Oscar Lewis; Historian of the American West

Oscar Lewis, 99, a historian and author who was one of the first to define the West in the context of its history. Lewis emerged as an author and historian in the 1930s, when Californians were beginning to examine their pioneer past and celebrate their heritage. His best-known book, “The Big Four,” was published in 1938 and told how four robber barons built the first transcontinental railroad. It is still in print. Some of Lewis’ many other works include: “The Silver Kings,” “Fabulous San Simeon,” “Bay Window Bohemia,” “The Town That Died Laughing,” “A History of San Francisco,” “I Remember Christine” and “The Uncertain Journey.” Lewis, who grew up in Sebastopol in Northern California, attended UC Berkeley for a year before quitting in 1912 to write. During World War I, he served in an ambulance squad sponsored by the university. Lewis was also a member of the Bohemian Club and the Westerners and served on the San Francisco Arts Commission from 1944 to 1960. In San Francisco on Saturday.