Few persons read the preface to a book except authors, editors and critics, and they with a purpose mainly, of judging the writer's opportunity for understanding his subject. I would, therefore, say I tha.t in this instance it consists: first, in having spent a large proportion of the time since 1873 in studying it; second, in having become familiar with the Pacific Coast by personal observation of its various historic localities, made through ten years of travel between Mexico and British Columbia; third, in having previously written local histories of various parts of the region mentioned, including counties in and the states of, California and Nevada; fourth, in having availed myself of the opportunity presented of perusing the contents of volumes treating upon this subject, contained in the numerous public and several valuable private libraries in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington Territory, and in a careful exa~ination of numerous' newspaper files, journals of pioneers, and private collections of historic data; fifth, in having interviewed a small army of argonauts who have been met with in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington Territory, among whom were those living on the Pacific Coast since 1830; and, with all this opportunity, there remains the necessity only of 'recording a regret that these "Sketches" are not more complete and traced with an abler pen.

The design was not to produce a complete history, but present to the reader a brief glimpse of the whole-a glimpse of the Coast from its discovery; of California until Oregon ceased to be a part of it; of Oregon while Washington Territory was within her boundary limits; of the latter from its creation until WalIa Walla, Columbia, Whitman, and Garfield had been born into the sisterhood of counties.

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