John Andrew Doyle

“ If ever a history of Oregon is written which is truly a history, and not a vast magazine of dry facts, this will yet retain its value as a collection of original authorities laboriously brought together, and in some measure arranged and harmonised. ”

“ There is an economy of space which is seeming, not real. If history is to be digested it must be taken in, not in essence, but in solution. Many a detail which does not itself abide in the reader's memory nevertheless has formed an important step in the process by which the whole story has got a hold on his mind. Mr. Bancroft's work takes in two matters which may be called controversial. One is the dealing of the early settlers in Oregon with the English traders of the Hudson's Bay Company, the other their conduct towards the natives. ”