Pacific Destiny: The Three-Century Journey to the Oregon Country

by Dale L. Walker

Book Overview

The Oregon Country! For a century that fabled place, lying somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains at the farthest reaches of the continent galvanized the American people. Its riches, in furs, timber,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312869339
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Forge Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

A well-told story

This book attempts to trace the history of the Oregon territory by stringing together the stories of various pioneers. The book's strength is that Walker is a wonderful story teller and you can't help but be hooked by his tales of mountain men and emigrants wandering around a vast wildnerness. Walker has a keen eye for the look and feel of the times. The book is a bit light on context with only a few brief discussions of the politics of the period, but that'a probably an unfair criticism because that isn't what the book sets out to do. I read this because I'm going to the Northwest for a vacation in a few weeks and Walker's book will greatly enrich that trip.

Spur Award

PACIFIC DESTINY has received the Spur Award from Western Writers of America, Inc. as Best Nonfiction Historical Book for the year 2000. The award will be presented to the author at the WWA annual convention, to be held the last week of June, 2001, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.Last year, WWA awarded to author Dale L. Walker its Owen Wister Award, given for lifetime achievement in Western history and literature.

A breathtaking and brilliant study

Dale L. Walker has written a magnificent and penetrating history of Oregon. This book is unique because it explores the personalities of those who made history, and integrates these biographical insights into the whole fabric of history. Walker is the peer of Bernard DeVoto and David Lavender, the other great chroniclers of the American West. For anyone seeking the history of the Northwest, and all those who shaped it, this is the best and most authoritative book in the field. Walker's research is amazing, and his ability to integrate diverse materials is outstanding. Walker's other great gift is lucidity. This book is a great read, clear, transparent, and brimming with anecdote.I recommend this as one of the great histories written in modern times.