course on Contemporary History running the second semester. The course
is given by various men on problems of historical import of the last
decade. Among the questions handled are: The Monroe Doctrine; China
as a Republic; the Mexican Situation; the Undoing of Ireland; The
Balkan Question; the Growth of a Religion of Democracy; the Economic
Interpretation of History; the Relation of Natural Science to History;
German Imperialism; etc. The course is open to all classes except the
freshman; about one hundred students have elected the course. While
the public increased the audience to about two hundred persons at each
lecture.
History Teachers' Club
On Saturday noon, March 21st, at the Good Eats Cafeteria, Seattle,
twelve history teachers of the grades, high schools and University
met and discussed the need and desirability of the formation of a
History Club. Such a club has had a successful life of six years
at San Francisco dealing with history in the different trades and
professions--men from these walks give the history men the value of
history to their lines of work. This idea was accepted by those present
on Saturday; and another question was urged as a worthy and vital
question for mutual discussion: the relation of the three parts of the
public school system to history teaching on the basis of the belief
that a better understanding among the three sets of teachers would
result in good to the pupils. It was unanimously voted to attempt such
a club to deal in the beginning with these two subjects. The question
of time, place of meeting, organization, and the first program was left
to Mr. Flemming, Seattle, and his committee of three. He hopes to have
the first meeting early in May in Seattle. It was also the hope that
the Club could serve the interests of the teachers in the grades and
high schools of Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, and other cities about the
Sound, and the University. Professor J. N. Bowman, of the University,
was elected temporary chairman.
Seattle Historical Society
A number of ladies, mostly of pioneer families, have organized and
incorporated the Seattle Historical Society. The first officers
selected are as follows: President, Mrs. Morgan J. Carkeek;
vice-president, Mrs. William Pitt Trimble; secretary, Mrs. Redick H.
McKee; treasurer, Mrs. William F. Prosser; historian, Mrs. Thomas W.
Prosch; trustees, Judge C. H. Hanford, Judge George Donworth, Judge R.
B. Albertson, Miss M. L. Denny, Lawrence J. Colman and Professor E.
S. Meany. Manuscript records of the old pioneers are being collected,
as also are pictures, books, diaries and relics. Cooperation has been
cheerfully extended by Librarian W. E. Henry and Curator of the Museum
F. S. Hall, of the University of Washington. That cooperation has been
accepted and for the present, at least, the Society's collections will
be cared for at the University. There is every indication that this new
organization will do much toward awakening interest in the luring field
of local history.
Death of an Efficient Man
While going home on the evening of November 1, A. F. Muhr dropped dead
in the street car. The event proved a shock to a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances. For many years Mr. Muhr had been in charge of the
photographic studio of Edward S. Curtis. It was he who gave personal
attention to the development of the negatives made in the field by Mr.
Curtis for his monumental work on the North American Indian. In the
prefaces of those great volumes, Mr. Curtis has frequently commended
the skill, patience and efficiency of his prized assistant. Before
coming to Seattle, Mr. Muhr had made a name for his own photographs of
Indians, many of which received high awards at exhibitions. With all
his talent he was a very modest man and was loved by all who knew him.
History of Thurston County
A brief prospectus from Olympia announces the fact that the Thurston
County Pioneer Association plans to publish a volume in 1914 to contain
the proceedings of the organization from its inception four years ago.
There will be included personal reminiscences of old-time residents
and other data, "the whole to form a beginning and foundation for
the future permanent and reliable history of the county." The little
prospectus is issued for the association and is signed by Allen
Weir, secretary, and Mrs. G. E. Blankenship, treasurer. The scope of
the proposed book will depend upon the response received from the
prospectus.
Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association
There are several matters pertaining to the twenty-ninth annual meeting
of the American Historical Association which should be of interest to
the historians of the Pacific Coast.
In the first place, notwithstanding the great distance to Charleston,
South Carolina, there were three delegates from the Pacific
Coast--Professors H. Morse Stephens and R. F. Schloz of the University
of California and Professor Edmond S. Meany of the University of
Washington.
