The Story of the Pony Express. By Glen D. Bradley. (Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. 175. $.75.)

The Pony Express was an incidental enterprise of importance in the attempts to establish rapid communication between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast during the early sixties. Before the middle of the nineteenth century explorers and traders in the far West had established three great thoroughfares across the continent. These were the Santa Fe, the Salt Lake, and the Oregon trails. The Mormon settlement of Utah and the discovery of gold in California led to the establishment of mail routes across the country. In spite of governmental subsidies, the difficulties occasioned by the Indians, the severe weather, especially in the mountains, irregular highways and absence of bridges made communication particularly difficult and uncertain. Railroads and telegraph lines were being pushed east and west, but had not connected when the Civil War approached, and with it grave fears lest California be lost to the Union. Rapid communication was essential and into this gap was pushed the Pony Express, a thoroughly organized system of riders who carried the mails on horseback between stations maintained along the route. For sixteen months the daring men identified with this work with unsurpassed courage and unflinching endurance kept the two sections in communication with each other until, in October, 1861, telegraph wires took the place of flesh and blood as means of communication, and the Pony Express passed into history, and California was saved to the Union. The Pony Express failed in a financial way to reimburse its organizers, but it served the country well and gave another opportunity for the exercise of "man-defying American pluck and determination—qualities that have always characterized the winning of the West." Mr. Bradley's theme has much in it of romance and heroism and he has lost none of it in the telling.

Edward McMahon.

---

The Coming Canada. (The World Today Series.) By Joseph King Goodrich. Sometime Professor in the Imperial Government College, Kyoto. (Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. VIII, 309. $1.50 net.)

This book was written not for the specialist in history or political science, but for the general reader, and should be judged from that standpoint. It is largely a compilation from satisfactory authorities, but the author relies upon direct knowledge gained by travel during the past twenty-five years and he has also received suggestions and statistics from the various departmental authorities at Ottawa. The book has no independent historical value, but forms a good guide for the general reader and is well worth perusal by one who is contemplating a Canadian tour or desires a bird's view of present conditions. The range of topics is broad, covering, with the exception of present party politics and problems of racial and religious assimilation, all subjects of major interest.

One excellent chapter is devoted to sources of Canadian wealth; according to the view of the author, the greatness of The Coming Canada is founded upon agricultural products, live stock and kindred industries, rather than upon its mineral wealth. This seems to be the keynote of the book. Subjects worthy of especial mention are governmental policies for internal development, including the homestead laws; railway, past, present and future; and brief discussions of the social and economic relations of Canada and the United States. The description of local and central institutions of government is adequate for the purposes of the general reader.

The historical introduction, comprising the first quarter of the book, is the least satisfactory. It has no independent historical value and the facts may be obtained elsewhere in briefer and more satisfactory shape. The notices, however, of official processes by which the present boundaries of the Dominion were attained, are adequate.

The forty illustrations from photographs add greatly to the attractiveness of the volume; but the reviewer regrets that at least one of them could not have been replaced by a good map.

Oliver H. Richardson.

---

Subject Index to the History of the Pacific Northwest and of Alaska as Found in the United States Government Documents, Congressional Series, in the American State Papers, and in Other Documents, 1789-1881. Prepared by Katharine B. Judson, A. M., for the Seattle Public Library. (Published by the Washington State Library, Olympia, 1913. Pp. 341.)

The compiling of this index involved the examining page by page of over 2,000 volumes of documents. One can readily imagine the deadening drag of such a piece of work unless it was done by a person with a historical sense who saw what a help it would be to those making a study of Pacific Northwest history from its original sources. Those who have tried by themselves to dig out material from early documents know how helpless they are and they will readily recognize the usefulness of such a reference work as Miss Judson has compiled.

It may be interesting to note that the history of no other section of the United States has been covered by such an index.

There may be some question why the index was not brought down to a date later than 1881. This was unnecessary, as there are adequate general indexes to government documents from that year to date.

One might be led to think from the title "Subject Index" that each document included had been minutely indexed. This is not the case and it would have been impractical to have attempted to do so, but on the other hand when a document was found to include material on several topics, such, for example, as mail service, fisheries, agriculture, it has been listed under these various headings. Perhaps it is more nearly a catalogue than an index to documents. Arranged as it is under broad headings rather than specific ones, the index can scarcely be considered a ready reference tool, but I am doubtful if it could have been made so, at least not without greatly increasing the amount of work entailed in compiling it.

