Journey to Goliad (review)

2Oi o Book Reviews531 ties of Mexican land laws. Appendix II reveals that the original records from San Luis Potosí discovered by John G. Kenedy show a survey of the La Barreta tract which "differed materially from the location claimed by Kenedy and the other owners" (159). Kenedy did not reveal his discovery and acquired thousands of additional acres as a result of the subsequent court cases. This New Guide, with its carefully researched history and its fascinating appendices , is an essential source of information for anyone interested in early Texas. Galen Greaser has done an outstandingjob of providing us with a more detailed view of a complex subject. This inexpensive book should be part of every Texas historian's library. Sam Houston State UniversityCarolina Castillo Crimm Journey to Goliad. By Melodie A. Cuate. (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2009. Pp. 182. Illustrations, maps, list of characters, glossary, notes. ISBN 9780896726499, $17.95 cloth.) Yet again, Ms. Cuate has taken the reader on an action-packed field trip into the past with the fourth installment of the Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk Series. In this adventure,Journey to Goliad, Hannah, Nick, andJackie are on a class field trip to the Presidio La Bahía in Goliad, the sight of the Goliad Massacre in 1836. While they are touring the museum at the Presidio, they find Mr. Barrington 's trunkjust before spotting a strange woman in odd clothing. The trunk and the unknown woman draw them onto a dangerous and frighteningjourney. And though they try not to go back in time, there are lessons to learn, people to meet, and battles to survive. InJourney to Goliad, Hannah,Jackie, and Nick face a new challenge. The strange woman they saw in the present day turns out to be Francita Alavez, the Angel of Goliad. She approaches them in the museum and asks for help. When the kids are careless with the trunk, it pulls them back in time to the day the men at Fort Defiance learned that the Mexican Army is in San Antonio. Nick and the girls meet many of the men in the fort and learn of the difficulties offrontier life. They find the trunk quickly this time and open it again in hopes that it will send them home. They have not yet learned what they needed to nor helped Señora Alavez, so the trunk sends them ahead in time to the Battle of Coleto Creek. They are in the Mexican lines during the batde and watch in horror as the battle and Texian surrender unfolds. After the battle, the trunk is found and opened. Again, they are only sent ahead a few days and find themselves in the Presidio under Mexican control just a short time before the massacre. Here is where the lessons are learned, the help given, and lives saved. Here at Goliad, our trio becomes, more than ever before, heroes of the Texas Revolution. This adventure is the most intricate and exciting of the series so far. The characters are fully developed, are easily understood, and completely captivating. The timeline, cast of characters, glossary, Spanish to English translation, illustrations, and maps all give the reader a deeper understanding of the story and the characters . Ms. Cuate's writing, though, draws the reader into a page-turner of a story 532Southwestern Historical QuarterlyApril that will thrill any student ofTexas history. This reader, for one, is anxiously awaiting the next installment of this series and the next field trip into the fascinating history ofTexas. Victoria, TexasDeborah Bloys Hardin Indian Alliances and the Spanhh in the Southwest, 750—1750. By William B. Carter. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. Pp 312. Maps, notes, bibliography , index. ISBN 9780806140094, $34.95 clodi.) In this refined version of a doctoral dissertation completed at Arizona State University in 2002, William B. Carter combines recent scholarship on the prehistory and early history of the Southwest in an ethnohistorical perspective to reveal how the Southern Athapaskans of New Mexico and Arizona (also known as the Apacheans, i.e. the Apaches and Navajos) and the Pueblos forged long-lasting ties in the centuries that preceded and followed the arrival of the Spanish on...