"An increasing interest in the annals of the Great American West has led to the publication of a variety of books.

Dahlin, Ebba

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228 Book Reviewsenough from the invention of the bards of the woods to give hisbook some historical significance; but chiefly he has used thesematerials as his box of toys and has made from them a story th<~tis intriguing indeed, but probably much more intriguing to book-buyers and patrons of circulating libraries than it would be to thebunkhouse cranks if it were recited to them at the camp on OnionRiver.JOSEPH B. HARRISON.The Trail Blazers._ By MARY H. WADE. (Boston: Little, Brown,and Company, 1924. Pp. 276. $1.65).Canadds Great Highway. By J. H. E. SECRETAN. (London: JohnLane, The Bodley Head Ltd., 1924. Pp. 252. $2.50).Trail Life in the Canadian Rockies. By B. W. MITCHl':LL. (NewYork: The Macmillan Co., 1924. $3.00).White Indian. By EDWIN L. SABIN. (Philadelphia: George W.Jacobs & Company, 1925. $2.00).An increasing interest in the annals of the Great AmericanWest has led' to the publication of a variety of books. Amongrecent volumes are two that deal with the Oregon Trail, one anovel, "White Indian," and the other, "The Trail Blazers" a newrendering of the Lewis and Clark expedition for boys and girlsfrom ten to fifteen. The background for the novel is found in thefar west mountain country around 1835 and its theme is the re-generation of an Englishman through the help of his squaw and awhite girl he had loved before he west West. The story is filledwith Indian life and lore and with the romance of the mountaincountry.In the second book, Miss Wade has succeeded in telling themore picturesque portions of the Lewis and Clark story with accu-racy and enthusiasm. In employing a somewhC\t conversationalstyle, she gives her account the flavor of deeds actually performedand dreams that once filled the hearts of adventurous men. Thestory of the Bird Woman is emphasized but on the whole it readsvery much as if Miss Wade had made good use of the origin;tlmaterial. The book deserves to be recommended for youngreaders.From the canoe and the pack, we turn to the railroad. InMr. Secretan's account of Canada's Great Highway, we have allinformal narrative of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railwayfrom 1871 to 1885 by an engineer who helped to build the road·Our Constitutions, National and State 229There is romance here, too, and adventure, when one thinks of allthe work that was required to make possible the present methods ofcomfortable travel. The reader will meet some delightful folks-like the guide whom they called Robinson Crusoe and the cock-ney, Bill Noble-but best of all, he will meet the writer himse~f,who loved the mountain and the stream and the crackling camp-fire.In the "White Indian", the writer asks, "Vvhcre is it now, theglory and the dream?" The answer is to be found ;n books likethese, stories of explorers, engineers, and trail blazers of todayand yesterday. The answer may also be found in the panoramathat awaits the climber when he reaches his peak in the RockyMountains. First-hand accounts are always valuable in that theyre-create for one the actual enterprise and the events connecteowith it.It is in somewhat similar spirit of adventure and good anec-dotes that Mr. Mitchell describes "Trail Life in the CanadianRockies." This book would be tremendously useful to any groupthat intends to tramp in the Rocky Mountains near Field andBanff, because the writer gives detailed information about ninesummers in this region. If the reader doesn't plan such mountain-eering he will find the accounts of the trips thoroughly interesting.There is good humor in the book and sunset or dawn, with theworld's edge in the distance, he can find both the glory and thedream.EBBA DAHLIN.Our Constitutions, National and State. By A. J. CLOUD, ChiefDeputy Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco, California,and EDMOND S. MEANY, Professor of History in the Stat~University of Washington. (Chicago, Atlanta, New York:Scott, Foresman and Company, 1925. Pp. 350. $1.00).This interesting little volume-an Elementary Text in G~;'ernment and Citizenship, for use in the State of WClshington-i5designed to meet the requirements of schools that feel the need ofinculcating in their pupils a truer appreciation of our system ofgovernment and an understanding of the dut;es of active citizen-ship. In some states the legislatures have required courses in citi-zenship and in the principles and provisions of the Federal andState Constitutions and this book will meet that need if such a lawis passed in Washington. It may be questioned whether a study

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The Trail Blazers

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The Trail Blazers

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