Some NEW BOOKS in Review . .

Manifest Destiny and Mission in American His­ W. Taylor writing about geography were more tory. By FREDERICK MERK. (New York, Al­ inspirational than the land itseff. fred A. Knopf, 1963. x, 266 p., xu. $5.95.) Students of Minnesota history, whfle not deeply concerned with expansionism in the Reviewed by Helen McCann White South and Southwest may see in the attitudes of THE TERM "manifest destiny" to express the the 1840s the ideas that were rampant in Min­ American idea of "expansion prearranged by nesota during the next two decades. Minnesota Heaven over an area not clearly defined" was evidence, however, does not support Merk's coined some time in 1845. In the popular mind assertion of the "virtual disappearance of con- the concept referred to geographical expansion tinentafism from American thought after 1848," in areas ranging from small parcels of land nor his statement that this later era revealed a adjoining frontier settlements to areas of con­ "continuous demonstration of a temper in the tinental, hemispheric, and even global extent. American public the opposite of expansionism." The popular concept also included Christianiz­ Neither has Professor Merk convinced this re­ ing the heathen, extending education and sci­ viewer, on the basis of the evidence set forth entific progress, as well as exporting manufac­ in his study, that manifest destiny was not a tures, tbe blessings of liberty and American "true" expression of national spirit. The author's political institutions into the areas where the attempt to separate "manifest destiny" and "mis­ United States was destined to expand. sion' and to assign to mission the more "desir­ The greater part of Professor Merk's book is able" qualities of altruism, dedication, and devoted to a careful study of manifest destiny idealism, seems unsound. Yet his detailed study in the 1840s as revealed in newspapers, legisla­ of the 1840s, and Albert Weinberg's earlier vol­ tive and diplomatic records, personal papers, ume entitled Manifest Destiny, offer a provoca­ and in the published utterances of such out­ tive challenge to extend the study of this standing exponents of the concept as John L. concept through changing phases, perhaps even O'SuUivan and Matthew F. Maury. Among the to the present-day era of foreign aid and the major forces responsible for tbe development of Peace Corps. Heaven may not be invoked so manifest destiny, Merk lists the growing power convincingly today, but further study may help of man over the physical universe, economic us to learn how much a conviction of predestina­ distress during the 1830s and 1840s, the desfie tion, how much altruism and dedication to hu­ for more land, the sheer inspiration of the geog­ manity, and how much frank economic, raphy of the continent, and a generation of political, and military self-interest have been young national leaders. stirred together into the great public brew of Overlooked in his list of factors, despite the manifest destiny, past and present. obvious Calvinist terminology of the concept, is any suggestion of the importance of refigious FREE TRADER missionary zeal in the growth of manffest des­ tiny. One may also question the inspiration of West of the Mountains: James Sinclair and the geography for great numbers of Americans who Hudson's Bay Company. By D. GENEVA had no intimate acquaintance with grandeur of LENT. (Seattle, University of Washington continent, hemisphere, and globe. Certainly in Press, 1963. xiv, 334 p. Illustrations, maps. Minnesota a Maury, a von Humboldt, or a James $6.75.) Reviewed by Dorothy O. Johansen MRS. WHITE received the society's Solon J. Buck Award for her article on "Minnesota, Montana, THIS STUDY of James Sinclair is of general and Manifest Destiny,'' published, in 1962. interest to students of Western history, Cana-

326 MINNESOTA History dian and American. A son of Chief Factor Wil­ commissioned by Governor George Simpson to liam Sinclair, the elder, and a native wife, James gather another party to make the same journey. Sinclair was educated at Edinburgh, and return­ According to Miss Lent, it may have been the ing to Canada in 1826, spent one year as an "astute" governor's intention "to diminish the apprentice to the Hudson's Bay Company. He population of Red River of further dissenting then became associated with Andrew McDer- elements, at the same time ridding it of a free mot as a "petty trader," on company terms, at trader whose future dealings might have been Red River. During the troubled days from 1845 detrimental if his popularity and infiuence be­ to 1848 he was a temporary and moderate came too evident in the settlement." It is very leader of the Metis who wanted free trade as possible, however, that Simpson could not ig­ well as a clarification of their civil rights. In this nore Sinclair's success in the first such enter­ connection, Sinclair's activities have been de­ prise; he did not know that in 1854 when the scribed by W. L. Morton in his introduction to expedition got under way Sinclair would try a Eden Colvile's Letters (1956) and in volume 2 second pass, Kananaskis, with less success. of E. E. Rich's History of the Hudson's Bay Moreover, the reasons for this project were not Company (1959). simply those which Miss Lent offers, and she Miss Lent's treatment of this phase of Sin­ overlooks the fact that Simpson was urging the clair's career is neither as thorough nor as criti­ United States to purchase the company's posses­ cal as that of either Morton or Rich. Throughout sory rights in the Oregon country. Sinclair's or­ her study data can be found which suggests that ders to restore Fort Walla Walla, ff carried out, Sinclair's relations to the company were less am­ and the permission granted him to raise herds of biguous than she has made them appear. She cattle there for his own profit, would enhance maintains that Sinclair suffered from "conflict­ the value of the site, and the company could ing loyalties" to haff-breeds and to company, claim more for lands improved and cultivated and to American and British interests. It seems by its own settlers. to this reader, from the evidence offered, that In spite of Miss Lent's timidity in coming Sinclair was not committed to the cause of the to grips with the interpretation of her data, this Metis, although he served it in defending his is an interesting book. One suspects that it was own privileges. "You know how little I cared in manuscript a much longer work which has about the free trade provided I was let alone been cut down. This may account for some and fairly treated," he observed in a letter to confusion in footnotes, chapter organization, McDermot. He also served the company when and idiosyncrasies of style. it was to his advantage. In fact, during 1841 and 1850 — shortly before and after the free trade incident—^he was in the employment of the FUR TRADE NABOB company. McGillivray: Lord of the Northwest. By MAR­ Morton commented in a footnote that the JORIE WILKINS CAMPBELL. (Toronto and story of Sinclair's trips to Oregon in 1841 and Vancouver, Clarke, Irwin & Company Lim­ 1854 "unfortunately has not yet been told." ited, 1962. 337 p. $6.50.) Miss Lent has set forth the story of these little- Reviewed by Robert J. Riley knovwi expeditions during which Sinclair used two unexplored passes through the Rockies. In NEARLY a century and a half ago William 1841 he brought the horse-drawn carts of a McGillivray boarded a vessel bound for London party of Red River Metis across Whiteman Pass. and, in his old age, bade a final farewell to bis This expedition was clearly for the purpose of beloved Montreal. With his departure, McGil­ strengthening the company's hold on the Ore­ livray's thoughts must have passed back through gon country against increasing numbers of time to the summer day in 1783 when he had American immigrants. In 1850 Sinclair was first arrived in the New World, a Scotch lad fifled with hopes for a successful career in the MISS JOHANSEN is profcssor of history ami hu­ fur trade. manities in Reed College at Portland, Oregon. McGfllivray had, indeed, been successful. She has written widely on the history of the fur Beginning in 1784 as an apprentice clerk at a trade and of the Pacific Northwest. small post in the Assiniboine River country, he