During the last year efforts have been made to get a fuller expression
of sentiment from the general membership as to the selection of
officers. On a committee for that purpose Professor E. B. Krehbiel
of Stanford University represented the Pacific Coast. At his request
the members of the Association in the University of Washington held a
meeting and by unanimous choice selected Professor George Lincoln Burr
of Cornell for the position of second vice-president to be promoted, as
is the custom, to the presidency. Others must have had the same thing
in mind, for Professor Burr was regularly nominated and elected.
Professor H. Morse Stephens of the University of California was
promoted to the first vice-presidency and will become president in
1915. That is especially fortunate as the Association will hold
an extra meeting in San Francisco during the summer of that year.
President Stephens will then be the chief host to the organization at
his own home.
Similarly, Professor A. C. McLoughlin of the University of Chicago will
serve as president during 1914, when the regular meeting will be held
in Chicago.
Preparations are already under way for the special meeting in San
Francisco in 1915. The chairman of the general committee is Rudolph
Julius Taussig, Secretary of the Panama Pacific International
Exposition Company, and Professor E. D. Adams of Stanford University
is chairman of the programme committee. The programme will deal wholly
with historical problems of countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.
At the Charleston meeting the Pacific Coast was recognized further by
having Professor H. E. Bolton of the University of California placed on
the Historical Manuscripts Commission; F. J. Teggart of the University
of California on the Committee on Bibliography; Professor William
A. Morris of the University of California on the General Committee;
Professor Joseph Schafer of the University of Oregon on the Committee
on Nominations.
A citizen of the State of Washington on passing through Virginia will
see much of interest to remind him of the great American for whom his
State is named. The Virginia State Historical Society is housed in
Richmond in the building used by General Robert E. Lee as a residence
during the Civil War. Among the prized collections there is a musket
carried to the Pacific Coast and back by a member of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition.
Probably the most interesting portion of the programmes at the South
Carolina meetings was that devoted to military history. There were
several papers relating to Charleston's part in the Civil War and
during the same afternoon the entire convention was taken on an
excursion to Fort Sumter, a memorable event for the northern visitors.
NORTHWESTERN HISTORY SYLLABUS
[The aim of this department is to furnish outlines that will aid those
who wish to study the subject systematically. It is expected that its
greatest use will be as a guide for members of women's clubs, literary
societies, and classes in colleges or high schools. It will be a form
of university extension without the theses and examinations necessary
for the earning of credits toward a degree.]
IX. Territory of Oregon
1. Treaty of 1846.
a. Northern boundary fixed.
b. Accepted as a compromise.
c. Really a diplomatic triumph.
2. Organic Law of Oregon.
a. Congress passed the act, 14 August, 1848.
b. Boundaries from 42 degrees to 49 degrees and from Rocky
Mountains to Pacific Ocean.
3. First Officers.
a. Governorship refused by Abraham Lincoln.
b. Accepted by General Joseph Lane.
c. Joseph Meek, United States Marshal.
d. Samuel R. Thurston, Delegate to Congress.
4. Laws.
a. Anti-slavery laws.
b. New counties created.
5. Gold Excitement.
a. Settlers diverted to California.
b. Gold-dust currency.
c. California precedes Oregon into Union.
6. Division of Oregon.
a. Washington Territory created, 1853.
7. Indian Wars.
a. Rogue River War.
b. Other wars and treaties.
8. Oregon Attains Statehood.
a. Date, February 14, 1859.
b. First United States Senators
c. Other officers of new state.
* * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Books for the above outline are easily available in most
of the libraries in the Northwest. New ones are appearing continually,
but the ones cited below will cover the field satisfactorily.
BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE. Works of. Vol. XXX. This is Vol. II. of his
History of Oregon. It starts with "Condition of Affairs in 1848" and
carries the narrative to the year 1888.
COMAN, KATHARINE. Economic Beginnings of the Far West. Vol. II. Pp.
113-166. This is one of the newer books. The chapter cited is entitled:
"Acquisition of Oregon," the latter part of which bears especially on
this outline.
DEADY, M. P. The Organic and Other General Laws of Oregon, 1845-1864.
The official publication of Oregon laws, compiled by Judge Deady and
published by H. L. Pittock, Public Printer, 1866, is a convenient form
in which to study the laws of Oregon Territory.
JOHNSON, SIDONA V. A Short History of Oregon. Part Four of this
compact little book deals with the portion of Oregon history under
consideration.
MEANY, EDMOND S. History of the State of Washington. Consult chapter XV
and the first part of chapter XVI.
