******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: August 27, 2019 at 12:59:37 PM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-CivWar]: Andrella on Chambers and Carlson, > 'Comanche Jack Stilwell: Army Scout and Plainsman' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Clint E. Chambers, Paul Howard Carlson. Comanche Jack Stilwell: Army > Scout and Plainsman. Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. > 298 pp. $24.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8061-6278-2. > > Reviewed by Jennifer Andrella (Michigan State University) > Published on H-CivWar (August, 2019) > Commissioned by G. David Schieffler > > Simpson Everett "Jack" Stilwell is an unlikely character to come to > mind when reflecting on the American West's many quasi-mythical > historical figures. Clint E. Chambers and Paul H. Carlson's > biographical study of Stilwell (1850-1903) recounts Stilwell's life > and diverse career on the southern Great Plains. Although Stilwell is > perhaps best remembered for his successful efforts to slip through > the allied Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota lines while under siege at > the Battle of Beecher Island in 1868, he transitioned into many roles > throughout his relatively short life while encountering new > geographies and diverse communities. After running away from home at > the age of thirteen, Stilwell shifted between many positions--a > freight teamster along the Santa Fe Trail, a scout for the US Army, a > ranch cowhand, a deputy federal marshal, a US commissioner, a lawyer, > a judge, and late in his life, a commercial strawberry farmer. > Piecing together a readable, episodic biography, Chambers and Carlson > reconstruct the fragmentary archival evidence surrounding Stilwell to > assert that "his life is a part of the fabric that holds the western > frontier together" (p. 201). > > In each of his roles, Stilwell's most distinguishing feature was his > ability to act as an arbitrator between different people, places, and > cultures. As a scout, Stilwell required a working knowledge of the > land, cultural mediation, and languages. These qualities make such > historical actors valuable given their diverse experiences and > profiles. In one instance, the district court at Fort Smith hired > Stilwell to serve as an interpreter for a case charging one William > Alden with larceny for stealing two saddle horses in Indian > Territory. As the authors ascertain, Stilwell's knowledge of Comanche > customs and language proved pivotal in successfully representing the > Native counterparts of the case through the translation of eyewitness > testimonies. In another example, the Word-Bugbee Cattle Company hired > Stilwell as an assistant foreman on a ranch within the > Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation. However, despite the attempt to > "stabilize and perhaps improve the economic conditions for the > Cheyenne and Arapaho people," property entitlement and livestock > grazing issues ensued between Native and non-Native factions (p. > 139). Go-between actors like Stilwell offer promising future research > in the area of social, economic, and cultural mediation in US > history, and should equally inspire additional exploration of the > agents of colonialism in the West. > > One wishes that the book's Native American historical actors received > greater attention and context throughout_. _With the exception of > chapter 7, which accurately interprets the corruption of the Bureau > of Indian Affairs and its agencies throughout the 1860s and 1870s, > this work lacks important engagement and critique of the military's > execution of Indian policy in the West. Furthermore, while the > authors occasionally note the Native American communities Stilwell > encountered during his life on the southern plains, consistent > specificity would have been useful to avoid homogenizing terms and > generalizations about military-Native relations. For example, in > regard to Sheridan's 1868-69 winter campaign, which included the > Washita River Massacre, the authors summarize the period as a > "punishing endeavor--for both Indians and soldiers" (p. 55). > Ethnohistorical developments in Native American studies champion > culturally centered approaches and methods that reconsider topics > like military engagement in the West, alliance building among Native > communities, inter- and intra-tribal politics, and the participation > and resistance of Native peoples in westward expansion.[1] Given that > the majority of historical evidence found in this book comes from > military and governmental correspondence, census records, court > testimonies, and newspaper reports, few voices from Native American > individuals and communities are represented with equal examination. > Consequently, the authors' depiction of the Plains Indian Wars > heavily centers on the military's perspective and could have > benefited from critical historical interpretation and an > incorporation of Native American sources and perspectives. One such > instance in chapter 6 exhibited Stilwell's role as a guide for > recreational bison hunters during summer expeditions. Historical > context around hunting bison for sport would position this episode in > the broader issues of Native American hunting accessibility, the > restrictive confines of reservations, and the subsequent mass > starvation across Native communities on the Great Plains. > > Although the authors describe the purpose of _Comanche Jack Stilwell > _to be purely biographical, the motivation for the work also began as > a personal endeavor; Chambers's grandfather was Stilwell's nephew. At > times, this familial connection between author and subject manifests > correlations between Stilwell and the mythicized western frontier > without critical inspection of westward expansion. Since the authors > describe their collaboration as "drawn together by their mutual > interest in Native American studies and western history," one expects > stronger interpretive qualities that place Stilwell in a more > critical historical context (p. xii). As a result, topics like > settler colonialism, the agency of Native American communities, and > the economic, social, and environmental ramifications of territorial > conquest are left unscathed. Regardless of the historical pursuit, > including biography, there is a responsibility to inspire critical > discussions about difficult subjects. This is especially important > when addressing the history of the West, which has been long > romanticized and reduced into a narrative of heroes and foes in a > disappearing frontier. Although the authors acknowledge that Stilwell > was not without flaws, it is more difficult, albeit historically > responsible, to examine the significance between Stilwell's career > and his place in westward expansion as a settler-colonial national > project. > > Despite these interpretive shortcomings, Chambers and Carlson's > _Comanche Jack Stilwell _is designed to appeal to general audiences > rather than to purport a scholarly intervention in ethnohistory, > Native American studies, or the history of the American West. It is a > lively and captivating biography of a man whose unique experiences > and larger-than-life character asserts his place in popular western > memory. Treated as such, this biography upholds its objective to > place Jack Stilwell among other legendary figures in western lore. > > Note > > [1]. See, for example, David Bernstein, _How the West Was Drawn: > Mapping, Indians, and the Construction of the Trans-Mississippi West > _(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018); Pekka Hämäläinen, > "Reconstructing the Great Plains: The Long Struggle for Sovereignty > and Dominance in the Heart of the Continent," _Journal of the Civil > War Era_ 6, no. 4 (December 2016): 481-509; and Christina G. Hill, > _Webs of Kinship: Family in Northern Cheyenne Nationhood _(Norman: > University of Oklahoma Press, 2017). > > Citation: Jennifer Andrella. Review of Chambers, Clint E.; Carlson, > Paul Howard, _Comanche Jack Stilwell: Army Scout and Plainsman_. > H-CivWar, H-Net Reviews. August, 2019. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54034 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
