over South Pass in the Rockies. From Fort Hall we came across the
Blue Mountains to The Dalles. A year later Winthrop traveled homeward
practically over the same route. His journals, with their brief
but illuminating descriptions of people and scenes that presented
themselves as he rode swiftly eastward, bring back memories of our five
months' journey along the old "Oregon Trail." Most of his names of men
and places, his notes of the great army of settlers pushing forward
to California and the Northwest, his accounts of the British recruits
for Mormonism, which he later expanded in his stirring Western novel,
"John Brent," and his pen-pictures of the wild lands that are even
now just beginning to yield to irrigation and settlement,--all this
will be appreciated by every immigrant of that early day. Allowing for
their personal appeal to me as a pioneer, I still feel that Winthrop's
letters and journals add as much to the value of Mr. Williams's edition
as they do to its scope.
Winthrop's monologues in Chinook are idiomatically correct, but the
proof-reading of the original was done by persons unfamiliar with the
"jargon," and a number of typographical errors occurred. Unfortunately,
some of these have been perpetuated in the new edition. The Chinook
vocabulary however, has been revised and materially improved by Dr. C.
M. Buchanan, Indian agent at Tulalip.
The editor's notes are accurate, succinct and interesting. He has
happily kept in view the Eastern reader who knows little of the West,
but he has not on that account overloaded the book with notes. Several
passages, indeed, would bear further annotation. The appendixes are
valuable for the light they throw on the methods of McClellan, the
building of the heroic road across the Naches, our Indian place names,
and other matters of historic interest.
Mr. Williams's success in selecting the illustrations testifies to
experience and much study, and would alone make the volume noteworthy.
The pictures are of great historical value, and they really illustrate
the text. There are sixteen magnificent plates in color and forty-eight
half-tones. These show the Sound, the Columbia, the Cascades with all
their snow-peaks from Mt. Hood northward; many scenes of Indian life,
our coast cities in their infancy, the army posts and Hudson's Bay
forts. More than sixty line etchings in the text give us portraits of
the important personages of the book, white and Indian. Several of the
illustrations are from celebrated paintings, others from rare books,
or from early photographs treasured by our Northwestern historical
societies and museums, the National Museum at Washington, and the
great American Museum of Natural History in New York. Mr. Williams
himself made a trip with a photographer across Naches Pass and obtained
splendid views of Winthrop's route through a region now rarely visited.
This book is of the highest value to students of our Western history,
and of such beauty and interest as make it a joy to all readers.
I bespeak for it a place in every public and home library in the
Northwest.
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY.
* * * * *
EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO. By ex-Governor W. J. McConnell. (Caldwell,
Idaho, The Caxton Printers, 1913. Pp. 420.)
It has been somewhat the fashion (and a very good fashion it is) of
late years by retired public men, Governors, Senators and others, to
leave in the form of reminiscences or histories the record of the
events in which they were participants.
Among recent volumes in this field we find that W. J. McConnell, twice
honored and Honorable, as Governor and Senator, has given the world a
view of the Idaho of which he was one of the builders.
This volume may be considered as having official endorsement, for it is
authorized by the Idaho legislature.
Governor McConnell is well qualified for the work. Long residence in
the great state so well styled the "Gem of the Mountains," an intimate
acquaintance with affairs from the days of the Vigilantes to date, an
accurate memory, and a clear, simple and vivid style, all qualify the
author to tell the story of Idaho.
Broadly speaking, we may note that the book consists of two main
features. The first is a series of events in the days of the "bad
man," the mining and Indian era. The second is largely composed of
extracts from legislative sessions and judicial proceedings. In this
material and the handling of it are both the strength and weakness
of the book. For the account of the desperadoes, though vivid,
interesting, and no doubt characteristic of that period, occupies
so much space as to give a disproportionate importance to it. The
extensive extracts from legislative and court proceedings, though
valuable, lack the introductions and explanatory connections desirable
for a continuous story. They therefore lack perspective and give a
fragmentary impression. Moreover the two types of matter are rather
incongruous, one being so much of a "Wild West" type of narrative and
the other suggesting a small volume of session laws.