September 1963 327 had, by 1799, climbed through the ranks of the ically the som-ces of her information. Readers famed North West Company as clerk, bour­ wiU also recognize Mrs. Campbell as an "ultra- geois, and agent, to chief superintendent. There staunch" Nor'wester, at times lacking objectivity had been other accomplishments and offices in her treatment of the Hudson's Bay Company. too: colonel of the voyageur corps in the de­ Occasional uistances of "mistaken identity" ap­ fense of Canada during the War of 1812; a seat pear in the author's discussion of events and de­ in the legislative council of Lower Canada; scription of features at the North West Com­ membership in a fur trade social fraternity, the pany's depot at Grand Portage and ffs succes­ Beaver Club; and provincial grand master of the sor, Fort Wifliam. In one such instance, the Free and Accepted Masons of Lower Canada. description of the rival X Y Company post at McGiUivray's had been a notable, perhaps Grand Portage, which appears in George Her- enviable, career, but it had not been without iot's Travels Through the Canadas, has been ap­ tribulation. There had been early years spent phed to that company's post at Fort Wflfiam. at the wilderness outposts of the fur trade — In summary, however, one cannot doubt that years that made a man old before his time. As this biography of one of North America's nota­ chief superintendent, he had found the demands ble pioneers is a readable addition and a wel­ of competition with the American Fur Company come contribution to the literature of the fur and the Hudson's Bay Company unrelenting. trade. There had been the War of 1812 with its irrep­ arable damage to the property and profits of CANADIAN BEGINNINGS the firm that he guided. There had been, too, A History of Canada. Volume 1, From Its Ori­ the Earl of Selkirk, who had threatened the gins to the Royal Regime, 1663. By GUSTAVE supply line to tbe company's interior posts with LANCTOT. Translated by JOSEPHINE HAMHLE- his Red River Settlement — a threat which re­ TON. (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, sulted in the tragic Pemmican War. And finally 1963. XV, 393 p. Maps, illustrations. $6.75.) had come the unpleasant, but seemingly neces­ Reviewed by W. L. Morton sary, union with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. GUSTAVE LANCTOT, by his own researches Mrs. Campbell's forceful style and desire for and as former dominion archivist of Canada, historical accuracy make it a pleasure to foUow knows more Canadian history more intimately her account of McGiUivray's life from a humble than most Canadian historians. He is now birth in Scotland through an illustrious fur trade crowning a life devoted to this study with a career to his burial beneath the nave of Wren volume which raises in this reader the hope that Church in London sixty-one years later. Her in­ Canadian historiography may at last be ripening troductory promise "to write about a man rather to maturity. Dr. Lanctot reveals the origins of than a figure in history" is kept, for she makes Canada with rare insight, imagination, and skill. McGillivray come alive as a real personality. A very old and shopworn story is told with com­ plete freshness and an almost total lack of pro­ Moreover, the biography also provides an in­ vincialism. The story is related in Canadian teresting resume of the founding, maturity, terms, and the author is not bothered that they decfine, and demise of the North West are neither French, British, nor American terms. Company. Although Mrs. Campbells style and the One cannot always follow Dr. Lanctot in his breadth of her research are admirable, the work exuberant acceptance as proven of facts which is not without its weaknesses. The most impor­ must have been true. This reader knows no tant of these from the scholar's point of view is reason to doubt that the Irish reached Canadian the absence of annotation. Her research has ap­ lands in the Middle Ages. On the other hand, parently been extensive, but a great deal of its be is equally unaware of any certain proof that value is lost because she fafls to identify specff- they did. Surely it is a matter for reservation of opinion rather than the cheerful confidence with which Dr. Lanctot tefls the story. MR. RILEY, a historian with the National Park This is, however, a slight and, in Dr. Lanctot, Service, is stationed at Grand Portage National an engaging fault. The great fact with respect Monument- to the history of New France in the period of

