Herbert Eugene Bolton (1870–1953)

A 1937 book that attempts to verify and trumpet an artifact found in 1936 as "Drake's plate of brasse," a brass plate he put up to claim California for England as New Albion. Bolton makes his case and provides an image of the front and back of the plate in black-and-white. Spoiler: Bolton got taken by a prank that got out of hand. Read up on Wikipedia for the whole shebang, but it was proved a modern forgery in 1977, though the info was out before that and most scholars did not accept Bolton's contentions even before that. And, Drake probably didn't enter San Francisco Bay as Bolton implies here, but at the bay now known as Drake's Bay outside the Golden Gate. An interesting bit of ephemera from 1937.… (more)

4508. Coronado Knight of Pueblos and Plains, by Herbert E. Bolton (read 16 Nov 2008) This book won a Bancroft Prize in 1950. It is a carefully-researched book, detailing Coronado's great exploration jouney of 1540-1542 in Mexico and the now American Southwest. While the first part did not appeal to me in time I came to see what a really great job the author, a renowned historian, did on the subject. He also intersperses the narrative with enlivening remarks, wry or funny! Coronado, as conquistadores go, was an admirable man and I only wish he had had the good fortune which some less admirable explorers had--Pizarro, for instance. This book will grow on you as you read it.… (more)

This short monograph is a reprint from the Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Vol. X, No. 4, (April, 1907). It consists of a description of newly discovered papers, and includes three pages of facsimiles showing a sample of the old mission records of baptisms and marriages.

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Bolton discovered this small collection of approximately 3,000 pages at the diocese of San Antonio. The importance of the material is two fold. First, it added to the literature about the six missions that surrounded San Antonio: San Antonio de Valero (1718), Eio Grande as San Francisco Solano, the San Jose de Aguayo (1720), Nuestra Senora de la Purissima Concepcion (1731), San Juan Capistrano (1731) and San Francisco de la Espada (1731), and San Xavier de Naxera (1722). In particular, it clarified the status and history of San Xavier, making it clear that this small mission was dependent upon the services and oversight of the larger San Antonio de Valero.

And secondly, it provided new and invaluable ethnological data. Bolton writes that these few records "may in the last resort be our only clue to the classification of a number of native Southwestern tribes, whose racial affiliation would otherwise remain forever unknown."

Bolton can make this claim because in the "Libra en que se Assientan los Bautismos De los Indios de esta Mission de S. Anto De Valero" there are recorded not only the births, marriages, and deaths of Indian converts (beginning in 1703), but also, in many cases, the tribal affiliation of the parents. And where the friars were kind enough to include a translation of the Indian names, it is possible to ascertain a tribes linguistic heritage.

Four Stars. This is a short and very readable tract by Herbert Bolton, the eminent historian. It describes the contents of valuable early church records and would be of possible interest to those curious about the history and historiography of San Antonio and the Southwest.

Pam T for PageinHistory.com… (more)

This short tract was originally published in "The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association", Volume XVII, No. 1. [It is alternatively listed as Volume 017, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Pages 61 - 66].

As a brief monograph this is actually pretty interesting. The focus is on a letter penned by Manuel Lisa, who Bolton (an expert in Spanish-American history) claims is "the best known of the early nineteenth century fur traders of St. Louis." [I assume that this is because Lisa was a director of the Missouri Fur Company.]

The letter (included in both Spanish and English-translation) was written at Fort Manuel (Fuerte Manuel) on the Missouri River in late 1812. Bolton apparently dislodged it from the dusty archives of Chihuahua, Mexico sometime in the early 1900's. It describes, among other things, the yearly trips that were made to the Arapahoes to arrange trade. Lisa writes, "I have had hunters to the number of twenty-three who have gone to the Arapaho nation. Last year they came to my Fort Mandanne, where I equipped them anew to return to the place whence they had come."

Bolton's excitement stems from the fact that previous to the discover of this letter, it was not known that the Spanish were going as far north as Wyoming to engage in fur trade although it might be something of a misrepresentation to think of Lisa as 'Spanish'.

In any case, this tract provides interesting commentary on a copy of a valuable 'primary source'. And the paper should appeal to those interested in early Spanish-American history, the American fur trade, or historiography of the region. My only regret is that Bolton did not provide a little bit more background information; but in general it was a quick, interesting read.

Pam T for PageinHistory.com

Note: this paper is available, online for free.… (more)