Founding the Far West: California, Oregon, and Nevada, 1840-1890

For decades the vast Rocky Mountain area of the U.S. could claim only three states, all clustered in a region known as the Far West. From 1849 to 1864, California, followed by Oregon and then Nevada, achieved statehood. But, as first-time author Johnson demonstrates in this lengthy and lucid history of the region, proximity in no way produced homogeneity. Focusing on each state's constitutional convention and founding fathers, the author, a history professor at Portland (Ore.) State University, paints a picture of stark contrasts that he claims remain visible to this day: California, a mixture of Hispanic and American cultures; agrarian and isolated Oregon; and ``jackpot mentality'' Nevada. Well organized and clearly formed. (May)