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AE Monthly

AE Reviews

 
Old and Interesting Western Americana from Arthur H. Clark

Catalogue 917 from The Arthur H. Clark Company.


By Michael Stillman

The latest catalogue from one of America's oldest booksellers, The Arthur H. Clark Company, of Spokane, Washington, has just arrived. It is focused on Americana, the West in particular, with a few other subjects thrown in. Many of the books recount travels and expeditions into the old west, as well as pioneering life and descriptions of the native Indians. There is much here for both readers and collectors among these 325 listings.

O.O. Howard is not exactly a household name, but he served his nation in many roles during the second half of the 19th century. General Oliver Otis Howard was a mathematics instructor at (and graduate of) West Point when the Civil War broke out. He would serve in various commands during that war, but was not notably successful. His 11th Corps was routed by the Confederates at Chancellorsville. He did not fare well at Bull Run either. Howard would lose his right arm at Fair Oaks, but would be back for many more battles, including Gettysburg. He was much more successful leading the Army of Tennessee during Sherman's March to the Sea.

After the war, Howard was placed in charge of the Freedmen's Bureau. This was a government agency placed in charge of educating the former slaves. Despite much opposition from those who wished to keep the freed Blacks as second-class citizens, Howard, a man of strong moral principles, fought hard for their education. One lasting monument to his work is Howard University, named after him, in Washington, D.C. In the 1890s, he would be back again promoting education, this time as a founder of Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. That university retains correspondence between Howard and President Theodore Roosevelt, the two working together to raise funds for Lincoln U. Along the way, Howard would also serve as Superintendent of West Point.

There was one other period in Howard's career, between his years at the Freedmen's Bureau and West Point. In 1872, President Grant would send Howard to the West to reach a peace accord with the Apache. This mission was successful, as well as the settling of other Indian disputes in Arizona and New Mexico. An attempt to reach peace with the Nez Perce was not as successful, and the late 1870s would find him engaged in the Nez Perce War. However, Howard sympathized with Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce and would try (unsuccessfully) to preserve their homelands. In 1908, the year before he died, Howard published Famous Indian Chiefs I Have Known. He knew many of the great chiefs of the West: Cochise, Geronimo, Chief Joseph, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Washakie, and Winnemucca. Here is his story, and some of theirs. Item 176. Priced at $140.

Old and Interesting Western Americana from Arthur H. Clark

Scratchy photo of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, courtesy of the Library of Congress.


While Howard was more understanding and sympathetic to the Indian cause than most of his contemporaries, it would be years before the story would be told from their point of view. A West Virginia rancher and amateur archeologist who moved to Washington State around the turn of the century would be one to help tell that story. Lucullus McWhorter became a great friend and supporter of the local Indians, being adopted into the Yakima tribe in 1909. He befriended Nez Perce war veteran Yellow Wolf, whose personal history he would retell. Eight years after his death, McWhorter's papers would be gathered to produce the book, Hear Me, My Chiefs! Nez Perce History and Legend. McWhorter recounts the Nez Perce War from interviews with survivors, including both Indians and the soldiers of the U.S. Army, some of whom had served under General O. O. Howard. According to the Washington State University Library's website (this library holds his papers), McWhorter noted that his study of the Indians "has not elevated me in the estimation of the local populace in general." He was ahead of his time, describing history through the Native Americans' eyes in an era when they were portrayed as little more than "savages" in western movies. Item 179. From 1952. $210.

Another early attempt to tell the other side of the story came from Major Israel McCreight in Firewater and Forked Tongues: A Sioux Chief Interprets U.S. History. McCreight's book arose from his interviews of Flying Hawk, Sioux Chief and nephew of Sitting Bull, who fought with Crazy Horse at the Little Big Horn. Item 178. From 1947. $75.

Senator Thomas Hart Benton was one of the major figures in the U.S. Senate during the period when the nation slowly slid into disunion. Unlike some of his most notable contemporaries, like Henry Clay, Benton was not into compromising. He opposed the Compromise of 1850, that conglomeration of bills which attempted to appease both slavery and anti-slavery forces. Item 158 is a copy of Mr. Benton's Anti-Compromise Speech...., given on June 10, 1850. Senator Benton represented the slave state of Missouri, and owned slaves himself, but was opposed to provisions which would allow the extension of slavery into any new territories. His position was that slavery should be allowed where it existed, but that it was not something that should be extended any further. As a result, he opposed the Compromise's elimination of slavery in the District of Columbia, but also maintained that slavery could not constitutionally be instituted in any new states without congressional approval, which effectively would have prevented any new slave states. His unusually moderate position on the issue by Missouri standards in 1850 was a major cause of his defeat that year after 30 years in the senate. $110. For an autobiography of this important 19th century figure, there is Benton's Thirty Year's View, or, A History of the Working of the American Government, From 1820-1850. It offers 739 pages of views from an insider during the period of western expansion, the annexation of Texas, the Jacksonian debates, and more. Item 9. From 1854. $85.

Old and Interesting Western Americana from Arthur H. Clark

1879 Seattle Mayor Orange Jacobs, from the Seattle Municipal Archives.


Benton may have been right to eschew compromises on the issue of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska attempt to compromise would lead to "Bloody Kansas," where pro and anti slavery forces would battle it out. Here is an interesting piece related to this last confrontation before the Civil War. It is Information for Kanzas Immigrants: Prepared by Thomas H. Webb. Secretary of the New England Emigrant Aid Co., published in 1855. Sympathizers on both sides of the issue wished to stack Kansas with supporters so that the state would choose to affiliate with their side when admitted to the Union. This New England group, naturally, was encouraging foes of slavery to settle in the Kansas Territory. Item 219. $175.

What do Rufus King, Hugh White, Gerrit Smith, Horatio Seymour, Belva Ann Lockwood, and Eldridge Cleaver have in common? Don't know? Does it help if I add Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Adams, and Andrew Jackson to the list? The answer is that all were failed candidates for the presidency. Of course, some of those people were also successful, either before or after their losing efforts, which is why that second group of names is probably much more familiar to you than the first. Here's a book from the Smithsonian Institution's Historian's Office, which will tell you all about the losers: 'If Elected....'Unsuccessful candidates for the presidency 1796-1968. Of course William Jennings Bryan must be the hero of this story, managing to lose three times on a major party ticket, though he may be better remembered for his role in the Scopes Monkey Trial, yet another loss for the Nebraska orator. But don't look for Harold Stassen here. Stassen lost nine bids for the presidency, but he never made it to the general election, being eliminated at the Republican convention each time. Item 38. $20.

Orange Jacobs wasn't an electoral loser, though he is certainly as obscure and forgotten as one. Jacobs was a judge in territorial Washington who would serve as a territorial delegate to congress and as Mayor of Seattle. The HistoryLink website, looking for notable accomplishments, says that he gave the eulogy address for President Garfield before a crowd of 3,000 or 4,000 people. If this is the best they can find, it may explain why no one remembers him. Well here is a chance to give Orange Jacobs, no relation, as far as we can tell, to Orange Julius, his due. Jacobs penned an autobiography, Memoirs of Orange Jacobs written by himself, containing many interesting, amusing and instructive incidents of a life of eighty years or more.... Is this book really "interesting, amusing and instructive?" You'll have to read it to know. Item 250. $62.50.

You may visit The Arthur H. Clark Company online at www.ahclark.com or call them at 800-842-9286.