The index covers a much wider range of topics than the word history usually is taken to include. Banks and banking, missions, mail service, education, roads, and cost of living are some of the subject headings which are used. Accordingly it would seem that the index should prove indispensable to any one who is studying the development of the Pacific Northwest from a social, political, religious, economic, or historical point of view.

Although the index is of primary use to the serious student, still it makes available much thoroughly readable material for those who have interested themselves in the history of the Pacific Northwest merely for their own pleasure.

Charles H. Compton.

---

Guide to the Materials for United States History in Canadian Archives. By David W. Parker. (Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1913. Pp. 339.)

Of the Papers thus far issued by the Department of Historical Research of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, none can prove of greater service to American historical scholarship than the present volume. As stated by Professor Jameson in the Preface: "The constant relations between Canada and the English colonies, or the United States, during two centuries of conflict and a hundred years of peace, across the longest international line, save one, that the world has ever known, have made it inevitable that the archives of Canada should abound in documents useful, and sometimes highly important, to the history of the United States." Students of our own regional history will be astonished to find what a wealth of material is preserved in the Canadian archives, particularly in the archives of the Archbishopric of Quebec, that bears directly upon the history of Oregon and Washington. It will be particularly regretted, by students in these states, that the Archives of British Columbia located in the nearby city of Victoria could not have been adequately listed. It is stated, however, that "A complete annotated catalogue of the documents in the Provincial Archives [of British Columbia] will be issued as soon as the Department moves into the new quarters, now being built, and the material will then be available to the student."

---

An American History. By Nathaniel W. Stephenson, Professor of History in the College of Charleston. (New York, Ginn & Co. 1913. Pp. 604.)

American History and Government. By Willis M. West, Sometime Professor of History in the University of Minnesota. (New York, Allyn & Bacon, 1913. Pp. 801.)

A Short History of the United States. By John S. Bassett, Professor of History in Smith College. (New York, The Macmillan Co. 1913. Pp. 884. $2.50.)

These three new textbooks appearing within a few weeks of each other bear eloquent witness of the activity of the teaching and study of history. Prof. Stephenson's book is intended for use in the elementary schools, and is eminently fair and well balanced. Very great care has been exercised in the selection of illustrations and in some cases the author has very wisely chosen those of representative men not usually pictured in a textbook. A very large number of small maps are used to elucidate the text, and in this respect the author has set a new mark in efficient textbook making.

Bassett's Short History is a textbook for the use of college students and for readers who desire a reliable account of United States history in a single volume. In addition to these uses, it will no doubt have a wide sale as a reference book in schools whose library facilities are limited. Professor Bassett is always careful about his facts. The emphasis is well proportioned and the maps well selected. There are no illustrations. The subject matter of the volume is treated in a purely conventional way and differs very radically in this respect from Professor West's History and Government. If one could apply the terms of politics to history writing Bassett's book is conservative and West's progressive. Professor West is widely known as a textbook writer and is just as careful of his facts and proportion as Professor Bassett, but he has had a different purpose in mind. He views history not merely as political history. "The growth of our political democracy has been intertwined with the development of our economic and industrial conditions. I have tried to make this interaction the pervading principle in determining the arrangement and selection of material. * * * [and] I should not have cared to write the book at all, if I had not believed that a fair presentation of American history gives to American youth a robust and aggressive faith in democracy. At the same time, I have tried to correct the common delusion which looks back to Jefferson or John Winthrop for a golden age, and to show instead that democracy has as yet been tried only imperfectly among us."

West's selection of material has been well made with this end in view. The book is stimulating and suggestive and will meet with hearty approval from those who are disciples of the "new history" and will throw a flood of new light upon the subject for those who have studied and taught history in the conventional way. With the spread of democracy, such books as West's are bound to grow in number and use.

Edward McMahon.

---

Writings of John Quincy Adams. Edited by Worthington Ford. (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Vol. 2, 1796-1801. Pp. 531. $3.50 net.)

Volume 1 of this important set was noted in the Quarterly for April, 1913, page 131. As noted there, the readers in the Pacific Northwest are awaiting with interest the subsequent volumes containing the record of John Quincy Adams in the diplomacy of Old Oregon.

---

Decisions, July, 1912, to July, 1913. By United States Geographic Board. (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1913. Pp. 54.)

There are here given 365 decisions on geographic names. Of this total a surprising number of decisions (107) are devoted to geographic features of the State of Washington. Of these there are 56 in Whatcom County in the vicinity of Mount Baker and 49 are found in the Mount Rainier National Park. The remaining two are Mount Spokane and Portage Bay, the latter a part of Lake Union, Seattle.

