A Dictionary of the Old West by Peter Watts (review)

Reviews 183 Jeffers, ending with a final, unpublished poem by Jeffers, “The Last Conservative.” In between come three long chapters of critical text quoting many of the best short poems to illustrate “the flow of his thought,” and to define his poetic imaginings of “God and Man.” Clearly a book of this kind should not be approached in the ordinary way. Although it is a work of criticism, it is also a labor of love — the creation of an amateur in the best sense of the word, to which academic criticism seems almost supererogatory. By conventional standards it some­ times seems repetitious. The explications which define the concepts of God and Man are sometimes illuminating, and the treatment of Jeffers’ Californians is original; but any attempts to rephrase the poetic images in logical prose serve mostly to shadow the “shining” of the poetry. To me the chief value of this book is personal rather than critical. It speaks in many voices to bear witness to the greatness of Jeffers. And when it attempts to define this greatness it sometimes succeeds more by indirection than by logic. For instance, the painting of Tor House by the Australian artist is much too brown, colored by his memory of a drier land than that washed by the fogs of Carmel, yet this very defect seems to emphasize the universality of the poetry. And the author’s own drawing of Jeffers’ head in profile, which is modeled after a 1937 photograph repro­ duced later in the book, is much too smiling. The face is that of Jeffers, but not the smile. The smile is imagined, recalling the early persona: “I sadly smiling.” But the Jeffers of the actual photograph is more like the hero of Give Your Heart to the Hawks: “He was like this mountain coast / All beautiful . . . without humor, without ever / A glimmer of gaiety.” But — and for me this defines the absolute greatness of the man — the actual Jeffers did not share the drawn-down corner of the mouth depicted by the Czechoslovakian sculptor in his medallion, either. The actual Jeffers had achieved a serenity beyond laughter and beyond despair. FREDERIC I. CARPENTER Walnut Creek, California A Dictionary of the Old West. By Peter Watts. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. xii -)- 375 pages, illustrated, bibliography, $12.95.) I’m not sure why Peter Watts limited his dictionary to the period between 1850 and 1900. It may have been to avoid dealing with the linguistic complexities of the fur trade (although he wanders into Ruxton, et al. occasionally). Surely though, if this is truly to be a dictionary of the Old West the period from 1805-1850 needs inclusion. Focus here is mainly on the Southwest and the Texas cattle industry. The book is interesting and readable, but there are some problems. For 184 Western American Literature one, Watts never clearly establishes his audience. He appears to be writing for a group comprised mainly of novice Western history buffs and the dedicated but uncritical readers of popular Western novels. Though clear, the writing here is slick and catchy, which does not lend credibility to the author’s stated research of fifteen years nor to the rigor with which he supposedly approaches his subject. His style may best be described as anecdotal. As has been the practice recently of some other writers who have chosen the American West as subject, Watts uses this volume to preach occasionally about the poor treatment of Blacks, Chinese and Indians by the white exploiters. Such material seems out of place in a dictionary. The following paragraph fairly represents Watts’ penchant for the preachy, and the flavor of his prose: John Wesley Hardin (who could be a normal, pleasant-enough fellow when he wanted) was probably one of the deadliest deathdealers in the West. Extremely fast and apparently reckless, he first made his name, so the story goes, by killing Negro Union soldiers in Texas — which put him down as a Texas patriot. The tale has it that Thompson, who knew Hickok’s penchant for shooting Texans, tried to persuade Hardin to kill Hickok. But Hardin, impressed by Hickok’s rep, wasn’t having any. Which showed...