Joseph Schafer

“ The pioneers opened a road across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast the preface to territorial expansion because they wished to realize the benefits from its geographical position in opening a new market for agricultural produce, and because they could not await but must have a hand in making their own destiny. ”

“ But the present reviewer cannot convince himself, on the basis of that showing, that it was economically prudent for a few thousand to go to the Pacific at a time when many thousands were making shift to find suitable new homes along the older frontier; nor can he agree that the search for a new market probably constituted the dominant motive behind the Oregon movement. ”

“ As interpretation the book seems needlessly long and repetitious. The interpretation, in fact, is given practically in chapter IX., which is a review and restatement of what has gone before and is far clearer than the argument of the body of the book. ”