Chapter M: M. McCARVER (11)

Since the completion of the history, but one of the writers has publicly claimed the authorship of the volumes written in the library. Ill health, only too common with those who labored through the work, has in most cases been a sufficient barrier to such action. Savage and Bates remained in Mr. Bancroft's employ for a number of years engaged in other work, and of course under such circumstances could not make any claims. Nemos as a foreigner could not be expected to take much interest in such matters, and his early return to Europe and subsequent residence there have rendered it difficult for him to make such a statement did he so desire. Mrs. Victor alone has printed a general statement of the portions of the history written by her, a course in which she was influenced by years of absolute independence in directing her literary energies before entering Mr. Bancroft's employ, and a consequent appreciation of the rights and honors of authorship. Four volumes of the Bancroft histories were exhibited as her work at the Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco during the fair in January, 1893, and also among a collection of the works of New York women authors made the same year (_Utica Morning Herald_, May 4, 1893). A special preface over her name inserted in the first volume of the Oregon history in the exhibit claimed the authorship of the volumes.

(These are the words of the preface: "It seems not only just, but necessary to affix my name to at least four volumes of the History of the Pacific States, although that does not cover all the work done on the history by myself. The four volumes referred to comprise the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nevada. My name is therefore placed on the backs of these volumes without displacing that of Mr. Bancroft.")

As to the shares of the various writers in the history proper, we have the sources of information which have already been mentioned in speaking of the Native Races, supplemented by very full data left by Mrs. Victor concerning her part in the work. It is thus possible to give in a general way the authorship of each volume, barring fragmentary writing.

From these sources it is found that during the progress of the work on the Native Races, Mr. Bancroft had after hard labor and much revision completed his introduction to the History of Central America, and had written a half of the first volume. Oak wrote half of the preface and the fine print summary of explorations, and Nemos was responsible for a third of the volume from page 460 on, although he prepared material in the rough, leaving it to be rewritten by a German aid whose name is not given, but who may have been a man by the name of Kuhn mentioned as having done work on the second volume.

Of this latter volume, Mr. Bancroft wrote one chapter, apparently the first, which deals with Pizarro and Peru. Nemos and a writer named Peatfield (J. J. Peatfield, described by Bancroft [Lit. Ind., 265-267,] as a "strong man and one of talent," was born in Nottinghamshire, England, August 26, 1833. His father, a clergyman, educated him for the church and he took his degree at Cambridge in 1857, being graduated in the classical tripos. The church, however, was distasteful to him, and he obtained a tutorship, subsequently in 1862 going to Nicaragua to engage in cacao cultivating. This enterprise proved a failure. After attempting cotton, cacao again, and finally coffee all in vain, in 1865 he became a bookkeeper at San José, the capital of Costa Rica. In January, 1868, he was made a clerk and translator to the legation at Guatemala, and two years later, British Consul General for Central America. While holding the consulship of Guatemala a third time, he resigned on account of ill health and went to San Francisco, where he arrived in November, 1871. Becoming bookkeeper and cashier for a Nevada mine at White Pine, and battling much with ill health, he returned to San Francisco, where he acted as teacher and bookkeeper until February, 1881, when he entered the library), labored together on the volume and prepared half of it, and Bates a fourth. Kuhn wrote a fifth which was partly rewritten by Nemos. The latter claimed about a fourth of a volume as the actual material written by him for the first and second volumes together.

The third volume, including the history of Central America in the nineteenth century, was written by Savage, who, nearly all his life had been engaged in the consular service of the United States in Cuba and Central America.

(Thomas Savage, according to a biography written by himself, was born at Havana, Cuba, August 27, 1823, a short time after his parents had removed thither from Philadelphia. His father, a descendant of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts and a brother of Savage, the famous genealogist of New England, was from Boston, and his mother, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was the daughter of a French planter who had escaped the great massacre in San Domingo and a Maryland woman of Jewish extraction).

In childhood, Savage was several times taken to the United States and back as the necessities of his father's business demanded. At the age of fifteen, he had studied the Latin classics, advanced mathematics and languages, nearly breaking forever his health, which had always been feeble. Abandoning his studies and taking a long rest in the country, he regained sufficient strength to enable him to support himself, for his parents had now lost their fortune. He entered a commercial house at Havana, and after working a few years as bookkeeper, in the summer of 1846 joined the United States consulate as clerk and translator. From that time until the end of the year 1867, he was attached to the consulate, rising successively to the positions of secretary to the consul general, deputy consul general, and vice consul general. From 1854 on, there was not a single year during which the consulate general was not in his charge for several months. During the War of the Rebellion he was several times in charge, once for twenty months, and during this trying period won the confidence of his government by laboring hard to do his whole duty.

He spent the greater part of the year 1868 in the United States, and then went to Panama, where he was engaged as assistant editor of the _Star and Herald_, having charge of the Spanish portion of the paper. Savage had lost a wife in Cuba, and in January, 1870, married a second time. Shortly afterward, he embarked for Salvador, where he taught English in the University, became consul-general, and finally started a newspaper. Just as this last enterprise was beginning to pay, his wife's precarious health necessitated his removal to a better climate, and he settled in Guatemala. Here he established a fine printing office, and began the publication of a newspaper. Though aided by the government, the business nevertheless proved unprofitable, and after selling out at a heavy loss, he came to San Francisco in 1873. Throughout life, Savage was a constant reader, with a special fondness for history. He once said that he believed he had read the histories of all the world.

