The exploration and conquest of the Pacific Northwest is the dominant theme of Land of Giants, a book which (in the words of William O. Douglas) "gives one a sense of participation in moulding the manifest destiny of America." English and Spanish seadogs seeking a northwest passage to the Orient were the first comers; then, following Bering's explorations, Russian fur traders descended on the Aleutians. In turn, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the activities of the great fur companies, and "Oregon fever" spurred on overland traffic westward; and as gold silver, and copper drew thousands more into the new land, railroads and steamship lines grew up to serve the mushrooming settlements. Land of Giants tells also of the tragic squeeze play on the Indians, the rise of the fishing and lumber industries, the development of modern power and reclamation projects, and the struggles of the conservationists to preserve natural resources and wild life. "Reading Land of Giants, we can believe that history trod here, that issues existed, that men schemed and dreamed and struggled, and so the present came to be."—A. B. Guthrie Jr., Saturday Review of Literature.A well-known Western historian, David Lavender is the author of more than twenty books, among them Bent's Fort, One Man's West, and most recently California: A Bicentennial History and Winner Take All: The Trans-Canada Canoe Trail.
