Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Guarding the Frontier: A Study of Frontier Defense from 1815

to 1825. By Edgar Bruce Wesley. (Minneapolis, Minnesota,

University of Minnesota Press, 1935. 217p. $2.50.)

The author who is head of the history department of the

University High School and associate professor of education in

the University of Minnesota gives in this volume a study of the

frontier defenses from 1815 to 1825. He treats particularly of

the defensive military measures adopted against various Indian

tribes, but he also deals with the defenses established against the

British and the Spaniards during the period covered. The political,

military and economic factors which served as a background for

the establishment of that policy are all considered.

The volume contains twelve chapters to which are added

four appendixes, two of which give a list of Indian agents and

sub-agents and a list of factors with their locations. A bibliog-

raphy and index complete the volume. The practical value of

the book is increased by the inclusion of maps showing: Approx-

imate location of the Indian tribes that affected frontier policy,

1815-1825; Indian factories in the United States, 1795-1822; units

of military administration in the United States, 1815-1821; and

military posts in the United States, 1815-1825.

H. L.

 

The University in the Great War. By Wilbur H. Siebert. His-

tory of the Ohio State University, IV. (Columbus, Ohio,

Ohio State University Press, 1934. 320p.)

Professor Wilbur H. Siebert has added an interesting volume

to the larger work and has incorporated much valuable data for

students of the war period in its many aspects. The story em-

braces an account of the activities of individuals and organiza-

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BOOK REVIEWS                     195

tions in the university during the war period. The records of the

Board of Trustees, those of the Alumni Association, and the

several military and social organizations were the sources of the

study.

There is a separate chapter, dealing with the contribution of

personnel of each college, in the instruction of students in army

tactics, or in the service, whether it was on a government board

or in service over-seas. In a chapter on the "College of Liberal

Arts," Siebert has included a table which throws interesting light

upon the effect of the war on enrollment in the various depart-

ments of instruction. Interest in history and the Romance lan-

guages increased while the number of students enrolled in Ger-

man, English, Greek and geology dropped. The number of stu-

dents taking German fell from 2291, in 1914, to 187 students in

1919, while the enrollment in Romance languages increased, dur-

ing the same period, from 1560 to 3086.

Professor Siebert has acknowledged the assistance of Pro-

fessors Edgar H. McNeal and Osman C. Hooper for parts of

certain chapters. Dr. Carl Wittke wrote the chapter on "Cam-

pus Publications during the War," for which he read the cam-

pus publications such as the Lantern, the Sun Dial, Makio, the

Agricultural Student and others. From this mirror "is reflected

most of the important events and interests in university life."

Wittke found that an effort was made to develop an intelligent

patriotism and a thorough understanding of the issues of the

war. An evidence of this was the frequently featured interviews,

with faculty members, dealing with problems and developments

of the war, which appeared regularly in the Lantern.

Professor Siebert has made a contribution of value, not only

of interest to the alumni of the university, in bringing back

recollections of the campus of twenty years ago, but he has made

a distinct contribution to the history of the period. There are

thirty-five illustrations which add to the value of the book and

there is an adequate index to facilitate reference.  W. D. O.

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