From a perusal of what Nemos says concerning the History of Mexico, we are led to infer that Bancroft again wrote the introduction, as the former librarian credits his chief with two chapters of the first volume. Nemos wrote the remainder, but Bancroft rewrote some of his work, he said only a fifth, much of the revision consisting in a mere change of words. Oak differed with him on this point, holding that Bancroft did more rewriting, but Nemos persists that this is an exaggeration.

The second volume was done by Nemos, Savage, and Peatfield, Nemos writing the first half and some later chapters, two thirds of the volume in all, Savage one fourth, and Peatfield a little.

Of the third volume, Nemos wrote between a third and a half, including, as he tells us, the leading institutional and political parts, Savage a third, a writer named Griffin (George Butler Griffin was a native of New York state, and a graduate of Yale. He was a linguist, and had been an engineer in South America. Apparently early in the eighties, his connection with the library had ceased. He died by his own hand.) two or three chapters, and Peatfield a part.

Of volume four, Bancroft did one chapter, Peatfield a fourth of the whole, and Savage a third. Nemos "assisted on parts," his work aggregating a fourth of the volume.

The fifth volume of the Mexican History, embracing the period from 1804 to 1861, was known as Savage's volume. Of the manuscript, he actually wrote about two thirds. Nemos did about a fourth, including the fall of Mexico and the leading war episodes. Some of the writing was done by Peatfield. (In conversation he claimed to have written a large part of the Mexican War chapters.)

The last volume of the Mexican History was prepared chiefly by Nemos and Savage, the latter writing the first and last chapters, the former about two thirds of the volume, including the history of Maximilian and the institutional chapters. Peatfield did a little work on this volume. Oak's contribution to the History of Mexico, according to his own statement, consisted of a "few slight parts."

The history of the northern part of Mexico, and the Southwest of the United States was Oak's special field, designated by him as The Spanish Northwest. The entire first volume of the History of the North Mexican States is his work. The history of Lower California in this volume, as well as that in the next, was based on a manuscript on Lower California written several years before by Harcourt. But this work was so altered by both Oak and Nemos in their respective volumes through condensation, the changing of conclusions, and the adding of new material, as to amount to a rewriting.

The History of Texas in North Mexican States, second volume, is the work of Peatfield; the remainder of the volume, between a third and a half, that of Nemos. (The Texas part was subsequently extended by Peatfield for the edition now in circulation, that it might find a better sale in that state.)

The volume on Arizona and New Mexico is the work of Oak alone.

Spanish and Mexican California likewise belonged to Oak's field and the first five volumes of the History of California are from his pen. (Nemos adds, "though he neglected to put in institutions, leaving them for W. N. [himself] and Savage." In view of Oak's oft-repeated assertion that he was sole author of these five volumes, this must mean that they were supplied in other volumes. Moreover, there are no institutional parts properly speaking in these five volumes, and if such parts as "Mission Progress," "Commercial Affairs," and the like are to be regarded, they make up half the work.)

The early American history of California was a topic in which Mr. Bancroft was naturally interested because of his own mining experience during the early gold days. Nemos' schedule shows that he wrote sixty pages for the sixth volume of California, a circumstance which taken with our knowledge of fields of research into which he entered in the preparation of California Pastoral and Popular Tribunals makes us reasonably sure that he wrote the first, second, and twenty-fifth chapters. Mrs. Victor, who in her work on Oregon had been found especially strong as a writer on political subjects, was assigned the task of working up the political history of California, and, according to her own statement, wrote two hundred and thirty-four pages for this volume. We can positively identify chapters twelve, thirteen, twenty-three, and twenty-four as her work. From the similarity of their subject-matter to some already treated by her in the Oregon history, and from the fact that their addition to the work just indicated brings the total almost exactly to the figures given, we may conclude that she also wrote the third, fourth, and fifth chapters. The chapter entitled Mexican Land Titles is Oak's work, and the remainder of the volume, almost two thirds, is that of Nemos.

Information given by Mrs. Victor shows that she wrote for the final volume of the History of California four hundred and eighty-nine pages on politics and railroads. We are thus enabled to designate as her work chapters nine to twenty-one inclusive, and chapter twenty-five. This still leaves to her credit eighteen pages to be located in some other chapter. The rest of the volume, embracing the portions dealing with commerce, manufactures, agriculture, and mining, was written, Nemos says, by himself. Before publication, the sheets on California judiciary were submitted to Justice Stephen J. Field for his approval. The estimate of certain pioneer characters in the California history, together with the adopting of the Mexican view of the conquest of that state by Americans, brought down upon Mr. Bancroft the condemnation of the California Society of Pioneers, who, in 1894, expelled him from honorary membership in their body. (See pamphlet proceedings of the Society of California Pioneers in reference to the History of Hubert Howe Bancroft.) It is a curious fact, however, that the passages which were made the basis of the society's indictment are almost entirely in the first five volumes of the California history, which were written by Oak. He has declared that even the revisions were his own and not Bancroft's.