---

Early American Mountaineers. By Allen H. Bent. (Reprint from Appalachia, Vol. XIII, No. 1. Pp. 45 to 67.)

Western mountains come in for a fair share of attention in this interesting little monograph. There are a number of portraits, among which may be seen those of David Douglass, the famous early botanist who wrought in the Pacific Northwest, and General Hazard Stevens, who made the first ascent of Mount Rainier with P. B. Van Trump.

---

Myths and Legends of the Great Plains. Selected and edited by Katharine Berry Judson. (Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. 205. $1.50 net.)

This is the fourth volume in the series of Myths and Legends edited by Miss Judson. Earlier volumes covering Alaska, The Pacific Northwest, and California and the Old Southwest have been noted in previous issues of this magazine.

---

One Hundred Years of Peace. By Henry Cabot Lodge. (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. 136. $1.25 net.)

This timely book should find a welcome in the State of Washington, where committees are already at work to celebrate the centennial of peace by the erection of an arch or some other form of imposing monument where the Pacific Highway passes from the United States into Canada.

---

James Harlan. By Johnson Brigham. (Iowa City, The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1913. Pp. 398.)

This latest volume in the very creditable Iowa Biographical Series (edited by Benj. F. Shambaugh) is the well told story of one of Iowa's best known sons. James Harlan was a typical Westerner, a man of rugged sincerity, an orator and debater of no mean ability, an independent and self-reliant leader of a pioneer people. The years of his political career were entangled with the anti-slavery agitation, the Civil War, and the confused and trying periods of Reconstruction. He was not perhaps a statesman of first rank, but Iowa does well in setting forth the work of her sons in the very excellent series of which this volume forms a creditable addition. On the whole, the volume does not measure up to the standard for fairness set by some of the earlier volumes. On too many controverted points the opinion of the "Burlington Hawk-Eye" and "the Iowa State Register" are quoted as if their judgment was final. A good many states would reflect credit on themselves by encouraging a similar excellent biographical series.

---

The Life of Robert Toombs. By Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Ph. D., Professor of American History in the University of Michigan. (New York, The Macmillan Co. 1913. Pp. 281. $2.00.)

This volume from the pen of one of the ablest students of American history gives in available form an interesting and instructive account of one of the leading "fire-eaters" of the ante-bellum period. Professor Phillips treats Toombs as an exponent of the social and industrial history of his period and section and therefore emphasizes these factors rather than those that are purely biographical. In very large measure he allows Toombs to speak for himself through his speeches and letters.

---

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. By Charles A. Beard, Associate Professor of Politics, Columbia University. (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. VII, 330. $2.25 net.)

Professor Beard in this work is concerned with the "forces which condition" a great movement in politics, viz., the making of our national constitution. Rapidly sketching the economic interests in 1787, the movement for the constitution and the property-safeguards in the election of delegates, he leads up to the most direct contribution in the book, viz., a study of the personal and financial interests of the framers of that document. Biographical sketches of the members are given from this new angle. The basis being a careful study of the extant records of the Treasury Department at Washington now used for the first time in this connection. Emphasis is laid upon the economic interests represented in "personality in public securities," "personality invested in lands for speculation," "personality in the form of money loaned at interest," "personality in mercantile, manufacturing, and shipping lines" and "personality in slaves." The remaining chapters treat of the political doctrines of the "framers" and the process of ratification. Professor Beard states frankly that his study is fragmentary, but he has unquestionably made available to students a body of facts that must be taken into account by anyone desiring to understand the making of our constitution.

Other Books Received

American Antiquarian Society. Proceedings, New Series, Volume 23, Part I. (Worcester, Society, 1913. Pp. 169.)

American Jewish Historical Society. Publications, Number 21. (N. Y. Society, 1913. Pp. 304.)

American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1911. Volume 1. (Washington, Govt. 1913. Pp. 842.)

American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. Eighteenth Annual Report, 1913. (Albany, Lyon, 1913. Pp. 832.)

Illinois State Historical Society. Transactions for the year 1911. (Springfield, State Historical Library, 1913. Pp. 151.)

Kansas State Historical Society. Biennial Report, 1910-1912. (Topeka, 1913. Pp. 193.)

Library of Congress. Classification, Class E-F, America. (Wash., Govt. 1913. Pp. 298. 40 cents.)

Ontario Historical Society. Annual Report, 1913. (Toronto, Society, 1913. Pp. 78.)

Ontario Historical Society. Papers and Records, Volume 11. (Toronto. Society, 1913. Pp. 81.)

Entire number devoted to a study of "Place Names in Georgian Bay and North Channel," by James White.