The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 491
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
the award-winning Beyond the Frontier: Explorng the Indian Country (University of
Oklahoma Press, 1998) and Peace Chzefs of the Cheyennes (University of Oklahoma
Press, 1980, reprinted 199o). Here, he aims to provide a concurrent Kiowa trib-
al history and biography of Kicking Bird, including analysis of his death. In the
prologue, Hoig sketches Kicking Bird's life and his cordial relations with whites,
which earned him the enmity of certain Kiowa factions. He then surveys in
eleven pages Kiowa history through contact with the United States before devot-
ing the remainder of the text to nineteenth-century events. The 1866 death of
Tohawson, the most powerful Kiowa leader at the time, marked a watershed in
Kiowa history as factions with different views toward the United States struggled
for power. Readers interested in Texas history will enjoy Hoig's discussion of
conflicts at Adobe Walls, Satanta's 1874 raid near Fort Belknap, the wagon train
fight at Howard Wells, and the fight at Palo Duro Canyon in 1874. With the ex-
ception of a few paragraphs in the epilogue, the narrative ends with Kicking
Bird's death in 1875.
Kicking Bird's controversial policies included advocating American-style edu-
cation for Kiowa children, including his own, and pursuing peaceful relations
with the United States. His most controversial action, however, involved naming
which Kiowa leaders ought to be imprisoned for their part in 1874 raids that
triggered the Red River War. One of those named, Maman-ti, while traveling to
prison reportedly prayed for Kicking Bird's death, which followed soon there-
after. Some Kiowas believed Maman-ti had thus caused Kicking Bird's death.
Others speculated he had been poisoned. Still others attribute his death to a
heart attack. In a significant contribution, Hoig examines the evidence for each
theory, but concludes the question will remain unresolved.
Hoig drew his material from thorough reading in appropriate archives and
published materials. The book contains excellent maps and numerous helpful il-
lustrations. The detail-packed narrative reflects hard work and, perhaps, a reluc-
tance to exclude information. It also raises questions about the point of view of
an author who refers to Kiowas and Comanches who had never seen an agency as
"very wild, uncontrollable" (p. 106); describes his subjects' language as "the
Kiowa tongue" (p. 157); and, introduces a Kiowa speaker with "Lone Wolf...
now made his talk" (p. 171). These devices, limited ethnographical material, and
stranding the Kiowas in the nineteenth century represent the book's shortcom-
ings as a tribal history. Overall, Hoig shines in reporting nineteenth-century mili-
tary conflicts and in providing a sturdy account of Kicking Bird's life and legend.
Texas Christian University TODD KERSTETTER
On the Border: An Environmental History of San Antonio. Edited by Char Miller.
(Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001. Pp. vii+291. Illustrations,
tables, acknowledgments, introduction, afterword, notes, index. ISBN o-
8229-4163-5. $26.oo, cloth.)
On the Border is an apt title for a book that views the history of San Antonio
and the larger environs as a physical and cultural borderland where a complex200oo3
491
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/559/?rotate=0: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.