328 MINNESOTA Htstory this volume is that it is slightly incredible. The Most of the articles deal with problems of the vastness of the land and the fewness of the public domain that are nationwide in nature, but human actors serve in part to produce this some on local and regional matters are included effect. It is increased by the intrusion — fervent, because of their illustrative value. About sixty mystic, and baroque — of the missionaries of the pages are devoted to a discussion of the rail­ Society of Jesus into the fur trade wilderness. It road land grant legend, both in defense of the is a period of history that requires much expla­ railroads and in criticism of the grant system. nation to be made credible and much sympa­ Equally extensive comment is made on the thetic insight to be made convincing. Although "safety valve" corollary of the Turner theory I think that Dr. Lanctot has not explained a that unoccupied areas of the West siphoned off great deal that requires explanation, he does surplus Eastern labor. Of particular reference inform his text with a sympathetic insight that to the Minnesota scene are Fremont P. Wirth's makes his the most professional treatment of "The Operation of tbe Land Laws in the Min­ this period to have been published in the pres­ nesota Iron District," and Lucile M. Kane's ent century. "Federal Protection of Pubfic Timber in the The book itself is simple and well made. It Upper Great Lakes States." is also well documented; the bibliography is ex­ Since articles from periodicals are the only cellent; the index is just adequate. The illus­ ones included, important chapters from the ex­ trations are good but few. cellent monographs and general histories of the public domain do not appear. This limits the usefulness of the book, which the editor expects A NATION'S REAL ESTATE will supplement the standard histories of the The Public Lands: Studies in the History of the public lands. Readability, end-of-chapter notes, Public Domain. Edited by VERNON CARSTEN­ tables, graphs, and appendixes all contribute SEN. (Madison, The University of Wisconsin to an excellent collection of important materials, Press, 1963. xxvi, 522 p. $6.75.) although the index is incomplete. While any Reviewed by George B. Engberg reader might wish that other articles had been included, it appears that Mr. Carstensen's ad­ QUESTIONS about who owns land and under visory board has chosen wisely. what conditions it can be obtained and trans­ ferred are among the most important in the history of any nation. Such problems were at REFORMERS AND RED MEN the heart of the feudal system, have been prin­ The Movement for Indian Assimilation, 1860- cipal causes of strife in collectivist societies, and 1890. By HENRY E. FRITZ. (Philadelphia, have had particular bearing on the growth of University of Pennsylvania Press, 1963. American countries where acquisition of prac­ 244 p. Maps, illustrations. $6.00 tically unoccupied land has been a major fea­ ture of growth. Since public land matters loom Revievi/ed by Roy W. Meyer large in the history of the United States, it is UP TO the end of the Civil War, the slogan very appropriate that Professor Carstensen "Extermination or Removal" probably expressed edited this volume for initial publication in 1962 for most white Americans the only alternatives to observe the sesquicentennial of the establish­ available in solving the Indian problem. Exter­ ment of the general land office and the centen­ mination could not be seriously entertained, nials of the homestead act and the Morrill land however, as a defiberate national policy, and grant college act. The collection includes about when settlers began to occupy the Great Plains, thirty articles from scholarly journals (espe­ the practical limitations of a removal policy cially the Mississippi Valley Historical Review finally became evident. After 1865, therefore, and Agricultural History) discussing origins of another approach to the problem — assimila­ the public land system, distribution of lands, tion — gained prominence. It is the gradual ac­ consequences of the distribution, and protection ceptance of this relatively novel approach that and management of the public domain. Professor Fritz chronicles.

MR. MORTON is a member of the history faculty MR. ENGBERG is professor of history in the Uni­ in the University of Manitoba at Winnipeg. versity of Cincinnati.

September 1963 329 Much of his book is devoted to the conflicts without question the desirabihty of assimflation over the management of Indian affairs — con­ as the ultunate solution to the Indian problem. flicts between idealistic Easterners and land- Such writers as John Coflier, Oliver La Farge, hungry, Indian-hating Westerners; between the and D'Arcy McNickle have shown that this is interior department and the war department not the only possible view of the matter. The for control of the Indian bureau; between re­ movement for assimilation might be seen in a ligious denomuiations for control of the agencies new perspective if it were dealt with by some­ which were parceled out among them as part of one on the other side. The position of the Na­ President Ulysses S. Grant's "Peace Policy." tional Indian Defense Association, dismissed by Less attention is given to the confiict between Priest as romantic and sentimental, would take the advocates of rapid, compulsory assimilation on greater significance, and the ethnocentrism and those who favored gradual, voluntary as­ of nearly everyone else in the movement would similation within the framework of the surviving be more evident. tribal systems. Throughout his study. Professor Professor Fritz has, nevertheless, made an Fritz relies heavily on material and examples important contribution to the growing body of drawn from Minnesota and the Dakotas. literature on tbe subject of Indian assimilation. The most impressive portions of the book are One need not subscribe to some of his obiter those depicting the plight of the plains Indians dicta (such as: "The emphasis upon the tribal during this period. As the bison on which they relationship under the Wheeler-Howard Act of depended dwindled, they surrendered their vast 1934 may now be regarded as an interlude in hunting grounds in return for subsistence at the effort to assimflate the Indians") in order to agencies, only to face starvation when Congress recognize that he has added to our understand­ failed to appropriate sufficient funds. Treated ing of American thinking and action on the as hostiles ff they left their reservations to hunt, Indian question during a crucial period. often disarmed to prevent weapons from reach­ ing their still unsubdued brethren, surrounded GETTYSBURG HEROES by encroaching whites whose preference for dead Indians is amply documented, they oscil­ The First Volunteers: History of the First Min­ lated between desperation and apathy. What nesota Volunteer Regiment, 1861-1865. By wonder that reformers saw in assimilation the JOHN Q. IMHOLTE. (Minneapolis, Ross & only hope for the Indians? Haines, Inc., 1963. v, 238 p. Maps. As with any book on a subject still contro­ $6.75.) versial, there is much in Professor Fritz's study Reviewed by Frank L. Klement with which many readers will disagree. His pic­ ture of Catholic missionary activities, although THE STORY of the First Minnesota Volunteer thoroughly documented, may seem one-sided, Infantry has been told and retold — and it is a and his analysis of Catholic motives may strike story truly worth retelling. The Reverend Ed­ some readers as biased. The omission of any ward D. Neill, chaplain of the much-publicized mention of peace commissions before 1867 is regiment, gave considerable space to the unit's regrettable, as is the absence of any extended story in his History of Minnesota, published evaluation of the entire movement for assimila­ more than eighty years ago. In the early 1890s tion. The book will probably supplement rather William Lochren briefly detailed the history of than supplant the pioneer work in the field, the First Minnesota, gilding the lily. About Loring B. Priest's Uncle Sam's Stepchildren, twenty-five years later Return 1. Holcombe with which the publishers invite comparison. wrote another eulogy, guided by the maxim, It is perhaps unfortunate that both books, "Say nothing of the dead, unless it be good." the most satisfactory treatments of the subject Now Mr. Imholte presents what he hopes will in print, were written by men who accepted be the definitive account.

