Richard C. Waldbauer's book is the story of a small, almost forgotten Pacific Northwest mining area, the Hoodoos of north Idaho. It describes the activities of mining promoters, adventurers, community boosters, and how their boundless enthusiasm affected settlement in the Palouse Hills, one of the Pacific Northwest's most important agricultural regions. Grubstaking the Palouse captures the excitement that accompanied the opening of the nineteenth-century Northwest frontier, revealing how a handful of fortune-seeking miners inspired others to have visions of homesteads, farms, factories, churches, and schools. Using documents, archaeological findings, ethnographic studies, and his keen understanding of regional geology, Waldbauer has created a masterpiece of local and regional history. As he unravels the social fabric of a bygone era, he offers insights into the ways frontier society shaped Pacific Northwest culture.