From his mother's side, he wrote very well and his diaries and memoirs stand out as important records of the world of North America in his day. From his father's side, he had the capacity for memory that comes from a culture that does not write things down -- and therefore you must remember.  Every conversation. Every river bend. Every transaction.  Norton never forgot a thing.  Here was a man whose brain was adept with the skills of both pre-Gutenberg and post-Gutenberg communications.  Marshall McLuhan would have loved it!