"Agents of Empire does a great deal to illuminate the contours of the Civil War in a region that is often missing from general histories of the conflict."—Evan C. Rothera, American Nineteenth Century History
"Jewell's book is an exemplary work that stands as the definitive history of the First Oregon Volunteer Calvary and Oregon's military history during the Civil War. Not only does it deserve a spot in Oregonians' libraries, it deserves a place in any true collections of Civil War and westward expansion scholarship."—Gregory P. Shine, Oregon Historical Quarterly
"The men of the 1st Oregon Cavalry never saw a Johnny Reb, much less got the chance to shoot at one. The nearest Civil War battlefield was more than a thousand miles away. But the 900 men who served in the unit between 1862 and 1866 all believed that they served the Union cause as dutifully as any man who crossed swords with Confederate soldiers on more renowned fields of battle. James Robbins Jewell's richly detailed regimental history connects their role in the Civil War with America's manifest destiny expansion into the Pacific Northwest."—Civil War Times
"Agents of Empire is the best of Jewell's multiple works on the First Oregon Cavalry over the decades, and could be a useful read for those studying military history or Native history in the Pacifi c Northwest."—Marc James Carpenter, Pacific Northwest Quarterly
"Civil War military history readers should always resolve to venture outside traditional comfort zones every once in a while, and they can certainly do that through the education lessons offered inside James Jewell's highly original and praiseworthy scholarship."—Civil War Books and Authors
"Well documented, with numerous maps and illustrations, Agents of Empire will serve as a solid reference work on this neglected time, place, and people. It offers a variant view of overland emigration activities during the Civil War."—Robert Clark, Overland Journal
"Agents of Empire ably adds to the growing body of scholarship about the Civil War in the far west."—Patrick Kelly-Fischer, emergingcivilwar.com
“Deeply researched and richly detailed, Agents of Empire makes a forceful argument as well as an engaging read. While Cascadia is generally viewed as a progressive area of the country, James Robbins Jewell reminds us that the region’s ‘founders’ were more complex and had a very different definition of ‘progress’ than we have today. Thus, Jewell’s work is not just an analysis of the process of the re-peopling of the Pacific Northwest and its establishment and growth but also has the power to illuminate many contemporary issues in the region today.”—Christopher M. Rein, author of The Second Colorado Cavalry: A Civil War Regiment on the Great Plains
“Oregon may have been far from the seat of the rebellion, but the Civil War found its way to the Pacific Northwest. This excellent examination of the hard-riding Oregon Cavalry Volunteers is more than a regimental history. It reveals the extraordinary challenges of waging war in this remote region against Native peoples who tragically found themselves caught between waves of westering white civilians and increasingly aggressive military operations by volunteer soldiers. Agents of Empire is a welcome addition to the growing body of work on the Civil War in the Far West, adding new dimensions and richness to our understanding of the war’s impact on the entire nation and its diverse peoples.”—Andrew E. Masich, author of Civil War in the Southwest Borderlands