The History of Utah, another storm-center among the histories, was written by Bates and Bancroft, the former, according to Nemos, preparing twice as much manuscript as the latter. The earlier chapters are by Bancroft, but no more certain assignment of their respective shares in the work can be made from the information at hand.

The History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, as already noticed, was written by Mrs. Victor, with the exception of the first two chapters on Nevada, which were by Bancroft. Mrs. Victor's statement of her work includes these also, perhaps by inadvertence. It is possible that she rewrote them, however, as Mr. Bancroft had admitted that they were out of proportion.

In the work on the Northwest Coast, we again see Bancroft's predilection for early voyages. The first half of Volume I, including the Spanish explorations of the coast, belonged to Oak's field, and was written by him. Bancroft wrote most of the remainder of the two volumes, which included the maritime fur trade, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Astor enterprise, the Northwest and Hudson Bay companies, and the later American fur trade.

A hundred pages on the "Oregon Question" written by Mrs. Victor for Oregon were incorporated in the second volume of the History of the Northwest Coast. She had taken the American side of the case, a view with which Mr. Bancroft was not in sympathy. By his order, Mr. Oak rewrote the subject from an English standpoint. He added chapter fifteen, but to some extent made use of her work in preparing chapter sixteen. Mrs. Victor always claimed that he merely altered it, Oak himself that he rewrote it. The remainder of her manuscript was retained and printed as chapter eighteen.

The volume on Washington, Idaho, and Montana, was written wholly by Mrs. Victor, a task for which she was fitted by her work on early Oregon history.

The History of Oregon was also her work, a fact which has been known and fully recognized by prominent Oregonians since the day of its publication. She had contemplated writing such a work even before the beginning of Mr. Bancroft's project, and it was only a realization of her inability to compete single handed with the capital and other resources at his disposal which caused her to enter his employ. In collecting material within the state, she had the assistance of such pioneer families as her friends the Applegates and McBrides, and among others, of Judge Deady and Elwood Evans. Valuable data concerning Hudson Bay rule in Oregon were furnished her in a correspondence with Mr. A. B. Roberts and Mr. Allen, formerly of the Hudson Bay Company. (This correspondence is now in the possession of Mr. E. H. Kilham, of Portland, Or.) The work as written made more than two volumes, and condensation was necessary. A chapter on geology and mining was omitted by Mr. Bancroft; the disposal of the manuscript on the "Oregon Question" has already been noticed, and matter on the San Juan boundary dispute and the Modoc war was also incorporated in other volumes. Mrs. Victor considered the first volume of the History of Oregon as perfect as it could be made at the time. With certain features of the second she was not so well satisfied, the most prominent being the omission of the history of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, necessitated by Mr. Bancroft's failure to secure material, and certain changes made by him in her manuscript on Indian Wars in Southern Oregon in such a way as to throw blame upon the settlers (Mrs. Victor in [Salem] _Oregon Statesman_ February 24, 1895). It is worthy of note that her history is the first to pass over the political results attributed to Whitman's ride by previous writers. The sheets of the Oregon history before they were issued were submitted to Judge Deady for his approval.

In the half of the History of British Columbia which he wrote, Mr. Bancroft utilized some of the material that he had collected in person. Bates prepared a fourth of the manuscript, and Nemos and Bowman together the remainder, Nemos writing some of the chapters and revising others.

The History of Alaska afforded Mr. Bancroft an opportunity for further research in the field of early voyages. He is credited with half of the volume, Bates with a third, Nemos a little, and Petroff about a fourth. Nemos places all of his own writing on this work and British Columbia together at a third of a volume.

A review of the facts shows that if we exclude the comparatively few interpolations and changes made by Mr. Bancroft, we can with assurance declare the authorship of all portions of the third volume of Central America, of the volumes on California, and of those on the North Mexican States, Arizona and New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming, the Northwest Coast, Oregon and Washington, Idaho and Montana, and that we can give in general terms, though without being able to locate the exact parts done by individuals, the names of the authors of two volumes of Central America, and all of Mexico, Utah, British Columbia, and Alaska. In these works Oak and Nemos were agreed that there were scattered fragmentary bits aggregating several volumes so worked over by different writers in different ways as to render it impossible to determine the exact authorship.

Turning to a consideration of the individual field of writing, we find that of the twenty-eight volumes of history proper, Bancroft is to be credited with four, no one entire, Oak with seven and a half, Nemos five, no one entire, Mrs. Victor a little less than five, Savage over three, Peatfield one and a half, principally in small parts, and Bates one and a fourth. (This is a computation based exactly upon the facts as given, except in Bancroft's case.) Nemos upon the same basis makes the shares, except Savage's and Bancroft's, all slightly greater. He assigns to Oak between seven and a half and seven and two thirds volumes, to himself and Mrs. Victor over five each, to Peatfield about two, and to Bates one and a half. An actual count of the parts of volumes written by Bancroft gives a total of three and a half, but Nemos said that he took four as the number upon the authority of Oak. This would allow him a half volume of interpolations in the twenty-four and a half volumes done by others. Griffin, Petroff, Kuhn, and a man named Rasmus were the authors of fragments. Oak thought that the name was Erasmus, but said that Nemos who gave Rasmus was the better authority.

