Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

Distant Neighbors: A Comparative History of Seattle & Vancouver by Norbert MacDonald is a 1987 urban history that explores the parallel yet distinct development of two major Pacific Northwest cities from the 1880s through the mid-20th century. The book analyzes how differing national contexts, political structures, and economic policies shaped the unique civic characters, immigration patterns, and physical landscapes of each municipality despite their close geographic proximity and shared regional environment. Ultimately, it provides a foundational comparative framework for understanding the fascinating divergence between American and Canadian urban evolution on the Pacific coast.

xxii, 259 pages, 30 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Company Town: Potlatch, Idaho, and the Potlatch Lumber Company by Keith Petersen is a 1987 historical study published in association with the Latah County Historical Society that examines one of the American West's most meticulously planned corporate communities. The book chronicles the establishment and daily life of the lumber town, detailing the Weyerhaeuser syndicate's paternalistic control over its workers' housing, commerce, and social institutions from 1905 until the town's privatization in the 1950s. Ultimately, it serves as a compelling case study of industrial capitalism, labor relations, and the unique socio-economic dynamics that defined early 20th-century timber operations in the Pacific Northwest.

xix, 284 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Postmarked Washington: An Encyclopedia of Postal History Covering Eleven Counties of Eastern Washington, compiled by Bert Webber from the foundational research of the late Guy Reed Ramsey, is a comprehensive reference work detailing the region's early pioneer communication networks. The book meticulously catalogs the establishment, operation, and discontinuation of numerous frontier post offices across eastern Washington, highlighting the local postmasters who served these growing communities. Ultimately, it serves as an essential historical resource for genealogists, philatelists, and regional scholars researching the rural development and civic infrastructure of the Inland Northwest.

volumes <1> : illustrations ; 27 cm

Oliver Wells, naturalist, writer, ethnographer, farmer, and stock breeder, was born in 1907 at the pioneer farm established by his family three generations before in the valley of the Chilliwack River. The name of this farm, Edenbank, echoes the rich heritage and idealist aspirations of the pioneer family who came to the valley to establish a new way of life in this new land. Their neighbors were the Chilliwacks, the native Canadians who live in the area. In the 1950s, sensing that the people with whom his family had shared the land for generations were on the threshold of losing their culture and traditions in the face of ever-growing pressure of settlement in the area, he began work on preserving, with the Native community, their way of life and their history. While Wells was not a trained ethnographer, he brought to his work a vitality possible only for a man who can draw on generations of intimacy and wide-ranging friendships within the community. With tape recorder, notebook, and sketch pad, he began recording the lives and memories of his friends in exhaustive detail. He did not record this information as an outsider―he took an active part in an attempt to actually revitalize the culture and traditions of his friends. He is credited, for example, with reviving the Salish weaving techniques of the community which are now famous throughout the world.

226 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Spilsbury's Coast is that part of the Inside Passage between the Fraser River and the top end of Vancouver Island -- a place of small boats, countless islands and whole towns on floats. When Jim Spilsbury, B.C's most famous pioneer entrepreneur, teams up with master storyteller and literary craftsman Howard White, the result is a spell-binding romp up and down British Columbia's rugged coast; eighty years of fascinating anecdotes and memories distilled into 190 pages. Jim Spilsbury grew up in a tent on Savary Island, squatting on crown land. His story is one of the classic "rags-to-riches" stories in Canadian history. As well as being as brilliant inventor and an ambitious, astute businessman, he had the intangible gift of being in the right place at the right time. In 1923, at the age of 18, primed with a correspondence course in electrical engineering, Jim Spilsbury began building sophisticated radio telephones. Fishermen bought them, loggers bought them, and eventually homesteaders, explorers and even governments bought them. "Radio boomed," Spilsbury recalls, "and it carried me with it." As we follow Spilsbury in his adventures, we meet Frank Osborne, the genius engine-builder; Emil Gordon, the obsessive flamboyant Powell River salesman who sold everything from refrigerators to cows; Red Mahone, the obstreperous Boathouse cook and Spilsbury's own bizarre family, including his rifle-toting mother who cut her hair like a man's and golfed on the beaches at low tide. Howard White, himself a child of BC's backwaters, brings the voice of authority to Spilsbury's amazing tale. A rare gem of authentic storytelling - it flows fast and bright, like a mountain stream.

