warm standby with WAL shipping

I'm trying to set up a warm standby via WAL shipping.  I'm digging
through the source of pg_standby.c to determine the proper method.
Since we are using scp to access the archive files, pg_standby doesn't
provide a solution to our problem.

 From reading the comments in pg_standby.c, I see:

'Check for initial history file: always the first file to be requested
It's OK if the file isn't there - all other files need to wait'

My problem is, I never see a *.history file, thus my script sits in a
loop looking for it.  I see the WAL files showing up on the archive
server, but I don't see a *.history file.

What am I missing?

--
Until later, Geoffrey

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
  - Benjamin Franklin