Page:The Pacific Monthly volume 4.djvu/183




 * McLOUGHLIN AND OLD OREGON.
 * By Eva Emery Dye.
 * A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago.

Old Oregon! What memories and ghosts arise at the sound of that name! Astor, Bonneville, Lewis, Clarke, McLoughlin, Whitman and Benton live again by the magic of these two words. Cities, mills and railroads disappear and in their places are once more the virgin forests and unbroken prairies, disturbed only by wild animals or an occasional hunter and trapper.

It is hard to realize that less than three-quarters of a century ago Oregon was the ground on which the Hudson's Bay Company (powerfully intrenched and with almost unlimited resources,) and the vanguard of the great army of immigrants from the East were fighting their first battles for supremacy. Sometimes the battles were bloodless—and sometimes not, but every inch of ground was contested and the question of possession finally became a serious one, threatening international complications.

The author terms her book a "chronicle," but she has made every page speak, and the narrative reads like a thrilling romance. Old Dr. McLoughlin, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, is the central figure, of course, and stands out from the others—commanding and collossal. Mrs. Dye here proves beyond question his goodness of heart and his generosity, even to those opposed to his company's interests. The old doctor reigned like a feudal baron at the company's headquarters, old Fort Vancouver, and dispensed his hospitality with a lavish hand. The description of the life here is particularly interesting — the departure and return of the trapping parties, the Christmas festivities, the Indians trading bales of furs for ammunition and supplies—all make pictures bright with color and fascinating in detail.

The "chronicle" begins with the year 1832 and is carried up through the intensely exciting period between that year and 1857, when the good doctor breathed his last at Oregon City. The Whitman mission and massacre, the Cayuse war, the settlement of French Prairie, the controversy over the boundary (which came so near causing bloodshed), are only a few of the dramatic incidents which Mrs. Dye relates with much force in this volume. Few there are who can make history seem a part of today, but she brings back the past and the scenes live before you.

In addition to its literary value, the volume is a fine specimen of the bookbinder's art and will appeal to the lover of the beautiful as well as the student.

The people of Oregon are under deep obligations to the author of this work, which must have required a vast amount of labor and research. From the first lines to the last her enthusiasm never flags, the narrative goes on with everincreasing interest—almost breathless at times—and it is safe to predict that when the future collector of history looks fondly over his treasures none will appeal to him more strongly than "McLoughlin and Old Oregon," by Eva Emery Dye.


 * THE KLONDIKE STAMPEDE.
 * By Tappan Adney.
 * Harper & Bros., N. Y.

The Klondike excitement has now become a matter of history. The feverish rush is over and development is going on in a business-like way. The historian now has data and facts hitherto unattainable which will serve to guide the future investor or prospector.

Those conversant with affairs in Alaska had long known of rich deposits of gold at different points, but it was not until early in the summer of 1897 that news was telegraphed broadcast of the