There are occasional slips in names and statements indicating imperfect
proof-reading. On page 31 we find _William_ P. Hunt. It should be
_Wilson_. On page 32 it is stated that the Hunt party was near the site
of old Fort Boise on Dec. 24. This could not be possible for they were
in the Grand Ronde on New Year's Day and had been struggling for many
days along Snake River in the vicinity of the present Huntington and up
Powder River into the present Baker Valley. On page 33 we find _Worth_
for _Wyeth_. We find Spalding spelled Spaulding, and De Smet appears as
Demet.
But these and other slips are relatively of little moment and do not
detract from the general interest and value of the volume.
Among the many items of interest in the history of legislative acts
is the mention on page 370 of the fact that the Idaho Territorial
Legislature acted as a divorce court and that a number of discordant
couples were separated by act of legislature. One historical matter of
much interest, which has almost drifted from the remembrance of the
present time is the effort made in both Idaho and Washington, as well
as Congress, to attach Northern Idaho to Washington, in 1885-6, and the
final failure of the congressional bill to go into effect.
This book of Governor McConnell may certainly be regarded as a valuable
contribution to the historical literature of our section.
W. D. LYMAN.
* * * * *
FOLLOWING OLD TRAILS. By Arthur L. Stone. (Missoula, Montana, Morton J.
Elrod, 1913. Pp. 304.)
The author of this book has been for some years and still is the editor
of "The Missoulian," the leading daily newspaper of the Bitter Root
Valley in Montana. From personal experiences and acquaintances he
gradually accumulated the material for a series of articles entitled
Old Trails, or Trail Stories, which appeared in the Sunday editions of
his paper during the years 1911 and 1912. These articles, written in
free newspaper style and without claim for historical accuracy, have
now been gathered together in book form and published by Prof. Elrod of
the University of Montana, this at the request of numerous residents
of Western Montana, who recognized the value of the contributions and
the wisdom of preserving them. In his foreword the author frankly
states his reluctance to grant the request and the unworthiness of the
material for book form, but has wisely refrained from any revision or
amplification.
Mr. Stone has made good use of his acquaintance with localities and
men and events prominent in the exploration and settlement and growth
of Western Montana, and his book furnishes the reader with a glimpse
of the wealth of historic material to be had for the digging in that
comparatively new state. It has not been appreciated by many that in
point of time the Indian trade near the head waters of Clark Fork
of the Columbia antedated that at Astoria, and that the railroads
traversing Montana follow for miles the lines of travel early in use by
explorer, fur trader, missionary, prospector and immigrant. Many tracks
of these various periods of pioneering have been actually traveled
by Mr. Stone, in some instances with the very men who had used them
during the fifties and sixties; of others he has learned from the lips
of those yet living to tell the story, and of others he has read the
authoritative sources. With Dr. Elliott Coues he personally followed
the trail of Lewis and Clark through the Bitter Root Valley, with Judge
Woody (a Montana pioneer of 1857 who contributed to this Quarterly in
No. 4 of Vol. 3) he climbed Gibson Pass, the main range of the Rockies,
with Duncan McDonald, who was born on the Salish reservation in 1849,
he has traveled along the Jocko, and of the deeds of the Vigilantes he
had the facts from the very men who took active part in that movement.
There are numerous errors apparent to the close student of history
but these may be overlooked in an appreciation of the actual value of
such a contribution, to the pioneer families of Montana to whom it
is dedicated and to the large number of casual readers who get their
first incentive for further reading and study from such a source.
The book is plainly but well bound and illustrated. Doubtless the
suggestion for its publication came from the meeting of the Society of
Montana Pioneers at Missoula in September, 1913, which meeting it was
the privilege of the writer of this review to attend, and its early
appearance is an example of how they do things in Montana when they set
out to.
T. C. ELLIOTT.
* * * * *
PIONEER TALES OF THE OREGON TRAIL. By Charles Dawson. (Topeka. Crane
and Company. 1912. Pp. 488.)
This book relates almost entirely to the Oregon Trail and other matters
and people in Jefferson county, Nebraska. In fact, Jefferson county is
made a secondary part of the title. It is full of incidents connected
with the early settlements of that locality, in the 1850s, 1860s and
into the 1870s. It goes back of those dates in telling of the coming
of the Spaniards in the 1500s, of the French in the 1700s and of the
Americans in the first years of the 1800s. The wars of the Indians
and with the Indians occupy considerable space, and also the lawless
acts of the white frontiersmen. The Trail is mentioned continually
in connection with these events, and with the great movements of
immigration to Oregon, Utah and California before the completion of
the Union Pacific Railroad. The book contains a great number of short
biographies, and sightly illustrations, chiefly portraits. No doubt
this work is highly prized in its home locality, and in future years
will there be looked upon as a first service historical authority.
