"No better message could have been given by one whose work has shown such complete understanding of both peoples, nor could any plea have been more liberal in tone than this kindly farewell word from a real scholar who so recently passed this way into eternity.

Dahlin, Ebba

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Opening a Highway to the Pacific 235'Opening a Highway to the Pacific, .r838-1846. By JAMES CHRISTYBELL, JUNIOR. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1921.Pp. 211. $3.00.)Readers of the Washington Historical Quarterly will find inDr. James C. Bell's Opening a Highway to the Pacific a new inter-pretation of the events leading to the acquisition by the UnitedStates of the Oregon country. An examination of the volume showsa thorough oommand of the literature bearing upon the subject.Several rare and unusual sources have been effectively employed. Inaddition to this new material, all of the more useful and generallyaccessible items seem to have been well covered.The author's avowed purpose is to discover the motives thatC'.ctuated the immigration to Oregon, especially during the later thir-ties and earlier forties. He diagnoses the "Oregon Fever" andfinds that neither politics nor religion were essential factors. Heconcludes that the fundamental cause of the phenomenal exodus toOregon was agrarian disoontent. Over production in the MiddleWest and the hope of better markets in a new country led forththese pioneer settlers. As a class they were substantial farmers andmechanics looking for relief from a financial emergency. Theywere not radicals but rather conservatives, seeking a new geograph-ical location but not a changed position in society.As a study of economic motives, the reviewer regards this vol-ume as a substantial contribution to Oregon history. The mainflow of the author's argument, however, is impeded by extraneousmaterial. To a general reader this material adds background andatmosphere; to the student it is a source of vexation and delay. As.a whole the volume is attractive; illustrations and a map are pro-vided. The author is especially to be commended for full and ac-curate citations to the numerous authorities consulted.CHARLES W. SMITHThe Study of Americaln History. By VISCOUNT BRYCE. (NewYork: The Macmillan Company, 1922. Pp. 118. $1.50.)There could have been no better choice for the inaugural lec-turer of the new chair of American History, Literature and Insti-1utions, established by the Anglo-American Society in 1920, thanViscount Bryce, much beloved by both Americans and his own236 Book Reviewscountrymen. This chair has been named from the donor of thegift, Sir George Watson, and will not be confined to anyone in-stitution in England, nor to anyone lecturer, but is designed for aseries of lectures by both British and American scholars. This lec-ture will serve as an able introduction to the study of American His-tory, for Viscount Bryce has touched on all the main tendencies inour national life with discriminating pen. The influence of ourvast natural resources, the nature of our Revolution, and of ourCivil War, our changing immigration problem and the effect of ourconstitution-all these he has dealt with briefly and to the point.The lecture should serve as an indication of the general tone, thespirit, of the foundation, for it is a fine plea for Anglo-Americanunderstanding and untiy, not through formal alliances so much asby striving in joint responsibility of the English-speaking peoplesfor a use of their influence "to guide the feet of all mankind in theway of peace". No better message could have been given by onewhose work has shown such complete understanding of both peo-ples, nor could any plea have been more liberal in tone than thiskindly farewell word from a real scholar who so recently passedthis way into eternity.EBBA DAHLINThe Cowboy; His Characteristics, His Equipment, and His Part inthe Development of the West. By PHILIP ASHTON ROLLINS.(New York: Charles Scirbner's Sons, 1922. Pp.353. $2.50.)This book is a second attempt to present the cowboy in his truelight as a factor in the development of the western part of the Unit-ed States. About twenty-five years ago, Mr. Emerson Hough pub-lished his Story of the Cowboy in which he endeavored to disabusethe American people of the illusions it held concerning the cowboyand to call attention to the sturdy qualities of industry and reso-lution which have made the latter a force in American history.With all regard to the comprehensiveness of Mr. Hough's work,Mr. Rollins believes that another is needed along the same lines for"the 'movie man' still continues his work of smirching the cowboy's1eputableness".Mr. Rollins has spent a number of years in the cattle countryand has had an opportunity of intimate acquaintance with its peo-ple. Opening his book with a brief history of the development of

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The Study of American History

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The Study of American History

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