Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

A Small World of Our Own: Authentic Pioneer Stories of the Pacific Northwest from the Old Settlers Contest of 1892 compiled by Robert Allen Bennett is a 1985 historical anthology, published by Pioneer Press Books in Walla Walla, Washington, that preserves the firsthand experiences of the region's early emigrants. The volume resurrects a unique collection of autobiographical essays originally submitted to an 1892 newspaper contest, capturing the unvarnished realities of mid-19th-century frontier life straight from the memories of the aging pioneers. Through these deeply personal and often harrowing narratives, the book details the grueling hardships of the overland wagon trails, the arduous task of carving out homesteads in the wilderness, early pioneer-Indigenous relations, and the sheer physical endurance required to settle the Washington, Oregon, and Idaho territories. Ultimately, it serves as an invaluable, primary-source-driven resource for regional historians and genealogists seeking the authentic, grassroots voices and foundational settlement lore that shaped the Pacific Northwest.

xi, 373 pages ; 23 cm

The Evergreen Islands: A History of the Islands of the Inside Passage by Doris Andersen is a comprehensive 1984 regional history that surveys the rugged, heavily forested archipelagos stretching along the British Columbia coast from the Strait of Georgia up toward Prince Rupert. The book chronicles the deep ancestral heritage of the region's First Nations peoples, the dramatic era of late-18th-century European maritime exploration, and the subsequent waves of coastal settlement driven by the fur trade, commercial fishing, and timber industries. By detailing the unique logistical challenges and fierce self-reliance required to inhabit these remote outposts, Andersen captures the distinct maritime culture of the communities dotting this famous waterway. Ultimately, it serves as an engaging and valuable resource for maritime historians and regional enthusiasts seeking to understand the economic forces and frontier resilience that shaped Canada's spectacular Pacific coastline.

224 pages : illustrations ; 18 cm

In its rich detail, this book provides the first comprehensive history of the agricultural development of the Oregon Country. Based on extensive research in Hudsons's Bay Company documents, missionary records, and military and private papers, this book traces the crucial transition of the Pacific Northwest from a fur-trading outpost to an agricultural settlement -- a process which also saw the shift from British to American jurisdiction in the area.

265 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Yakima, a Centennial Reflection, 1885-1985 by George M. Martin, Paul Schäfer, and William E. Scofield is a comprehensive 1985 local history, published by the Yakima Centennial Commission, that commemorates the foundational growth and civic evolution of this central Washington city. The book chronicles the region's dramatic transformation from an arid sagebrush frontier into a globally recognized agricultural powerhouse, driven by the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway and the implementation of massive, federally funded irrigation projects in the Yakima Valley. The authors meticulously detail the unique early history of the town—including the literal, physical relocation of early pioneer buildings from the original settlement to the new "North Yakima" townsite to meet the railroad tracks—alongside a century of industrial expansion in the apple, hop, and broader agricultural sectors. Ultimately, richly illustrated with archival photographs and grassroots community documentation, it serves as an indispensable resource for regional historians seeking to understand the infrastructural ambition, pioneer resilience, and agrarian heritage that defined the commercial heart of central Washington.

x, 233 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

This is a rich and many-faceted personal and business biography of the main figure in the third generation of Weyerhaeusers, who led the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company through the difficult and decisive years from 1933 to 1956. Although Phil Weyerhaeuser preferred to pass over the importance of his role, he was an industry leader and as such could not escape a large public duty. The years in which he served, from the 1920s tin the Inland Empire, and from 1933 to 1956 with the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company west of the Cascades, were years of great demands and change. Within his tenure the country experience the Great Depression and World War II, the reluctant acceptance by business of New Deal and Fair Deal legislation and bureaucratic requirements, and the adjustments occasioned by the managerial revolution. In the case of the Timber Company, the period witnessed its transition from what had been primarily a dealer in timberlands to an integrated manufacturer of forest products, from a liquidator of forest resources to a managers of tree farms designed to be perpetual in their providence. Phil oversaw his responsibilities to good purpose. His quiet style is of interest and so too are the effects of just being a Weyerhaeuser. The latter, of course, had much to do with his opportunities and also influenced the manner in which he conducted himself. But it was not without its liabilities, and the family relationships are an important element in the story. The most significant feature, however, has to do with the study of a period and a place and an industry through the experiences of a very special organization and its leadership. The study brings people and events into clearer focus and gives them added meaning. This is of particular importance in an industry so given to stereotyping and disapprobation. This well-written account reveals in detail the operation of a huge family enterprise, government-industry relations at a key time in United States history, labor relations, and efforts to expand and continually revitalize a large company--dependent on natural resources--over a period of half a century. Central to these efforts was Phil’s conviction that the best way for a forest products company to operate was to own its own timberlands. he saw such holdings as necessary if the company was to engage in sustained-yield management. This biography draws extensively on primary sources--correspondence, family records, memoranda, and numerous interviews. It will be of interest to historians of the Pacific Northwest and the forest products industry, students of business history, and all readers interested in the development of a major American company.

xvii, 401 pages, 40 pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

This book gives a reader the opportunity to view the Olympia, Lacy, Tumwater in its early development stages and fills a lot of gaps.

223 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

The Wreck of the Sv. Nikolai: Two Narratives of the First Russian Expedition to the Oregon Country, 1808-1810, edited and contextualized by Kenneth N. Owens with primary accounts by Russian supercargo Timofeĭ Tarakanov and Quileute elder Ben Hobucket, is a 1985 maritime and ethnohistorical volume published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book chronicles the ill-fated 1808 voyage of a Russian-American Company ship that ran aground on the rugged Olympic Peninsula, leading to a desperate overland struggle and the eventual captivity of the surviving crew by the region's Indigenous coastal tribes. What makes this work exceptionally significant is its dual perspective: it directly pairs Tarakanov’s detailed, firsthand journal of the survivors' enslavement, survival tactics, and eventual ransom with an enduring Quileute oral history of the exact same encounter, passed down through generations. Ultimately, it serves as an indispensable and highly nuanced primary-source resource for regional historians and ethnographers seeking to understand the complex early cultural collisions, Indigenous diplomacy, and the brief, ambitious reach of Russian colonial enterprise along the Pacific Northwest coast.

xv, 110 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm.

For Honor & Country: The Diary of Bruno de Hezeta by 18th-century Spanish naval officer Bruno de Hezeta, translated and extensively annotated by Herbert K. Beals, is a significant 1985 maritime and colonial history volume published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book provides the first complete English translation of Hezeta’s original 1775 expedition journal, chronicling a secret naval mission ordered by the Viceroy of New Spain to assert Spanish sovereignty over the Pacific Northwest coast and investigate rumors of Russian encroachment. The narrative meticulously details the arduous voyage of the frigate Santiago, capturing critical moments of early European contact with coastal Indigenous populations, severe outbreaks of scurvy among the crew, and foundational geographic discoveries—most notably Hezeta's sighting of the treacherous mouth of the Columbia River, which he originally named the Rio de San Roque, and early landfalls along the rugged Washington shoreline. Ultimately, it serves as an indispensable primary-source resource for maritime historians and regional scholars seeking to understand the imperial ambitions, navigational challenges, and earliest recorded European encounters that shaped the complex colonial history of the Pacific Northwest.

xxiii, 167 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 27 cm.

Lane County: An Illustrated History of the Emerald Empire by Dorothy Velasco, produced in cooperation with the Lane County Historical Society, is a comprehensive 1985 regional history published by Windsor Publications. The volume chronicles the dramatic geographic and civic transformation of this vast Oregon territory, stretching from the rugged Pacific coast across the agricultural heart of the Willamette Valley to the high timberlands of the Cascade Mountains. Richly illustrated with archival photography, the book meticulously details early Indigenous presence, the arrival of overland pioneer settlers, the establishment of the University of Oregon in Eugene, and the explosive 20th-century growth of the lumber and agricultural industries that drove the local economy. Ultimately, it serves as an indispensable and highly visual civic resource for regional historians seeking to understand the foundational settlement, industrial ambition, and enduring cultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest's celebrated "Emerald Empire".

168 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

This book is the first life history of a Northwest Coast Indian woman. Florence Davidson, daughter of noted Haida carver and chief Charles Edenshaw, was born in 1896. As one of the few living Haida elders knowledgeable bout the culture of a bygone era, she was a fragile link with the past. Living in Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands, some fifty miles off the northwest coast of British Columbia, Florence Davidson grew up in an era of dramatic change for her people. On of the last Haida women to undergo the traditional puberty seclusion and an arranged marriage, she followed patterns in her life typical of women of her generation. Florence’s narrative -- edited by Professor Blackman from more than fifty hours of tape recordings -- speaks of girlhood, of learning female roles, of the power and authority available to Haida women, of the experiences of menopause and widowhood. Blackman juxtaposes comments made by early observes of the Haida, government agents, and missionaries, with appropriate portions of the life history narrative, to portray a culture neither traditionally Haida nor fully Canadian, a culture adapting to Christianity and the imposition of Canadian laws. Margaret Blackman not only preserves Florence Davidson’s memories of Haida ways, but with her own analysis of Davidson’s life, adds significantly to the literature on the role of women in cross-cultural perspective. The book makes an important contribution to Northwest Coast history and culture, to the study of culture change, to fieldwork methodology, and to women’s studies.

