What do you think?
Rate this book
Pacific Destiny: The Three-Century Journey to the Oregon Country
The Oregon Country!
For a century that fabled place, lying somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains at the farthest reaches of the continent galvanized the American people.
Its riches, in furs, timber, fish, and fecund soil for farming, awakened the avarice of nations. Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States all vied for this trackless Eden of the pacific littoral, and not until the 1840s did the Americans claim it once and for all.
In these pages are the explorations of the fierce Scots who scaled the mountains and mapped the rivers of the Oregon country before the time of Lewis and Clark; the imperial fiefdom created for profit and Britannia by the fur-trading ventures of the Hudson's Bay Company; John Jacob Astor's ill-fated experiment on the Columbia River; the mountain men who risked their lives in Indian country in pursuit of beaver furs; and the arrival of the missionaries and pioneers of the Oregon Trail.
This is the Spur Award-winning story for best historical non-fiction, told by a distinguished chronicler of nineteenth century America. A story of the clashing of empires, coveting the matchless wealth of the Pacific Northwest-the story of The Oregon Country.
For a century that fabled place, lying somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains at the farthest reaches of the continent galvanized the American people.
Its riches, in furs, timber, fish, and fecund soil for farming, awakened the avarice of nations. Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States all vied for this trackless Eden of the pacific littoral, and not until the 1840s did the Americans claim it once and for all.
In these pages are the explorations of the fierce Scots who scaled the mountains and mapped the rivers of the Oregon country before the time of Lewis and Clark; the imperial fiefdom created for profit and Britannia by the fur-trading ventures of the Hudson's Bay Company; John Jacob Astor's ill-fated experiment on the Columbia River; the mountain men who risked their lives in Indian country in pursuit of beaver furs; and the arrival of the missionaries and pioneers of the Oregon Trail.
This is the Spur Award-winning story for best historical non-fiction, told by a distinguished chronicler of nineteenth century America. A story of the clashing of empires, coveting the matchless wealth of the Pacific Northwest-the story of The Oregon Country.
- GenresHistory
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 8, 2014
If you live in the Pacific NW, but have never had a chance to take a systematic look at some of its early (though not its earliest) history or if you are simply curious about how the "westward movement" played out in the story of the Oregon Territory or even if you know parts of the history but have never put it all together, this may be the book for you. It features the usual cast of mostly white male characters - many of whose names appear on rivers, mountain peaks, streets, avenues, freeways, dams, bridges, and buildings throughout the region. They were a yeasty mix of mostly fools and scoundrels: lost navigators, fearsome pirates, seekers of gold, adventurous mountain men, busy trappers, rapacious fur traders, official explorers, earnest missionaries, and whole families who undertook perilous journeys, hoping and praying for better days. Though there is still debate about the meaning of the name they gave the land (Oregon), there is little doubt that they believed somehow that it was theirs for the taking, and take it, they did - from the various Native American groups who had lived on it for centuries, from the Russians and the Spanish who "found" it first, from the British who believed that God had given it to them as a part of their great empire, from the Canadians who thought they had agreed to joint occupancy. But there eventually was no sharing. We have habits as a people, and the belief that we were manifestly destined to own this land "from sea to shining sea" was proven mostly by squatter's rights. Ultimately we dominated and won by sheer volume. As Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver observed, "You can't fight a flood."
Miss Margaret Gatzweiler, English teacher extraordinare from my days at Denfeld High School in Duluth, always made us answer one final question in every book report we wrote (and we wrote many!): what did you notice most? This time through what is now a very familiar history to me, what I noticed most was how many people in the early days - before there was anything resembling a real trail - managed to go back and forth from East to West and from the West back to the East, and then back to the West again, in some cases, multiple times. In one of the most famous of these instances, missionary Marcus Whitman who, upon receiving word that the Presbyterian Board of Missions was planning to close his mission and that of his colleague Henry Spaulding in what is now Eastern Washington , dropped everything and went back to New York, a trip that took five perilous months by trail, to argue the case for keeping them open and then returned back to his mission, via an equally perilous trip back, with the news that they could keep them open, but they'd have to do so with no further support from the Board. There are dozens of these stories in Pacific Destiny, all of which point to the fact that though everyone in the East thought those who came here were "at the end of the world," those in Oregon still managed to keep in touch, often quite literally, with the world "back east" when they needed to be - without benefit of telegraph, mail service, railroad, freeways, airplanes, or internet. It was never an easy journey - but they'd done it before and they knew they could do it again...and did.
Author Dale Walker is a good story teller, and this history is a very accessible and highly interesting telling of the whole story from earliest "finding" by Europeans to the day in 1859 when Oregon became a state, the first carved out of the vast Oregon Territory which included what eventually became Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana and Nevada. It certainly is not the most scholarly rendering nor is it particularly inclusive. At least he names some of the Native tribes whose lives were so disastrously affected by all the comings and goings of the whites in the area; occasionally he even names a specific Indian. A handful of women get named as well, and even an African American or two. But his intention was to chronicle the story of what eventually became the American flood that McLoughlin noted, and if that is what you are interested in learning or reviewing, this is certainly a fine book to pick up for that purpose.
