| This book is the product of much effort beyond the doctoral dissertation stage, but it is based heavily on work done during those years in graduate school in the United States. My most important scholarly debts are to my advisers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, since 1973: Dr. Charles S. Rosenberg, Dr. Nancy Farriss, Dr. Lee Cassanelli, and Dr. A. F. C. Wallace. Dr. Rosenberg, my chairman, steered me to the American Indian Correspondence (AIC) of Presbyterian missionaries' letters on deposit in the Library of the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS), Philadelphia, the first week I entered graduate school. He and his colleagues were accessible, encouraging, and willing to listen whenever I needed to talk. Dr. Richard S. Dunn, then chairman of the Department of History, was responsible for offering me the teaching fellowship that allowed me to begin and follow through on my studies. I thank him for his act of faith in an Irishman teaching American history in Finland who wanted to study Indian history. Dr. Muriel Joffe, then a colleague at Penn, offered valuable criticism of my dissertation. |
| Dr. W. H. A. Williams was my undergraduate adviser at University College, Dublin. He first sparked my serious interest in American history, and has since encouraged me with long, full letters. At a crucial point he helped me decide my future course. He has read an earlier draft of this book, and I fear that I still have not absorbed his rich letter of comments. Dr. Francis Paul Prucha, S.J., received a letter out of the blue from me in 1972. Since then he has continually interested himself in my studies. He too has read a draft of this work, and other of my writings. Dr. Prucha is one of a large number of American scholars who have responded generously to my initially uninvited letters. Dr. William G. McLoughlin has commented at length on parts of this book. Dr. Robert Bannister, Dr. Thomas Brown, Dr. Henry Warner Bowden, and Dr. Donald G. Mathews have read shorter sections. |
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