SCHAFER, JOSEPH. A History of the Pacific Northwest. Chapters XIV, XV,
and XVI will be helpful for this study.
WOODWARD, WALTER C. Political Parties in Oregon, 1843-1868. This
new book should be in all Northwestern libraries. Its title conveys
its true usefulness for a study of Oregon in territorial and early
statehood days.
HISTORY TEACHERS' SECTION
The History Teachers' Section, inaugurated in this number, will be
edited by various members of the editorial staff. The Section will be
devoted to questions and problems of interest to the teacher of history
in the high schools and colleges. This first number will be given to
a survey of the magazines edited in the interest of the teaching of
history.
* * * * *
The HISTORY TEACHERS MAGAZINE is edited by the McKinley Publishing
Co., Philadelphia, under the supervision of a committee of the
American Historical Association. The first number appeared September
1909, under the sole editorship of Dr. Albert E. McKinley; financial
difficulties arose and caused the suspension of publication from June,
1911, to February, 1912, when it came under the present supervision of
the American Historical Association. The contents cover a wide range
of interests: Articles of a general character on subject matter or
methodology of history; Reports from the Historical Field; Periodical
literature; Book Reviews; and Recent Historical Publications. In the
January, 1914, number, Waldo L. Cook, of the Springfield (Mass.)
Republican, published the address he gave before the New England
History Teachers' Association last April on The Press in its Relation
to History. He discussed in full the "cause of the reporter," and
concluded that the case "might also be said to be in the hands of you
teachers of history; your ennobling influence upon the press of the
future, and consequently upon the history which shall be born of the
future, may become incalculable if your teaching is aflame with the
ideal that facts are sacred and that truth is holy." In the next number
Dr. Jameson, of the Carnegie Foundation, has an article on the Typical
Steps of American Expansion wherein he traces through the expansion
of American territory his contention that "the processes we have
been following were mainly the fruit, not of artificial intrigue and
political conspiracy, but of natural economic and social development,
on the part of men chiefly engaged in the great human occupation of
making a quiet living." Perhaps the most important article in the March
number is A Hidden Cause of the Mexican War, by Moses W. Ware. In
this article he brings out the fact of the Northern holdings of Texan
securities, which joined with Southern interest in slavery; and these
two independent interests were "each equally potent in involving the
United States in the war with Mexico." Another article, in the February
number, it is hoped will be read by every history teacher in the
state: Edwin E. Slosson's A Stranger at School. It has been reprinted
from _The Independent_. It must be read to be appreciated.
A series of articles have been appearing through several numbers
dealing with the teaching of Greek History from several points of view
of both subject matter and methods. The book reviews are of passing
interest, while the recent historical publications are especially
valuable. In the latter the announcements of the books of the month are
classified according to American, Ancient, English, European, Medieval,
Miscellaneous, Biography, Government and Politics.
* * * * *
The University of Texas is now publishing a "Texas History Teacher's
Bulletin." The first number was issued November 15th, 1912; and four
numbers have appeared so far. It is published quarterly by the History
Department of the University and contains "brief, practical articles
and suggestions, discussions of local problems, occasional reprints
from The History Teachers' Magazine * * * and other educational
journals, outlines, book lists and notes, and news of history teachers
in Texas and elsewhere." The articles are of a very practical nature,
dealing with the use of maps in the class work: Local History in
various schools; use of note-books in high school work; parallel
readings; efforts to improve history teaching; is questioning essential
to good teaching; Historical Geography; sources; etc. It reprints for
its readers the book publications of the History Teachers' Magazine.
* * * * *
The English "Historical Association," formed a few years ago, does
not have as yet a regular publication. It publishes instead a series
of leaflets on subjects of interest and value to the teachers. The
following titles will give an indication of the nature: Source-books;
some books on the teaching of History in Schools; the addresses
of James Bryce on Teaching of History in Schools; Text-books;
Supplementary Reading; the address of Thomas Hodgkin on the Teaching
of History in Schools; The Teaching of Local History; Historical
Maps and Atlases; Civics in the Schools; Recent British History; The
Methods of Teaching History in Schools; Schools Historical Libraries.
The publications of the Association may be secured through the History
Teachers' Magazine.
