Page:History of the Oregon Country volume 1.djvu/13



The late Harvey W. Scott wrote copiously upon detached episodes of Pacific Northwest history, in the course of his forty-five years of newspaper work. He also wrote frequent narratives of exploration and pioneer settlement, either for public addresses or for current publication. But his life was so fully occupied with business affairs and literary studies that he did not apply himself to the writing of a consecutive history, although urged to the task by the public need of it, by his peculiar qualifications to do the work and by his constant desire to render service to the people of the Pacific Northwest. The lack of such a consecutive history from the hand of Mr. Scott, pioneer, scholar and writer that he was, is widely regretted. But his frequent narratives and commentaries cover the range of the history so fully, that their publication in this series of volumes may well take the place of such a work.

These volumes are compiled with the desire to preserve for future uses the best and most permanent of Mr. Scott's subject-matter. The compiler has endeavored to present the writings in effective sequence, both topical and chronological. In order to add to the value and clearness of Mr. Scott's text, the compiler has contributed copious footnotes and appendices, the material of which he gained from contemporary newspaper files and many historical sources. The compiler's examination of newspaper files, seeking the articles by Mr. Scott and contemporary information, consumed twelve years of intensive reading.

Mr. Scott came to the Pacific Northwest, in 1852, from Illinois, "across the plains" by the ox -team route, as a lad of fourteen years. His travels throughout this part of the country afforded him intimate knowledge of the topography, industries and people, and his long -continued activities as reader, writer and man of affairs made him closely familiar with the annals. In the course of his forty-five Rh