Miss Margaret Gatzweiler, English teacher extraordinare from my days at Denfeld High School in Duluth, always made us answer one final question in every book report we wrote (and we wrote many!): what did you notice most? This time through what is now a very familiar history to me, what I noticed most was how many people in the early days - before there was anything resembling a real trail - managed to go back and forth from East to West and from the West back to the East, and then back to the West again, in some cases, multiple times. In one of the most famous of these instances, missionary Marcus Whitman who, upon receiving word that the Presbyterian Board of Missions was planning to close his mission and that of his colleague Henry Spaulding in what is now Eastern Washington , dropped everything and went back to New York, a trip that took five perilous months by trail, to argue the case for keeping them open and then returned back to his mission, via an equally perilous trip back, with the news that they could keep them open, but they'd have to do so with no further support from the Board. There are dozens of these stories in Pacific Destiny, all of which point to the fact that though everyone in the East thought those who came here were "at the end of the world," those in Oregon still managed to keep in touch, often quite literally, with the world "back east" when they needed to be - without benefit of telegraph, mail service, railroad, freeways, airplanes, or internet. It was never an easy journey - but they'd done it before and they knew they could do it again...and did.
Author Dale Walker is a good story teller, and this history is a very accessible and highly interesting telling of the whole story from earliest "finding" by Europeans to the day in 1859 when Oregon became a state, the first carved out of the vast Oregon Territory which included what eventually became Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana and Nevada. It certainly is not the most scholarly rendering nor is it particularly inclusive. At least he names some of the Native tribes whose lives were so disastrously affected by all the comings and goings of the whites in the area; occasionally he even names a specific Indian. A handful of women get named as well, and even an African American or two. But his intention was to chronicle the story of what eventually became the American flood that McLoughlin noted, and if that is what you are interested in learning or reviewing, this is certainly a fine book to pick up for that purpose.
June 16, 2019
This enjoyable book is a historical gem that shines the light on the beginning of the Oregon Country, as we know it. Beginning with the early explorers and only spending a very brief time on this era, the pace moves quickly into the 18th Century and the reader is, fleetingly, treated to the likes of famous British explorers: Captain James Cook and Captain George Vancouver, and their significance to the story. Throw in Lewis & Clark, Thomas Jefferson, and John Jacob Astor as well, but being famous is not a qualifier on how the story continues to play out.
The reader is introduced to a plethora of early westbound travelers, first by sea and all the perils associated with the adventure, not limited to just the elements and the rocky ocean, but the cacophony of competing personalities that made the voyage exceedingly dangerous. The book synthesizes these remarkable characters as the timeline moves into the 19th Century where the story really takes off. Here you will be introduced to territorial claims from Britain, Spain, Russia, and the United States leads to a delicate treaty, the Adams-Onis Treaty, and the overlanders who travel from Saint Louis (or Independence, MO) along the renowned Oregon Trail looking to proselytize the Indians, namely the Spalding and Whitman families, and begin a new life in this little-known land.
There are many more adventures to be had. Francis Parkman makes an appearance in the story and his own first-hand experiences from his very famous book, "The Oregon Trail" are cited and retold; President James K. Polk's vision of Manifest Destiny is a recurring theme for the westward movement; the oftentimes frayed relationships with many Indian tribes that lead to brutal encounters; the snowbound Donner-Reed party even makes it into the book and we all know how that turned out over the Sierra Nevada mountains; and the California gold rush that ushered in a spike of emigrants.
This was an educational yet entertaining read that I would highly recommend to others interested in the "Pacific Destiny." There is no shortage of characters, plots, adventures, and dangers to make you awe and appreciate the perilous journey to the Oregon Country.
The reader is introduced to a plethora of early westbound travelers, first by sea and all the perils associated with the adventure, not limited to just the elements and the rocky ocean, but the cacophony of competing personalities that made the voyage exceedingly dangerous. The book synthesizes these remarkable characters as the timeline moves into the 19th Century where the story really takes off. Here you will be introduced to territorial claims from Britain, Spain, Russia, and the United States leads to a delicate treaty, the Adams-Onis Treaty, and the overlanders who travel from Saint Louis (or Independence, MO) along the renowned Oregon Trail looking to proselytize the Indians, namely the Spalding and Whitman families, and begin a new life in this little-known land.
There are many more adventures to be had. Francis Parkman makes an appearance in the story and his own first-hand experiences from his very famous book, "The Oregon Trail" are cited and retold; President James K. Polk's vision of Manifest Destiny is a recurring theme for the westward movement; the oftentimes frayed relationships with many Indian tribes that lead to brutal encounters; the snowbound Donner-Reed party even makes it into the book and we all know how that turned out over the Sierra Nevada mountains; and the California gold rush that ushered in a spike of emigrants.
This was an educational yet entertaining read that I would highly recommend to others interested in the "Pacific Destiny." There is no shortage of characters, plots, adventures, and dangers to make you awe and appreciate the perilous journey to the Oregon Country.
September 9, 2020
The subject matter is interesting but the writing was unfocused and the book wound up being a slog to get through.
December 27, 2025
A nice overview for those who are a part of this place. Mostly euro-centric in perspective, so make it part of a mix.
June 4, 2008
Historia de la colonización del territorio de Oregon; muy detallado.
September 29, 2010
much more entertaining than "majority of scoundrels" but much more on the surface. am i getting old and crotchety!? why do i enjoy dry history books at this point in my life?
Read
July 15, 2010I bought this book because I really don't know anything about the history of Oregon. It's helping.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews