The Birth of Colorado: A Civil War Perspective (review)

88erra war history manumitted, Okah Tubbee lived as a free man by becoming an accomplished musician, fleeing Natchez, and posing as a mixed-blood Indian. First published in 1848, then updated and reprinted in 1852, the memoir was probably written by Laah Ceil as dictated by Okah Tubbee. Daniel Littlefield's excellent introduction places the subject in historical context and provides a wealth of background information. But because much of the reminiscence is a fabrication, the reader's interest may waver. The editor has provided explanatory notes at the end of the book. The strength of this work is its record of Warner McCary's resourcefulness in escaping a life in bondage. 7"Ae Life of Okah Tubbee will have its greatest appeal to readers of the history of the antebellum period and of Black American History. William P. Corbett Northeastern State University 7"Ae Birth of Colorado: A Civil War Perspective. By Duane A. Smith. (Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. Pp. xiii, 268. $21.95.) Readers looking for detailed information on the Civil War itself will be disappointed in this book; those looking for an in-depth perspective of Colorado Territory between 1861 and 1865 will be pleased. Professor Smith has distilled four years of Colorado's history into a narrative that is easily read and comprehended even by readers unfamiliar with frontier history. The book consists of four parts, one for every year of the war, plus a brief epilogue. Within each section, Smith discusses the major social and economic changes that took place in the territory during that year and their impact on Colorado's development. For this reviewer the organization made the book seem somewhat repetitious. There are several facets of Colorado's history that deserve special mention in this review. Smith points out that 4,903 Coloradans served in the Union Army; 323 of them died in battle. There are no reliable figures on the number that served in Confederate forces, but Smith estimates that about one-fifth of Colorado's male population joined military units on one side or the other. The author's account of the 1864 Sand Creek Indian massacre is very judicious. Most Colorado historians who have written about the bloody incident, which occurred to the southeast of Denver, tend to side too strongly with the whites or the Indians. Smith's sympathy lies with the Indians (as perhaps it should), but he treats the incident with extreme impartiality. Happily, Smith does not repeat the old Colorado myth that Barney Ford, a Denver hotel owner, fought for and did much to secure equal manhood suffrage in the territory. That honor belongs to William J. Hardin, a Denver barber. BOOK REVIEWS89 Finally, Smith has culled much information from the diaries of women and provides fascinating accounts of the difficulties they faced. Professor Smith maintains that his purpose is to examine the people and the era solely from the sources, and he lists only primary material in his bibliography. Historians who have researched or read widely in Colorado history, however, will quickly become aware that many of his interpretations have been influenced by secondary accounts, almost none of which are listed in the bibliography. This book also contains no footnotes. Occasionally, when quoting from a newspaper, Smith will mention the title and date. That method of citation may suffice for newspapers, but it is disturbing to read quotations taken from letters and diaries and have to guess where they might have come from. Despite these drawbacks, The Birth of Colorado is a brief, insightful account of the territory's social and economic growth in the early years of its history. Eugene H. Berwanger Colorado State University George Wythe Randolph and the Confederate Elite. By George Green Shackelford. (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 1988. Pp. 235. $25.00.) A grandson of Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe Randolph became in 1862 the third Confederate Secretary of War. The brevity of his public service and the destruction of his papers explain why he has not been the subject of a full biography until now. A midshipman in his teens, Randolph left the navy to study law at the University of Virginia. In...