* * * * *
In January, 1913, the Germans began the publication of a History
Teachers' Magazine called _Vergangenheit und Gegenwart_. It is edited
by Fritz Friedrich and Dr. Paul Ruhlmann, and is published by the
Teubner house in Leipzig. It is issued bi-monthly and costs 6 marks
a year. The character of the general articles may be seen from the
following titles of some of the articles: The French Peasant before
the Revolution; the new Munich history course of study; the history
teaching in France; the colonization of North America; political
training through the teaching of history; the burning of Rome and
Nero's persecution of the Christians; the eastern border of German
culture; the newspaper in the upper schools; the evolution of types
of war-ships from Trafalgar to the present; State and Church; the
History of Civilization in the teaching of History in the upper
classes; and in the last number, March, 1914, there was published
the translation of the presidential address before the Pacific Coast
Branch of the American Historical Association at Berkeley, November,
1912, given by Professor A. B. Show, of Stanford University, on The New
Culture-History in Germany. It was published in full in the History
Teachers' Magazine for October, 1913.
Of especial value are the book reviews; practically half of the pages
of each number are given to this subject. In the last number, for
instance, the running comments and criticisms on books and historical
literature are arranged in the following manner: Pre-historic and
Ancient Archaeology, under which are grouped the new books on
Ethnology, Races, German Antiquities, etc.; Methodology and Didactics;
History in the Pedagogical Press. Another issue, May, 1913, arranged
the reviews in this manner: Renaissance and Reformation; History of
Religion and the Church; Methodology and Historiography. The number of
books reviewed in the March, 1914, number was 108. The number of books
reviewed in the various numbers run from 49 to 154: the average being
about 90 books.
In the first issue of the magazine there was published a call, signed
by 34 gymnasium and university teachers of the Empire, to the German
history teachers for the formation of a German History Teachers'
Association. The call was answered by 53 teachers and on September
29th, 1913, at the University of Marburg the Association was organized.
Dr. Neubauer, of Frankfort am Mein, was elected president; Professor
Ernst Bernheim, of Greifswald, vice-president; and Mr. Behrendt, of
Leipzig, secretary. The principal address was given by Professor
Bernheim on The Preparation of the History Teacher which ended in a
lengthy discussion. The next important address was on the Teaching of
History in "Prima," and this also resulted in an animated discussion.
The whole proceedings of the Marburg convention was published as a
special number of the Vergangenheit and Gegenwart in October, 1913.
The Washington Historical Quarterly
Board of Editors
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, Seattle.
J. N. BOWMAN, Seattle.
T. C. ELLIOTT, Walla Walla.
FRANK A. GOLDER, Pullman.
CEYLON S. KINGSTON, Cheney.
W. D. LYMAN, Walla Walla.
EDWARD MCMAHON, Seattle.
THOMAS W. PROSCH, Seattle.
OLIVER H. RICHARDSON, Seattle.
O. B. SPERLIN, Tacoma.
E. O. S. SCHOLEFIELD, Victoria, B. C.
ALLEN WEIR, Olympia.
Managing Editor
EDMOND S. MEANY
Business Manager
CHARLES W. SMITH
VOL. V NO. 3 JULY, 1914
_ISSUED QUARTERLY_
Contents
T. C. ELLIOTT Journal of John Work, Sept. 7th-
Dec. 14th, 1825 163
C. O. ERMATINGER The Columbia River Under Hudson's
Bay Company Rule 192
EDMOND S. MEANY Three Diplomats Prominent in the
Oregon Question 207
DOCUMENTS--A New Vancouver Journal 215
BOOK REVIEWS 225
NEWS DEPARTMENT 232
NORTHWESTERN HISTORY SYLLABUS 235
HISTORY TEACHERS' SECTION 238
THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY STATION
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Entered at the postoffice at Seattle as second-class mail matter.