xvii, 172 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

The Sicamous-Eagle Valley Centennial Book Committee’s Eagle Valley Views chronicles a century of human settlement, transport corridors, and resource industries across the mountain gateway where the Eagle River empties into the Shuswap Lake basin. The chronicle details how transcontinental rail lines, pioneer wagon roads, and lake steamship wharves were established directly within traditional Secwépemc hunting corridors and fishing routes along the Eagle Pass. The text documents the strategic rise of Sicamous as a pivotal Canadian Pacific Railway division hub and freshwater port, tracing how early tie-hacking operations, lumber mills, and pioneer pre-emptions spread outward through the dense river valleys of Malakwa, Solsqua, and Craigellachie. Drawing upon extensive pioneer family records and archival photographs, the volume illustrates how water and rail transport transformed a formidable Selkirk mountain corridor into an integrated network of agricultural and lumbering communities.

284 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 29 cm

Volume 11 covers the history and culture of the original inhabitants of the area which is now Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, portions of southern Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern California, Arizona and New Mexico.

xvi, 852 pages

Washington Mountain Ranges by Robert Steelquist, featuring the striking landscape photography of Pat O'Hara, is a 1986 geographic and visual survey originally published as part of the Washington Geographic Series. The book combines detailed natural history with sweeping imagery to explore the complex topography, ecological zones, and rugged wilderness areas that define the state's prominent massifs, particularly the Cascade and Olympic ranges. Ultimately, it serves as a highly engaging and visually rich tribute to the region's physical geography, offering a valuable resource for outdoor enthusiasts, conservationists, and anyone captivated by the natural heritage of the Pacific Northwest.

104 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 22 x 28 cm

The Mightiest of Them All: Memories of Grand Coulee Dam by Leonhard Vaughn Downs is a detailed historical memoir and engineering retrospective, published in 1986 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, that chronicles the monumental construction of the largest concrete structure in the United States. Written by a Bureau of Reclamation engineer who spent decades working intimately on the Columbia Basin Project, the book offers a rare insider's perspective on the massive Depression-era public works endeavor. It details the formidable technical challenges, the massive labor force, and the daily realities of taming the Columbia River to generate hydroelectric power and provide regional irrigation. Ultimately, it serves as an invaluable firsthand account and a tribute to the ingenuity, grit, and colossal scale of federal infrastructure development that fundamentally transformed the landscape and economy of eastern Washington.

186 Seiten : Illustrationen

Langley, The Village by the Sea: A gleam in the eye of a teen-age German boy becomes a South Whidbey village. The village becomes a town and the town becomes a city

volumes : illustrations ; 26 cm

Land of the Umpqua: A History of Douglas County, Oregon by esteemed Pacific Northwest historian Stephen Dow Beckham is a comprehensive 1986 regional history that chronicles the rich heritage of the Umpqua River basin. The book meticulously explores the area's geological origins, its early Indigenous populations, and the transformative eras of pioneer settlement, detailing the subsequent rise of the local timber, mining, and agricultural industries that shaped the county's economic development. Ultimately, it serves as a definitive and highly readable scholarly resource for understanding the environmental and human forces that forged the vibrant cultural landscape of southwestern Oregon.

285 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm

Vancouver on the Columbia: An Illustrated History by Ted Van Arsdol, featuring photo research by Sheila Guenther and produced in cooperation with the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, is a comprehensive 1986 civic history of Washington state's oldest continuously inhabited non-Native settlement. The book chronicles the city's rich evolution from its origins as a prominent Hudson's Bay Company fur-trading outpost and U.S. military garrison (Fort Vancouver) into a modern industrial, shipping, and commercial hub along the Columbia River. Ultimately, enriched by an extensive collection of archival photographs and business profiles, it serves as a highly visual and engaging tribute to the pioneer heritage, economic milestones, and enduring community identity of Vancouver, Washington.

160 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm

As the Anvil Rings by Geneva Bair Wilson is a 1986 autobiographical memoir published by the regional historical publisher Ye Galleon Press, based in Fairfield, Washington. The book chronicles Wilson's pioneer childhood and coming-of-age experiences, tracing her early life in eastern Kansas and near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, up to her marriage to True Wilson in 1925. While its primary setting is geographically east of the Pacific Northwest, the work is part of the broader Western Americana catalog preserved by this notable Washington press, serving as a valuable firsthand account of early 20th-century frontier settlement, agricultural challenges, and rural family dynamics.

