One thing I like in history books is context. Not just a description of “what” happened but the context within which it happened, if for no other reason than it can help with understanding. And that’s exactly what this book does. It takes a small incident with significance far greater than the event itself, and puts the Bascom Affair into perspective. When Mort is done you don’t just know what happened, you know why the individuals made the decisions they made.
The approach Mort takes is to evaluate the cultures within which Lt. George Bascom and the Chiricahua Apache chief Cochise existed; what made them the men they were. He examines the religion, geography, culture, and regional history so that by the time the author describes the events at Apache Pass in February 1861 you understand the "why." Throughout this cultural overview Mort writes about Bascom and Cochise, describing the conditions within which they grew up, were educated, and what would have motivated them – he develops a three dimensional view of each man rather than the stereotypical cardboard cutouts often used. While at first I viewed this as "padding" as I read I realized that in order to understand the "why" of what happened at Apache Pass you really need to understand the culture within which each man existed.
What all this leads to is probably the best understanding of the men and circumstances that I have ever read on The Bascom Affair, which is quite a bit. While assigned to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, I developed and ran a professional development staff exercise on the incident which included reading every available first person account and secondary sources. I can say without reservation that this book is the best account I’ve read because it provides a degree of context that leads to understanding.
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