Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/11

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Although Oregon is but thinly populated, clearly defined stages in its development are apparent and may be marked out from the facts already well authenticated. These facts may be grouped in various ways according to the purpose of the writer, but it is evident that the "Social Evolution" of Oregon must be primarily a question of industrial evolution, and the facts must be grouped accordingly.

The acquisition of a livelihood is the motive which operates most powerfully in bringing population together in sufficient numbers to create a social organization of any kind; it is the motive which holds the population together and renders possible that adaptation to environment and integration of elements which result in the various institutions of social life. While industry is in no sense the most important feature of social life, it is, nevertheless, the thing which lies most nearly at the foundation. It bears to the social organism the same rela-