Recent PhD Dissertation on PSGC

Well this is wonderful and goodness, how welcome! By Jeffrey V. Pearson at the University of New Mexico.  Can't wait to check it out...

Philip St. George Cooke: On the Vanguard of Western Expansion with the U.S. Army, 1827-1848
http://repository.unm.edu/handle/1928/12855

From the online abstract:

During the first two decades of his remarkable forty-six years of military service, from 1827 to 1848, Philip St. George Cooke literally crossed the continent as a member of the United States Army and contributed significantly to the establishment of the nation as a continental empire. Initially as a member of the Sixth Infantry, and more prominently as an officer in the elite First Regiment of United States Dragoons, Cooke participated in the vital missions conducted by the frontier army to secure the nation’s claims to its western territories. He explored the frontier, gathered information on its resources and inhabitants, built roads and military posts, policed settlements and Indian societies, and guarded the country’s western borders. In the process, Cooke aided the army’s efforts to establish foundations for western infrastructure; improved lines of travel, communication, and commerce; implemented and enforced government policies throughout the region; and ensured peace along the nation’s western borders.