Nebraska Books

This 95-page publication is an informative and fascinating catalogue book published in conjunction with a Smithsonian exhibition at the National Museum of History and Technology in 1980-81. Its subject is ranchlife in Paradise Valley, Nevada, north of Winnemucca and near the Oregon border. First settled by California farmer/ranchers in the 1860s, the region's development was influenced by the Spanish colonial agricultural practices of California, and its "cowboys" have traditionally been known as "buckaroos," an anglicized rendering of the Spanish "vaquero."

Contents of the book are based on field research by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. It covers history of the region and then focuses on cowboy life and culture, including clothing, bunkhouses, and branding irons. The book contains many black and white photographs, both vintage and contemporary. Several are two-page spreads. There is also a list of 244 artifacts from the exhibition, with photos of many of them....

As of this writing...this wonderful book is out of print. If you can find a copy, it's well worth having.

My grade school was getting rid of some of its overstock by giving away some of its books. Dorothy M. Johnson's Buffalo Woman was one I happened to take. I am eternally glad I did. She does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the story. When reading this book, you will begin to feel like you know the characters personally. The fact that they are Native Americans living about two hundred years in the past doesn't matter. Johnson's writing enables the reader to identify with them anyhow. I highly recommend this one, especially to those with an interest in Native American culture.

This book is a quick read at about 165 pages. Short chapters detail Mr. Hooker's reminiscences as a frontier bullwhacker in the mid 1870s. Gives the reader a very good feel for the times. He is recalling these stories years later so it is hard to say if he remembers all of the details correctly or in their proper sequence, but that doesn't detract from the book at all. The Bullwhacker is a quick read, never dull, and offers the reader a glimpse into a time gone by.

Rough as a cob, the bullwacker has never been romanticized, but his work was as essential as the cowboy's, and perhaps more hazardous. Young William Hooker, who came west from Wisconsin to Wyoming Territory in the early 1870's, would not be disappointed in his search for exhilarating open-air adventure. Soon he was driving a team of oxen hauling supplies for army posts and Indian reservations far from the railroad. He cracked a bullwhip and kept a rifle ready as he delivered sugar, bacon, blankets, and sacks of shelled corn to Fort Fetterman, Red Cloud Agency, and other destinations along the old Cheyenne, Medicine Bow, and Sidney trails.

And the thrilling stories he lived to tell! All true. About outlaws, rum runners, and collisions with Indians. About the feuding between bullwhackers and military officers. About exposure to every kind of varmint and to the fury of the elements. About the daily perils and pleasures of rumbling down some pretty primitive trails in the Old West.

This Bison Book reprints the 19245 original edition of The Bullwhacker: Adventures of a Frontier Freighter. In the Introduction, David Dary, the author of Entrepreneurs of the Old West (also a Bison Book). elaborates on William Hooker's life and times.
--- from book's back cover

Burlington Route: A History of the Burlington Lines, by Richard C. Overton, 1st Edition, Hardcover, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1965. This is the definitive history of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from its earliest beginnings in 1847 to about 1960. Overton was given access to company records and relies heavily on its annual reports for a detailed presentation of the corporate history. The original was a three volume masterpiece, that now has been shortened to 588 pages. In many respects it is merely an overview, but even so it can be tedious at times. Still it is a remarkable summary of the railroad's history.

The CB&Q began as a Chicago railroad backed by Boston financiers and operated by experienced railroad executives. The initial segment was chartered as the Aurora (Ill) Branch Railroad on Feb 12, 1849. Eventually the main line stretched from Chicago across northern Illinois through Burlington, IA, to Omaha (for connection to the Transcontinental Railroad/Union Pacific as a participant in the Iowa Pool), and then on to Denver. Branches extended to Minneapolis from Chicago and to Billings, Montana. Early backing for the Hannibal and St. Joseph, the first railroad in Missouri, provided a parallel line to the south in the days when St. Joseph was the possible jumping off place for the Transcontinental Railroad. A branch line provided the first railroad into what became Kansas City. An acquisition brought the line south into St. Louis. The Colorado and Southern connected Denver with Galveston by way of Dallas and Houston.

The Burlington is usually considered a granger road. Its territory included extensive farm lands. Hence, agricultural products were major freight items. The railroad also received land grants, and in most cases built pioneer railroads into largely unoccupied territory, where only subsistence farming was possible until transportation improvements were made. Burlington was effective in promoting settlement of these lands-offering low cost excursions to those considering land purchases. It also worked with agricultural extension services to help farmers develop more productive practices. Special trains brought experts and demonstrations of improved methods.

Burlington was a conservatively managed railroad. New lines were usually built by creating a shell company with local investors putting up the capital. Then the Burlington agreed to reinvest any earnings by buying the bonds of the new railroad. In this way, the Burlington used its prestige to extend its reach while taking on little financial risk This approach served it well. The Burlington never defaulted on its bonds. James F. Joy was a key player in the early management of the railroad.

