295
Book Reviews and Notices new uniform and, "when in doubt, [have] his photograph taken." This is not just good history, it is a delightful read. In retirement Miles dabbled in politics and was active in veteran's affairs. And as only the "brave peacock" could, while taking his grandchildren to the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1925, he rose for the "Star-Spangled Banner" with frame erect and chest
extended, then slumped over from a heart attack and died. Wooster's biography of this great and colorful officer is destined to become the standard and should be added to all western and military collections.
PAUL L. HEDREN
National Park Service Williston, North Dakota
' Book
Notices
The Trans-Mississippi West, 1804-1912; Pari I: A Guide to Records of the Department of State for the Territorial Period. Compiled by ROBERT M. KVAS-
(Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1993. x + 131 pp. Paper, $8.00.) NICKA.
The genuinely American process of state-making constitutes part of the fascinating and complex political and administrative history of the American west. This history is documented in the records of dozens of U.S. government agencies. The documents illustrate a similarly confused story of how the federal bureaucracy has historically exercised control over the territories. Mining the records held by the National Archives, organized as they are by the agency responsible for their creation, requires a knowledge of the administrative history of the bureaucracies. This guide, one of a series of finding aids published by the National Archives, will help a scholar navigate
the maze of records. The introduction describes the history of the territorial papers project. It tells how this guide is a logical and practical alternative to the older practices of producing letter press (and later microfilm) editions of the territorial papers. Part I, this volume, describes the records of the Department of State, which maintained records related to treaties as well as exercised authority over the territories at various times. All the records described in the guide are located at facilities in Washington, D.C. Although Part I implies that there will be at least a Part II, it is not clear what subsequent guides will cover.
Life and Manners in the Frontier Army. By OLIVER KNIGHT. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. x + 280 pp. Paper, $13.95.) This fine treatise on the cultural fabric of the Old Army is built largely