Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone by Patricia O'Connell Killen, Mark Silk

Abstract

completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 1869 and concludes with a summary of the use of the trailsas settlementandmilitary routes into the 1890s. This book isa straightforward historyof the development, use, and impact of the overland trails that avoids a dramatic focus ? taken by most popular works? on the hardships, dif ficulties, and daily experiences of traveling the overland trials. It ismore about why and how the trailsdeveloped than about what it was like to travel over them. Individual experience on the trails isnot entirelyneglected; excerptsfrom diaries and reminiscences are liberallysprinkled throughout thebook. Sometimes quite lengthy, these excerpts provide personal accounts that enhance the author's historical discussion, but theyare not themain focus. In a rare departure from traditional trail histories, the last chapter,"Rebirth of theTrail," brings the storyup to thepresent.Dary discusses how Ezra Meeker's effortsatmarking and pro moting theOregon Trail were instrumental in revivinginterestin it,leading toHollywood films that romanticize it,Congressional measures that memorialize it,the formation of historical associations thatpromote and preserve it,and the proliferation of interpretive centers along the corridor of trails.This delineation of the continuous chain of reinterpretation of the Oregon Trail through successive generations demonstrates how theOregon Trail continues tobe relevant and vital today. The Oregon Trail iswell written and read able. Particularly useful are the appendixes on historic landmarks andmajor routes of theOr egon and California Trails. A glossary of terms and concepts isalso helpful.Knowledgeable trail enthusiasts will notice some misspellings on themaps and in the appendixes and glossary, aswell as notable factual errors in the text.This comprehensive and detailed book summarizes and touches upon the highlights of the im mensely complex western emigrant trailsera. It provides an overview for the general reader or student of thedevelopment of theOregon Trail and subsequent destination trails. It is also an encyclopedic compilation of facts,names, and dates that will be a useful referenceforinterested readers and trailbuffs. ReligionandPublicLifeinthe Pacific Northwest: TheNone Zone Edited by Patricia O'Connell Killen andMark Silk Rowman and Littlefield, Charlotte, N.C., 2004. Tables, bibliography, index. 204 pages. $19.95 paper. Reviewed by FerencM. Szasz University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Whenever one studies the nineteenth centuryhistoryof thePacificNorthwest, onemeets representativesof the major religious traditions: Jason Lee (Methodist), Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman (Congregationalist), Sheldon Jackson (Presbyterian), and Joseph Cataldo (Roman Catholic). Vital though these denominations stillare, theyno longer even be gin to shape the religious contours of theregion. In fact,awhopping 62.8 percent of people who live inthePacificNorthwest are listedas "nones," that is,not affiliated with anyorganized religious group. This statisticreflectsthehighest percent age in thenation, and itsexplanation involves a very convoluted tale. The nine essays in this slim volume go a longway toward explaining this situation. The book is the first in a projected nine-volume series designed to analyze the role of religion in shaping each of themajor regions of the Reviews 503 nation. A blend of history and sociology, the essays all draw heavilyfrom twomassive setsof recent statistics:a national surveyofmembers as claimed by thevarious American denomina tions; and another extensive telephone survey thatallowed people to self-identify by responding to thequestion, "What isyour religious tradition, ifany?" Interestingly, the two setsofdata do not exactly match. Farmore people claim tobelong toa tradition (say,Baptist) thanare listedby the churches themselves.The meaning of thisrather pronounced discrepancy isnot precisely clear. Rather thango denomination bydenomina tion,theauthorsdivide theregion intofourover lapping religious"clusters": mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews;the sectarian entrepreneurs who meld an exclusivist evangelical theology withmodern organizational and communication techniques; people of thePacificRim,which in eludesNative Americans andAsian immigrants; and the "Secular but Spiritual" group that con stitutesthevastmajority. Taken together,the authors have craftedan intriguing portraitof a region locked inreligious transition.Dale Soden showshow the relatively smallmainline groups have been crucial in es tablishing schools, colleges, and hospitals and in leading crusades forracial justice and economic equality.These groups have also been active in marshalling protests against intolerance, war, and nuclear armaments. James Wellman, Jr., analyzes thesaga of thenew,dynamic Protestant church leaderswho have createdmega-churches and command a greatdeal ofnewspaper public ity. He suggeststhattheirinsistenceon having an experience of grace, theirdoctrinal certainties, and theirstrictrules of lifehave great appeal in an "anything goes," postmodern world. Lance...