MR. ME-yER, whose article on "The Prairie Is­ MR. KLEMENT is pTofessor of histoTy in Mar­ land Community" won the Solon J. Biwk Award quette University at Milwaukee and the author for 1961, is now engaged in research on a full- of several books on the part played by Middle length study of the Minnesota Sioux. Western .states in the Civil War.

330 MINNESOTA Historhy His story is based upon extensive research, fortunately chose to interpret the North Da- mainly in manuscript materials and newspaper kotan's turbulent career through the latter's reports. He begins with a discussion and anal­ stance on foreign policy—^the arena in which ysis of the Minnesota militia in the prewar Nye was catapulted to fame in the 1930s as years. Through Governor Alexander Ramsey, one of the foremost spokesmen for isolationism Minnesota was the first state to tender men to and neutrality. the federal government following the fall of The author considers Nye a striking example Fort Sumter. After a haphazard start, featuring of the "agrarian isolationist" who made the pain­ disorganization and reorganization, the First ful shift in world outlook between the two world Minnesota reached Washington in time to par­ wars from liberalism to conservatism. Contribut­ ticipate in the first battle of Bull Run, suffering ing to this shift was the pronounced urbaniza­ heavier casualties than any other Northern regi­ tion of the farmer and the decline of rural Amer­ ment. In the months that followed, the First ica. "In the 1920's and early 1930's," writes Mr. Minnesota saw much action — Ball's Bluff, the Cole, "most leading isolationists on foreign af­ peninsular campaign, second Bull Run, Antie­ fairs were liberals or progressives on domestic tam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. But issues." He painstakingly traces and convinc­ it was at Gettysburg that the regiment won a ingly explains Nye's agonizing odyssey. He finds special place in history when its veterans obeyed that life on the semiarid plains of western North General Winfield S. Hancock's order to "Charge Dakota was the most powerful determinant of those lines" and check the enemy, performing Nye's early agrarian radicalism and later isola­ the suicidal assault heroically. "The charge," tionism. "Each of the major theories on the ori­ notes Mr. Imholte, "was the climax of the regi­ gins of isolationism," maintains Cole, "leads the ment's career" — demonstrating its worth as a researcher to North Dakota sooner or later." military organization. Nye began his political career in Wisconsin The author's account, written in a prosaic and as a country editor at the age of eighteen. After lackluster style, occupies three-fifths of the a brief sojourn in Iowa, he moved to North book. The roster of the First Minnesota takes Dakota and became editor of the Fryburg Pio­ up forty-four pages and the notes (does one dare neer. There he gave vigorous editorial support call them footnotes if they are put together at to Woodrow Wilson's war policy and interna­ the end of the text?) fill thirty-five pages. The tionalism — a stand he later regretted publicly. bibliography attests to the author's deep dredg­ At the same time, he rose prominently in the ing and diligence. Nonpartisan League as a crusader for domestic Minnesotans have reason to be proud of reform — especially in behaff of the North Da­ the record of the First Regiment, and the ap­ kota farmers who experienced the depression at pearance of The First Volunteers, a hundred its greatest depths. Defeated in a race for Con­ years after the heroic performance at Gettys­ gress in 1924, Nye's big chance for pubfic office burg, is a centennial tribute to men from "the came a year later when he was appointed to the Minnesota hinterlands" who were forged into United States Senate to succeed Edwin F. Ladd. "a well-oiled fighting machine," and who, in He quickly became recognized as a leader of Mr. Imholte's concluding words, "rightfully oc­ the "western insurgent bloc" that voted with the cupy a significant niche in the history of the Democrats against the Coolidge Republicans. state and nation." With the advent of the New Deal, Nye found himself affeady occupying a position to the left of it. Impatient with the tempo and extent of tbe ISOLATIONIST ODYSSEY reforms championed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Senator Gerald P. Nye and American Foreign he vigorously advocated reduction of the na­ tional debt, increase in progressive income tax Relations. By WAYNE S. COLE. (Minneapolis, The University of Minnesota Press, 1962. rates, maintenance of the inheritance tax, curbs for the power of the Federal Reserve Board, and 293 p. Illustrations. $5.75.) government ownership of the munitions Indus- Reviewed by Russell W. Fridley try- PROFESSOR COLE has written a sympathetic Nye's political attitudes, however, underwent biography of Gerald P. Nye. In doing so, he profound changes midway in the decade. Back

