A Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux, 50th Anniversary Edition by Amos Bad Heart Bull, Helen H. Blish, and Mari Sandoz (review)

if, once his four intended volumes are completed, the author might not produce a postcard book that treats selected American and Mexican towns paired along the border. How did scene selection diff er north and south of the line? What were the functional emphases one side to the other? What were the symbolic implications? How did postcard art diff erentiate American from Mexican culture? Th at, of course, provides rationale for a fi ft h book. Th is book’s strength remains the example it sets for scholarly use of vintage postcard images, thus enabling scholars to better understand historic landscapes. Th e book deals with the presumed realities of localities pictured, at least realities as viewed through photography. Perhaps it is best to say that the book deals with how places were thought to be to the eyes and mental constructs of photographers at work. Of course, postcard photography conditioned viewers to visualize landscapes and places in specifi c ways. It established what was important to see in a place and, additionally, how that ought to be viewed and thus thought about. It conditioned how viewers came to assess the importance of not only specifi c places but also kinds of places. Aft er all, seeing and believing do tend to be closely linked.