The Great Columbia Plain

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.

Foreword: Ghost Region

A Retrospective Preface

Preface to the Original Edition

Acknowledgments

Setting: Landscapes, Seasons, and People, ca. 1800

Entry: By East and By North

Competition: By Land and by Sea

Monopoly: London Rules the Columbia

Matrix: American Visions and Ventures

Missions: Protestants and Priests

Preparation: Clearing, Organizing, and Evaluating the Land

Colonization: Gold, Grass, and Grain

Strategy: Settlers and Railroads, 1870-90

Conquest: Some Pattersn, Methods and Ideas, 1870-90

Empire: Town and Country, ca. 1890

Elaboration: Some Patterns and methods

Inquiry: The Farmer and the Scientist, ca. 1890-1910

Culmination: The Great Columbia Plain, ca. 1910

Appendix: Populations and Facilities of Tows, 1890 and 1910 (Table 2)

Bibliography

Index