for one am tired of happy endings transactedrnover the bodies of dead hayseeds,rnbut you cannot make an omelette withoutrnbreaking aigs.rnMargie Burns writes from Cheverly,rnMaryland.rnREGIONALISMrnJ. Evetts Haley-rnCowboy, Patriotrnby Evetts Haley, Jr.rnJ. Evetts Haley.rnHe “was a product, even more thanrnmost men are, of his time, soil andrncircumstance. He was an intent, practicalrnman of driving and determinedrnpurpose…. But most of all he was an unreconstructedrnrebel.” B. Byron Price, executiverndirector of the National CowboyrnHall of Fame, in his eulogy for J. EvettsrnHaley, chose that selection from Haley’srnbiography George W. Littlefield, Texan.rnThough the passage was J. Evetts’ summaryrnof the great pioneer Texas soldier,rncowman, and banker, to Price, “Mr. Haleyrnwas also describing himself.”rnMore readers will remember my father,rnJ. Evetts Haley, by way of his booksrnthan from all the biographies and biographicalrnsketches about him. His publishedrnworks are likely to be far more importantrnto subsequent generations asrnwell.rnIt was from my father that I first heardrnthe admonition that “a people ignorantrnof their history are doomed to relive it.”rnMy father, who died at 94 on October 9,rn1995, in Midland, Texas, more than anyrnother person I have known in my morernthan 60 years, was a\’are of the mistakesrnof our country’s past. He studied thosernof governments, societies, and families.rnHis greatest hope was that he could helprnhis family, his state, and his countryrnavoid the stress and danger of confiscationrnof property, bankruptcy, revolution,rnand dictatorship during the generationsrnto come.rnSearching for answers was a naturalrnpart of everyday life for J. Evetts Haley.rn”What is a historian? How does an observerrncompare historians? What are thernpersonal characteristics that lend validityrnto their chronicles?” For my answer, I offerrna 1991 description from another contemporaryrnhistorian. Otto Scott, whornmay have said it best when he wrote:rnHe [J. Evetts Haley] is a true historian,rntherefore, because he dealsrnnot only with the facts of behavior,rnbut with their meaning; not onlyrnwith struggles and outcomes, butrnwith their significances. He doesrnnot write to flatter nor to denounce,rnbut to have a record ofrnthose who were brave and true asrnwell as those against whom theyrncontended—for we know that inrnthis world virtue must always contendrnagainst vice.rnScott went on to illustrate with e.xcerptsrnfrom J. Evetts Haley’s best-known bookrnnationally, and his only “negative biography,”rnA Texan Looks At Lyndon: A StudyrnIn Illegitimate Power. As a paperback,rnthat biography sold five and a half millionrncopies.rnFrom my vantage point as his only son,rnit is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguishrnbetween J. Evetts Haley my fatherrnand J. Evetts Haley the observer, sociopoliticalrncritic, and mentor. For instance,rnat dinner with family and friends,rncurrent political affairs were always arnsubject of discussion, if not the principalrnone. This does not mean that J. Evettsrnwas derelict in his attention to his ranchrnbusiness. Far from it. His attention tornthe details inherent in the care and managementrnof cattle was little short of phenomenal.rnIt just did not take J. EvettsrnHaley long to decide which work hernwould go at the next morning. “If it’srnnot sleeting or snowing here when we getrnup we will drive the north pasture andrnshape up a hospital bunch to put in thernwest trap for extra attention. If it is, andrnnot too wet, we will haul another load ofrnfeed. Don’t forget, after you have rustledrnthe horses to make sure that wide-hornrncow lets that doggie suck. That calfrnwon’t be able to make it through thernweather we’re expecting if he doesn’t getrnfilled up twice a day.”rnThen the conversation would be backrnto the threat to states’ rights. I recall hisrnreaction when President Eisenhower orderedrnelements of the Army’s 101st AirbornernDivision to force Little Rock CentralrnHigh School into accepting thernSupreme Court’s decision in Brown v.rnBoard of Education, an authoritarian andrnunconstitutional action that troubledrnDad greatly.rnOur conversations would include observationsrnabout the historical precedentrnof current activities and trends—philosophical,rnpsychological, and racialrnpredilections and their effect on forthcomingrnelection results and legislation. Irnmay have heard more about the British,rnFrench, American, and Texas revolutionsrnand about our War Between the States inrnhigh school and at the University ofrnTexas, but I learned more about themrnand their true causes and effects atrnhome.rnOften the questions Dad posed wererncontroversial and provocative: “Whererncan we find the American history professorrnwho will accept the premise that thernWar Between the States should not havernbeen fought and that Lincoln was wrongrnabout dissolution?” J. Evetts ferventlyrnbelieved that the United States Constitution,rncorrectly interpreted, does notrnbind the states together against their will.rn”Where can we find the university professorrnwho understands (or will admit)rnthat ‘the best in American manhood’rnwas decimated in that tragic war on bothrnsides of the Mason/Dixon, and thosernamong the Anglo survivors in the Southrnwho were achievers and property ownersrnwere, and for the most part their descendantsrnstill are, disillusioned about the equityrnor viability of our federal system?”rn”Where is the history or economics departmentrnthat understands the electionrnof Woodrow Wilson and its portent forrnthe country, or the election of FranklinrnD. Roosevelt and our country’s adoptionrnof the New Deal welfare state and its entrancernto Worid War II?”rnMy early recollections of visitors in thernmodest home of my father and motherrninclude American patriots with servicerndating from before Worid War II. Othersrnwere met elsewhere, but often discussedrnat home. Among these was Hi-rn46/CHRONICLESrnrnrn