Book Notices

John Colter: His Years in the Rockies.

By BURTON HARRIS (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993 xxxvi + 180 pp. Paper, $8.95.)

This edition of the biography of the legendary explorer John Colter, first published in 1952, contains a fourteen-page addendum by the author (1977) and a new introduction by David Lavender

Bisbee: Urban Outpost on the Frontier.

Edited by CARLOS A SCHWANTES (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1992. xv + 145 pp. Cloth, $40.00; paper, $19.95.)

This large format book, printed on heavy coated stock, contains more than a hundred photographs that document the boom years of 1880-1920 in Bisbee This town near the Mexican border was then in its heyday as a great mining camp where copper was king.

The photographs provide more than an aesthetic complement to the book; they clearly show the evolution of one of the West's premier mining towns. When the boom years ended Bisbee did not, like so many similar places, become a ghost town or like Bingham, Utah, disappear entirely; rather, it remains a lived-in town that is also a living museum offering one of the best preserved built environments of any mining town.

Six essays trace Bisbee's history using the themes of urban development, industrial history, social life, railroads, mine speculation, and labor problems—including the infamous 1917 deportation of 1,186 strikers/ Wobblies and their sympathizers in twenty-three cattle cars.

Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West, 1900-1954.

By ALBERT S. BROUSSARD (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1993 xii + 323 pp $35.00.)

By 1867black San Franciscans had access to public transportation and in 1869 were granted the right to vote by the state of California In 1875 they fought for desegregated schools and won. Yet in 1957 Willie Mays was initially denied the opportunity to purchase a home in an exclusive San Francisco neighborhood because he was black.

In exploring these apparent contradictions Professor Broussard shows that while whites were outwardly civil to blacks in the city by the Golden Gate, they nevertheless denied them employment opportunities and political power As a result, blacks made little progress in employment, housing, and politics despite the absence of segregation laws Like their counterparts in the Midwest and East, they also had to struggle to achieve equality When World War II brought thousands of southern blacks to the Bay Area to work in war industries, they formed coalitions with native black residents and white liberals to attack racial inequality with both vigor and success.

This in-depth study also provides extensive biographical material on local black leaders.

Silver, Sinners, and Saints: A History of Old Silver Reef Utah.

By PAUL DEAN PROCTOR and MORRIS A. SHIRTS. (Sandy, Ut.: Paulmar, Inc., 1991. v + 224 pp Hard cover, $19.95; paper, $17.95.)

The discovery of silver in southwestern Utah in the early 1870s ignited a land rush Struggling settlers in St George, Toquerville, and other Washington County towns, as well as prospectors from Pioche, Nevada, and promoters from Salt Lake City quickly built the new town of Silver Reef, which soon had almost 1,500 residents.

As the authors rightly point out, the history of Silver Reef really begins in the nearby early settlements of Harrisburg and Leeds. They take the reader from that start through Silver Reefs short but colorful existence to its virtual disappearance and on to the late twentieth century revival of both Silver Reef and Harrisburg with the building of many homes and recreational facilities. This fascinating story is documented with many photographs.

Singing an Indian Song: A Biography of Darcy McNickle.

By DOROTHY R PARKER (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. x + 316 pp. $35.00.)

Historian, novelist, anthropologist, teacher, Bureau of Indian Affairs official, and a founding member of the National Congress of American Indians, D'Arcy McNickle (1904-77) was one of the foremost Native American intellectuals of his time.

Professor Parker has used a wide variety of previously untapped sources to craft a biography that traces McNickle's life from the reservation through a career of major significance to Native American political and cultural affairs.