Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

Gordon Keith’s The Ferryboat islands: a practical guide to Washington States's San Juan Islands navigates the complex marine geography and rocky archipelagos scattered between the Rosario and Haro Straits in the northern Salish Sea. Set against the isolated, deep-water harbors of Lopez, Orcas, San Juan and Shaw, the text details how early homesteading families and maritime laborers relied on the evolving ferry systems to bridge the formidable aquatic distances between their remote agricultural and fishing claims. By tracing the transition from dispersed pioneer anchorages to highly interconnected island neighborhoods, the narrative illustrates how a shared reliance on these vital marine transit routes fostered tight-knit regional kinship and cooperative commerce. Ultimately, this maritime history demonstrates how collaboratively navigating the seasonal tides and rugged coastlines of the archipelago was essential to forging the resilient, cohesive community identity that unites the modern island networks.

xx, 204 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm

156 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Raymond W. Settle’s edited collection, The March of the mounted riflemen, chronicles the grueling 1849 military expedition across the vast plains, treacherous Rocky Mountain passes, and the rugged Columbia River Gorge along the full length of the Oregon Trail. Set against the formidable continental divide and the regiment's eventual terminus at Fort Vancouver, these primary journals detail how the cavalry operated as a tightly knit, mobile community tasked with protecting the massive influx of pioneer families migrating toward the Willamette Valley. By documenting the shared physical hardships of navigating arid deserts and swollen river crossings, the text reveals how these soldiers and the civilian wagon trains they escorted forged deep cooperative bonds essential for surviving the overland journey. Ultimately, this firsthand military record demonstrates how securing this immense geographic corridor paved the way for the enduring domestic settlements and deeply rooted agricultural communities that would soon define the Pacific Northwest.

The March Of The Mounted Riflemen, First published in 1940, is important as the only complete record of one of the longest marches ever made

378 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

This documentary shows the erosion that took place in Bayocean, Oregon with dozens of historic and current photographs, maps, unique cartoons, bibliography, index. The book also Salishan, Nestucca, Cape Lookout State Park, Newport and Jump-Off Joe, the Southern Oregon Coast, Washington's "wash-away" beach, the total destruction of Cape Showalter, and other places.

vi, 206 pages ; 22 cm

Mercer Island Heritage by Judy Gellatly is a comprehensive local history, published by the Mercer Island Historical Society, that chronicles the evolution of this unique community situated in Washington's Lake Washington. Through detailed narratives and archival photographs, the book explores the island's transition from a secluded rural pioneer settlement into a bustling suburban city following the construction of the first floating bridge. Ultimately, it serves as an essential preservation of the region's early residents, civic milestones, and enduring local heritage.

vi, 185 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

This 1997 edition of Sine Die is a completely new book. Since the first edition of Sine Die was published in 1987, there have been dramatic changes in the Washington State Legislature and in state politics. Limits have been placed on campaign contributions and reporting requirements are expanded; ethics laws were passed following revelations of improper use of caucus staff; Initiative 601 was passed by the voters imposing limitations on state taxing and spending powers; the legislative process has been computerized and information is now easily and quickly accessible electronically to all; and term limits, passed in 1992, start taking their toll on state legislators in 1998. Even more significant, there has been a gender revolution in the legislature. Women are on the verge of having an equal place in numbers and power and are having a dramatic effect on the legislative climate and on state policy. Sine Die is a clear and up-to-date description of how the Washington State Legislature works. Presenting substantially more information on women in the legislature, the role of the governor, and the various origins of legislation, the 1997 edition explains the process by which thousands of proposed laws are introduced each year and are culled down to the approximately twenty percent that are eventually enacted.

xiii, 203 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Basil Dmytryshyn, E. A. P. Crownhart-Vaughan, and Thomas Vaughan’s edited collection, The Russian American colonies, 1798-1867: a documentary record, chronicles the expansive maritime fur trade and imperial expansion that stretched from the rugged Aleutian archipelago down the Pacific Coast to the frontiers of Alta California. Set against the harsh coastal climates and deep-water fjords of the northern Pacific rim, these translated primary documents detail how the Russian-American Company operated as a state-sponsored mercantile monopoly, establishing fortified outposts like New Archangel (Sitka) and Fort Ross in profoundly isolated environments. By tracing the complex, often fraught interdependencies between Russian administrators, Creole populations, and indigenous Aleut and Tlingit communities, the text reveals how these remote settlements relied on highly structured, multi-ethnic maritime labor networks to survive severe supply shortages and fierce international competition. Ultimately, this documentary record demonstrates how the forced and cooperative integration of European corporate infrastructure and indigenous maritime expertise temporarily transformed a sprawling coastal wilderness into a highly regulated commercial empire that profoundly shaped the early geopolitical borders of the Pacific Northwest.

xci, 590 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm

Eric Newsome’s The coal coast: the history of coal mining in B.C., 1835-1900 chronicles the grueling industrial development and pioneer settlement along the rugged eastern shorelines of Vancouver Island. Set against the dense coastal rainforests and deep subterranean seams of the region, the narrative details how early waves of British, European, and Asian immigrant miners navigated extreme physical dangers to extract the vital resources that fueled Pacific maritime trade. By tracing the shared hazards of underground labor and the establishment of heavily regulated company towns like Nanaimo and Cumberland, the text reveals how these geographically concentrated workers forged tight-knit ethnic enclaves and resilient kinship networks to survive the perilous, often exploitative environment of early industrial mining. Ultimately, this local history documents how the collaborative endurance of these diverse workforces successfully transformed transient, company-controlled extraction camps into cohesive, enduring coastal communities that anchored the nineteenth-century economy of British Columbia.

195 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

A White Man’s Province examines how British Columbians changed their attitudes towards Asian immigrants from one of toleration in colonial times to vigorous hostility by the turn of the century and describes how politicians responded to popular cries to halt Asian immigration and restrict Asian activities in the province. White workingmen objected to Asian sojourning habits, to their low living standards and wages, and to their competition for jobs in specific industries. Because employers and politicians initially supported Asian immigrants, early manifestations of antipathy often appeared just as another dispute between capital and labour. But as their number increased, complaints about Asians became widespread, and racial characteristics became the nucleus of such terms as a “white man’s province” – a “catch phrase” which, as Roy notes, “covered a wide variety of fears and transcended particular economic interests.” The Chinese were the chief targets of hostility in the nineteenth century; by the twentieth, the Japanese, more economically ambitious and backed by a powerful mother country, appeared more threatening. After Asian disenfranchisement in the 1870s, provincial politicians, freed from worry about the Asian vote, fueled and exploited public prejudices. The Asian question also became a rallying cry for provincial rights when Ottawa disallowed anti-Asian legislation. Although federal leaders such as John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier shared a desire to keep Canada a “white man's country,” they followed a policy of restraint in view of imperial concerns. The belief that whites should be superior, as Roy points out, was then common throughout the Western world. Many of the arguments used in British Columbia were influenced by anti-Asian sentiments and legislation emanating from California, and from Australia and other British colonies. Drawing on almost every newspaper and magazine report published in the province before 1914, and on government records and private manuscripts, Roy has produced a revealing historical account of the complex basis of racism in British Columbia and of the contribution made to the province in these early years by its Chinese and Japanese residents.

xvii, 327 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

159 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

xxvi, 413 pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of plates : illustrations ; 23 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.

vii, 281 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 23 x 31 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

96 pages : illustrations, maps ; 42 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

47 pages : illustrations ; 35 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