San Diego County Soldier-Pioneers: 1864-1866.
By Ed Scott. National City. Crest Printing Company, 1976.
Footnotes. Illustrations. Maps. 174 pages. $2.95.
Reviewed by Dr. James Robert Moriarty, III, Professor of
History/Archaeology. University of San Diego, author of Chinigchinix: An
Indigenous Indian Religion, The Yuman Peoples of Southern California, and over
two hundred publications on History and Archaeology.
San Diego County Soldier-Pioneers is a publication of the
County of San Diego and is one of the Bicentennial projects which were
authorized during the Bicentennial celebration of our country in 1976. The
author describes himself as an armchair historian in his preface and states that
one of the aims of the book is to provide students and San Diego County history
buffs with an unpretentious reference source. This statement is followed by the
remark that the first two decades of San Diego history under the United States
flag have been, "almost ignored by thorough historical researchers."
The historian who finds a new work, which he is about to examine, prefaced by
statements like those is likely, at first, to assume that such a work is not a
very serious historical effort. This is not due to any form of academic
snobbery, which is the general accusation leveled at professionals, but rather because
statements such as "unpretentious reference sources" leaves one wondering what
the author is really referring to and, secondly, the statement that thorough
historical research by historians has not been done in the first twenty years
of American Period San Diego history is, to say the very least, incorrect as
there are a large number of published works dealing with that particular period
in San Diego history.
Regardless of this, the reviewer did pursue a careful
examination of Mr. Scott's book. The conclusion was reached that it is a
definite contribution to San Diego history literature. It will be of source
value to the student and the historian of San Diego County history in the
future. Certainly no one could say that the footnotes which follow
the two parts of the book were "unpretentious." By any
definition, letters from the National Archives to the author, a variety of
unpublished memoirs, and his detailed examination of the San Diego County
Recorder's Book of Deeds would allay any suspicion that this publication
represents an inadequate collection of research data on San Diego history. Mr.
Scott's admirable modesty, therefore, must be disregarded when one examines his publication.
The book is divided into two parts. At the end of each
section it is footnoted. The two parts are divided chronologically into the
first two decades of San Diego City history. Part one deals with the occupation
of Old Town by soldiers of the United States Army beginning in 1848. The early
military history of San Diego was filled with men who were later to achieve
national attention.
The first part of Chapter I describes the U.S. Military
occupation of San Diego and is followed up by short biographical sketches of the
officers who were in command at the time. One could wish that the
author had included sketches of a few of the noncommissioned officers who later became prominent San
Diego citizens. There is a brief discussion following this of
the boundary survey and Constitution of 1849. Mr. Scott
includes a short, but detailed, account of the Indian revolt and offers an
insight into the entertainment activities of the early pioneers.
Part two is entitled the Desolate Decade for New San Diego
1856-1866. The problems of establishing New Town and the rising temper of the
time leading up to the Civil War are augmented by the inclusion of a very good
coverage of individual military men who fought in the Mexican War and a
follow-up of their careers during the Civil War. Mr. Scott provides a starting
reference for students of the period who wish to deal with biographical accounts
of some of these individuals. The last part of the book describes the first land
boom period and the development of the earliest San Diego City land subdivisions.
San Diego historians, in general, should find Mr. Scott's
book useful and interesting. The reviewer is particularly pleased with this work
because Mr. Scott documented his writing and sought to meet the same standards
for historical description that is an integral part of any attempt to record the past.
More people of Mr. Scott's dedication should be encouraged to
emulate his efforts.
