David Thompson’s Journeys in Idaho by T. C. Elliott (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 411 The method of grouping has some disadvantages, as the same letter frequently deals with events in separate theatres of action. Instead of being arranged in chronological order, the enclosures follow the covering letters. . One II find" of considerable value is the II Diary of William McCay", from August 1 to September 8, 1812. It seems odd that the Federalist skit, called liThe War of The Gulls, an Historical Romance", should be included among II Select British Documents". Most of the documents now printed exist as originals or transcripts in the Dominion Archives, but such other diverse sources appear to have been drawn upon as II The Royal Hospital, Chelsea", II An Order Book of Lt. Colonel John Macdonell", and liThe New York Gazette". Notable omissions are the correspondence of Prevost with Sir John Borlase Warren, and several important letters from him tp Lord Bathurst and letters from Bathurst. Great care has evidently been taken to reproduce the peculiarities of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Printer's errors are few and unimportant. There is no table of contents, nor list of documents, and no index in the present volume, but an unusually full and precise index, containing Iiall the information generally given in foot-notes", is promised. All the'maps and illustrations for the whole work are placed in this, IIthe first and handiest volume". The maps are eight in number, viz: reproductions of D. W. Smith's II Map of Upper Canada" and II Sketches" of the battles of Chrysler's Farm and Chateauguay, originally published by W. Faden; a map of the Detroit frontier, source not stated; Nesfield's I'Map of the Niagara Peninsula" and a "Sketch" of the 'I Action at Lundy's Lane", from originals in the Dominion Archives, both of which have appeared in recent publications; and, finally, a IIMap of the Niagara Frontier" and a "Plan of the Siege of Plattsburg" from American sources. These maps and plans are well executed, and the entire mechanical production of the book could hardly be improved upon. E. A. CRUIKSHANK David Thompson's Journeys in Idaho. By T. C. ELLIOTT. (Washington Historical Quarterly, vol. xi, pp. 97-103, 163-173). THE first of these articles reproduces the entries in Thompson's .journal relating to the selection of the location and the build~ng in September, 1809, of Kullyspell House, the first trading post west of the Rocky Mountains south of 49°. This fort, which was on the north side of 412 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Pend d'Oreille Lake, existed for about two years;. it was abandoned late in the autumn of 1811. By the aid of the journal and the personal examination of the locality, Mr. Elliott has been able to identify the exact site of this short-lived fort. The second article consists of a series of excerpts from Thompson's journal covering his travels in the vicinity of Kullyspell House in October and November, 1809, April and May, 1810, June, 1811, and finally in March, 1812, when he visited the site of "the old house" for the last time, on the eve of his departure from the region that has made his name famous. It is impossible to overestimate the value of the concise and accurate notes that Mr. Elliott has appended to all these extracts. These notes do nothing less than make Thompson's dry-looking records real and living entities for the historical student of to-day. F. V{. HOWAY Journal of a trip from Fort Colvile to Fort Vancouver and return in 1828, by John Work. Edited by W. S. LEWIS and J. A. MEYERS. (Washington Historical Quarterly, vol. xi, pp. 104-114.) THIS journal covers a portion of the Columbia River that has been described repeatedly by the early explorers and travellers. By 1828 it had become well known as a part of the regular fur trade route. It is therefore of little' interest, save in so far as it enables the loc~l student to fill in the movements of the persons mentioned. The New Caledonia brigade, in charge of William Connolly, is met at Fort Okanagan (the usual junction point), accompanies the party to Fort...