Book Review: The Mescalaro Apaches by C. L. Sonnichsen

I came upon this book at the Friends of the Library Winter Carnival book sale and I don’t regret the purchase. 

C. L. Sonnichsen of the University of El Paso, TX took great care in his research and can’t be accused of lacking persistence. The 16 page bibliography has a lovely variety of sources, ranging from interviews, letters, books, government documents, articles, and manuscripts. Most of his sources are wonderfully detailed and are very reputable; However some of his sources can be a bit questionable. These include an unpublished masters thesis and some unpublished materials found in the basement of a high school or someone’s storage. In general, the sources are great when to where they came from. He was in contact with a great many people on the reservation and other libraries of universities and museums to get more primary sources. The pictures are also really nice with visual aspects, although I do wish the map was put earlier. 

This book would be far worse if the author didn’t use Chicago style. His footnotes are very helpful with finding the source and at times he gives recommendations on other perspectives of certain people and extra information that would break the flow of the book. I never found myself bored when reading the book, C.L. Sonnichsen is a great story teller and knows how to keep one interested. I was always excited to pick up the book when I had free time before bed or between classes. One of my favorite historical topics is the Americas so this book spanning from before the Spanish came up the year it was published, 1958, was a fascinating read. The author is great when it comes to sympathizing with the topic and only paints them bad when he is describing someone’s feelings on the Mescalaros or using their own quotes. Overall, he did a lovely job when it came to telling the lesser known story of the Mescalero Apaches. 

My copy is the second edition printed in 1966, so there may have been some changes from the first edition that I am not aware of. I would recommend picking up a copy if you can find one, either to buy or borrow.