The reviewer somewhat depreciates the use of "Trail" in connection
with the magnificent highway referred to. "Trail" is a recent day
appellation. It was the finest and greatest road in the United States,
and probably in the world, being two thousand miles in length, of great
width, six or eight teams driving abreast; of easy grades and of good,
surface--in nowise resembling the ordinary understanding of a trail.
How truthful and reliable these Nebraska tales are it is, of course,
impossible for one at this distance to say. We will suppose they are
all right. Some other statements are not. What will be thought, for
instance, of this sentence, taken from page 22: "Prior to Dr. White's
band of colonists, a Dr. Whitman, who was a missionary in the Puget
Sound country, where he had settled in 1835 with a colony of Americans,
and where there were only about 150 white people living at this early
date, was sent to Washington. D. C., to place the situation of that
section before Congress, setting forth the fears of the American
residents that England had intentions of forcibly adding this vast
country to her domain."
THOMAS W. PROSCH.
* * * * *
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY, 1877-1913. By Charles A. Beard, Associate
Professor of Politics in Columbia University. (New York, The Macmillan
Company, 1914, Pp. 397.)
Professor Beard, whose work in opening new paths in historical study
ranks him among the most virile writers and thinkers, breaks another
historical tradition in the present volume. Constantly being confronted
by the facts that students know almost nothing of the elementary facts
of American history since the Civil War, Professor Beard concluded
to break down one reason for it--by presenting a handy guide to
contemporary history.
This volume like all Professor Beard's writings is vigorous,
stimulating and incisive. It is not meant to be the final word, but it
is hoped that it will stimulate "on the part of the student some of
that free play of mind which Matthew Arnold has shown to be so helpful
in literary criticism." The work was well worth doing and has been
exceptionally well done.
* * * * *
VIRGINIA UNDER THE STUARTS, 1607-1688. By Thomas J. Wertenbaker, Ph. D.
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1914. Pp. 271.)
Doctor Wertenbaker presents a neatly printed volume in which the story
of Virginia's history is rewritten in the light of the results of
modern research into the documentary side of Virginia's early colonial
history. He has made no claims of originality but appreciating the need
of a history of Virginia which takes into account the newer discoveries
of manuscripts, legislative journals and letters, and the work put
forth in monographs, he has rewritten the account. Students of Virginia
history who have not had access to this new material, or the time to
digest it will thoroughly appreciate Doctor Wertenbaker's services. May
his good example be followed by others.
* * * * *
LES ETATS-UNIS D'AMERIQUE. By Baron D'Estournelles de Constant. (Paris,
Librairie Armand Colin, 1913. Pp. 536. 5 fr.)
This volume of observations upon the United States is based upon the
author's extended trip through this country in the year 1911. While on
his journey he wrote a series of letters for publication in "Le Temps"
of Paris and these letters have been revised and printed in book form.
The volume forms a most interesting study of American characteristics
as seen by this distinguished foreigner. With rare discernment he has
caught the spirit of all that is best in our American life and the
book should go far toward cementing the friendly relations existing
between France and the United States. While written primarily for his
own countrymen, it will be read with great pleasure by those whose
activities are so appreciatively described. Particularly complimentary
are the author's impressions of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
* * * * *
THE POWER OF IDEALS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. By E. D. Adams, Ph. D.
Professor of History, Leland Stanford, Jr. University. (New Haven, Yale
University Press, 1913. Pp. 159.)
Five lectures delivered at Yale University on The Responsibilities
of Citizenship are collected by Professor Adams into a handsome and
stimulating little volume. In a sense they are an offset to the
prevailing emphasis in American History upon economic and geographic
influences, for Professor Adams, without denying the influence of these
factors, emphasizes the power of five ideals that have played a large
part in American History. These ideals are nationality, anti-slavery,
manifest destiny, religion and democracy.
* * * * *
LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF NORTHWEST HISTORY. By Glenn N. Ranck.
(Vancouver, Washington, 1914. Pp. 152.)