Concerning these facts in their main features, there is a complete agreement between Oak and Nemos, who together knew all the details which were to be known, and the evidence of the other writers fits exactly with their statements. The popular estimate of Hubert Howe Bancroft as the historian of the Pacific Coast, is founded upon the vague references and indefinite assertions of the Literary Industries within the pages of which there is nowhere to be found a straightforward statement that this man wrote more than a part of the works to which his name is attached. On the other hand, his own statements over his own signature admit that he did not pretend to be the author of what went out under his name. The ranking of Mr. Bancroft among historians of the United States is, therefore, an error, and what has appeared in the public press concerning an "Historian of the Pacific Coast," and a "Macaulay of the West," is legend pure and simple. Instead of one Pacific Coast historian who wrote the Bancroft volumes, there were eight.

As to the six supplementary volumes of the "Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft," which ended the series, Mrs. Victor had some means of determining the authorship. According to her notes, Savage and Nemos did a great deal of writing and revising. The Modoc War in _inter pocula_, a part of the chapter entitled Some Indian Episodes, was written by Mrs. Victor from notes obtained by herself on the ground. She also wrote some other matter for this volume. The remainder was done by Bancroft and his family, who also aided him much on Popular Tribunals.

Pastorals was produced chiefly by Bancroft. Of the Literary Industries, Nemos wrote several chapters or parts, Savage a little, and Oak three or four bits of a few paragraphs each. It must be remembered that Bancroft's writing in these private volumes was subjected to criticism, revision, and retouching by the best literary talent which the library afforded.

Concerning the Chronicles of the Builders, the biographical series which followed the histories, with such unfortunate results, some notes in Mrs. Victor's handwriting taken in 1888, about a year before work finally ended, give us the following facts: The introductory essay is by Nemos, as are also the reflective chapters and reviews, together with most of the historical text. Peatfield wrote Oregon, Washington, and Texas, though some of the latter was rewritten by Nemos. Mrs. Victor wrote "Routes and Transportation," and a number of the leading biographies, making nearly a volume. Savage wrote about a third of a volume.

Mr. Bancroft as a writer of history was subject to certain influences likely to be felt in his treatment of facts, which did not affect his coworkers. One great object was of course to make the work popular. It was with this end in view that much attention was given to literary finish and typographical features. It was his practice to have a writer employed for the purpose go over his own manuscripts and sometimes those of his assistants to add "classical allusions," as he termed them, for rhetorical effect. He himself was given to the reading of English classics--Carlyle's works are especially mentioned by his friends--as a means of acquiring a good literary style. To stimulate the reader's attention, he occasionally made a side remark of such a ludicrous character as to be startling when one comes upon it in a perfectly serious paragraph. Mrs. Victor often laughed over the interlineation in a paragraph written by her on the Oregon boundary question of the words:

"Man is a preposterous pig; probably the greediest animal that crawls upon this planet": (Oregon, I, 592.)

In passing upon the work of his corps of writers, one who combined the duties of financier as well as editor of the work either consciously or unconsciously must have been influenced by the question whether the treatment of the subject before him was such as would please the people in the locality whose history was being written. The Mormon turn given the History of Utah by the toning down of certain incidents which other historians have "shrunk from contemplating" occurs to us as a case in point: (Frances Fuller Victor in _Salt Lake Tribune_, April 14, 1893; _New York Mail and Express_, November 23d).

The publication of the Chronicles before all of the volumes of history were out could hardly have lessened this tendency, as a favorable mention of a man in the history would naturally tend to make him more approachable upon the subject of contributing to that work. Upon the back of the letter to Mrs. Victor instructing her to give prominence to certain dictations, which he admits are practically worthless, is written in her hand the legend, "Ways that are dark and tricks that are vain." As a result of complaint, changes were sometimes made in the text, even after the first edition was out: (Pamphlet, Proceedings of the Society of California Pioneers in Reference to the Histories of Hubert Howe Bancroft).

In the History of Montana occurs an example of a change made directly for business reasons. Several pioneers justly entitled to a place in the history of their territory disagreed with the agent of the Bancroft house concerning the number of volumes of the history which their contract required them to take. As a punishment for their refusal to comply with the demands of the publisher, their biographies were stricken from their place in the footnotes after the volume was set up, and other matter was substituted. (The original sheets with marginal annotations as to amounts paid and biographies to be omitted are in the possession of Mr. E. H. Kilham of Portland, Oregon.) In view of these facts, we are forced to conclude that the business man in Mr. Bancroft, developed by the experiences and associations of a lifetime, sometimes got the better of the historical editor of scarcely fifteen years' standing.

A second factor to be considered in Mr. Bancroft's writing was sometimes expressed by his acquaintances as a mistaking of contrariness for originality. As already indicated, his tendency is toward a form of writing such as will attract the reader's attention. This tendency frequently asserts itself in sweeping statements and striking characterizations, many of them apparently impelled by a desire to give a turn to an incident or an estimate of a character different from that given by any previous writer. Thus Bancroft wrote an estimate of General Grant, which was startling because of the general hostility of its tone, and was considered so unjust by Mrs. Victor and Oak that they persuaded him to leave it out. (Letter of Mrs. Victor of July 25, 1892. The paragraph which was originally intended as a footnote in the History of Oregon, II, 246, is printed on page 18 of the Pamphlet of the Society of California Pioneers, which gives their proceedings with reference to Bancroft's histories.)