Burlington regarded the cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver and Minneapolis as gateways to its route system. It undertook efficient service between these cities. But St. Louis to Kansas City posed special problems. Their main line by way of Hannibal and then across the Hannibal and St. Joseph was round about. To correct his, in 1904 they built a line from Old Monroe, north of St. Louis, to Francis, MO near Mexico, MO. This allowed connection with the Chicago and Alton line to Kansas City. Apparently this failed and the rails were removed. Parts of the line now forms the Katy Trail in Western Missouri. A later line extension shortened the connection between Kansas City and the Hannibal and St. Joseph line.

Competition was fierce in the railroad business. Robber Baron Jay Gould was active in the area, taking over most railroads in Missouri (especially the Missouri Pacific, the Wabash, the MKT, and the Terminal Railroad in St. Louis, Eads Bridge in St. Louis, as well as a major interest in the Frisco and a board seat on the Rock Island) and maneuvering, unsuccessfully, for admission to the Iowa Pool. Because of the loose association between Burlington and its branches, he was able to gain control of the Hannibal and St. Joseph from 1871 to 1883. This caused the Burlington considerable problems. Later all the branch lines were integrated under a master mortgage.

James J. Hill is a key player in the Burlington story. He built the Great Northern railroad. In 1893, the Northern Pacific fell into receivership. As part of the reorganization, Hill was to take over management of the Northern Pacific. That effort failed, but none the less he became a major shareholder. In 1901, the Hill lines acquired the CB&Q with backing from JP Morgan. The Northern lines wanted direct access to Chicago, and Burlington management thought the Northern lines were a better fit than the alternative to be acquired by Harriman's Union Pacific. (Interest in possible connection with Santa Fe waned after Santa Fe built its direct high speed connection between Kansas City and Chicago through Burlington territory.) Details of the Hill organization were overruled by the courts. But thereafter the three Hill railroads ran co-operatively. They exchanged managers and pursued common objectives.

Hill interests soon realized their system was short of coal, an essential in the days of steam engines. An expert found high quality coal in southern Illinois. To reach these fields, Burlington acquired a line from E. St. Louis to Centralia, and then extended it southward to Metropolis, IL. After construction of a bridge over the Ohio River, the line reached Paducah, KY, in 1917.

In the 30s, Burlington pioneered the use of diesel engines and the high speed, streamlined, Zephyr passenger trains. Primitive diesels had been used in switch engines from about 1925, but they were slow. In 1932, General Motors had perfected a light weight, 600 horse power, eight-cylinder diesel engine, Model 201A. At the time, Burlington had a 3-car self-powered, streamlined, high speed (to 120 mph) passenger train under construction at EG Budd Manufacturing in Philadelphia. The diesel was adopted to power it. It was named the Zephyr, selected as the last word in the dictionary, to signify the last word in passenger travel. The first unit was received in April, 1934. After touring the country to rave reviews and thousands of visitors, it was placed in service on the Omaha-Kansas City line on Nov 11, 1934. Additional Zephyrs were soon added throughout the Burlington system. They were followed by diesel passenger trains, beginning in 1936. Burlington also invented the domed passenger car. The first Vista-Dome car was introduced on Jul 23, 1945.

In the area of technology, presumably Burlington arrived on the scene after telegraphy became the essential element of train control. Manually operated semaphores at stations along the line indicated the presence of traffic before the next station. Pneumatic signals were installed in 1887 between Chicago and Downers Grove. Installation of the printing telegraph, a primitive teletype machine, was begun in 1910; by 1912, 2589 miles of road was dispatching trains by phone. The first automatic block signals were installed in the 1920s. Automatic train control was installed from Creston to Pacific Junction in 1924, and extended to Lincoln in 1926. The first centralized traffic control was installed in 1928. Further installation was delayed by the financial difficulties of the 1930s, but began in earnest once wartime traffic began to grow. By 1946, either CTC or multi-tracks covered the entire route from Chicago to Denver and from Chicago to Minneapolis. In cab signals were installed beginning in 1951. Later in the decade, engines and cabooses were equipped with shortwave radios for communication with train dispatchers and way stations. Janney automatic couplers were installed in the 1880s. Heavy duty Westinghouse air brakes were perfected in Burlington tests by 1887.

The Burlington enjoyed relatively favorable labor relations. In 1877, a major railroad strike resulted after railroads attempted to reduce wages by 10% in response to declining earnings caused by recession and rate cutting competition. Riots resulted in Pittsburgh on the Pennsylvania and in Baltimore on the B&O. Burlington took a more moderate approach avoiding wage cuts to their already low wages. Strikers in Illinois and Iowa soon went back to work.

This is a nicely done railroad history, with considerable detail of various aspects of operations. Many will find it fascinating.

This description of the Caddo verb delves into some very interesting linguistic topics, including polysynthesis, agentive person marking (split intransitivity), absolutive person marking, the specification of an indefinite "defocusing" person, noun incorporation, and realis vs. irrealis modality.

