Anyone who has ever worked in the field of Louisiana history realizes what a rich mine of material the Louisiana Historical Quarterly is.
It is a mother lode of fascinating facts about the colorful story of Louisiana, but like most rich deposits it yielded its greatest rewards only to the greatest diggers.
The historical gold in the Louisiana Quarterly was, like the real article, where you found it. But finding it called for not only the instincts of a researcher but for the manual labor of a prospector. And, too, for a great waste of time. . . .
In compiling the Index, Mr. Cruise first correlated the indexes of each of the 31 volumes of the Louisiana Historical Quarterly, a staggering undertaking in itself. In addition, he himself indexed the volumes, Nos. 32 and 33, to which no index is available. Then he integrated his work into the 31 indexes, now edited into one compilation.
The result of Boyd Cruise’s scholarship is a book that librarians, scholars, students and mere amateurs in Louisiana history will welcome with enthusiasm. He has cut numberless hours off everybody’s future research projects in Louisiana history. . . .
In closing, I would like to express agreement with Weeks Hall: “Boyd Cruise knows what he is doing . . . His contribution is as distinct as it is valuable.”
—from the Foreword