The title does not fully cover this book and it is doubtful if any
title could do so. It comprises a collection of Mr. Ranck's writings in
prose and verse. Mr. Ranck was born in the city of Vancouver where he
still lives. He served in the Spanish American war and has held many
public offices including that of legislator and register of the United
States Land Office. He has a lively interest in the dramatic incidents
of Northwestern history and these he has tried to catch in the meshes
of his verse and colorful prose.
The book makes an interesting addition to the growing literature of the
Northwest. Future writers are sure to find helpful suggestions here of
fact and fancy. Present day readers will find the book entertaining as
it springs from one of the most historic portions of the Pacific Coast.
* * * * *
ANNUAL REPORT, 1911. VOLUME II. By American Historical Association.
(Washington, 1913. Pp. 759.)
This is an important addition to Americana. It does not, however, touch
the Northwest and therefore will receive no extended notice in this
Quarterly. It comprises the correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander
H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb.
* * * * *
LIST OF REFERENCES ON THE HISTORY OF THE WEST. By Frederick Jackson
Turner. (Cambridge, Harvard University Press. 1913. Pp. 129.)
Professor Turner will participate in the summer sessions of the
University of Oregon and the University of Washington during 1914. Thus
the pamphlet, prepared for Harvard University, will have a distinct
interest for many on the Pacific Coast. Aside from that peculiar
interest it has an important value for all students and writers of
Western history for he cites a wealth of authorities which he has
grouped in handy workable form.
* * * * *
A HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN MODERN TIMES. By Frank Pierreport Graves.
(New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. 410. $1.10 net.)
This book does not particularly relate to the Pacific Coast, but it
deserves mention here because the author was for a number of years
President of the University of Washington. Dr. Graves now has five
volumes to his credit mostly in this field of the history of education.
His work is attracting favorable attention and has led to repeated
promotions from one university to another, the last being to the
University of Pennsylvania.
* * * * *
A HUMANITARIAN STUDY OF THE COMING IMMIGRATION PROBLEM ON THE PACIFIC
COAST. By Charles W. Blanpied. (San Francisco, 1913, Pp. 63.)
This is a digest of the proceedings of the Pacific Coast Immigration
Congress held in San Francisco, April 14-15, 1913, and of the
Immigration Congress held in Tacoma, February 21-22, 1912. The chief
value of the pamphlet lies in its reflection of the effort by the
awakened citizenship of the Pacific Coast to prepare for problems that
are sure to arise on the completion of the Panama canal.
* * * * *
REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF LANDS FOR THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
FOR 1913. By William R. Ross. (Victoria. William H. Cullin, Printer to
the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1914. Pp. 505.)
With maps, illustrations, tables of statistics and voluminous
descriptive matter, this book is useful to students as it covers what
was once a part of the Old Oregon Country. The province of British
Columbia does many things in this line and it always does them well.
* * * * *
THE UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION OF 1904. By David R. Francis. (St. Louis,
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, 1913, 2 Volumes. Pp. 703 and
431.)
Since there have been two expositions in the Pacific Northwest and
another, much larger one, is being built in San Francisco for the year
1915, these books have a distinct interest for the Pacific Coast.
There is another and more intimate reason for such interest. The
Western states participated in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition which
facts are revealed in the letter press and the beautiful illustrations
of the two large volumes. The books are sent with the compliments of
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company and bear the autograph of its
President, David R. Francis.
* * * * *
THE MOUNTAINEER, SECOND OLYMPIA NUMBER. (Seattle, The Mountaineers,
Incorporated, 1913. Pp. 87.)
MAZAMA. (Portland, Oregon, The Mazamas, 1913. Pp. 85.)
SIERRA CLUB BULLETIN. JANUARY, 1914. (San Francisco, Sierra Club, 1914.
Pp. 125-220.)
These three publications cover the last year's mountaineering
in Washington, Oregon and California. They are all beautifully
illustrated. With the exception of one article the contents of The
Mountaineer are devoted wholly to the mountains, flowers, glaciers and
rivers of Washington. The other two publications deal with their own
localities and yet each of them carry articles also about mountain
explorations in Washington. Readers of this Quarterly will therefore
find valuable material in all three of these beautiful mountain books.
* * * * *
JOURNAL FROM DECEMBER, 1836, TO OCTOBER, 1837. By William H. Gray.