iii, 190 pages, 64 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm

The Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt, Captive of Maquinna, originally published in 1815 and expertly annotated and illustrated by Hilary Stewart in 1987, is a classic maritime captivity narrative set on the rugged coast of Vancouver Island. The book recounts the harrowing two-year ordeal of an English blacksmith who survived an 1803 attack on his trading ship and was integrated into the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation under Chief Maquinna. Ultimately, enhanced by Stewart’s detailed ethnographic drawings and historical context, it serves as an invaluable firsthand account of early European contact and traditional Indigenous life in the Pacific Northwest.

192 pages : illustrations ; 24 x 27 cm

"Picturesque" Frontier: The Army's Fort Dalles by Priscilla Knuth is a detailed 1967 historical monograph, published by the Oregon Historical Society, that examines the mid-19th-century military presence in the Columbia River Gorge. The book chronicles the establishment, architectural evolution, and strategic importance of the Oregon fort during the pioneer era and the region's indigenous conflicts from the late 1840s through the 1860s. Ultimately, it serves as a well-documented look at garrison life and the crucial role this frontier outpost played in the early American settlement of the Pacific Northwest.

ix, 114 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Fascinating history of the construction of the competitive transportation system in the inland Columbia River basin in the 19th century that linked the Pacific Northwest to eastern markets and provided easier access to the Orient. This volume covers the origins of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co., the rise and fall of Henry Villard's first empire, and the completion of overland railways converging on the Columbia Gateway. The author successfully conveys the excitement as well as the enormous amount of time, money and hard work required to build the Pacific Northwest rail lines. Illustrated with black and white photos. With maps. 202 pages with index.

xxv, [1], 202 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm

Aboard a small handmade boat, Sam McKinney set out to rediscover the Columbia River of his youth. The story of his voyage offers an intimate history of the great river and of the people who have lived and worked along its shores. McKinney, a seasoned explorer, historian, and riverman, begins his voyage on the sea. Following the path of Robert Gray's ship Columbia Rediviva across the treacherous Columbia River bar, he embarks on an upriver journey that leads beyond urban Portland to the barrier of Bonneville Dam. Along the way, he visits the sites of old Indian villages, the camps of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the rotting piers of early river communities, and the islands of the lower river. Walking out along the jetty at the mouth of the Columbia, McKinney recounts how this infamous bar was formed, and how it was tamed by turn-of-the-century marine engineering. He sloshes through Astoria's rainy streets, recalling its origins as the first American outpost on the Pacific Slope and its lusty past as a working waterfront. His voyage takes him to ghost towns and abandoned villages — Chinookville, Frankfort, Knappton. He describes the development of the river's fishing industry and the harsh conditions faced by fishers during the industry's peak years. He remembers his own boyhood, working on the river as a gillnet fisherman and as a deckhand aboard one of the last sternwheelers. Combining the river's storied history, rich personal memories, and observations gleaned from the deck of the 16-foot Gander, McKinney gives us a sensitive portrait of the Columbia river, a book that reflects the rhythms of tides that the author knows so well. "Two weeks on the river and I was only fifty miles upstream," writes McKinney, grounded on a hidden sandbar. "My wake, had it been recorded, would have revealed a slow, wandering track of curiosity — islands explored, old townsites discovered, and unnamed channels followed." Sam McKinney is a founder of the Lewis and Clark Columbia River Water Trail and the author of Bligh: A True Account of the Mutiny Aboard HMS Bounty. In the late 1980's he completed a 4-year, 5000-mile journey across North America through the inland waterways of the continent. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is a research associate at the Vancouver maritime Museum.

xi, 172 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

West Side Story, edited and partly written by Clay Eals, is a highly regarded 1987 local history published by the West Seattle Herald to chronicle the heritage of this distinct Seattle community. The comprehensive, 288-page volume combines archival photographs, pioneer accounts, and neighborhood profiles to trace the civic development and unique cultural identity of the West Seattle peninsula. Ultimately, it remains a celebrated foundational resource for exploring the historical roots and grassroots evolution of Seattle's oldest continuously settled area.