Melnar ably demonstrates the wonderful richness of the Caddo verb (e.g. she describes 23 morphological position classes and 26 pronominal forms divided into realis and irrealis sets). However, despite this morphological complexity, Melnar manages to achieve remarkable technical clarity. For example, she identifies 123 Caddo markers of tense, aspect, and mood. Not only are all of the relevant concepts of these markers defined (e.g. andative, cislocative, durative, hortative, prioritive, etc.), at least one example of each marker's use is provided!

While this book is primarily geared toward linguists (and would make a great reference book for grammatical description - the index is very complete and there is ample cross-referencing), it also provides an invaluable insight to the logical expression of a conceptional system that is little documented and largely disappearing (and thus is of considerable interest to anthropologists, psychologists, and anyone interested in what it means to be human). If you adhere to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (that there is a systematic relationship between the grammatical categories of the language a person speaks and how that person both understands the world and behaves in it), you will appreciate Melnar's contribution to our understanding of Native American world-views - and humanity in general.

This is one of the best historical romances I've read this year! There's something about the World War 2 era that is very poignant for me, maybe because my parents and grandparents were living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

The sadness associated with the soldiers who stop at the canteen and the emotions of losing loved ones made this book really stand out for me. I teared up quite a bit (although I should post a disclaimer that I tend to cry at movies and commercials all the time).

This book really brought the time period alive for me. The atmosphere of "days gone by" was beautifully drawn like a good watercolor painting.

I will go out on a limb and say this book reminded me of my favorite Grace Livingston Hill romances, which showcase a simpler time, strong faith, and lots of conflict that's always resolved by God's grace. GLH's books are typically set earlier (WW1), but the mood of Canteen Dreams seemed very similar to me.

There were a few scenes that I didn't quite understand the characters' actions and motivations, but they're in the second half of the book, so I won't spoil anything for you.

The writer's voice is fresh and it totally pops. I loved the dialogue and the way the story flowed from scene to scene. I can honestly say this is one of the best books I've read this month.

The story is appropriate for junior high school girls, although the 1941 time period might confuse them if they're not familiar with their history. This was a very entertaining book!

A better motive for literary criticism than to increase the appreciation of one part of the good, the part you can eat and drink, would be hard to imagine. And yet in Cather, good things to eat and drink, especially coffee, are subordinate to good conversation and friendship. Subordinate but conducive.

"Chainbreaker: The Revolutionary War Memoirs of Governor Blacksnake, as told to Benjamin Williams," is edited by Thomas S. Abler, who also contributes an introduction and notes. The primary text is a first-person account by a Seneca Indian chief who fought during the American Revolution, and delivered his story orally to another Indian who committed it to writing. In addition to providing an overall introduction for the book, editor Abler also has written individual introductions for each section of the Blacksnake narrative. This supplemental material helps place Blacksnake's words in context.

Abler discusses in detail the background and history of the Blacksnake manuscript. He notes that this text "provides a rare Indian view of warfare and of diplomacy in a period when the Six Nations of the Iroquois still played a prominent and significant role in the development of North America" (p. 8). Abler discusses Blacksnake's family, his names, his people's culture, the Iroquois Confederacy as a political entity, and relations among the British, the revolutionary colonists, and Native Americans. It's a fascinating backdrop for Blacksnake's own story.

Blacksnake's own words show conflict within the Indian community, relations with white people, and the role of Indian women. He describes combat involving firearms, tomahawks, knives, and the "war whoop." Also covered in the book is the religious vision and career of Blacksnake's uncle, the prophet Handsome Lake. Appendices to the primary text include an intriguing series of communications between George Washington and Seneca leaders.

Abler notes that the Blacksnake/Williams text is written in "somewhat individualistic English"; I imagine many contemporary readers will find the text quite difficult, and will be thankful for Abler's clearly written supplementary text. The text is also enhanced by a wealth of visual materials, including maps, a daguerreotype of the elderly Blacksnake, reproductions of historic illustrations of other Indian leaders, photographs of historic wampum belts, and more. Also worthy of note is the extensive bibliography. This is a fascinating book, but I found it to be tragic and sad; it seems to me that in the main text and supplemental materials we can see the decline of the Iroquois Confederacy from a true military and political force to a marginalized people. Despite this downbeat aspect, the book is a real tribute to Blacksnake, Handsome Lake, and other remarkable Indian leaders. Overall, Abler has assembled a valuable contribution to both Native American studies and United States military history. Recommended companion text: "Geronimo: His Own Story," edited by Frederick Turner.

I bought this for a friend, who teaches wilderness survival. He absolutely loved it, he raves about it every time I talk to him. He pulled several quotes immediately, for one of his research projects.

This story really captures how the wind up phonograph can weave a spell over the listener. Every one that loves phonographs will LOVE this book.