Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/218

 A REVIEW (Reprinted from The American Historical Review, April, 1923) History of Oregon, by Charles Henry Carey. (Chi- cago and Portland: The Pioneer Publishing Company. 1922. Pp., 1016.) The author of this book is a learned lawyer of schol- arly tastes and literary accomplishments. The portion of the book which is marked most unmistakably by the characteristics of his own pen is in style not always simple but invariably dignified and often distinguished. The work may be divided into two unequal and dis- similar parts. First, we have the early romantic period of Northwestern history terminated by the organization of the Territory of Oregon. Second, the — as here con- ceived — more pedestrian or commonplace history of the development of the state of Oregon down to the present times. Thirty-one chapters are assigned to the first part, thirteen to the second ; and, while on the basis of the rela- tive number of pages, 496 and 400 respectively, the dis- parity of interest does not seem so great, still a reading of the book will show, I think, that at least three-fourths of the author's personal interest was lavished upon the early period. That part was actually written, while much of the balance bears indubitable evidence of having been compiled by other hands, and some of the compila- tion gives an impression of the materials having been considerably diluted to fill a prescribed amount of space. Yet, much of the material thus assembled is both inter- esting and valuable. Thus the real contribution to Oregon history is found in the first part. Mr. Carey has been a discriminating student of the dramatic episodes and mooted questions with which early Northwestern history fairly bristles.