History Of The Oregon Territory And British North-American Fur Trade; With An Account Of The Habits And Customs Of The Principal Native Tribes On The Northern Continent.

JOHN DUNN

Publication: Edwards And Hughes, Ave Maria Lane, 1844, London

First Edition. Half-Leather with Marbled Boards. TEG. viii, 359pp. Preface. Large Folding Map. "Dunn, an Englishman, was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company for eight years during the thirties and forties. He served at Fort Vancouver as a trader in company ships trading along the coast and for a brief period was the principal agent at Fort George. He claimed his book was written from his notes taken at the time. It was primarily an effort to refute American claims then featured in the press to all of the Oregon Country. He made frequent use of earlier accounts of the fur trade without acknowledgement, so only a part of his History is based on his own experiences. Dunn made no attempt to hide his British patriotism or to cover his American bias: "The American missionaries are used by the American government, and fairly represented by the American writers, as political instruments, in exercising their influence with the natives, to attach them to republican institutions, and to make them the passive recipients of all sorts of anti-British antipathies: and thus the Americans hope to recover the position in the country which they lost by their want of integrity or energy, as traders."--The Pacific Northwest, 1542-1846, #45. "Practically a history of Hudson's Bay Co. operations in the North-west; by one of their men."--HowesD577. The map, "A Map Of The Oregon Country", extends slightly north of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and south into the northern portion of California. A rare and important account of the fur trade of the Pacific Northwest, and the quest for control of the Oregon Country. Very attractive, 20th century, half-leather binding, with decorative marbled boards. The text block is clean, with only a small amount of light foxing to original endpapers. Map has a couple of short spots of professional reinforcement on verso of map, else fine. A fine copy, protected in protective slipcase with title, author, and year of publication in gilt on leather label on spine.