The Recollections of Philander Prescott: Frontiersman of the Old Northtwest, 1819-1862 (review)

70CIVIL WAR HISTORY 1865 when Davis had left die public stage. Their publication does shed light upon certain aspects of Davis' private life—his unique relationship widi his niece Mary Stamps, his quarrel with his brother's family, and his abiding affection for his wife and in-laws. Numerous gossipy letters of Davis' wife Varina Howell afford fresh insights into her spirited mind and serve as sources of social history. Within a few years, however, this collection will probably serve only die general reader. The Jefferson Davis Association , endorsed by die National Historical Publications Commission and under the editorial direction of Frank E. Vandiver and Haskell M. Monroe, is currently preparing a definitive edition of The Papers of Jefferson Davis in fifteen-plus volumes. It is the general reader, the Civil War buff, dien, who will fall victim to Strode's techniques of selection and editing. Strode has deleted portions of letters without die customary ellipsis marks "for the reader's convenience ." The index is poor. Because he does not believe Davis capable of rancor or obstinacy, Strode does not include letters, and they do exist, which betray Davis' very human traits. Instead, Davis appears as a man of principle, acquainted with sorrows, who before his accusers is mute. Strode allows the President who feuded with generals, governors, and congressmen both during and after the war to display an obstinate spirit only in such matters as refusing to submit to the "rejuvenation treatments" of a French physician. In place of notes, Strode has written a brief paragraph to introduce each letter or series of letters. These paragraphs are, for die most part, inadequate . They are written in an annoying combination of the historical present and past tenses. They display little consistency as to who should be identified, when tiiey should be identified, or what circumstances should be explained. All too often Strode uses diese introductory paragraphs to supply the reader value judgments on such subjects as reconstruction and Davis' enemies. Some assertions made by Strode are debatable; others are simply inaccurate. For example, Strode states diat during the Richmond "bread riot" Davis "calmed the mob by making them a speech and exhibiting his own empty pockets." (p. 521) In lauding Davis' role in the incident, Strode fails to mention die calming effect of the detachment of troops who stood ready to enforce the President's desires. It is highly unusual to criticize the editor of a book of historical documents for a lack of objectivity. Yet in this collection of letters the editor's bias intrudes. It may be true, as Strode asserts, that Jefferson Davis deserves more sympadietic treatment from historians. But it may also be true in Davis' case that sympadiy and objectivity need not be mutually exclusive. Emory M. Thomas University of Georgia The Recollections of Philander Prescott: Frontiersman of the Old Northivest, 1819-1862. Edited by Donald Dean Parker. ( Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. Pp. xi, 272. $5.95.) BOOK REVIEWS71 Philander Prescott spent more dian forty years in the Old Northwest as a fur trader, interpreter, superintendent of Indian farming, and mill owner, beginning in 1819 when, at die age of eighteen, he journeyed to Detroit to join his brother, and ending with his death at die hands of the Sioux during the uprising in 1862. About 1860, Alexander Ramsey, governor of Minnesota and president of its historical society, urged Prescott to record his many experiences. Prescott's countless financial ventures and his attention to detail as a memoirist combined to produce a manuscript of broad scope and historical value. It is published now in its entirety for the first time. Prescott ranged throughout the upper Mississippi region, and his recollections testify to die harshness of die land: icy winter gales and snows which penned in human life and forced Indian and white man to live for months on fish and potatoes. At Fort Snelling, he observed garrison life during the early 1820's. When the sale of the Columbia Fur Companv put him out of work in 1827, the young pioneer took a job on a Mississippi steamboat and visited such river ports as Natchitoches and the fast growing city of New Orleans...