BOOK REVIEWS
Detroit's First American Decade,
1796-1805. By F. Clever Bald.
(University of Michigan Publications,
History and Political Science,
Vol. XVI. Ann Arbor, Mich., University
of Michigan Press, 1948.
276p., including bibliographical essay
and index. $4.50.)
This is far more than a study of a few
neglected years in the
early history of a great metropolis,
interesting only to the local pride
school of history enthusiasts, the
zealous antiquarians, and the
patient genealogists. Here is local
history at its best, a careful and
revealing scrutiny of every aspect of a
community's life, which adds
concreteness and meaning to the broader,
and often too general,
syntheses of the better rewarded
historians who deal in nations and
states, rather than families and
individuals. But Dr. Bald had an
advantage over most other toilers in
local history. He was not writ-
ing the history of a typical isolated
frontier village and trading
post. Detroit was one of the great
crossroads of North America,
the key to the control of the Indians
and the valuable fur trade of
the Great Lakes region, a garrison town,
with a strangely assorted
mixture of nationalities and races,
which was about to witness the
hoisting of a new flag above its
fort--the third in its history-as the
book begins.
The story of its first American decade,
1796-1805, hitherto
neglected, is an interesting one. The
essential themes are the slow
weakening of the grip of the British
mercantile aristocracy with its
Montreal connections, the imperviousness
of the French majority to
change of any kind, though they accepted
American rule without
protest, and the increasing influence of
a small group of American
newcomers in business and politics, with
official and military pres-
tige a factor in drawing support from
other groups. Within this
pattern may be seen the operations of
the fur trade at first hand,
the problems of the merchant in a
near-barter economy, the lot of
the hapless and shiftless Indians,
garrison life in an isolated military
post where the maintenance of discipline
was difficult and friction
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BOOK REVIEWS 241
between civilians and military
authorities almost chronic, the irrita-
tions and cleavages engendered in a
society of three nationalities,
the inauguration of American rule in an
alien community and the
creakiness of the Northwest Ordinance in
actual practice, the strug-
gles of devoted priests to provide
spiritual guidance (the preachers
gave up), the limited opportunities for
education, the pleasures and
recreations of the little town, so
isolated in the winter months,
and the hazards of daily life,
particularly from fire, which reduced
Detroit to ashes in 1805.
Among the important local figures are
the able but quick-
tempered Colonel John Francis Hamtramck,
first American com-
mandant; the respected merchant, John
Askin, whose allegiance
remained with Great Britain but whose
business interests tied him to
Detroit; Fathers Levadoux and Richard,
equally faithful to the
young republic and to their superior,
Bishop John Carroll, in far
away Baltimore; the intelligent and
ambitious young Americans,
Solomon Sibley and Frederick Bates, the
one a New Englander
from Marietta, the other a Virginian;
the indispensable Peter
Audrain, keeper of records, who came
with Wayne at the ripe age of
seventy but who held a plurality of
offices for twenty-three years
more; and young John Williams, whose
personal problems make de-
lightful reading, and whose mixed
ancestry helps explain his later
leadership in the community. Better
known men appear briefly.
General Anthony Wayne inaugurated
American rule with firmness
and good judgment. General James
Wilkinson succeeded Wayne in
command of the army and continued his
intrigues with the Spanish
governor at New Orleans, but did enforce
discipline among his
troops. Winthrop Sargent, secretary of
the Northwest Territory,
came with Wayne but left after
inaugurating civil government.
Governor Arthur St. Clair never visited
this northern outpost, though
William Henry Harrison, governor of
Indiana Territory, paid a
brief visit when Michigan was a part of
his jurisdiction. The terri-
torial judges found the journey to
Detroit arduous and held court at
infrequent intervals. Certainly the
citizens did not suffer from an
excess of centralized control.
The author has examined carefully
manuscript and printed
sources, with the Burton Historical
Collection of the Detroit Public
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Library first in importance. A
bibliographical essay explains and
evaluates the sources. His chronological
arrangement of materials
presents the history of Detroit almost
month by month (the jacket
says "day-to-day"), which
shows clearly the interrelation of events
but which in places could be improved by
a topical arrangement
within a given year. A number of
illustrations, chiefly portraits,
and two contemporary maps, one used as a
frontispiece and the
other folded in a pocket at the end,
supplement the text.
This readable and accurate history of a
period in the life of
a city shows what may be done by careful
research workers in the
local history field. And the
opportunities are almost unlimited.
EUGENE H. ROSEBOOM
Professor of History
Ohio State University
Historic Midwest Houses. By John Drury. (Minneapolis, Uni-
versity of Minnesota Press, 1948.
x+ 246p., illustrations, index.
Cloth, $5.00.)
This volume might better have been
entitled "Some Historic
Houses I Have Known." It comprises
a series of unconnected
sketches of eighty-seven houses in Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Nebraska, Kansas, North
Dakota, and South Dakota. On the whole
the stories of the homes are
interesting and well written. In each
sketch the author has attempted
to "tell the story of a house in
terms of the person who made it
historic."
However, the choice of houses for the
book will leave the
historian somewhat confused. The author
makes "no claim to have
included all historic Midwestern
houses." But, he does claim to have
included "representative houses-the
most famous houses in the
twelve states of the Midwest."
Here, of course, is where the author
runs into difficulty.
In some cases he has selected homes for
their architectural
beauty, although that was not his
intention, such as Taft House in
BOOK REVIEWS 243
Cincinnati. In other cases he has made
selections apparently based
upon the fame of the person who lived
there, such as the Garfield
Home at Mentor. His selections, as a
result, have left much to be
desired. The birthplace of Thomas A.
Edison is hardly one of the
most famous houses in Ohio, although it
was the home for a short
time of one of the nation's most famous
inventors. In other words,
the choice of houses for this book has
been arbitrary, and, while it
has resulted in a book of interest to
many persons, there is little real
contribution made in the volume. One
feels that the volume is
esentially a prospectus of a more
complete volume to be published
in the future.
A feature of this book is the pictures
of the exteriors and
interiors of the houses presented. Ohio
is represented by the Rufus
Putnam House, Marietta; the Taft House,
Cincinnati; the Garfield
Home, Mentor; the William Holmes
McGuffey House, Oxford; the
Benjamin Harrison House, North Bend; the
Thomas A. Edison
Birthplace, Milan; the Hayes Home,
Spiegel Grove, Fremont; and
the Paul Laurence Dunbar Home, Dayton.
JAMES H. RODABAUGH
Horns of Thunder: The Life and Times
of James M. Goodhue,
Including Selections from His
Writings. By Mary Wheelhouse
Berthel. (St. Paul, Minnesota Historical
Society, 1948. xii+276p.,
illustrations, index. Cloth, $3.00.)
This handsome volume commemorating the
Minnesota terri-
torial centennial does credit to its
author-editor and its publisher. A
brief sketch of Minnesota's foremost
pioneer editor, James M. Good-
hue, is supplemented by skillfully
edited selections from his graphic
editorials and articles. More than
twenty drawings by a pioneer
druggist and artist, Robert O. Sweeny,
simply yet poignantly illus-
trate Goodhue's pen descriptions. A half
dozen photographs of con-
temporary paintings also serve to
recreate the scenes of territorial
Minnesota.
Those interested in pioneer Minnesota,
especially St. Paul, and
in pioneer journalism should not
overlook this book. They will
244 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
indeed profit from Goodhue's effort
"to mirror back to the world,
the events, the peculiarities and the
whole features of the new
world."
EVERETT WALTERS
Assistant Professor of History
Ohio State University