Nez Perce Country by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.

Abstract

for the vision of a producers' republic. Over time, U'ren's crusade lost its power to move workers, but not because they lost sightof the ideal it represented. Rather, risingwages and the introduction of new technologies during the 1920s, especially the automobile, margin alized it. Workers particularly esteemed the liberating effectofHenry Ford's automobiles. Ford's revolutionary ideas about assembly-line production and employee relations combined scientific management with Progressivevalues, setting wages high enough for workers tobuy his efficiently manufactured cars. Buying cars led tomore leisure,which, in turn,opened up the possibility that the lower classes would have themeans and time to relate tonature in somewhat thesameway thattheaffluentalways had.Now, nature truly would be accessible and, at themargins at least, itneed not be totally dedicated toproduction. This isa generally excellentbook, imagina tive,well documented, and clearly written. Lipin has shone a bright lighton the mechanics of a key aspect in thedecline of theProgressive impulse and the rise of consumerist culture inOregon. By grounding his discussion in labor's attitude toward nature, he has revealed a key step along the road to the contemporary relationship to nature. Still, his argument is notwithout weaknesses. His focus on the 1910s and 1920s, for example, ignores the possibil ity that the great impetus for the change in labor's views actually occurred earlier, in the late-nineteenth century. Monopoly capitalism in theGilded Age created a pervasivework-life culture thatproduced alienation and discon nectedness in workers. The labor movement responded with "EightHour Leagues," which militated for "eight hours forwork, eight hours for sleep, eighthours forwhat we will," suggesting an earlier longing among work ers for the perquisite of leisuremuch earlier than the author suggests.At the same time, the distinction was being made between the public and private spheres ? thefirstnational park,Yellowstone, was created in 1872.The rich would now have theirnatural preserves intheir private clubs and restricted hunting and fishing grounds,while the middle andworking classes would be granted their own by government. These developments implya social and cultural catalysis for the consumption of nature that developed much earlier in theworking class than isperhaps convenient forLipin s thesis. Discussions of these matters are found in, among otherworks, Burton J.Bledstein, The Culture ofProfessionalism (Norton, 1976), and Thomas R. Cox, The Park Builders (University of Washington Press, 1988). Such demurrals notwithstanding, Lipin has written a book accessible to general readers but no doubt of greatest interestto scholars of Oregon's labor,Progressive,and environmental history.Their attentionwill be richlyrewarded by this stimulatingwork. Craig Wollner Portland State University NEZ PERCE COUNTRY by AlvinM. Josephy, Jr. introduction byJeremy FiveCrows University ofNebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2007. Illustrations, photographs, maps, index. 191pages. $14.95 paper. Alvin Josephy,Jr.(1915-2005), began writing Native American history before thefield even existed. In 1965, six years before Dee Brown's BuryMy Heart atWounded Knee (Holt, Rine hart & Winston), Josephy's monumental The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Pacific Northwest (YaleUniversity Press) offeredone of the firsthistorical accounts of American westward expansion from the Indian point of view. During the following fortyyears, he wrote or editedmore thana dozen books about Native Americans and the West, including sev eral that called attention to theirhistory after the "IndianWars" and the supposed closing of Reviews 331 the frontier. The Nez Perces remained closest tohis heart, aswell as tohis adopted home in the Wallowa Valley, and it is thereforefitting thathis final publication should be a history ofthat tribe. Intended primarily forvisitors to Nez Perce National Historical Park,Nez Perce Country provides an engaging introduction toNimi-pu- history from their pre-contact origins to the present day. Readers familiar with Josephy's work will find littlenew in this volume, but itsbrevity and claritycouldmake ita useful college survey textaswell as a guide for travelers. Josephydivides the narrative chronologi cally into nine chapters, each focusing on a major phase inNez Perce history. The first four sections survey the aboriginal world of theNimi-pu-, their friendly interactionswith theLewis and Clark Expedition, the influence of the fur trade, and the arrival ofAmerican missionaries during the 1830s. Besides intro ducing theNez Perces to Christianity, these "agents of change" generated factionalism among the Indians and provoked the back lash...