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Atlas of American Indian Affairs
244 FRANCIS PAUL mUCHA,
BOOK
Ahs
REVIEWS
of American Indian Aflairs
(Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1990.Pp. xii + 191. $47.50). Prucha’s title for the Atlas and his reputation, based on more than twenty books and numerous articles on American Indian issues,produce high expectations for the reader. Prucha has both an extensive understanding of the historical context of Indian affairs and a broad knowledge of all of the tribes of North America, prerequisites to a successfulatlas. The Atlas is organized into ten sectionswhich focus on different aspects of the changesof American Indian tribal location and population over time, and role of the federal government in those changes. Prucha’s penchant for detail and accuracy provide a constant flow of material to the reader which taken as a whole offers considerable insight on American Indian Affairs over the past two centuries. Section I sets the “aboriginal lands” for most tribes, including the establishment of original reservations establishedjudicially. “Section II. United States Census Enumeration of American Indians”, provides valuable information, but the maps are difficult to read and intepret. Data is shown only for Counties and MSA’s with more than 100 American Indians, but there is no explanation for this selection on the maps. The notes do provide tables with all basenumbers of Indian population by state from 1890to 1980, and describethe selection of county data. The urban Indian maps read so poorly they are of little value, but the notes include urban Indian data for MSA’s with Indian populations greater than 1,000. It is regrettable the information on the maps was not better presented. “Section III Indian Land Cessions,”traces the loss of American Indian lands from 1784to 1890with graphic clarity, and is an insightful contribution toward understanding the changesin land tenure during this period. Detailed maps of regional cessions serve to further portray the details of land transfers. “Section IV Indian Reservations” includes maps of Western Indian Reservations in 1880 and 1890, documenting graphically the considerable loss of land during that period, and a map of “Major Indian Reservations: 1987,”further displaying the loss of tribal lands. Detailed regional maps of Indian reservations and representational population (Indian and non-Indian) for each reservation are shown. “Section V Agencies, Schools, and Hospitals,” offers maps of federal facilities, which include government trading houses, Indian Agencies, and BIA Area Offices. Maps on Government Indian Schools (1899, 1919, and 1989) demonstrate the changes in the delivery of Indian education from the Dawes Act, but do not reflect the impact of the Indian Reorganization Act. An additional map from around 1939 would add to the value of this set. The maps of Indian Hospitals (1919 and 1985)also offer a spatial view of changesin servicesfor medical treatment. Special sections(VI and VII) on Oklahoma and Alaska illustrate the Indian population distribution and changes within those unique areas. Prucha the historian comesto the forefront in “Section VIII The Army and the Indian Frontier” and “Section IX Aspects of the Indian Frontier.” Section VIII locates and dates active military posts from 1789-1895and provides an additional map serieson the “Distribution of Regular Army Troops from 1830 to 1895.” Section X is a portfolio of maps by Rafael D. Palacios documenting specific regional events including the Modoc War Chief Joseph’s retreat, the Bighorn Campaign and Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890.This section is comprised of very attractive maps with a positive relationship between the information and its graphic presentation. The Notes and Referencesare essentialfor meaningful use of much of the atlas. Many maps simply do not display data well, with too much ink-to-information and poor choices in the mode of presentation. The failure of the maps to fully convey the desired information is not a fatal flaw for the book, however, for several reasons. First, there really exists nothing like the Atlas, and Prucha’s work fills this void by offering a comprehensive spatial analysis of American Indian affairs. Second, it is extremely difficult to develop such an atlas, due to the immense and disparate bodies of literature
BOOK
245
REVIEWS
which are represented,and the diverse nature of tribes, each with necessarilytribal specifichistories. Theseproblemsto a large degreehave beenovercomewithin the Atlas, and there is exceptionalpresentationof detail and referencedocumentation to form an excellent resourcefor geographicresearch. This Atlas is actually more a compilation of maps and works from Prucha’sextensive research,supplementedwith Palacios’maps, than an “ultimate atlas”. As Prucha stated in the preface, “I have long been fascinated by graphic display of statistical data, especiallythe presentationof geographicalrelationshipson maps. . . . I intend that the maps themselvesin this atlas should convey useful and interestinginformation or at least raise questions that will stimulate students to investigate further the material that appearson the maps”. He has succeededin this, and perhapsthe only fault is in the title, which suggestsa final product, all-inclusive in nature and presentation.Although it is not the ultimate “Atlas of American Indian Affairs”, it is in fact an extremely valuable baselinedocument for American Indian research. Eastern Washington University
DICK G. WINCHELL
