Book Reviews 163 girl,‖ typical of ―the thousands of Michigan girls‖ Griffin had taught over the years who were caught between career ambitions and an oldfashioned desire for a family (p. 23). But Griffin‘s is an honest book; it surely hurt her to admit bursting into tears in Jones‘s office and to acknowledge that many of Maggie‘s friends regarded the (poorly attended) symposium about violence against women as too quickly politicizing the personal. And Edward Keyes would confirm her central point: young women should be alert to the violent potential in even such apparently clean-cut peers as John Norman Collins. Roger Lane Haverford College Steve Lehto. Michigan’s Columbus: The Life of Douglass Houghton. Royal Oak, Mich.: Momentum Books, 2009. Pp. 163. Bibliography. Illustrations. Map. Notes and sources. Paper, $19.95. Public interest in the early nineteenth century Old Northwest usually rises at the time of the centennial of statehood or a military conflict, but then fades afterward. Leaders of that period who had no military or national importance tend to receive little notice, even if their names are associated with geographic sites or municipalities. Such is the case for Michigan‘s Douglass Houghton (1809 to 1845), despite the fact that a county, the state‘s largest inland lake, and a city all bear his name. Along with his exploration of Michigan‘s Copper Country near and on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton also traveled through the Lower Peninsula where he made additional mineral discoveries, conducted significant botanical research, practiced dentistry, served as mayor of Detroit, and also worked as a faculty member at the nascent University of Michigan. He drowned near Eagle River in October 1845. Steve Lehto reminds us of these facets of Houghton‘s life, yet notes: ―Most people only know of Douglass Houghton—if they know of him at all— as the man who explored the Copper Country in the early days of Michigan‖ (pp. v-vi). Houghton‘s forgotten importance is a recurrent theme throughout Michigan’s Columbus. Houghton left no personal journals or intimate correspondence, which presents any biographer with a difficult challenge. The bulk of extant research material about Houghton consists of field notes, reports, and business correspondence—items that concern his 164 Michigan Historical Review professional life. Lehto covers Houghton‘s life chronologically in twenty chapters, carefully detailing the remarkable amount of travel, lectures, research, and public service that Houghton accomplished in only fifteen years after he arrived in Detroit in 1830. Lehto argues that the Copper Country did not fully define Houghton‘s life, although his attempt to push the focus of his book away from the Keweenaw is hindered by the lack of personal details about his subject. Stronger editing might have remedied the book‘s shortcomings. The endnotes are not numbered; nor do they follow a consistent format. Readers would also have benefited from an index. Lehto repeatedly uses vague unsourced references to ―historians‖ or statements that ―historians have observed,‖ and he employs the term ―revisionist‖ (with a strong negative connotation) when he takes ―some revisionist historians‖ (p. 134) to task, while ignoring his own ―revisionist‖ efforts to reshape our perceptions of Houghton‘s life. Lehto‘s efforts to track down various scattered Houghton sources also lead him to occasional digressions, including a complaint about research fees to view a painting (p. 134). A more important criticism is that Lehto‘s narrow focus on the particulars of Houghton‘s life and his legacy omits the broader context that the best popular biographies provide. The narrative touches on Houghton‘s legacy but does not place him among other explorers of the era, such as Stephen H. Long and John C. Fremont. Douglass Houghton‘s voyages may not have left a lasting impression, but they were very much a part of the spirit of his time. Despite these limitations, however, Lehto‘s work is a wellresearched , highly readable, interesting work on a major figure in Michigan‘s early history, and it should reach a broad readership. Matthew Lawrence Daley Grand Valley State University Patrick Livingston. Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2008. Pp. 192. Illustrations. Index. Note on sources. Notes. Paper...