Page:In Memory of Albert Hawkins.djvu/1



of the readers of The Oregon Historical Quarterly the name of Albert Hawkins, as a historian, is sufficiently familiar—since in the very nature of inclinations and contacts they were brought into communion with the writer who for so many years, but always with careful effacement of self, contributed historical articles to the editorial page of The Oregonian. Beyond these, however, the man and his important work remain unknown—as he, indeed, preferred—but it is not an idle tribute to say of him that no historian ever has written more authoritatively, brilliantly and interestingly of the Oregon country, or with a more unselfish concept of true service.

The recent death of Mr. Hawkins is regarded, among those who knew him, as a distinct loss to what may be styled the historical cause of Oregon. As an editorial writer on The Oregonian he followed, in this respect, the footsteps of the late Harvey W. Scott, conceiving not only that history is the recorded drama of humanity—and comedy, as well—but that it should be made familiar to all, to the end that all may know the origins of their dwelling places, and the true story of their predecessors and forebears. Doubtless he would have been inclined to the study and analysis of history in any other region, had he been placed there, but certainly he found in the history of Oregon that significance and vitality which unfailingly inspired him.

Apart from his historical contributions to The Oregonian, over a long period, the work of Mr. Hawkins in this field was relatively restricted. It is true that he collaborated with Charles H. Carey in the preparation of data for Carey's History of Oregon, and that the labor and research incidental to this task were of great proportions. It also is true that he contributed occasionally to The Oregon Historical Quarterly and other similar northwestern publications, and that his counsel was often sought by institutes of learning. But these excursions from the beaten path of his career were, as contrasted with the whole, no more than occasional, as their product was minor, whatever its volume or importance, when compared with the uncollected mass