# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Number 1/Reviews

REVIEWS
John McLoughlin, Patriarch of the Northwest, by Robert C. Johnson, Metropolitan Press, Portland, 1935, 302 pages, $2.50.
By Claire Warner Churchill
In the book, John McLoughlin, Patriarch of the Northwest, Robert C. Johnson has presented not a single portrait of an unusual man, but a whole gallery of delightful pictures, each complete to the minutest detail. This passion for detail, with which the author fills his pages, is particularly appropriate for a discussion of Dr. John McLoughlin. The venerable factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's post at Vancouver concerned himself not only with the larger matters of business and governmental policy, but devoted himself to the smallest detail of life at Vancouver and at the many posts throughout the northwest.
Mr. Johnson does not add to our conception of Dr. John McLoughlin. He does not discover new source material, but he does fill in the detail of background which makes his biography of the patriarch vital and sentient. He shows that the enmity which existed between McLoughlin and Governor Simpson grew out of basic differences in personality as well as to disagreements about policy. His treatment of the Oregon City land claim controversy is a direct presentation of facts without judgment or bias. Not the least pleasing of the chapters is his description of travel over the overland trail, which was adapted from Jesse Applegate's “Day with a Cow Column.”
The grotesque and the beautiful in British and American costume of the period, the comic adaptation of elements from each in native dress are faithfully presented. Picturesque ceremonials of the two nations as they competed for possession of the Oregon territory, the grandeur of Chinook chieftains treading a pathway lined with beaver pelts, the simplicity of natural beauty, the unrestraint of the regales with which men home from winter in the wilderness relieved their loneliness,—all these are woven into a narrative which is characterized by a straightforward journalistic style.
McLoughlin is more than the central figure in this concise history of the Oregon territory; he is the fabric upon which a hundred patterns of primitive life are embroidered, details which heretofore have been found in widely separated sources.
The book is illustrated with portraits and prints, with decorative chapter headings by Constance Cole. It adds another volume to the growing list of Metropolitan Press publications.
Joab Powell, Homespun Missionary, by M. Leona Nichols. Metropolitan Press, Portland, 1935, 116 pages, $1.50.
By E. Ruth Rockwood
That picturesque pioneer circuit-rider, Joab Powell, is the subject of Mrs. Nichol's new book which incidentally includes considerable material on the early history of the Baptist Church in Oregon. Numerous anecdotes of his peculiarities can be found in various places, such as Mattoon's Baptist Annals of Oregon, Down's History of the Silverton Country, Kennedy's Pioneer Campfire and in newspaper articles. From all this scattered material, as well as from personal interviews and correspondence, Mrs. Nichols has produced a popular and interesting biography. She has not minimized Powell's eccentricities; indeed, she has related all the entertaining stories about him, but nevertheless she has made clear the power he had over his audiences and the esteem ​in which he was held by his associates. Sources are not given for her statements, but there is a bibliography listing probably everything that can be found in regard to him.
Steel of Empire, by John Murray Gibbon, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1935, 423 pages, $3.50.
By Jonas A. Jonasson
This narrative is essentially the story of the opening of transcontinental transportation in Canada, and of the world importance of the Canadian Pacific Railway during the sixty years since its completion in 1885. Approximately one-third of the volume is devoted to the relatively familiar story of the search for the northwest passage, the exploration of the west, the coming of the fur traders and their successors on the frontier, and to the political negotiations which preceded any definite steps to build a transcontinental railway on British soil. To the well informed student of western history this introduction will seem needlessly long and detailed. For the general reader, however, it will furnish background against which the strategic importance of the Canadian Pacific in British imperial communications can more readily be understood. The consistently maintained view is that the "CPR" is not simply a Canadian project but an extremely significant link in a chain of transportation systems encircling the globe.
The thrilling story of the growth of the company, with its diverse interests which include steamships, hotels, mining properties, land agencies, irrigation developments, a telegraph system, and an express service in addition to the railway itself, is interestingly told. Its powerful rivals like the Northern Pacific, the present Great Northern and its predecessors, and the Canadian National are treated with reasonable fairness. Extensive use is made of quoted correspondence. Most of it adds life to the narrative, but some could be skimmed without loss to the reader.