288 pages : illustrations (some color), maps, portraits ; 35 cm

Shoreline, or, Steamers, Stumps and Strawberries by LouAnn Bivins is a 1987 local history published by the Shoreline Historical Museum that chronicles the early development of this community situated just north of Seattle. The book explores the area's transformative pioneer eras, tracing its evolution from early Puget Sound steamer ports and rugged logging camps into a thriving agricultural landscape renowned for its strawberry farms. Ultimately, it serves as an engaging, well-documented tribute that preserves the unique rural heritage and foundational growth of the Shoreline area.

xi, 132 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Indian Affairs in Oregon and Washington Territories, &c.: Message from the President of the United States is a primary source collection of mid-19th-century government documents, military correspondence, and field reports originally submitted to Congress by President James Buchanan and later reprinted by historical presses for modern researchers. The volume compiles crucial dispatches from the U.S. Army Division of the Pacific, territorial governors, and federal Indian agents detailing the contentious treaties, administrative policies, and armed conflicts—including the Yakima and Puget Sound Wars—that engulfed the region during the late 1850s. Ultimately, it serves as an essential archival resource for historians seeking unfiltered, contemporary insights into the federal government's military operations and its fraught interactions with the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest during the peak of early pioneer settlement.

21 pages ; 23 cm

Riverside Remembers: Books I, II & III by the Greater Riverside Organization is a multi-volume grassroots historical compilation, originally published in the mid-1980s, that chronicles the robust working-class heritage of Everett, Washington's historic Riverside neighborhood. The comprehensive collection gathers rich oral histories, archival photographs, and pioneer anecdotes to vividly detail daily life in the community, profiling the resilient mill workers, local labor organizers, families, and neighborhood characters who defined this industrial waterfront hub along the Snohomish River. Ultimately, it serves as an invaluable, community-driven repository that preserves the distinct grit, cultural identity, and enduring civic spirit of one of Everett's oldest and most historically significant neighborhoods.

ix, 111 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

159 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Joe “Kashpar” Eiguren was raised in the Basque Country during very difficult times. During his childhood he experienced the dictatorship of King Alfonso XII, who persecuted Basque (as many Spanish leaders had done before and did afterward as well). Joe felt strongly about the Basque cause, and when he came to the United States in 1934 it remained very much part of his life. And he continued to fight totalitarianism by serving in combat in the American army in World War II. After the war, together with Pete Cenarrusa and Pat Bieter, Joe advocated for the Basques, and supported Basque freedom and independence. Joe, though never formally educated, loved to write when he found something of interest to him. That was how he began writing Kashpar. Joe was very knowledgeable about Basque history, the Basque language, and Basque politics as well as a terrific storyteller. He belonged to a generation of the Basque immigrants who were very fluent in the Basque language and had undergone the political and socioeconomic crises provoked by long-lasting dictatorships in his homeland. Here, in his own words, Joe writes about leaving his home, coming to a foreign land, making a full life, serving his new country selflessly, and becoming a community leader and energetic promoter of Basque culture.

viii, 186 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

On the Northwest is the first complete history of commercial whaling in the Pacific Northwest from its shadowy origins in the late 1700s to its demise in western Canada in 1967. Whaling in the eastern North Pacific represented a century and a half of exploration and exploitation which involved the entrepreneurs, merchants, politicians, and seamen of a dozen nations. The results of the whaling effort mirrored the outcome of whaling throughout the world. By exploiting the large whales without considering their finite numbers or reproductive capacity, the industry drove its prey to commercial extinction. It was the seamen themselves, however, who gave substance to the business of whaling. On the Northwest focuses on the working lives of these men: the shellbacks 'before the mast,' the colourful harpoon gunners who chased the whales from spray-soaked gun platforms, and shore-station workers who preserved the international flavour of the Pacific Northwest whaling industry until its demise only two decades ago.