Again, in making an effort to avoid following Washington Irving, he has given in the part of the Northwest Coast which he wrote a treatment of the Astor enterprise, and an estimate of the character of Captain Bonneville, which later historians have shown to be prejudiced and in error. (See Chittenden's History of the American Fur Trade in the Far West, I, 432-33.)

A third influence affecting the treatment of facts of history which passed under Mr. Bancroft's editorship, as well as those which he presented in the scattered portions of volumes of which he could claim real authorship, is that of personal bias. The manager of the Bancroft enterprise was a man, who in the course of a thirty years' business career had many business rivalries and personal enmities. His strong dislikes frequently assert themselves in his writings, if we are to take his own statements. (Lit. Ind., 374.)

Again, the personal equation must be accounted for in the value which he sets on the work of historians who wrote before him. He not infrequently disparages their writings in the strongest terms, his depreciation of Washington Irving being one of the most palpable cases. (Chittenden's History of American Fur Trade in the Far West, I, 244-46), has forcibly revealed the extent of the injustice done by Bancroft in this one case. That there are others like it will readily appear. For the effort to demonstrate the superiority of the Bancroft histories over others, we must accordingly make due allowance when attempting a critical estimate.

Furthermore, the editor-manager began the work with certain theories and notions of history that have found their way into the pages which he has published. From the beginning, he adopted the British side in dealing with the dispute over the Oregon boundary. In his treatment of Indian wars, the same tendency to adopt ready-made theories asserted itself. In the manuscript of Mrs. Victor's History of Oregon, treating of Indian Wars in Southern Oregon which "gave great credit to the veterans of that struggle and the settlers generally for their forbearance," the editor interlined some expressions, throwing the blame upon the settlers. When it was pointed out to him that this was not true, he replied that he had begun his History of Central America with this theory of Indian wars, and must be consistent throughout the entire series (Communication of Frances Fuller Victor to the [Salem] _Oregon Statesman_, February 24, 1895).

To such errors as those just enumerated the work of Mr. Bancroft's collaborators was not subject. The dislike inspired by some of the measures of their chief has sometimes resulted in their disparagement as historians by a public press, absolutely ignorant of the parts of the work for which they were responsible. (In the _Salt Lake Tribune_, February 16, 1893, is a very striking example. Occasional utterances of the San Francisco papers of about the same time follow along the same line.) It must be remembered that they were not only able and educated, but that the competitive wage system under which they worked offered every inducement to search for the truth and to make it known as they found it in the best collection of books, pamphlets, and newspapers on Pacific Coast history that was ever made. The only characteristics which were common to the library corps, as shown by a study of their biographies, were good education, ill health, and liberal religious views.

In general, these writers had special qualifications which adapted them for work in their respective fields. To Oak there was a fascination in the study of documents from which the usually uninteresting and sometimes tedious details of events in Spanish and Mexican provincial localities were derived. His contributions to history he could honestly claim were better than other writings on the same subject because of the exhaustiveness of his research through the great amount of material at his disposal. While he admired the finer qualities of style in the writings of others, they were not required in his work. He frankly declared that he had little natural ability in this line, and in the writing of provincial annals found no opportunity for the cultivation of what he had. Oak once asserted in a joking mood that he had found of great service a thorough knowledge of Spanish and French, together with a useful smattering of other languages, including English. None of his chapters were rewritten or even reread with a view to polish, for the reason that he believed his works had their chief value merely as records, and that an attempt to make them fascinating to general readers could but result in impairing their value for reference. The fact that the superintendent of literary activities in the Bancroft library was an enthusiast in original research who cared vastly more what was said than how it was said is a circumstance favoring the accuracy of the histories which must not be overlooked. Oak could say that from the first he had exercised an important influence in the direction of honest research and against superficial work, and that he opposed undue haste in bringing the work to a conclusion.

Nemos, unlike Oak, was a writer of smooth, flowing English. On account of his foreign birth he had no preference in the selection of a field, and wrote for more different volumes than any other member of the library force. His great ability, and his consequent position of all-round man, are to be accounted for by great natural endowment supplemented by a thorough training in youth in his own country, a schooling during his London residence in the philosophy of his own country as well as that of the German universities, and a wide acquaintance with European languages. With a remarkable faculty for systematizing work, he was useful, honorable, and trustworthy.

To Mrs. Victor was assigned the agreeable task of working up the field in which she had long taken special interest. She was the only member of the staff who had a literary reputation before entering the library. Noted as a poetess of unusual promise in her earlier days, she had also written excellent prose for different journals, among them a magazine history of the United States published in serial form by the Harpers, until the beginning of the Civil War compelled the discontinuance of the publication in which it appeared. As a contributor to the San Francisco papers in the early "sixties," she had met with pronounced success, while her work on her projected History of Oregon and her publication of two works on the Northwest fitted her for her special field. She had the enviable faculty of putting life into her writings, and it was partially on account of her graceful style that Mr. Bancroft sought her services, for his eye was always attracted by good literary work. But the volumes written by Mrs. Victor were of a far different stamp from the popular literary history. The late Mary Sheldon Barnes, professor of history in Stanford University, declared that she had done her work well. All who were acquainted with her personally recognized the fact that she placed the truth as she conceived it before all else. The leading opponents of the stand she took on disputed questions freely recognized the fact that she had striven to do conscientious, painstaking work. Given to speaking what she believed was the whole truth, even when it was contrary to her immediate interest to do so, she was the last of all persons whom a regard for literary effect would swerve from the path of historical accuracy.