The format of the book is attractive. It contains over one hundred halftones besides seventeen reproductions of paintings in color and many line drawings. Three large maps inserted in the text and one inside the covers of the book are useful. The serious student, however, will regret the incompleteness of citations to sources, both in the text and the selected bibliography. The few typographical errors are not numerous enough to detract from the value of a book which Americans as well as Canadians could read with profit as well as real pleasure.
The first number of the Pacific Northwest Quarterly, January, 1936, which supersedes the Washington Historical Quarterly, is attractive in format and typography, and contains three very interesting articles: "Code Making in Early Oregon," by Arthur S. Beardsley; "Lumbering and Logging in the Puget Sound Region in Territorial Days," by Iva L. Buchanan; "The Simeon G. Reed Collection of Letters and Private Papers," by Dorothy Johansen. A document, "Reminiscences of Francis M. Redfield, Chief Joseph's War," edited by Floy Laird, and book reviews complete the number. The magazine is under the editorship of Merrill Jensen, with an editorial board composed of members from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.
Under the title of "Sketches of Interesting Personalities," The Christian Register, Boston, November 28, 1935, presents a biography of Dr. Thomas Lamb Eliot, pastor emeritus of the Unitarian Church, Port​land. The sketch was printed on the 70th wedding anniversary of Dr. and Mrs. Eliot, and is offered as a tribute to them.
Pursuant to its plan for a Whitman centennial celebration at Walla Walla in August, 1936, the Whitman Centennial, Inc., has issued a Brief, Requesting Assistance in the Restoration of the Grounds and Reconstruction of the Buildings of the Waiilatpu Mission. It gives briefly the story of Waiilatpu, preliminary activities, drawings and specifications for the rebuilding of the mission.
"Two Documents from Radisson's Suit against the Company," is a contribution of Grace Lee Nute, curator of manuscripts of the Minnesota Historical Society, to the Beaver, December, 1935. Radisson brought suit against the Hudson's Bay Company in 1694, for nonpayment of money due him. The documents here printed are the bill of complaint and the reply, and furnish valuable data on Radisson and des Groseilliers, and the early history of the Hudson's Bay Company. Miss Nute, after diligent search, found the documents in the chancery records of the public record office, London.
The document "Sitting Bull's Own Narrative of the Custer Fight," edited by W. N. Sage, and printed in the Canadian Historical Review, June, 1935, brought forth a severe criticism from W. J. Ghent, who characterized it as wholly valueless. Mr. Ghent's letter and Mr. Sage's reply appear in the Canadian Historical Review, December, 1935.
Hudson's Bay House, Winnipeg, has been collecting books from the old libraries of Fort Simpson and York factory. Their search has resulted in gathering together 1297 volumes, dating from 1678 to 1875. Many of the books bear on the fly leaf the names of their former owners. An article describing the collection, by C. E. L'Ami, is in the Beaver, December, 1935.
The Indiana History Bulletin, January, 1936, prints the plan for erecting historical markers in that state that offers helpful suggestions for other communities undertaking the same work. The marking of historic sites is one of the projects of the WPA. The location of each sign and its inscription must be approved by the historical bureau, which is part of the state department of education. The standards are to be uniform. All markers are to be at the side of the right of way of state highways. When sites of importance are not on the highways they will be indicated by markers stating the distance and direction of such sites from the marker on the highway. It is recommended that inscriptions should contain not more than fifty words, nor more than one or two facts and dates.
​THE MINNESOTA Historical Society has issued a pamphlet, Copying Manuscripts, giving rules for copying manuscripts that should be of service, especially to copyists of old documents and letters. The instructions were compiled by Grace Lee Nute, curator of manuscripts of the society, to enable the copyist to give a faithful representation of the original manuscript, and also one that could be easily understood by the reader.