MICHAEL WILLIAMS, Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography
(Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.Pp. xxii + 599. $49.50) The forest lands of the United Stateshave beenaltered by some 300 years of disruption by Europeanimmigrants and their descendants.This book is about that disruption and its relationship to the present American landscape.Williams presentsa multi-faceted story of American forests as both a barrier and facilitator of agricultural expansion,a storehouseof industrial raw materials and commercial products, and a fountain of capital accumulation. Greater emphasis is given to the effect of the forests on the American economy,rather than the other way round. Forest conservationis considered primarily within its utilitarian context of sustained timber production, with little attention devoted to forest preservation or the place of environmental ethics in American society. Most of the book is retrospectivenarrative. The first 160pagespresentsmovementof the settlementfrontier from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Plains as a processof forest clearing motivated by agricultural expansion.Commercial products and industrial uses of trees felled to make room for farmers are covered in detail, with an impressive synthesisof quantitative information on such topics as potash and pearl ash produced from burned hardwoods in the m id-Atlantic states, naval stores of pitch, resin, and turpentine from the pines of the South Atlantic coastal plain, and charcoal for fueling blast furnaces to make pig iron in Pennsylvania. The period from the Civil War to the 1920sreceives193pagesand is broken up into a chronological and regional review of timber exploitation, technology changes,and the economicorganization of the lumber business.Williams tracesthe themeof “cut and get out”, with its various regional variations, from the Lake Statesto the Southernpineries and on to the last lumber frontier of the Pacific Northwest. Injected at the end of this section is a discussion of agricultural impacts on the forests of the M idwest and tree planting efforts on the Great Plains during the latter half of the nineteenthcentury. Most material appearsto have beengleanedfrom the writings of other scholarsand offers few new insights or interpretations. Small errors of fact leavethe readerwondering how much time Williams spent outside the library and in the forests. For example,the coastal rainforest of the Pacific Northwest at the time the loggersarrived from the Great Lakes and the Southern pineries are describedas “a narrow belt of Sitka spruce(P&a sitchensis) with admixtures of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)“. A casual observerof forests in the Pacific Northwest would quickly recognizethat the diminutive western juniper is a predominate tree only on the arid volcanic rimrock and plateau
BOOK
Ahs
REVIEWS
of American Indian Aflairs
(Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1990.Pp. xii + 191. $47.50). Prucha’s title for the Atlas and his reputation, based on more than twenty books and numerous articles on American Indian issues,produce high expectations for the reader. Prucha has both an extensive understanding of the historical context of Indian affairs and a broad knowledge of all of the tribes of North America, prerequisites to a successfulatlas. The Atlas is organized into ten sectionswhich focus on different aspects of the changesof American Indian tribal location and population over time, and role of the federal government in those changes. Prucha’s penchant for detail and accuracy provide a constant flow of material to the reader which taken as a whole offers considerable insight on American Indian Affairs over the past two centuries. Section I sets the “aboriginal lands” for most tribes, including the establishment of original reservations establishedjudicially. “Section II. United States Census Enumeration of American Indians”, provides valuable information, but the maps are difficult to read and intepret. Data is shown only for Counties and MSA’s with more than 100 American Indians, but there is no explanation for this selection on the maps. The notes do provide tables with all basenumbers of Indian population by state from 1890to 1980, and describethe selection of county data. The urban Indian maps read so poorly they are of little value, but the notes include urban Indian data for MSA’s with Indian populations greater than 1,000. It is regrettable the information on the maps was not better presented. “Section III Indian Land Cessions,”traces the loss of American Indian lands from 1784to 1890with graphic clarity, and is an insightful contribution toward understanding the changesin land tenure during this period. Detailed maps of regional cessions serve to further portray the details of land transfers. “Section IV Indian Reservations” includes maps of Western Indian Reservations in 1880 and 1890, documenting graphically the considerable loss of land during that period, and a map of “Major Indian Reservations: 1987,”further displaying the loss of tribal lands. Detailed regional maps of Indian reservations and representational population (Indian and non-Indian) for each reservation are shown. “Section V Agencies, Schools, and Hospitals,” offers maps of federal facilities, which include government trading houses, Indian Agencies, and BIA Area Offices. Maps on Government Indian Schools (1899, 1919, and 1989) demonstrate the changes in the delivery of Indian education from the Dawes Act, but do not reflect the impact of the Indian Reorganization Act. An additional map from around 