The Great Columbia Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805-1910

by Meinig, D. W.

• ISBN13: 9780295974859
• ISBN10: 0295974850
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

Dismissed in early years as a wasteland, the rolling open country that covers the interior parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho is today one of the richest farmlands in the nation. This work is the story of its transformation. Meinig traces all of the aspects of its development by combining geographic description with historical narrative.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Ghost Region	xi
William Cronon
A Retrospective Preface	xv
Preface to the Original Edition	xix
Acknowledgments	xxiii
Setting: Landscapes, Seasons, and People, ca. 1800	3	(23)
Entry: By East and by North	26	(22)
Competition: By Land and by Sea	48	(18)
Monopoly: London Rules the Columbia	66	(30)
Matrix: American Visions and Ventures	96	(29)
Missions: Protestants and Priests	125	(27)
Preparation: Clearing, Organizing, and Evaluating the Land	152	(49)
Colonization: Gold, Grass, and Grain	201	(40)
Strategy: Settlers and Railroads, 1870-90	241	(43)
Conquest: Some Patterns, Methods, and Ideas, 1870-90	284	(37)
Empire: Town and Country, ca. 1890	321	(44)
Elaboration: Some Patterns and Methods	365	(39)
Inquiry: The Farmer and the Scientist, ca. 1890-1910	404	(24)
Culmination: The Great Columbia Plain, ca. 1910	428	(41)
Perspectives: History, Geography, and Culture	469	(46)
Appendix: Populations and Facilities of Towns, 1890 and 1910 (Table 2)	515	(4)
Bibliography	519	(34)
Index	553