A better man for chief Spanish authority than Thomas Savage could scarcely have been found. Thoroughly acquainted with the language by a life-long residence in Spanish America, he had a natural fondness for history, to which his long continuance in the consular service had added a habit of accuracy, and a capacity for hard work. The fifth volume of the History of Mexico, embracing the history of that country from 1824 to 1861, and the third volume of the Central American history which threads out the tangled skein of the history of the five little republics in the nineteenth century, serve as examples of the vast amount of detail which his writing covered, to say nothing of his labors in collecting and extracting an overwhelming mass of material on Spanish American history. All agree that he was a polished and sound man.

In the writers of smaller parts of the history, we find that the qualifications and fitness for the individual field of writing were no less than in those who prepared more manuscript. Peatfield's connection with the British consular service bespeaks his reliability and capability; Bates' occupancy of a responsible position under a prominent English educator, and the high regard in which his work was held by Hittell bear witness that he was competent to write history; and Petroff's standing as a scholar in his own country, together with his thorough acquaintance with Alaska, vouch for the character of his work.

While the Bancroft corps of writers were not infallible, they were a class of persons in whose integrity and accuracy we may have as great confidence as in the average historian. We can only regret that we can not point out all parts of the work done by each, and that we can not show in detail the extent of Mr. Bancroft's editorial alterations of their work. This latter feature, inherent in the Bancroft plan of writing history, is its greatest weakness, since it of necessity involves some uncertainty as to whether the words we are reading are those of the author who wrote the volume, or the interpretation of Mr. Bancroft. A comparative study of the style of what we know to be the work of the respective writers may suffice to settle a given case. We may state as a fact that the majority of alterations in the manuscripts of the chief assistants were due to the necessity of condensation; and that, aside from this, the revision of their work usually consisted merely in the suppression of radical utterances and the interlineation of a few lines occasionally for literary effect. The somewhat rough estimate given of the number of volumes written by the respective writers indicates that Mr. Bancroft's revisions constitute about one page in fifty of the work in fields assigned to his assistants, although the average may be lower. In view of these facts, the knowledge that those who wrote the Bancroft histories were capable, honest persons, must tend decidedly toward the increasing of our general confidence in the series.

FOOTNOTES:

[40] This is on the authority of Savage.

PIONEER PAPERS OF PUGET SOUND.

By CLARENCE B. BAGLEY.

The trapper, the trader, the missionary, and the printer were the pioneers of "Old Oregon," as the original territory lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, and extending northward from California to the British possessions may be properly called. A mere handful of patriotic Americans founded a provisional government for this vast wilderness in 1843, and the American Government enclosed it safely in the national fold in 1846 by treaty with Great Britain, and organized it into a territory August 14, 1848.

Those who are the leading spirits in the several historical societies of the Northwest, and the writers of its history, realize the true value to be placed upon the labors of the pioneer printers and newspaper men of "Old Oregon." This expression is tautological. There were no newspaper men who were not printers in the pioneer days.

It has been my good fortune, as child, boy, and man, to know nearly all the old newspaper men of Oregon and Washington of that period by sight, and to be on terms of friendship with most of them, as well as most intimate with the majority. Among them were:

Ashael Bush, W. L. Adams, Thomas H. Pearne, T. J. Dryer, Harvey W. Scott, H. L. Pittock, Beriah Brown, James O'Meara, W. Lair Hill, Wm. G. T'Vault, Samuel A. Clarke, Mrs. Duniway, D. W. Craig, John Atkinson, E. M. Waite, L. Samuels, John Burnett, J. M. Baltimore, William Newell, P. B. Johnson, R. R. Rees, E. T. Gunn, Charles Besserer, Eugene Semple, A. M. Poe, John Miller Murphy, Randall H. Hewitt, L. G. Abbott, Thornton F. McElroy, James N. Gale, J. R. Watson, David Higgins, Charles and Thomas W. Prosch, John F. Damon, D. C. Ireland, Francis H. Cook, S. L. Maxwell, H. C. Patrick, R. F. Radebaugh, and many of their contemporaries, as well as a host of their successors.

Nearly all these were practical printers, and most of them skillful at the case, capable of taking entire charge of the mechanical department of the early day printing offices.

This training made them accurate in their literary work. While some of them might not have been on intimate terms with the rules of grammar, they made up for any such deficiency by untiring and conscientious efforts to give their readers good newspapers, in the face of the gravest difficulties. In the matter of politics full allowance had ever to be made for the personal bias of the writer, but in the matter of news, especially that of a local character, the most absolute fidelity to the truth was ever maintained. No efforts were made for a "good story" at the expense of truth. The head of the paper always had a personal knowledge of the facts and usually prepared the account of them. If he found he had made a mistake he usually corrected it in the next issue, if it was of sufficient importance. For this reason the writer of the present day who delves among the old newspaper files of pioneer days, and even down to within twenty or twenty-five years ago, can rely upon the fairness and truthfulness of their local columns. They were all writing history but few of them realized it.

