The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998 Page: 131
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
131
account of the fabled ranch's history. After one reviews the published histories
of the King Ranch, Cypher's candor is delightful. The definitive history, howev-
er, is still to be done.
Eastern New Mexico University at Portales DAVIDJ. MURRAH
The Story of Big Bend National Park. By John Jameson. (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1996. Pp. xvi+196. List of illustrations, preface, prologue, epilogue,
notes bibliography, index. ISBN 0-292-74042-5. $12.95, paper.)
John Jameson's study of Big Bend National Park is a well-researched analysis
of the park's history as well as its current circumstances. Well over half of the
book deals with the trial and tribulations, starts and stops, of getting the Big
Bend National Park concept up and running. The rest of the work effectively
examines the current issues confronting park management. The author's
painstaking research is evident throughout the text. In addition to seemingly
exhausting all publicly available federal and state government archives, he also
contrived numerous other valuable sources.
The initial two chapters detail the campaign for a national park in West Texas.
Jameson reveals his grasp of Depression-era politics and the depth of local senti-
ment for a national park. He pays particular attention to several individuals who
made notable contributions to the park movement. However, he is careful to
expose resentment and local versus federal controversies present during that
period that still exist today. Jameson then considers the issues of land acquisi-
tion, promotion, and development during the first fifty years of the park's exis-
tence. He describes the various options that have been available to park develop-
ers throughout the years and explains why the park has evolved as it has, rather
than any of the numerous alternatives that have been supported.
The remainder of the book addresses controversies, plans, and issues, both
historic and current. The inevitable local versus federal confrontation erupted
over the issue of the park as a "predator incubator." Although that situation
abated, other debates remain unsettled regarding preservation versus develop-
ment. Another issue of park development is that of the proposed international
park. Jameson demonstrates an ability to comprehend and relate all facets of
this seemingly simple but actually complex situation. He completes his effort
with an accounting of the mundane but critical issues confronting not only Big
Bend but the entire National Park system in the next century as well.
This book is appropriate for anyone interested in both West Texas's regional
heritage and in issues concerning park management and history.
Southwest Texas State University SAM GREER
Saving San Antonio: The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage. By Lewis F. Fisher.
Foreword by T. R. Fehrenbach. (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press,
1996. Pp. xv+552. Illustrations, foreword, preface, acknowledgments, intro-
duction, chronology, bibliography, index. ISBN 0-89672-372-0. $35.00,
cloth.)1997
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998, periodical, 1998; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117155/m1/161/?rotate=270: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.