September 1963 331 home, his long-time political foe, Wilfiam operation given him by Senator Nye, who stfll Langer, successfully converted the Nonpartisan resides in Washington, D.C. "His candor, help­ League into his personal political machine, thus fulness, and respect for my fiitellectual freedom maneuvering Nye more and more into the arms in the project," writes Cole, "could serve as of the conservatives. A developing dislike of models for other pubfic figures." Roosevelt coupled with a haunting fear of presi­ dential power also influenced Nye's outlook. SCANDINAVIAN METHODISTS And as the war clouds gathered, his domestic The Salt of the Earth: A History of Norwegian- liberalism, already waning, gave way to a preoc­ Danish Methodism in America. By ARLOW W. cupation with American foreign policy. ANDERSEN. (Nashvifle, Tennessee, Norwe­ The author graphically portrays the period of gian-Danish Methodist Historical Society, 1934-36 when Nye reached the summit of his 1962. 338 p. Illustrations. $5.00.) power as he headed the Senate's investigation of the munitions industry — a role, Mr. Cole Reviewed by Merrill E. Jarchow reminds us, as much antibusiness as antiwar. ALTHOUGH never on a par numerically with Nye also occupied a key position in tbe passage thefi American counterparts, nor with their of tbe neutrality acts later in the decade. Lutheran brethren, the Norwegian and Danish As Mr. Cole relates it, the Nye story is not Methodists yielded nothing to the first two without drama. Always doctrinaire in his ap­ groups in such qualities as devotion to the faith proach to issues, the North Dakota Senator and missionary zeal. Their story is a significant found himseff unable to change with the world. as well as a highly interesting chapter in Just prior to World War II, Nye, along with American religious and immigrant history. Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., and others, was un­ Tracing their origins to such places as a deniably one of Roosevelt's most formidable Norwegian Quaker colony established in New opponents and a tireless spokesman for the York in 1825, the American frontier of the America First Committee. With the bombing of 1830s and 1840s, and various seamen's missions Pearl Harbor, Nye's era of prominence ended. of the 1840s along the Atlantic Seaboard, the Time and an increasingly perplexing world had two Scandinavian Methodist groups were of passed him by. A member of an isolated minori­ sufficient significance and infiuence to be ac­ ty with little influence, adrift from his party corded in 1880 the status of a conference by the and the nation's war policies, his defeat in 1944, general conference of the Methodist church. after two decades in the Senate, was not Organization of the Northwest Norwegian con­ surprising. ference (later the Norwegian-Danish confer­ Mr. Cole is impressed by Nye's courage, sin­ ence) was effected in Racine, Wisconsin, in cerity, and industry. He finds him significant September of that year. in American history as a strong spokesman for At its inception the coifference embraced 43 a point of view rather than as an innovator of congregations with a total of 2,266 members. ideas and policies. Nye was, in his biographer's By 1906, largely as the result of the flood tide words, "less effective in accomplishing legis­ of Scandinavian immigration to the United lative goals than in revealing and pubficizing States, the peak in membership and in number evils." One only wishes that Mr. Cole had pur­ of congregations was reached — 5,102 and 99 sued this diagnosis further. His overaU ap­ respectively. The greatest strength of the de­ praisal of Nye is quite gentle when one recalls nomination in the United States was centered that this man's thoughts and actions were syn­ in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, but onymous with the cause of isolationism and work was carried on from Concord, Massachu­ nonintervention at the very point in the world's setts, to Dawson, Alaska, while in Norway and history when the West was in mortal danger Denmark Methodism owed much of its origin from Nazi Germany. to native sons returning home after conversion Historians and others who write will be in­ in the United States. Following World War I terested in Mr. Cole's high praise of the co- dwindling immigration plus the forces of Ameri-

MR. FRIDLEY IS dircctor of the Minnesota His­ MR. JARCHOW is dean of men in Carleton Col­ torical Society. lege, Northfield.

