Pacific Historical Review/Volume 1/Number 1/Reviews of Books

←

Pacific Historical Review, Volume 1, Number 1

Reviews of Books

→

4115585Pacific Historical Review, Volume 1, Number 1 — Reviews of Books

Reviews of Books

Henry Villard and the Railways of the Northwest. By James Blaine Hedges. (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1930. 224 pp. $3.00).

The significance of the name of Henry Villard is obvious to anyone interested in the construction of the railroads of the Northwest. It is therefor somewhat curious to reflect that the book under review is the first adequate account of the development of the railways with which Mr. Villard was connected. Equally curious is the fact that the author is eastern rather than western in his connections, having taught at Clark University and now being connected with Brown University. The explanation of the second of these anomalies is the easier — the Villard papers at present repose in the Harvard library; this explanation is convincing, even though there have been many heart-burnings because important documents often cling to places remote from the scene of the events which they describe. The explanation of the lack of any earlier adequate consideration of Villard’s railroad work is slightly more difficult. Possibly the availability of the necessary material has been an item of importance. Speaking in more general terms, however, there has until recently been a notable lack of histories of most of our important railroad systems, in spite of their generally recognized significance and of their general interest. This lack seems now on the way to being supplied, particularly because of the various centennial histories that are now appearing, and because of the work of such capable historians as Professor Hedges. Another decade may make possible a good general history of the development of the railroads of the United States.

Mr. Hedges’ book is concerned with the development of railroad transportation in the Northwest during the years 1865 to 1895, and centers in the competition of the cities of Portland, Tacoma and Seattle for supremacy. The work has been done carefully and intelligently, and the account is well balanced. Typographical errors seem to be missing entirely, while mistakes in either fact or inference are remarkably scarce. Here and there occur some slight vaguenesses or phrases which might be questioned—for example, the use of the word “intrigues” (p. 117) to imply an apparently unfavorable judgment which does not seem to be justified, “decadent” (p. 114) as describing New England agriculture, and the strong condemnation (p. 169) of the proposal of the Portland committee. A few omissions seem hard to justify, as for example the failure to mention the Schulenburg vs. Harrison decision of 1874 in discussing the revocation of railroad land grants (p. 68). Such questionable passages are extremely few, however. The general treatment of the subject is monographic, with clear, concise, accurate statements instead of any atternpt at popularization, The inclusion of footnotes, of a short but satisfactory bibliography and of an adequate index makes the book useful for the student. Altogether, Mr. Hedges has performed a task of which he has every right to be proud. Future historians, and particularly those interested either in railroad history or in the story of the economic development of the Pacific Northwest, will be grateful to him.

Dartmouth College
Rosert E. Riegel

A History of the Pacific Northwest. By George W. Fuller. (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. xvi+383 pp. $5.00).

Twelve years have now passed since the last revision of Schafer's History of the Pacific Northwest. During this period much research has been done which has warranted another work including these results and reapportioning the emphasis upon various phases of the history of the region. This Mr. Fuller has done and done very creditably.

To those accustomed to think of the Northwest as the Willamette Valley, the book comes somewhat as a shock. Utilizing materials published in an earlier work, Mr. Fuller gives emphasis to the Inland Empire which has too long been neglected in histories of the Pacific Northwest.

Opening with two splendid chapters, one on the geology of the Northwest and the other on the Indians, the author curtails, happily, the exploration accounts into two chapters, one considering explorations by sea, the other by land. The Northwest, the Pacific Fur and the Hudson's Bay Companies each receive treatment, with the author apparently accepting Irving's account of Astoria more than is customary. The treatment of the missionary activities shows the author's emphasis. Jason Lee is treated very slightly, but the missionaries of the Inland region, Whitman, DeSmet, the Whitman massacre and the Cayuse war, are given about forty entertaining pages.

Following chapters on the boundary question, and the settlement and beginnings of government, the author turns to what seems to be one of his main interests. About one-fourth of the book deals with Indian wars but nowhere is there a discussion of these events in relation to Indian policies. There is need of a study of racial relations, and it is disappointing that the author limited himself primarily to military activities.

Two aspects, not commonly dealt with, the author has presented in an interesting manner. One is the subdivision of the Oregon Country into its various territories and the development of the territories to statehood. The other is an account of the "Social Life of the Pioneers" which unfortunately deals only with the Inland Empire and primarily with the mining frontier.

With so much of merit it is unfortunate that the book should close with two entirely inadequate chapters on economic growth. On transportation the author would have done well to have utilized Hedges' recent work on Henry Villard and the Railways of the Northwest. In the discussion of agriculture the author goes from fact to fancy. To him, apparently, agriculture has no history aside from irrigation. The present plan of the Northwest to manipulate through congress, after the manner of Boulder Dam, the Columbia Basin project, receives more attention than agriculture, flour milling, dairying, horticulture, lumbering, shipping, development of power or development of communities. In short the last two chapters come somewhat as an anti-climax. If it was his purpose to give a history since the Civil war the book is practically worthless. If it was his purpose to close the book with the Civil war period, it would seem the work should have been entitled "The Early History of the Pacific Northwest" with the Northwest defined as that part contained within the United States.

The book is well documented, containing some forty-three pages of notes, and deserves recognition among the histories of the region.

University of Oregon
John T. Ganoe

The Early Far West: A Narrative Outline, 1540-1850. By W. J. Ghent. (New York, Longmans, Green and Co., 1931. xi+411 pp. $3.50).

The geographical setting of this volume is the region between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, and the period covered extends, as the title indicates, from the time of the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca to the middle of the nineteenth century. Obviously the reviewer can give only a general summary of the contents of a work with such a broad scope.

The book is divided into two parts. The first deals with the period before the Louisiana purchase, and is divided into two lengthy chapters. The opening chapter is entitled "Spain against France," which is descriptive of the contents devoted to Spanish explorations and colonial enterprises in the southwest before 1762 and to French activities west of the Mississippi. The title of the second chapter, "Louisiana under Spain" is less indicative of its scope, for it deals not only with Louisiana, but also with the Spanish occupation of California, the voyages of the Spanish, Russians, English and Americans along the Pacific coast, and happenings in the southwest. The second part covers the American period following the Louisiana purchase, divided into five chapters averaging about sixty pages each. Here are presented accounts of explorations, fur trade development and decline, Indian affairs, the settlement of the first states west of the Mississippi, the early migrations to Oregon, the Mexican War and the acquisition of California, and kindred subjects.