1939 would add to the value of this set. The maps of Indian Hospitals (1919 and 1985)also offer a spatial view of changesin servicesfor medical treatment. Special sections(VI and VII) on Oklahoma and Alaska illustrate the Indian population distribution and changes within those unique areas. Prucha the historian comesto the forefront in “Section VIII The Army and the Indian Frontier” and “Section IX Aspects of the Indian Frontier.” Section VIII locates and dates active military posts from 1789-1895and provides an additional map serieson the “Distribution of Regular Army Troops from 1830 to 1895.” Section X is a portfolio of maps by Rafael D. Palacios documenting specific regional events including the Modoc War Chief Joseph’s retreat, the Bighorn Campaign and Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890.This section is comprised of very attractive maps with a positive relationship between the information and its graphic presentation. The Notes and Referencesare essentialfor meaningful use of much of the atlas. Many maps simply do not display data well, with too much ink-to-information and poor choices in the mode of presentation. The failure of the maps to fully convey the desired information is not a fatal flaw for the book, however, for several reasons. First, there really exists nothing like the Atlas, and Prucha’s work fills this void by offering a comprehensive spatial analysis of American Indian affairs. Second, it is extremely difficult to develop such an atlas, due to the immense and disparate bodies of literature
BOOK
245
REVIEWS
which are represented,and the diverse nature of tribes, each with necessarilytribal specifichistories. Theseproblemsto a large degreehave beenovercomewithin the Atlas, and there is exceptionalpresentationof detail and referencedocumentation to form an excellent resourcefor geographicresearch. This Atlas is actually more a compilation of maps and works from Prucha’sextensive research,supplementedwith Palacios’maps, than an “ultimate atlas”. As Prucha stated in the preface, “I have long been fascinated by graphic display of statistical data, especiallythe presentationof geographicalrelationshipson maps. . . . I intend that the maps themselvesin this atlas should convey useful and interestinginformation or at least raise questions that will stimulate students to investigate further the material that appearson the maps”. He has succeededin this, and perhapsthe only fault is in the title, which suggestsa final product, all-inclusive in nature and presentation.Although it is not the ultimate “Atlas of American Indian Affairs”, it is in fact an extremely valuable baselinedocument for American Indian research. Eastern Washington University
DICK G. WINCHELL
MICHAEL WILLIAMS, Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography
(Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.Pp. xxii + 599. $49.50) The forest lands of the United Stateshave beenaltered by some 300 years of disruption by Europeanimmigrants and their descendants.This book is about that disruption and its relationship to the present American landscape.Williams presentsa multi-faceted story of American forests as both a barrier and facilitator of agricultural expansion,a storehouseof industrial raw materials and commercial products, and a fountain of capital accumulation. Greater emphasis is given to the effect of the forests on the American economy,rather than the other way round. Forest conservationis considered primarily within its utilitarian context of sustained timber production, with little attention devoted to forest preservation or the place of environmental ethics in American society. Most of the book is retrospectivenarrative. The first 160pagespresentsmovementof the settlementfrontier from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Plains as a processof forest clearing motivated by agricultural expansion.Commercial products and industrial uses of trees felled to make room for farmers are covered in detail, with an impressive synthesisof quantitative information on such topics as potash and pearl ash produced from burned hardwoods in the m id-Atlantic states, naval stores of pitch, resin, and turpentine from the pines of the South Atlantic coastal plain, and charcoal for fueling blast furnaces to make pig iron in Pennsylvania. The period from the Civil War to the 1920sreceives193pagesand is broken up into a chronological and regional review of timber exploitation, technology changes,and the economicorganization of the lumber business.Williams tracesthe themeof “cut and get out”, with its various regional variations, from the Lake Statesto the Southernpineries and on to the last lumber frontier of the Pacific Northwest. Injected at the end of this section is a discussion of agricultural impacts on the forests of the M idwest and tree planting efforts on the Great Plains during the latter half of the nineteenthcentury. Most material appearsto have beengleanedfrom the writings of other scholarsand offers few new insights or interpretations. Small errors of fact leavethe readerwondering how much time Williams spent outside the library and in the forests. For example,the coastal rainforest of the Pacific Northwest at the time the loggersarrived from the Great Lakes and the Southern pineries are describedas “a narrow belt of Sitka spruce(P&a sitchensis) with admixtures of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)“. A casual observerof forests in the Pacific Northwest would quickly recognizethat the diminutive western juniper is a predominate tree only on the arid volcanic rimrock and plateau