![Dispatches from the Fort Apache Scout is a finely edited compilation of essays published between 1973 and 1977, written by Lori Davisson, Edgar Perry and the original staff of the White Mountain Apache Cultural Center. – Edward S. Curtis/Library of Congress –](https://www.truewestmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fort-apache-scout-blog.jpg)
– Edward S. Curtis/Library of Congress –
The long title of Lori Davisson’s Dispatches from the Fort Apache Scout: White Mountain and Cibecue Apache History Through 1881 (University of Arizona Press $19.95) is not indicative of this anthology. In fact, the publication is a brief, breezy, easy-to-read compilation of articles written between 1973 and 1977 by a number of contributors led by Davidson, whose knowledge and passion of the Ndee (meaning “the people” as the Western Apache traditionally referred to themselves) was infectious. Consequently, this fast-paced collection of stories is a welcome addition to the extensive literature on the topic. Many hands and voices, especially tribal historian Edgar Perry, went into this collaborative effort, as demonstrated by a long list of acknowledgements provided by John R. Welch, who ably edited these essays with a light but skillful hand.
— John Langellier, author of Fighting for Uncle Sam: Buffalo Soldiers in the Frontier Army