territorial claims, were published. Thus a body of source material was accumulating. This material contains the sources largely of the names of places of this region and constitutes the records of the origins of the communities here developing. History serves its leading purpose through such annals as the cherished home traditions. The richest and best authenticated nuclei of facts with their relations should be segregated and organized for each locality. The annotations on the text of the Boit journal here supplied through selecting the appropriate portions of the other sources conserve and focus all the light available for illuminating the stage of exploration in the history of each locality visited by the Columbia during her second voyage, and at the same time furnish the means for a more accurate and complete determination of the background of the voyage as a whole. The Quarterly had the great good fortune of interesting Judge F. W. Howay of New Westminster, British Columbia, in this project of making this prime and recently available source of Pacific Northwest History serve the largest and best purpose. Judge Howay's mastery of northwest history sources, and his large personal acquaintance with the features of the coast line now British territory make his annotations invaluable. Mr. T. C. Elliott of Walla Walla, Washington, has been a like indefatigable student of the sources of the history of the coast line south of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. He annotates the entries of the Boit log while the Columbia was on this section of the coast on her trading tours. He also contributes the annotations to the remnant of the official log of the Columbia still extant.
Turning now to the orientations of this achievement of Captain Robert Gray in connection with the course of world history. The discovery of the Columbia river recorded in the two documents here reprinted completes at the end of a three hundred year period of continuing progress, the full discovery of America which in 1492 Christopher Columbus had initiated. The western continent in its essential features as a home for civilized humanity was now revealed.
In sailing into the Columbia under the American flag Captain Gray brought into the race a new competitor for the