332 MINNESOTA History canization foreshadowed the end of the Norwe­ new arrivals, business ventures and failures, gian-Danish conference. This arrived in 1943, steamboat visits, the establishment of a postal but during its life the organization had "fulfilled service and a raflroad, social activities, fires, and an indispensable and sacred mission." deaths. Readers who feel less devotion to Marine Early in its history Norwegian-Danish Meth­ than Mr. Dunn might well prefer a narrative odism faced numerous problems: Yankee sus­ treatment, and certainly the terminal date, picion of foreigners, a desperate shortage of 1888, is arbitrary, since to many a contemporary pastors, the hold of traditional Lutheranism, and Minnesotan the importance of Marine as a sum­ the absence of its own press. Nevertheless mer colony may well eclipse its history as a under the leadership of men such as Christian logging town. Nevertheless, this brief history of B. Willerup, Ole P. Petersen, and Andrew A. one of the earliest Minnesota communities has Haagensen, impressive progress was made. its own fascination. Later preachers, Hans K. Madsen, Carl W. Schevenius, and Carl J. Larsen, for example, UNTILLED FIELDS carried on in the same high tradition. TWELVE ESSAYS exploruig Research Oppor­ The author, son of a Norwegian Methodist tunities in American Cidtural History have been pastor and onetime editor of Den Khristelige brought together in a book edited by John Talsmand, has produced a volume which not Francis McDermott (Lexington, Kentucky, only measures up to all scholarly standards but 1961. 205 p.). The work grew out of a two- also refiects deep affection for "the warm and day conference held at Washington University, intimate fellowship shared by this company of St. Louis, Missouri, in October, 1959, by schol­ immigrant Methodists." ars who discussed the possibilities for fresh studies in the American past. Since the limita­ HISTORI C TOWN tions of the meeting were extremely general, there is fittle pattern or cohesiveness among the Marine Milk: Limber Village, 1838-1888. By resulting papers. According to the editor they JAMES TAYLOR DUNN. (Marine on St. Croix, form "a statement of work to be done, a broad­ Minnesota, 1963. 55 p. Illustrations. cast of suggestions, an indication of the wide $1.75.) range of subjects to be found in relatively un- Reviewed by John T. Flanagan tilled fields of research." THE FIRST commercial sawmill in Minnesota In the first essay Lester J. Cappon re-exam­ began operations at Marine in May, 1839. For ines the colonial period. Gaps in the recorded the next half century the little town on the St. cultural history of several population groups are Croix River depended on lumber. Yankees, pointed out by Mr. McDermott (the French), Frenchmen, and Scandinavians settled there, Howard H. Peckham (the Indians), and Theo­ ran mifls, stores, and taverns, and built a suc­ dore C. Blegen (nineteenth-century European cession of wooden buildings — most of which immigrants). The profitable results of crossing eventually burned. By the end of the century discipfinary lines in the study of cultural his­ the Minnesota pineries were nearing depletion, tory are illustrated in essays by John T. Flan­ and Marine had passed through its boom days. agan (literature), Joseph Ewan (science), Now well into its second hundred years. Marine Edgar P. Richardson (the visual arts), and is a quiet country town and a favorite summer Richard M. Dorson (folklore). Neglected areas residence for St. Paulites. in the study of institutions and activities which The present brochure by the librarian of the have helped to shape the nation's cultural herit­ Minnesota Historical Society is a labor of love. age are reviewed by David Kaser (the book Mr. Dunn knows the St. Croix Valley well and trade and publishing industiy), David Mead is himself a summer resident of Marine. He has (popular education and cultural agencies), and chosen to assemble his material chronologically. Phihp D. Jordan (recreation). Although the sub­ Year by year he records the important facts — ject matter of the conference was national in scope, all but one of the participants repre­ MR. FLANAGAN, who hos written widely on Mid­ sented in the book are from states in the Mis­ western literature, has been for many years a sissippi and Ohio valleys, and their work tends summer resident of the St. Croix Valley. to focus strongly on the Middle West. R.G.

September 1963 333 . . .on the HISTORICAL HORIZO.^

THREE LECTT- _HJ^ ddivaed at the I ni^ er- Kr^ame's vidanie. The Sixth Column {Philadel­ sir.' dt Fkarrda by Jcrfm D. Hicks have been pub- phia and New Todc, 1962. 15S p . Althoo^ Kshfrl noder tie title Rehearad fcrr Disaster he enq»lovs footnote to laentir.' the main (Gainesville. Flodda, 1961. Vrl^. They c«n- soorces of his material and indhides a substantial pdse a stndhi' «rf Ae bocm and coQap-w cf 191'^ Khhczraphv, Mr. Barhngame's ^4e and par- 20 in tenns ot historicai paralleli '.viai the krger pose are nKwe controvasial than scholarly. His boom arud coQ^Ke "sTtiih eiirulrea tiie natfon wiKk is a hard-hittina polanic against those a dasade lafer. Mr. Hicks essnoDes the objec- gtocps and CTsanizatiDns £nm the Ameriran fives and tactics «rf tise niajor sectors in Anici- Legjon to the John Birch Sncsetv, whidi in the can societ>~ dxirtiis this period. Boaness and atcthor s (pinion have wtxked for tbe soppres- gmremment be groups tD^tha-. ror "theire was sioD oi vital American Ubeities from 1919 to no soiCTis cr.'erTeoce between wiiat fhe so'"- 1961. Mtmiesota readers wiH find their state ^mment did and wbat tbe bosiness intaests rqaesented bv die WretLshaJI school board TO^anted done.'' In sspstabe cbaqpias he treats which in 1961 discharged a hizh sc-hool teadjo" "The Role oi Lab-ir" and Tbe Pli^it rf Asri- for using the book I5'5-f. hy Gec-rse Qrwefl, in cnltnie,'' whose place in tie Amoican ecoBomy his senior EnzKsh dass. "was neva: to be tiie same asaiii-" In condosiaD ilr. Hirjbi places a laige share ai leqwnsffailflr/ VARIOUS .\SPECTS of man's conquest of the for the immediate :-ostwar fnfiatLcm and crash. sfcv are dealt with in three recent pnblications- Tipoo "The t^izz'dTzzi at bosiness and «rf bosi- Of most interest to schobrs is Aeronautics and ness-dctni --=1 leadership.^ A3tT0Tu3rj.tici: An American- Chranolo^y of Sci- iv.c-i and Technolc-zy in the Exploration of OPPOSITE SIDES jf the same coin are pre­ Space- 1^15—1960. bv Euaene \L Emme sented hv two recent bcxAs which deal rmtn ,W.ashingto^n, 1961. 1-iO p.).'lt has been pub­ diSaient vievrpoints with the rxsht cf dissent lished by IIK Nati'jnril Aennaotics aai Space in Amsrican societv. First in order ot historical Af}iiniiiT>j fat am in the hope of piovidiiig ~per- time is AHens cjid Desenfcrj. Federal S'-j-p-prii- spectn.-e on the erer-^Tijickeninz pace of events" skm L-T Rizdic-ah. 19GS-1933, by WiIKam Pres- in the fidd of ^ace eqjloration. It also provides tEKL Jr. (iCambtiize. 1963. S5il p.). Mr. Prestim a valuable res^irdi aid tor the hisiinmn at- centers his stndr ir^-j^d die p«iod ci hj-sferia temptinz to jKesent and intapret the mass of a'annz WCHM War L which was dimaxed bv scattered and fragmentary infonnation avail­ mass arrests and deportatLoiLs crf radical aliems able in this field. The main bodv of the book in I'^ly—-'':. He Mn]^ rhf^ with a gro^ins na- is devoted to an almost dav-bv-day chronoloov' titian. wiadL he mainfaiiis. had its roots ia die of events ffoui 1^15 to 1960, indoding not onh- ecoDomic and social dislocatians d the IS'Os, the wdlpoblicized mikstones. hot also feser- 1S.5'J5, and lS9«Js. A ^^^ Aare a£ the bot^ is known achievenients in reseaidi and aisineer- devoted tn the tistcKv ;f the Indnsfadal Woskas ing which made them passible. Three useful of the Wodd, since that crsarization was the appendixes provide chionides of eardi satel­ nrfng".- tarzet for federal represion during lites and space jwobes. world airplane reccads. the vears £fom 1915 ta 1920. There' are frei^TierLt and sigoificant balloon iiizhts laniMJied betweai rrfacBces to its memb^rdup in. njocthein Minne- L^ZT and 1960. The latter holds paiticnlar in­ sofa, and ta the activities of es-Govaisor John terest iot ^lion^iotans, since a large prouoiUon T.indl who^ as ^an frrffnential membo^ of the «rf the siitj-two fiizhts listed woe c-jthgr made stares poUic safetv coDEnissim'^ nr^ed the from the iqipo- Midwest or invxlved the wosk United State? d^ertnient of jastice t j poceed or Minnesota crzanizatKiQs such as Genaal against the radical organization at the national Mills. \Mnzen R^eardi, the G. T. ScfajeUahl lev^d and "saw the frnition of his lobbviog in the Company, and the UrLn,-ersib.- ot Minnesota. C3iicago L W. W. tnaL" Mr. Riraten has made A hrid^ IriUiography and an indf\ are indnded. wide use of records in the Xatimal Ardiives. Minnesota's prwninence in modem olastic smne of whkii were nnavailaUe to schcLars be- balloon research is also high hshted bv Eurt R. £ar the mid-1950s- BBs woil is eshandivdv Stehhns and WiDiam BeOar iaSiyhoohs (New aonotated, and he has added an ^ctensve bib- York 1961. 264 p.). This pc^idarly writtaa and eroemely dcetchy histmy of baQocnins rapf•^'^-'^--l- note. vdiidi Mr. Preston devotes his from I. S.3 to tbe presenf: inchides a final diapter book: 15 inly the first ch^la- trf Rz-zer Bor- on- "^pace Labs."" In it the authors zr.-e an ac-