(Walla Walla, Whitman College Quarterly, Volume XVI, No. 2. June, 1913.
Pp. 79.)
Mr. Gray was the lay member of the famous Whitman mission. This
fragment is all that is now known to be in existence of Gray's journal.
It is here published for the first time. The manuscript was obtained
from Mrs. Jacob Kamm (nee Caroline Gray) of Portland, Oregon. The major
portion of the journal tells of a journey "back to the states" from the
mission. But it also tells of doings at the missions of Whitman and
Spalding and mentions a number of the Hudson's Bay Company men of that
day. Whitman College is to be congratulated for giving the Northwest
this interesting piece of source material.
* * * * *
THE VANISHING RACE, THE LAST GREAT INDIAN COUNCIL. By Dr. Joseph K.
Dixon. (New York. Doubleday, Page & Company, 1913. Pp. 231. $3.50.)
This is a most beautiful book of the Indian. The author had charge of
Rodman Wanamaker's three expeditions to study the Indian. On these
expeditions the author made some wonderfully good pictures of the
Indian. Eighty photogravures of these pictures illustrate this book.
They would tell the story without words. The frontispiece is "The Last
Outpost" and the last picture is "The Empty Saddle." The letter press
tells the story of a great, intelligent effort to help the Indian
enter upon a new career as a citizen of the United States. The author,
while passing through Seattle on his last expedition, told the present
reviewer that he believed that if the United States had spent half as
much time and effort on the citizenship of the Indian as had been spent
on the negro half of our National Congress would now be composed of
Indians. He is enthusiastic over the possible future of the Indian and
his enthusiasm pervades the pages of this attractive and valuable book.
* * * * *
MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL HISTORICAL
SOCIETIES AND WRITERS IN MICHIGAN. By George Newman Fuller, Secretary.
(Lansing, State Printers, 1913. Pp. 41 and 45.)
These are the first two bulletins of the Michigan Historical
Commission. Their titles show how sensibly that state is proceeding in
this important field of work.
* * * * *
Other Books Received
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY. Alabama Official and
Statistical Register. Compiled by Thomas M. Owen. (Montgomery, Brown,
1913. Pp. 344.)
CLODD, EDWARD. The Childhood of the world. A simple account of man's
origin and early history. (N. Y. Macmillan, 1914. Pp. 240. $1.25.)
DWIGHT, MARGARET VAN HORN. A Journey to Ohio in 1810. Edited by Max
Farrand. (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1913. Pp. 64.)
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. Annual Report for the year 1913.
(Chicago, Field Museum, 1914. Pp. 273-363.)
HENGELMULLER, LADISLAS BARON. Hungary's Fight for National Existence;
or, The History of the Great Uprising Led by Francis Rakoczi II,
1703-1711. (N. Y. Macmillan, 1913. Pp. 342. $3.25.)
INNES, ARTHUR D. History of England and the British Empire. To be in
four volumes. Volume 1, to 1485; Volume 2, 1585-1688. (N. Y. Macmillan,
1913. Pp. 539; 553. Each, $1.60.)
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION. Progress Report On the Reference by
the United States and Canada in re Levels of the Lake of the Woods.
(Washington Govt. 1914. Pp. 186.)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Report for the year ending June 30, 1913.
(Washington, Govt. 1913. Pp. 269.)
MACAULAY, LORD. History of England From the Accession of James II.
Edited by Charles Harding Firth. To be in six volumes. (London,
Macmillan, 1913. Volume 1. Pp. 516. $3.25.)
MORLEY, JOHN. On History and Politics. (N. Y. Macmillan, 1914. Pp. 201.
$1.)
OGILVIE, WILLIAM. Early Days on the Yukon. The Story of its Gold Finds.
(London, Lane, 1913. Pp. 306. $1.50.)
SEATTLE BAR ASSOCIATION. Annual Report, 1913. (Seattle, Association,
1913. Pp. 72.)
TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD. Popular Government: Its Essence, Its Permanence
and Its Perils. (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1913. Pp. 283.
$1.15.)
VEDDER, HENRY C. The Reformation in Germany. (N. Y. Macmillan, 1914.
Pp. 466. $3.)
WASHINGTON STATE BAR ASSOCIATION. Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth
Annual Convention, 1913. (Olympia, Association, 1913. Pp. 204.)
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Course in Current Events