Life was too strenuous with the pioneers of the "forties" and "fifties" for them to spend much time in keeping diaries or other records of passing events. If they had done so, the unsettled conditions under which they lived, the lack of substantial buildings, the migration to new countries, and the rush to new mines, would have resulted in the loss or destruction of most of such manuscripts.

Of the early Oregon papers, I doubt if more than two or three perfect files exist. Of the early papers of Washington, not more than three or four complete files remain of any of them. Of the first Seattle papers, there is but one file. It I began collecting more than forty years ago. How much care, then, should be exercised in gathering these old papers from the garrets and the closets where they have lain fifty years or more, perhaps--as well as to observe the most painstaking care for their preservation.

When the missions among the Indians of Oregon were established by Messrs. Whitman and Spalding in 1836, the First Native Church of Honolulu decided to send to it a small printing press and some type and material that had been in use for some time there in printing spelling books and religious matter, thinking the work of the mission in Oregon would be advanced by its aid.

Edwin O. Hall had been one of the printers of the Honolulu mission and he was engaged to accompany the printing outfit to Oregon. With the press, type, fixtures, a stock of paper and binding apparatus in his charge he, accompanied by his wife, arrived at Vancouver, on the Columbia River, early in the month of April, 1839. In a few days the press and party started up the Columbia River in a canoe and reached Wallula on the 30th. From there the press was sent on pack animals to Lapwai, on the Clearwater River, not far from the present City of Lewiston, Idaho, while the rest of the outfit and the party went on up the river by canoe.

May 18, 1839, the first proof sheet in the original Oregon Territory was struck off amid great rejoicing among the missionary party. A large number of publications in the Flathead, Spokane, Cayuse, and Nez Percé language was printed by the mission people. In fact, the press was in use a great deal until in 1846, when Doctor Whitman sent it to The Dalles, where it remained until after the Whitman massacre, November 29-30, 1847.

In 1848 it was in use near Hillsboro, on Tualatin Plains, for several months, where eight numbers of the _Oregon American and Evangelical Unionist_ appeared, which was the third paper in chronological order.

By this time more modern presses, apparatus and types had reached Oregon and the pioneer outfit was laid aside. Years later it came into the possession of the Oregon Historical Society at Portland.

The _Oregon Spectator_ was the first newspaper in Old Oregon, and the initial number appeared at Oregon City on Thursday, February 5, 1846. A new plant had been procured for it in New York, whence it was sent around "The Horn." Col. William G. T'Vault was its editor and John Flemming the printer. This paper passed through many vicissitudes in the ensuing years--numerous changes of editors and publishers with frequent alterations in size, now larger and again smaller, until it finally suspended in 1855.

The second paper was the _Oregon Free Press_, which appeared in March, 1848, under the control of George L. Curry, who later became Governor of Oregon.

The fourth in order was the _Western Star_, first issued at Milwaukie November 21, 1850, by Lot Whitcomb. At that time Milwaukie, on the east side of the Willamette, a few miles above Portland, was a rival of the latter place for commercial supremacy, but in May, 1851, Milwaukie had fallen behind in the race, and the _Star_ was moved to Portland, and its name changed to the _Oregon Weekly Times_. It lived much longer than most of the early newspaper ventures of the Northwest. Among its numerous editors were A. C. Gibbs, Governor of Oregon during the Civil War period, and also W. Lair Hill, with whom all lawyers of Oregon and Washington are familiar personally or by reputation. He was the author of the well-known code of this state bearing his name, and for a considerable period a resident of Seattle.

The fifth was the _Weekly Oregonian_ and the only one of all the newspapers of Oregon and Washington appearing prior to 1860 to survive with its original name and without periodical suspensions.

The _Oregonian_ had to struggle for existence during all its early years. Rivals unnumbered went to the newspaper graveyard during the succeeding quarter century. It is a conservative estimate to place the aggregate at a $1,000,000 sunk during that period by ambitious printers, dissatisfied politicians, and by corporations who could not control its editorials, in the various attempts to break the _Oregonian_ down. The most notable contest was between the _Oregonian_ and the _Bulletin_, when Ben. Holladay was the great magnate in railroad and steamship affairs of the Northwest. He established, about 1872, a first-class newspaper and job printing office that cost not less than $50,000. He employed the best newspaper talent he could secure, and the _Bulletin_ at once became a dangerous rival for the _Oregonian_, which had to depend solely on its own resources for its support, while the weekly deficit in the _Bulletin_ office was made good by a check from Ben. Holladay.

The _Oregonian_ had at that time about seven thousand subscribers at $3 per year to its weekly paper, while the _Bulletin_ had only a few hundred. The _Weekly Oregonian_ saved the day, and the _Bulletin_ died the death. Its backer is reputed to have sunk not less than $100,000. This left the _Oregonian_ master of the field, and it became the overshadowing journalistic power of the Northwest until the great dailies of Seattle forced it to the rear in the State of Washington.