ySISSESOTj History count of such manned flights as "Manhigh II" studies" but "straightforward accounts of what (launched from Crosby on August 19, 1957) knowledgeable and active individuals know and the "Strato-Lab" series, most of which rose and see" in die various communities repre­ over South Dakota. sented. Minneapolis and St. Paul are combmed In The Sky's tlie Limit: The History of the (and compared) in one chapter. A brief review Airliiws (Xew York, 1963. 317 p.), Charles J. of "The Past" defines Mimiesota as a "land of Kelly, Jr., focuses on die commercial ratiier churches" and quicklv examines fhe roots of than the scientific challenge of the skv. In tlie the state's various rehgious groups. The name­ course of his suiAey he devotes a chapter to less autlior concludes that "too often rehgion Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., and his contribution has been the source of comniunit\' conflict and to commercial a\"iation. There is also a brief unworthv squabbles." He cites numerous past account of the development of Xortiiwest examples of interfaith tension, while in tiie Orient -'yrhnes, as well as numerous scattered area of "Social Disciimination," he feels tiiat references to the Minnesota-based firm. R.G. "Religious segregation is strong" in botii of tiie Twin Cities. RAILRO.\D BUFFS ^^-i^ welcome Leshe \'. Suprey's Steam Trains of the Soo (Mora, Minne­ THE MINNESOTA SCENE sota, 1962. SO p.) but tiiev wiQ not be alone in aj^reciating tiie striking photographs witii A COLLECTIOX of documentary' materials which this picture histor\' of the Soo Line is made bv the Reverend Cohnan Barr\' for die filled. Although much of its information is con­ archives of St. John's Abbev furnishes the basis tained in picture captions, the book also includes of an article in the Scriptorium for 1962. In "St. a brief historical summar\' of the Minneapohs, John's Among the Chippewa: An Archive Sur- St. Paul and Sault Ste. Xiarie Railwav, written \ev," die Reverend Tobias Maeder examines by Jim Lydon, and a roster of Soo Line rail­ the scope of tiie documents and sketches tiie road locomotives. main features of the storv which thev tell. He points out that the invohement of the Benedic­ HEXRY DAVID THORK\U'S notes on his tine group widi the Indians was through so- journey to the Northwest and the letters of his called "contract schools," of which St. John's travehng companion, Horace Mann, Jr., have operated tiiree from the 1870s until 1896 — been edited by \\'alter Harding under the title one at the abbev itself, one on tiie \Miite Earth Thoreau's Mintiesota Journey: Tivo Docujiients. reser\ation, and one on the Red Lake reserva­ Thev are published bv the Thoreau Societv as tion. The stor\- of tiiis effort is a long and com­ number sixteen of its Booklets (Geneseo, Xew plicated one, invobing difficulties witii the York, 1962. 60 p.). -\s Mr. Harding points out United States government, ^^^til Protestant in his introduction, Thoreau's notes were '"in­ groups active on tiie same reservations, and tended onlv for is own use" and were "the skele­ witii the bureau of Cathohc Indian missions. ton on which he would hang a fullv-developed The unif\"ing element tiiroughout, Fatiier Mae­ account of his excursion"—a work he did not der feels, "is tiie question of governmental finan­ hve long enough to complete. Aldiough Mr. cial support to sectarian groups." He concludes Harding has done much to make the text under- that "tiiis stor\- needs reteUing on a larger scale, standable, a good deal of the autiior's meaning; taking into account the Indian tribes tiiat bene­ must be guessed at. Mann's letters, giving a far fited from tiie contract schools and government more readable and connected picture of the schools." trip, are presented in fuU for the first time. Readers of Minnesota History will recall tiiat A STUDY of Indians in Minnesota (Minneapo­ several of them, edited bv Sir. Harding, ap­ lis, 1962. 66 p.) has been published bv the peared in the June, 1961, issue of tiiis magazine, League of Women ^'oters of Minnesota. Though commemorating the centennial of Thoreau's primarily intended as a contemporan,- survev", \"isit to the state. it contains some historical data — including a brief re\-iew of federal and state laws affecting IXTERFAITH co-operation among Protes­ Minnesota Indians and background information tants, Cathohcs, and Jews is die subject of a on die economic, educational, healtii, and so­ volume entitied A Tale of Ten Cities: Tlie cial problems of tiiis minorit\- group. The state's Triple Ghetto in American Religious Life, edi­ largest suigle Indian comniunitv is examined in ted b\- Eugene J. Lipman and Albert \'orspan greater detail b\- Merle Sherman in "A Geo­ (Xew York, 1962. 344 p.). Included are chap­ graphic Study of tbe Red Lake Chippewa In­ ters written by anonymous "expert observers," dian Band of Minnesota," which appears in whose reports are admittedlv not "scientific volimie thirt\-, number one, of the Proceeding's