The Washington University
State Historical Society
* * * * *
Officers and Board of Trustees:
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, President
JUDGE JOHN P. HOYT, Vice-President
JUDGE ROGER S. GREENE, Treasurer
PROFESSOR EDMOND S. MEANY, Secretary
JUDGE CORNELIUS H. HANFORD
JUDGE THOMAS BURKE
SAMUEL HILL
SEATTLE
DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
1914
_Vol V., No. 3 July, 1914_
The
Washington Historical Quarterly
JOURNAL OF JOHN WORK, SEPT. 7TH-DEC. 14TH, 1825
(Introduction and annotations by T. C. Elliot)
That part of this Journal covering the period from June 21st to
Sept. 6th, including the introduction thereto, is already familiar
to readers of Vol. V., No. 2 (April, 1914), of this Quarterly: a
second installment is now given, and the third and last will appear
in the October number. From September 7th to November 14th Mr. Work
is in charge of Spokane House, the Hudson's Bay Company Trading Post
located near the present city of Spokane, and his journal relates
the day-to-day occurrences there, the arrival of the express from
across the Rocky Mountains, the starting off of the clerk going to the
Kootenay District for the winter, etc. On the 14th of November Mr.
Work leaves Mr. Birnie at Spokane House and himself starts off for
his winter station at Flathead Post or Fort on the Clark Fort of the
Columbia. This journal enables us to identify positively the location
of this Flathead Fort at this time, it being several miles further up
the River than the original Saleesh House built on Thompson's Prairie
or Plain by David Thompson in 1809. The parenthetical marks are used to
designate words that are doubtful because indistinct in the original
manuscript, of which this is a copy.
JOURNAL
(Continued from Page 115, Vol. V., No. 2.)
Wed.y. 7
Fine warm weather.
The three freemen got a small supply of articles to enable them to
reach Mr. Ogden[161] and went off to join him.--I wrote to him by them.
Sent a man & an Indian off to the Kettle Falls with a supply of tools
and articles of Trade for Mr. Dears.[162]
Some of the men were employed clearing out the store and opening &
arranging some of the furs.--
Thursday 8
Sharp cold weather in the mornings but warm in the middle of the day.
The men employed about the store.--I am busy making out a (scheme) to
take an inventory and get the papers arranged.--
Little doing in the way of Trade, a few fish and roots but no beaver
worth mentioning--A horse was traded today.
Friday 9
Overcast weather.
The men were employed airing and beating the Snake furs.--
Mr. Birnie & Kittson & I taking an inventory of the goods &c in the
store.--
Saturday 10
Thunder & heavy showers of rain.
The Store is in such bad order that the least rain pours in through the
roof that scarcely anything can be kept dry except it is covered. Part
of the Snake beaver were put out in the morning to air and be beat but
the rain coming on they had to be taken in.
We are getting a few bad salmon in the barrier, but the most of them
are so bad that they can scarcely be eaten.
Sunday 11
Clear fine weather.
Monday 12
Clear fine weather.
The men employed airing and beating the beaver.--Some Pendent Oreille
Indians arrived and traded about 20 beaver.
Tuesday 13
Overcast lowering weather.
The men employed about the store.
Wed.y. 14
Clear fine weather.
The people employed about the store, the remainder of the furs were
aired and beat, they are now all piled bye in excellent order.
Getting very little fresh provisions, the barrier is producing nothing
even of the bad salmon.
Thursd.y. 15
Sent a man and an Indian off to the Kettle Falls with some provisions
& other articles required for the Express. Mr. McLeod's family[163]
accompanied them.--
The smith & one man employed making Axes. The other man cleaning up the
store & about the Fort. A few Nezperces Indians with a large band of
horses arrived from the plains, they had been collecting roots and came
on a visit. No furs.
Friday 16
Thunder & heavy showers of Rain.
The smith making Axes, the other men differently employed about the
Fort.
Satd.y. 17
Pleasant weather.
Had horses brought from the plains to set out to the Kettle Falls
tomorrow accompanied by Mr Kittson to send off the canoe with the
Express to the Rocky Mountains & see how the people are getting on with
the buildings.
After dark a man and an Indian arrived from Wallawalla in three days
with letters from Fort Vancouver dated on the 5th inst. Some for Mr
Ogden & some for the (mountain), with instructions to forward the
former by a trusty person to meet Mr Ogden at the Flat Heads or carry
them to him if it can be done with safety. I am also directed by Mr
McLoughlin to stop the buildings at Kettle Falls till the arrival of
the Express from across, because the site[164] pointed out for the Fort
is on the South side of the River.--
I wrote to Mr Dease as I have to be off early in the morning, though
the man will not get off for a day or two as his horses are fatigued.
Sunday 18