313 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm

The Jesuits and the Indian Wars of the Northwest by Robert Ignatius Burns is a definitive 1966 scholarly monograph (later reprinted in 1986 by the University of Idaho Press) that explores the complex intersection of Catholic missionary work, Indigenous resistance, and U.S. military expansion. The book meticulously details the pivotal diplomatic and peacemaking roles played by Jesuit priests among the Native American tribes of the Inland Empire, particularly during mid-19th-century frontier conflicts such as the Yakima, Coeur d'Alene, and Nez Perce wars. Ultimately, it serves as a highly acclaimed, extensively researched resource for historians seeking a nuanced understanding of the religious, cultural, and political dynamics that shaped the violent transformation of the interior Pacific Northwest.

xii, 512 pages : maps ; 23 cm

From Coal Mine to Recreational In the early 1880s, the Northern Pacific Railroad discovered coal in Roslyn, Washington. By 1886, mining coal in Roslyn became the company's top priority. The coal mines attracted a diverse workforce from across America and Europe. Each group, along with their hopes and dreams for a better life, brought their own culture, cuisine and customs, many of which are still in evidence today.Coal mining operations ceased in 1963. After more than 63 million tons of coal had been mind from the Roslyn coal field, Roslyn became a town with no industry. Over time, Seattlites, seeking sunny skies and fresh mountain air stimulated an increased demand for recreational property. As people began to discover the great natural beauty of the areas close to Seattle, tourism began to grow. People became enchanted with the area's history and its four-season recreational opportunities.The resort community of Suncadia was created on a 6,300-acre piece of property, southwest of Roslyn, which includes Mines No. 9 and No. 10. Suncadia is owned by subsidiaries of JELD-WEN, PacTrust and Lowe Enterprises. The goal of Suncadia LLC was to develop a four-season destination resort, while preserving the beauty and history of the land. An important component of the resort is the Rope Rider golf course, so named as a tribute to the coal miners, who precariously balanced themselves on the coal cars that maneuvered the steep slopes of the mine shafts. The enduring legacy of the Rope Riders is woven into the design, architecture and personality of the Roper Rider Clubhouse.

[8], 151 pages : illustrations, chart, portraits; 29 cm

Seattle in the 1880s by David M. Buerge and Stuart R. Grover is a 1986 local history published by the Historical Society of Seattle and King County that chronicles a pivotal decade of explosive growth and transformation for the city. The book details Seattle's rapid evolution from a rugged, isolated lumber town into a booming commercial metropolis, capturing the civic ambitions, economic shifts, and physical landscape of the community in the years immediately preceding the devastating Great Seattle Fire of 1889. Ultimately, it serves as a highly engaging and well-documented resource for regional historians seeking to understand the foundational era that set the stage for Seattle's modern emergence.

[6], 115, [4] pages : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm

Dedicated to a people who faced starvation and destitution as white emigrating settlers continued to flock through his homeland, Pocatello was committed to preserving the life of his people. Even as game and land resources were severely depleted, he sought little other than to provide for his Shoshoni tribe.

x, 142 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 22 cm.

Victoria: The Way It Was by Michael Kluckner is a richly illustrated historical retrospective that chronicles the early history and architectural heritage of Victoria, British Columbia. Featuring a blend of archival photographs and Kluckner's signature watercolor paintings, the 1986 book captures the city's charming streetscapes and historic buildings before they were transformed by modern development. Ultimately, it serves as both a nostalgic visual tribute and a valuable reference for those interested in the history and preservation of Canada's West Coast urban landscape.

175 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 x 31 cm

UniverCity: The City Within a City, The Story of the University District by Roy G. Nielsen is a detailed 1986 local history published by the University Lions Club Foundation that chronicles the evolution of Seattle's vibrant U-District. The book traces the neighborhood's dramatic transformation from a remote, wooded pioneer settlement originally known as Brooklyn into a bustling, self-sufficient urban enclave deeply intertwined with the 1895 relocation and subsequent expansion of the University of Washington. Nielsen meticulously details the commercial growth of "The Ave" (University Way), the establishment of local civic enterprises, and the unique social dynamic forged by the convergence of academics, students, and long-term residents. Ultimately, it serves as an invaluable, community-focused resource for regional historians seeking to understand the architectural, economic, and cultural forces that shaped one of Seattle's most distinct and historically rich neighborhoods.

167 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

The Rainier Centennial Book Committee’s Rainier, Oregon: History and Heritage on the Columbia documents the settlement and industrial growth of the river port community situated opposite the mouth of the Cowlitz River. Founded in 1851 as "Eminence" by pioneer Charles E. Fox, the work traces how early water-powered sawmills and fishing stations were established directly along ancestral Chinookan river fisheries. The text details the rapid expansion of industrial sawmilling, the operation of the historic Longview-Rainier ferry fleets, and the 1930 completion of the Longview Bridge (Lewis and Clark Bridge) that connected Columbia County directly to Washington State. Detailed family genealogies and cadastral surveys record the rural farming and logging communities scattered across the surrounding hills and tributary valleys, including Apiary, Goble, Alston, Hudson, and Delena.

264 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 29 cm