September 1963 335 of the Minnesota Academy of Science (1962). mitted in the course of a year, the award will Mr. Sherman points out that these people oc­ not be made. The generosity of the McKnight cupy "a position set apart from the other In­ Foundation is also responsible for the color re­ dians of the state" because they "have a closed productions of Civil War patriotic covers which reservation witb tiibal instead of individual enlivened the closing pages of this magazine's ownership of land." This has made possible the Civil War centennial issue, published in June. development of community enterprises and "the This assistance was given in addition to the exploitation of resources for their own benefit," five hundred dollars previously made available most notably in the operation of a commercial for the commissioning of art work in the cur­ fishery. Mr. Sherman recounts the story of this rent volume of Minnesota History. and other efforts and surveys the current situ­ ation of the band, concluding that with present A COMMITTEE of tiiree, including the Rever­ population growth it is necessary to use more end Vincent Tegeder, head of the history de­ intensively the hmited resources of the land partment in St. John's University, Collegeville, and to "provide for more processing on the Dr. Maude L. Lindquist, chairman of the his­ reservation in order to increase job opportunities tory department in the University of Minnesota, and to develop skills that can help those who Duluth, and Mrs. Rhoda R. Gilman, editor of leave the reservation to obtain employment." Minnesota History, met in April to select the winner of the society's Solon J. Buck Award A SERIES of twelve articles that were assem­ for 1962. Their unanimous choice was Mrs. bled by Julius F. Wolff, Jr., from personal in­ Helen McCann White, for her article on terviews as well as the notes and diaries of "Minnesota, Montana, and Manifest Destiny," Joseph Brickner under the title "A Pioneer which appeared in the June, 1962, issue of the Game Warden" began in the Conservation Vol­ magazine. The award, carrying with it a prize unteer for May, 1960, and continued through of a hundred dollars, is given each year to the April, 1962. Mr. Brickner's experiences as a author of the best article to be pubhshed in the member of the Minnesota division of game and society's quarterly. fish include service as a game warden in north­ ern Minnesota, chief warden, and warden su­ TWO MEMBERS of the society's staff have pervisor, and cover a twenty-eight-year period been represented in recent publications. The from 1922 until his retirement in 1950. In his golden anniversary edition of Anchor and Line, wide-ranging reminiscences, Mr. Brickner which appeared in July, 1962, featured a series notes that his dual role of apprehending viola­ of brief essays on the history of the St. Paul tors and teaching conservation in many areas Yacht Club, written by James Taylor Dunn. of the state began in St. Paul, where one of his The society's underwater search program along earliest duties was to inspect fur shipments the fur trade routes of fhe Minnesota-Ontario from that city. In the July, 1962, issue of the border lakes is described by Robert C. Wheeler same magazine, Mr. Wolff began another se­ in an article entitled "Diving Into the Past," ries, entitled "A Forest Ranger's Diary," this which appeared in the Canadian Geographical time working from personal interviews and the Journal for August, 1962. notes of Leslie R. Beatty, who "spent many years in public service as an administrator of A VALUABLE contribution to the work of the land and forest areas." society and especially of its publications depart­ ment has been made during the past year by AN ANNUAL GRANT of a thousand dollars Miss Margaretta Ellsworth, who retired in 1962 to be used for awards and research assistance after thirty-eight years as a teacher in the St. to further the society's publications program Paul school system. Volunteering her services bas been made by the McKnight Foundation of regularly for three days each week (and often St. Paul. In 1964 and 1965 half of this amount more), she has performed such tasks as inter­ will be used as an award for the best book- filing and consolidating index cards, compiling length manuscript received during each calen- and checking mailing lists, and stuffing enve­ day year. Manuscripts should be over fifty lopes. In recent months she has assisted the thousand words, have their principal focus in membership secretary in writing receipts and the field of Minnesota history, and should con­ filing membership cards, as well as substituting tribute fresh information or interpretations con­ from time to time for tbe receptionist at the cerning the area's past. Edited documentary main desk. No less appreciated than her care contributions will be considered on the merits and .skill are the cheerfulness and dedication of the document itself and on the quality of which she brings to tbe many chores assigned the editing. If no deserving manuscript is sub­ her.

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