Perseverance (review)

248Southwestern Historical QuarterlyOctober the witchcraft proceedings, particularly frayJuan José Toledo's reports and relationship with the accused, the investigation of the alcalde, ideas about die devil, curanderos, and idolatry, exorcisms, and the actions of the governor to end the craze. Throughout, comparisons are made to both the seventeenth-century Salem witchcraft outbreak, as well as campaigns against sorcery and idolatry in other areas of colonial Latin America. The events at Abiquiu were caused by a number of factors, including resistance to Christianity, crackdowns on indigenous dances and healing practices, and a climate offear brought on by continuous warfare and social dislocation. The authors provide great detail about the proceedings, based on extensive archival research. For Ebright and Hendricks, Gov. Tomás Veléz Cachupín is the hero of the story. He distinguished himself as "a man of action who preferred to be direcdy involved in the solution of problems" (p. 197), whether the problems were securing peace with die Comanche and Ute, setding frontier territory through the awarding ofland grants, or handling the witchcraft outbreak. Although they make a strong case that Veléz Cachupín is underappreciated, his story is detailed at die expense ofsome ofthe other important characters, such as the informants and the accused themselves. Another major actoris frayJuanJosé Toledo, priest atAbiquiu, who was afflicted by a witch and perceived himselfin a battle with the devil for the souls ofhis community. Toledo receives more ofa mixed review dian die governor. Although the authors find that the Franciscan's desire to exorcise die devil likely led to alargernumber ofreported witches and possessions by evil spirits, in the end his steadfastness "flowered and bore fruit during die 1820s when a very different priest forced the Abiquiu genizaros to take part in fashioning dieir own form of Catfiolicism" (p. 5). The Witches ofAbiquiu argues that the events of 1 756-1 766 were a turning point in colonial New Mexico, not only for the witchcraft outbreak but also due to the perseverance ofAbiquiu as a frontier setdement, and for die beginnings ofpeace with the Utes and Comanches. Although this truce was temporary and lasted only duringVeléz Cachupín's two terms as governor, it set the stage forAnza's tenure in NewMexico (p. 5). The witchcraft outbreak, which involved everything from indigenous medicinal and ceremonial practices, to love magic, poisonings, and allegations ofshape-shifting and demonic possessions, led to the genizaros' transformation from marginalized Indians to a frontier Spanish community, which practiced folk Catholicism. It is this final argument that could use more exploration, alongwidi the economic, class, and gender motives thatsurrounded the witchcraft accusations and partial assimilation of Catholic ideas and practices. In all, this work contributes not only to the literature on religious conversion, die combating of idolatry, and witchcraft, but also to a greater understanding ofmid-eighteenth-century New Mexico. University ofArkansas at Little RockKristin Dutcher Mann Perseverance. By Patrick Dearen. (Austin: Sunbelt Eakin Press, 2006. Pp. 132. ISBN 157168235X. $17.95, paper.) In Perseverance, Patrick Dearen's eighteenth book, the setting is Depression-era Texas, but the scenario is familiar to any student of the Bible. Dearen has created 2007Book Reviews249 a novel that honors the Christian faith yet offers litde nourishment for literary sensibilities or historical insight. The novel opens with a rush of melodrama, as twenty-one-year-old Ish (Ishmael) Watson returns home on a short leave from a West Texas drilling rig. His grandfather hasjust died, and his mother is in the hospital for diabetes. After mourning with his fatfier, Ish catches a ride back to hisjob, only to discover that the foreman—who is a drunk—has forgotten that he ever let Ish off, and has fired him for being absent Ish realizes that hewon't everget the paycheck he is owed—a mighty inconvenientdevelopment , given diat his salary was supposed to pay for his mother's medical treatment. When Ish lodges a protest, the foreman beats him with a pipe. Ish, who must be one of the most wholesome literary figures ever conceived, recalls, "Even as I clutched my shoulder and considered my mother's plight, I knew what I should say, what I wanted to say, even...