The Language of the Railroader by Ramon F. Adams (review)

Reviews 179 showing us its power in informing Neihardt’s life and work. Neihardt’s struggle to write, his commitment to living his own way, his physical and spiritual ties to the prairie and frontier, his triumphs over poverty, irregular schooling, and cold Nebraska winters override any reserva­ tions we might otherwise bring to the study of a given poem. Whether or not his work will last, whether or not he will be recognized — as he wished and as Lucile Aly argues— as America’s epic poet loses importance. What becomes significant is that he existed, that he wrote, that he found in his stamina, virtues, and strengths the same forces that produced the heroes about whom he wrote — Black Elk, Jed Smith, Hugh Glass, and the AshleyHenry men. Aly’s book comes at a good time, following as it does the reissuing of Neihardt’s major works and preceding the release of Patterns and Coinci­ dences (March, 1978; The University of Missouri Press), the sequel to Neihardt’s first volume of autobiography, All Is but a Beginning. Neihardt’s autobiographies reach only to 1908, and the poet’s death did not come until 1973. Aly’s book, while covering these years, also supplies data available no where else. Neihardt was a prolific and varied writer, producing histories, lyric and epic poems, and novels. Aly addresses this variety, tracing in Neihardt’s works themes and interests. She explores his concern with eastern mysticism, which culminated in Black Elk Speaks and which earned for him the Sioux name Peyta-Wigimou-Ge, Flaming Rainbow, the “word sender.” Likewise she follows his commitment to the writing of an epic cycle, which was to occupy him for nearly forty years. And most importantly, she traces his easy alliance with American history. He was, as she shows us, a poet of the West, one who acknowledged throughout his life a tie to the land. Before his death, Neihardt arranged to have his ashes sprinkled over the Missouri River, the same river that carried early trappers and explorers who were to become central figures both in American history and in Neihardt’s own writing. In a literal way, he acknowledged and repaid the debt to the land that made his life and his work possible. BILLIE WAHLSTROM, University of Southern California The Language of the Railroader. By Ramon F. Adams. (Norman: Uni­ versity of Oklahoma Press, 1977. 180 pages, $9.95.) By including definitions for both the link and pin coupling and the Timken roller bearing, Ramon F. Adams identifies to us his basic mistake: he has set limits that are too broad for so slim a volume. Railroading in America has spanned 150 technologically diversified years and has stretched to nearly every corner of the nation. Surprisingly, only a handful of essential terms are missing. The book’s deficiencies are in its definitions, most of which call for more space than is 180 Western American Literature available. Adams defines “Big Four’ (p. 13) in one way only: As the four crewman’s unions. He ignores both of the more customary usages — the nickname for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway and the collective label for Messrs. Huntington, Stanford, Crocker, and Hopkins, who founded the Central Pacific. Adams usually handles technological terms correctly. When he is off the mark, however, he is off it completely. He says that “Blowing down” a steam locomotive is done “To reduce the water in a locomotive boiler when it is carrying too much steam.” The term actually refers to the flushing out of dissolved solids that accumulate in the bottom of the boiler in order to prevent foaming. In the davs of steam, few practices were as essential as this, especially in the West with its often alkaline waters. Such lapses fortunately are rare. We can wish, however, that Adams and his publisher had either given his subject the space it requires or had reduced its scope to fit the space available. G. FRANKLIN ACKERMAN Voyageurs National Park ESKIMO ART: Tradition and Innovation in North Alaska. By Dorothy Jean Ray. (Seattle and London: .University of Washington Press, 1977. 298 pages, $29.95.) Indian Artists at Work. By Ulli...