, Cochise, Geronimo, and Victorio. There is also considerable discus-
sion of cultural topics, including use of the inner bark of the sugar pine as a nat-
ural laxative, pre-firearm methods of hunting elk in the mountains, and a
detailed description of the Haheh, the dance of the adolescent girls. Lack of an
index is unfortunate, and protracted absence of critical dates (e.g., pp. 44-105)
justifies editorial intervention and even a time line. There is a helpful glossary
and impressive photography, and Pruit's research in verifying the manuscript is
praiseworthy. C. L. Sonnichsen and Eve Ball, close students of the Apaches,
believed Almer Blazer (1877-1949) to be the premier Anglo authority on the
Mescalero. Fortunately, his knowledge is now in print.
Southwest Texas State Universzty JAMES A. WILSON
Contested Territory: Whites, Natzve Americans and African Americans in Oklahoma,
1865-1907. By Murray R. Wickett. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 2000. Pp. xvii+240o. ISBN 0-8071-2584-9. $49.95, cloth.)
Between the Civil War and 192o Anglo-Americans sought to assimilate
Indians into mainstream society while simultaneously preventing African
Americans from participating equally in American life. As African Americans
fought against segregation and the erosion of their civil rights, many Native
Americans-justifiably fearing a loss of their cultural identity-opposed the
attempts of white reformers to assimilate them. Indian and Oklahoma
Territories were the only region where significant numbers of African
Americans, Native Americans, and white Americans co-existed, and thus the
area provides a unique place to view the contradictory racial policies of
Progressive-era Anglo-Americans. In Contested Territory Murray Wickett demon-
strates the myriad manifestations of these conflicting goals, and, more impor-
tant, describes how different groups of African Americans and Indians interact-
ed with white Americans, as well as with each other.
Using government records and documents, manuscript collections relating to
the Five Civilized Tribes and to African American and Anglo-American settlers,
and numerous newspapers, Wickett successfully shows how the contradictory
expectations that Anglos had for blacks and Indians were reflected in economic
opportunities (including land ownership and wage labor), public education, the
justice system, and political participation. Despite the racism of whites and
Indians, African Americans initially were able to vote, hold office, and own land.
Oklahoma was a similar land of promise for the Five Civilized Tribes, who dur-
ing the 1830s were promised sovereignty over the area. By statehood, however,
the ruling white majority successfully limited black economic opportunities and
prevented blacks from voting. Meanwhile, Native Americans-particularly those
who were unwilling to adopt Anglo-American culture-lost the ability to control
their own destiny as Indian lands were incorporated into the United States.

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