I write about a river I feel close to, having known it for well over a half century. My father's "benchland" ranch was just over the ridge from the narrow valley through which the Clearwater plows its urgent way to sea level. I have observed this river in all its vagaries; its spring rampagings which have set ferries adrift, lifted bridges from their piers, washed out trackage, and inundated highways; its summer somnolence; and its colorful September thinness which brings into view all the sumacbedecked islands, including "turkey-man's paradise," made safe by two channels against marauding coyotes. Although I know something about the land carved by the river, for this story I have relied in large measure on the works of numerous scholars whose research has left a legacy rich in Idaho lore. The book owes a special debt of gratitude to the following: Sister Alfreda Elsensohn for her monumental two-volume History of Idaho County; the late Robert G. Bailey, who produced the indispensable River of Not Return and Hell's Canyon, and his son, R. G. Bailey, Jr., for granting permission to use the photographs from River of No Return. Further, I am indebted to Potlatch Forests, Incorporated, for making available information and photographs. This book is an informal history of the Clearwater drainage area, including borderlands whose history naturally interweaves. I have not attempted to follow in detail all the threads of growth from their beginnings, but have stressed origins and directions in a setting of unfolding dramas. If certain characters and events have been omitted, the reason lies in the selective process that has had to be employed. -The Author, Cecil Dryden

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