The Acquisition and Pioneering of Old Oregon [with] Pioneer Seattle and Its Founders.

Seattle: Argus Print, 1924. First edition. Quarto (9 x 12 inches). 41, [1]; 17, [1] pp. plus 16 pp. of illustrations (predominantly full page portraits). Publisher's patterned green wrappers with black cover lettering. Some edge wear (as is always the case as the text does not sit flush with the wrappers). Overall, an excellent copy.A finely written early history written by a true pioneer. "Clarence Bagley, the only child of Daniel and Susannah, was born in Troy Grove, Illinois, on November 30, 1843. At age nine, Clarence had a front-row seat while moving across the plains and Rocky Mountains to a new home near Salem, Oregon...In October 1860, Clarence was a strapping 17 years old when the family climbed aboard a buggy and headed north to Seattle... For a time banking attracted Clarence Bagley, then more newspaper work, and again a return to state employment. He also served as an alternate state commissioner for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Bagley's true love, however, remained writing and local history -- of which he had been an early, active participant. Bagley's collection of regional historical material, including books, pamphlets, and old newspapers, grew into one of the largest such resources in the Pacific Northwest. He also presided over a December 1902, meeting at which the Washington State Historical Society was launched. He wrote articles for Edmond Meany's new Washington Historical Quarterly. In one of those pieces he described his family's crossing of the plains. In another, about the Cayuse War, he noted that white settler's "land greed" had been the major cause of poor Indian-white relations. Clarence's authorship of Seattle and King County histories -- three volumes each -- was an academic milestone in its time. Even today, Bagley's History of Seattle, Washington and History of King County, Washington enrich the historian's path with their detailed accounts, informal portraits, and personal anecdotes" (Encyclopedia of Washington State History).