Thomas J. Dryer was its first editor and A. M. Berry the first printer. Henry L. Pittock became a printer in its office in November, 1853, and was admitted to partnership in 1856, and only four years later became its sole owner. Mr. Harvey W. Scott went on its editorial staff in May, 1865. In 1877 he bought an interest in the paper and became editor-in-chief. He and Mr. Pittock still own the paper, and it need not be added that it has made them immensely wealthy.

The _Daily Oregonian_ made its first appearance February 4, 1861. It consisted of four pages, each page about 11½x18 inches, four columns to the page.

March 26, 1851, the _Oregon Statesman_ was launched on the newspaper sea at Salem, the state capital, with Joseph S. Smith at the helm. In later years Smith went to Congress from that state and was always a conspicuous figure in Democratic circles. In September, 1852, when we arrived in Salem from across "the plains," Asahel Bush had become owner and editor. He soon became public printer, then an exceedingly profitable billet, and in six or eight years was quite wealthy. The _Statesman_ was the leading Democratic journal for a long period and wielded a powerful influence until Joseph Lane and the Democratic party under him lost the state, when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. After that its influence gradually declined. It underwent the usual changes of ownership and temporary suspensions.

It will be difficult for the younger men in the newspaper offices of today, with their many departments and special work, to realize the many cares and duties devolving upon the pioneer newspaper men. The successful one was a capable printer who could "set type," run a press, make up the forms, make a roller, and wash it if need be. He was editorial writer, local reporter, business manager, and mailing clerk. A "job office" was usually a part of the printing establishment and he, perforce, must be his own job printer and pressman as well.

During all the earlier years there were no telegraphic dispatches, the "news" being selected from the weekly issues of the _Tribune_ or _Herald_ of New York City, which came by mail steamer to the Isthmus of Panama, thence across and by steamer to San Francisco, and thence with the utmost irregularity by steamer to Portland, from there down the Columbia and up the Cowlitz River and by pack animal or mud wagon to Olympia.

Under all these adverse circumstances it is remarkable what good newspapers were issued. They were usually on paper 24x36 inches in size, which was about the limit for hand presses then in use. The editorial matter was vigorous and able, the typography and presswork equal to that of the present day, the selection of news and literary matter unexceptionable. It is not a matter of surprise that men capable of accomplishing such good work in the face of such difficulties should have wielded a powerful influence in the pioneer work of the territory.

Of the pioneer newspaper men of Oregon and Washington there are many in Seattle. First in age and experience is Charles Prosch, with over forty years to his credit. Rev. John F. Damon comes next in seniority of service. Judge Orange Jacobs had much editorial experience in Oregon before coming here. Henry G. Struve, Esq., was an editorial writer for years prior to 1873, in Vancouver, Clarke County, and in Olympia. Ex-Governor Semple spent many years in all kinds of newspaper work in Oregon and Washington, beginning about 1870. Thomas W. Prosch learned to be a printer as he learned to read on the _Herald_ at Steilacoom and the _Tribune_ in Olympia. C. B. Bagley began newspaper work in 1868 and continued it with little intermission for twenty years. Samuel C. Crawford began as printer's devil for John Miller Murphy on the Olympia _Standard_ thirty years or more ago. Beriah Brown, the senior of them all, recently died here, and his son Berry began "at the case" and other newspaper work as early as 1868.

The _Columbian_ was the "pioneer newspaper west of the mountains, between the father of Oregon waters and Kamstkatka," as an editorial paragraph in the first number puts it. Messrs. Wiley & McElroy established it in Olympia September 11, 1852. Later its name was changed to the _Pioneer_, and not long afterward it was merged with the _Democrat_, a rival paper, under the name of _Pioneer and Democrat_. From the above date Olympia has never been without one or more weekly papers, and at times has enjoyed two daily papers at the same time.

The _Puget Sound Courier_ was the pioneer paper at Steilacoom, which was started by Affleck & Gunn, May 19, 1854. It was Whig in politics, and as the population was overwhelmingly Democratic it soon died for lack of sustenance.

Mr. Charles Prosch, the dean of newspaperdom on Puget Sound, whose erect form and snow-white hair are familiar on the streets of Seattle, published the _Puget Sound Herald_ at Steilacoom, beginning March 12, 1858, for about six years, and later other papers at Olympia.

The _Northern Light_ appeared at Whatcom in 1858, under the management of W. Bausman & Co., during a few weeks of the height of the Fraser River gold rush, but its light was soon snuffed out.

The _Port Townsend Register_ was started January 4, 1860, by a young man named Travers Daniels, but the field was not an encouraging one, and at the end of ten weeks he sold out to William T. Whitacre, who kept it alive until August, when it suspended.

July 5 of the same year the _Northwest_ was started in Port Townsend by E. S. Dyer, publisher, and John F. Damon, editor. Mr. Damon continued with the paper until it suspended, before the second volume was completed.

Rev. John F. Damon, the Congregational clergyman of Seattle, is too widely known to require extended mention here.

The _Register_ was resuscitated late in 1860 and run a violent career for several months, and later was followed by the _Message_, which ran several years under different management.

In 1874 C. W. Philbrick purchased the press on which the last-named paper was printed, changed the name to _Puget Sound Argus_, and succeeded in placing it on a paying basis, a hitherto impossible achievement in Port Townsend. In 1877 Philbrick, after accumulating considerable property, sold the _Argus_ to Mr. Allen Weir.