Research Catalog

Title

Comanches and Germans on the Texas frontier : the ethnology of Heinrich Berghaus / Daniel J. Gelo and Christopher J. Wickham ; with contributions by Heide Castañeda.

Author

Gelo, Daniel J., 1957-

Publication

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2018]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Wickham, Christopher J., 1950 May 26-
• Castañeda, Heide

Description

xiv, 256 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

In 1851, an article appeared in a German journal, Geographisches Jahrbuch (Geographic Yearbook), that sought to establish definitive connections, using language observations, among the Comanches, Shoshones, and Apaches. Heinrich Berghaus's study was based on lexical data gathered by a young German settler in Texas, Emil Kriewitz, and included a groundbreaking list of Comanche words and their German translations. Berghaus also offered Kriewitz's cultural notes on the Comanches, a discussion of the existing literature on the three tribes, and an original map of Comanche hunting grounds. Perhaps because it was published only in German, the existence of Berghaus's study has been all but unknown to North American scholars, even though it offers valuable insights into Native American languages, toponyms, ethnonyms, hydronyms, and cultural anthropology. It was also a significant document revealing the history of German-Comanche relations in Texas. Daniel J. Gelo and Christopher J. Wickham now make available for the first time a reliable English translation of this important nineteenth-century document. In addition to making the article accessible to English speakers, they also place Berghaus's work into historical context and provide detailed commentary on its value for anthropologists and historians who study German settlement in Texas.

Subjects

• Germans > Texas > History > 19th century
• Berghaus, Heinrich Karl Wilhelm, 1797-1884
• Ethnology > United States > History > 19th century
• Comanche language > Etymology
• Comanche Indians > Texas
• Geographers > Germany > Biography

Note

• Maps printed on interior of book covers.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language (note)

• Contains text of Berghaus's 1851 ethnological article, "Über die Verwandtschaft der Schoschonen, Komantschen und Apatschen" ("On the relationship of the Shoshones, Comanches, and Apaches"), translated from the German by Christopher J. Wickham.

Contents

Introduction: Comanches and Germans in central Texas -- Berghaus and German contributions to American ethnology -- Who was Heinrich Berghaus? -- Berghaus and Humboldt -- Berghaus's Physikalischer Atlas -- Berghaus's interest in ethnology -- Berghaus's ideology -- Evaluating Berghaus's achievement -- Who was Emil Kriewitz? -- Berghaus and the development of American anthropology -- Berghaus's 1851 ethnological article -- The 1851 article in translation -- Commentary on the 1851 article -- The Berghaus glossary and map -- The glossary: an overview -- Comanche glossary -- Historical analysis of the Berghaus map.

Call Number

JFE 18-1758

ISBN

• 9781623495947
• 1623495946

LCCN

2017021367

OCLC

987051694

Author

Gelo, Daniel J., 1957- author.

Title

Comanches and Germans on the Texas frontier : the ethnology of Heinrich Berghaus / Daniel J. Gelo and Christopher J. Wickham ; with contributions by Heide Castañeda.

Publisher

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2018]

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language

Contains text of Berghaus's 1851 ethnological article, "Über die Verwandtschaft der Schoschonen, Komantschen und Apatschen" ("On the relationship of the Shoshones, Comanches, and Apaches"), translated from the German by Christopher J. Wickham.

Added Author

Wickham, Christopher J., 1950 May 26- author.

Castañeda, Heide, author.

Sudoc No.

Z TA475.8 G283co txdocs

Research Call Number

JFE 18-1758