"The little book has become a classic in the literature of Western history. Simple, direct, and unpretentious in style, our author's narrative presents all that may reasonably be expected in relation to the status of the New Mexican provinces, and of the Santa Fé trade before the closing of the Mexican custom houses in 1841... The work... judiciously mingles history, description, and narrative in such proportions that the interest is retained throughout. As an historian Gregg is exceptionally accurate... He gave the first connected narrative in English, of the history of New Mexico from its first explorations in the sixteenth century to his own time. All later histories of that region must depend largely upon his researches. ...Gregg is pre-eminently the historian of the Santa Fé trade that...employed many of the most daring spirits of the frontier and paved the way for the possession of these regions by the United States. ...The incidents and excitements of this journey across the plains Gregg narrates with a fidelity and vividness that make the reader a participant. ...As a contribution to the history and development of the far Southwest, Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies stands without a rival and is indispensable to a full knowledge of the American past."