xxi, 425 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

103 pages : color illustrations ; 22 x 28 cm.

xiii, 219 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm

xv, 319 pages, 28 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Lavender sets the stage with an account of the imperial rivalries between England, Spain, France, and the United States, and their role in Thomas Jefferson's decision to sponsor an expedition that might strengthen the young country's claims to lands it had purchased but never seen. Lavender then takes us through the steps that led to the selection of Meriwether Lewis as the Corps of Discovery's leader with William Clark as coleader. From there the great adventure story unfolds, and we follow Lewis and Clark and their company on their journey through vast, uncharted territory as they seek a transcontinental route to the Pacific.

x, 444 pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Among the greatest attractions of the Pacific Northwest are its state parks, campgrounds and tree-lined highways. From Idaho hot springs to the Oregon coast, millions of people enjoy this priceless legacy every year but few stop to think about the source of this bounty. The Park Builders profiles the men who provided the parks, and the times that shaped them. From its beginnings as part of the progressive crusades to its evolution into an expected function of state government, the state parks movement in the Northwest is a window onto the political and social developments of the twentieth century. The states of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon were generally in the mainstream of the parks movement, but each of their histories is unique. Taken together, they help to define the nature and limitations of regionalism in the Northwest. Especially in the early years, the story of state parks was largely the story of individuals. Drawing extensively from interviews and personal papers, Thomas Cox creates memorable pictures of parks activists in each state. Robert Moran, creator of the battleship, Nebraska, spent a decade lobbying the state of Washington to accept his magnificent acreage on Orcas Island. Sam Boardman went from a road crew to the head of Oregon’s park system, and took up his mission with a zeal that was literally religious: “To me a park is a pulpit,” he wrote. “The more you keep it as He made it, the closer you are to Him.” In Idaho, Senator Weldon Heyburn, no proponent of state expenditures, set out to create a national park, and ended up with a premier state park, named for him. State parks serve more people at far less expense than do those in the National Park System. Since their fates are determined largely at the state level, they are an ideal venue for the study of grassroots activism and regional trends. This book is the first to collect these themes into a coherent whole. It will serve as a model for further regional studies of its kind.

xiii, 248 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 24 cm

Narrow escapes, hilarious predicaments, and grim disasters are all part of the rich and varied experiences of a young tugboat captain on the Columbia River during the era between the grand old sternwheelers and the multi-thousand horsepower tugboats of today. The author had captured the excitement o this episode in his life and presented it in and informal manner that will appeal to a wide audience. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. 128 pages. Map.

x, 118 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

67 pages ; 23 cm

ix, 126 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Guy Reed Ramsey and Susan Goff’s Postmarked Washington: Thurston County serves as a meticulous civic and logistical history that traces the establishment, evolution, and frequent disappearance of early settlements at the southern terminus of Puget Sound. Moving beyond a simple philatelic catalog, the text reveals how the territory's earliest communication networks and pioneer mail routes were mapped directly onto the ancient overland trails and river portages long established by the Nisqually, Squaxin, and Chehalis peoples. The authors detail how the hard-fought authorization of a local post office acted as the ultimate catalyst for frontier community building, transforming isolated timber camps, prairie homesteads, and maritime claims into officially recognized, interconnected civic hubs. By documenting the transient nature of many of these rural outposts, the history highlights the boom-and-bust cycles of the region's early timber and agricultural economies, showing how rural pioneers relied on interdependent community alliances to maintain these vital mail lifelines. Ultimately, this detailed geographic index demonstrates how the cooperative, grueling effort to establish frontier mail service successfully stitched a scattered wilderness into the cohesive civic infrastructure that anchors modern Thurston County.

vi, 125 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm