Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

"Native Hawaiians arrived in the Pacific Northwest as early as 1787. Some went out of curiosity; many others were recruited as seamen or as workers in the fur trade. By the end of the nineteenth century more than a thousand men and women had journeyed across the Pacific, but the stories of these extraordinary individuals have gone largely unrecorded in Hawaiian or Western sources. Through archival work in British Columbia, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, Jean Barman and Bruce Watson pieced together what is known about these sailors, laborers, and settlers from 1787 to 1898, the year the Hawaiian Islands were annexed to the United States." "Scholars and others interested in a number of fields - Hawaiian history, Pacific Islander studies, Western U.S. and Western Canadian history, diaspora studies - will find Leaving Paradise an indispensable work."--BOOK JACKET

xiii, 512 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Leaded is a timely and deeply researched account of one of the largest environmental disasters in western US history. It examines the origin, evolution, and causes of the harmful environmental and human health effects caused by mining operations in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Mining District—the “Silver Valley”—from 1885 to 1981. During that period, district mines produced over $5 billion worth of lead, silver, and zinc. The Bunker Hill Company dominated business and community activities in the district as owners and operators of the largest mine, lead smelter, and zinc plant.During the first half of the twentieth century, industrial mining operations caused severe environmental damage to area waterways and lands from releases of sulfur gases, lead, and other toxic metals. Damaging human health effects were evident soon after the smelter opened in 1917, when Bunker Hill workers suffered from lead poisoning. Despite the obvious devastation, due to the influence of the mine and lead industry in state and federal politics, as well as scientific uncertainties about pollution effects, no effective federal laws regulating mining and smelting operations were passed until the 1970s.In 1974, uncontrolled Bunker Hill lead smelter emissions led to the worst community lead exposure problem in the United States and resulted in a widespread lead poisoning epidemic of Silver Valley children. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency ultimately mandated federal air lead standards. At the same time, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health passed national standards reducing allowable occupational lead exposures. Bunker Hill could not meet the new standards, which was a major factor in forcing the company to close, leaving behind a contaminated geographic area that was classified at the time as the largest Superfund site in the United States.Leaded will resonate with anyone who is concerned about the long-term effects of industrial pollution, as well as students of environmental history, western US history, mining history, environmental ethics, and environmental law

xvi, 260 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

47 pages : illustrations ; 35 cm

Its name derived from the Nez Perce language, Latah County is the only county in the United States to have been created by an Act of Congress. The abundance of its natural resources—from blue fields of camas to deep veins of gold, from great stands of white pine trees to vast green grasslands—attracted a diversity of dreamers seeking only the opportunity to build their own futures. Nestled in the heart of the Palouse, an agricultural area of extraordinary production, Latah County is a land of timber and, at Potlatch, was once the site of one of the largest sawmills in the world. At Moscow, it is also the home of the state’s land-grant institution, the University of Idaho. From the forests of Troy and the ridges of Juliaetta and Kendrick, from the homesteads of Genesee to Bovill’s hunting lodge and Deary’s town site, Latah County has had a rich and varied history.

127 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Last trail to Bear Paw: flight of the Nez Perces, 1877 chronicles the grueling, thousand-mile fighting retreat of the Nez Perce people across the vast, unforgiving interior landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies. Alcorn details how the region's formidable physical barriers—spanning the deep, precipitous river canyons of the Snake and Salmon drainages to the towering, heavily timbered passes of the Bitterroot Range and the sweeping, exposed high plains of Montana—strictly dictated the tactical maneuvers of this tragic exodus. By mapping the desperate overland journey of families, warriors, and massive horse herds, the narrative highlights the immense physical endurance and deep ancestral geographic knowledge required to navigate this severe, shifting topography while evading relentless military pursuit. The tribe's strategic utilization of extreme terrain—leveraging narrow mountain defiles and rugged, rapid-choked river crossings to stall their pursuers—underscores a profound, pre-existing mastery of the inland environment. Ultimately, this historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense physical scale and severe geological extremes of the inland frontier fundamentally shaped the trajectory of the Nez Perce and their resilient, heartbreaking struggle for geographic sanctuary.

80 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

The remarkable Pacific temperate rainforest has become an endangered landscape, rarer than even the embattled tropical rainforest. In Last Stands, award-winning environmental writer Larry Pynn plunges into coastal forests from California to Alaska to explore this unique ecosystem and the complex factors that threaten it. Whether standing with new-age loggers as they toil beneath the churning blades of a heli-logging operation, witnessing the wolverine's legendary ferocity, bounding along in the back of a pickup with a couple of bear hunters, or embarking on a week-long solo hike through an uncharted wilderness, Pynn's approach to understanding North America's temperate rainforest--and the creatures and people connected to it--is as diverse and unconventional as the forest itself. The result is a fascinating book, one part impassioned travelogue and one part natural history. Cathedral, cash crop, the Earth's respiratory system: the rainforest is all this and more. The incalculable wealth and magnificence of these last stands spring forth in this savvy, down-to-earth chronicle.

xi, 212 pages : map ; 23 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

Landscapes of Promise is the first comprehensive environmental history of the early years of a state that has long been associated with environmental protection. Covering the period from early human habitation to the end of World War II, William Robbins shows that the reality of Oregon's environmental history involves far more than a discussion of timber cutting and land-use planning. Robbins demonstrates that ecological change is not only a creation of modern industrial society. Native Americans altered their environment in a number of ways, including the planned annual burning of grasslands and light-burning of understory forest debris. Early Euro-American settlers who thought they were taming a virgin wilderness were merely imposing a new set of alterations on an already modified landscape. Beginning with the first eighteenth-century traders on the Pacific Coast, alterations to Oregon's landscape were closely linked to the interests of global market forces. Robbins uses period speeches and publications to document the increasing commodification of the landscape and its products

xvii, 392 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

"In 1942, the Canadian government forced more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians from their homes in British Columbia. They were told to bring only one suitcase each and officials vowed to protect the rest. Instead, Japanese Canadians were dispossessed, all their belongings either stolen or sold. The definitive statement of a major national research partnership, Landscapes of Injustice reinterprets the internment of Japanese Canadians by focusing on the deliberate and permanent destruction of home through the act of dispossession. All forms of property were taken. Families lost heirlooms and everyday possessions. They lost decades of investment and labour. They lost opportunities, neighbourhoods, and communities; they lost retirements, livelihoods, and educations. When Japanese Canadians were finally released from internment in 1949, they had no homes to return to. Asking why and how these events came to pass and charting Japanese Canadians' diverse responses, this book details the implications and legacies of injustice perpetrated under the cover of national security. In Landscapes of Injustice the diverse descendants of dispossession work together to understand what happened. They find that dispossession is not a chapter that closes or a period that neatly ends. It leaves enduring legacies of benefit and harm, shame and silence, and resilience and activism."-- Provided by publisher

ix, 501 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Post-World War II Oregon was a place of optimism and growth, a spectacular natural region from ocean to high desert that seemingly provided opportunity in abundance. With the passing of time, however, Oregon’s citizens — rural and urban — would find themselves entangled in issues that they had little experience in resolving. The same trees that provided income to timber corporations, small mill owners, loggers, and many small towns in Oregon, also provided a dramatic landscape and a home to creatures at risk. The rivers whose harnessing created power for industries that helped sustain Oregon’s growth — and were dumping grounds for municipal and industrial wastes — also provided passageways to spawning grounds for fish, domestic water sources, and recreational space for everyday Oregonians. The story of Oregon’s accommodation to these divergent interests is a divisive story between those interested in economic growth and perceived stability and citizens concerned with exercising good stewardship towards the state’s natural resources and preserving the state’s livability. In his second volume of Oregon’s environmental history, William Robbins addresses efforts by individuals and groups within and outside the state to resolve these conflicts. Among the people who have had roles in this process, journalists and politicians Richard Neuberger and Tom McCall left substantial legacies and demonstrated the ambiguities inherent in the issues they confronted.

xxiii, 414 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Anthropologist Rodney Frey culminates a decade of work with the Schitsu’umsh (the Coeur d’Alene Indians of Idaho) in this portrait of the unique bonds between a people and the landscape of their traditional homeland. The result of an intensive collaboration between investigator and Native people, the book includes many traditional stories that invite the reader’s participation in the world of the Schitsu’umsh. The Schitsu’umsh landscape of lake and mountains is described with a richness that emphasizes its essential material and spiritual qualities. The historical trauma of the Schitsu’umsh, stemming from their nineteenth-century contacts with Euro-American culture, is given dramatic weight. Nonetheless, examples of adaptation and continuity in traditional cultural expression, rather than destruction and discontinuity, are the most conspicuous features of this vivid ethnographic portrait. Drawing on pivotal oral traditions, Frey mirrors the Schitsu’umsh world view in his organization and presentation of ethnographic material. He uses first-person accounts by his Native consultants to convey crucial cultural perspectives and practices. Because of its unusual methodology, Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane is likely to become a model for future work with Native American peoples, within the Plateau region and beyond.

xi, 329 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

184 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Oregon has the most extensive land-use planning program of any state in this country. Every acre of privately owned land in this state is zoned. Every acre is subject to a comprehensive plan. Planning affects the cost of your home, the distance you drive to work or shop, your property taxes, your schools, your police. But in spite of the significant effects of land-use planning, many Oregonians don't know much about ii. There are several reasons for this. First, Oregon has a relatively new program. Even those who developed it or who administer it are still learning just how it works. Second, the program is complicated. It combines law, ecology, economics, engineering, and politics. Any one of these fields is difficult to know and understand well. Small wonder, then, that the combination of all five is hard to grasp. Finally, even though "citizen involvement" is the first among Oregon's planning goals, not much has been written to explain Oregon's planning program to its citizens. Most planners and lawyers have been writing for other planners and lawyers. Their jargon-laden prose isn't comprehensible to those who are not in the field of planning. Come to think of it, some of that prose isn't comprehensible to those of us who are! The reasons described above have prompted me to write this book. This is a no-nonsense, plain-English guide to land-use planning in Oregon. It is intended mainly for lay persons-for elected officials, real estate salespersons, developers, planning commissioners, students, permit applicants, and the active, involved citizens that are so important to the program. Because so many lay persons have their first encounter with planning when they apply for some kind of permit, the book pays particular attention to the process of applying for permits. It offers many suggestions on how to make that process as painless as possible. The first chapter provides a brief overview of Oregon's program, that unique combination of state and local planning. The second discusses the permit process that results from that combination. Chapter 3 tells you the "dos" and "don'ts" of getting a permit. The fourth chapter is a glossary of planning terms-a concise encyclopedia with more than 600 entries, from "abate" to "zoning ordinance." The Appendix contains Oregon's statewide planning goals. As you read the book and encounter unfamiliar terms, turn to the glossary for an explanation. The glossary entries define the terms; many of those entries also discuss key concepts and issues and direct you to related subjects. I hope you will find this book to be helpful in understanding a program that so strongly affects us all.

286 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

"Terrestrial mollusks, the second largest phylum in the animal kingdom, are vitally important to the earth's ecology. With the publication of Land Snails and Slugs of the Pacific Northwest, a definitive and comprehensive guide to snails and slugs of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana is finally available. Primarily an identification guide, this richly illustrated volume offers complete information on the range of terrestrial mollusk shapes, sizes, and characteristics. It presents an overview of their habitat requirements as well as details of land snail and slug ecology, collection and preservation methods, and biogeography. Land Snails and Slugs of the Pacific Northwest is an essential reference for biologists, horticulturalists, gardeners, and naturalists, and anyone wishing to identify species in the field."--Publisher's website

344 pages : color illustrations, maps ; 25 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

John Pearson and John M. Reitz’s Land of the Royal Kwantlen chronicles the complex historical evolution of North Surrey from an indigenous riverine stronghold to an engineered agricultural extension of metropolitan Vancouver. The narrative maps how the massive, volatile hydrology of the lower Fraser River initially dictated all human activity, forcing both the Kwantlen First Nation and early European pioneers to rely entirely on this dominant aquatic highway for transit and sustenance amidst the dense, impenetrable coastal rainforest. By detailing the arduous pioneer efforts to clear immense timber stands and construct drainage infrastructure across the low-lying alluvial floodplains, the text illustrates how early agrarian colonization was strictly governed by the severe physical realities of the tidal delta. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that artificially stabilizing this dynamic, flood-prone topography and bridging the formidable Fraser watercourse were the absolute prerequisites for integrating this isolated riparian settlement into the broader Pacific seaboard economy.

27 pages 24 cm

Land of the Multnomahs examines the rich indigenous heritage and early pioneer settlement situated within the fertile floodplains and strategic riverine confluence of the lower Willamette and Columbia rivers. Edwards and the AAUW Creative Writers detail how the region's dynamic riparian topography—specifically the sprawling alluvial wetlands, the dense surrounding fir forests, and the vital deep-water navigational channels—strictly dictated the margins of seasonal indigenous resource gathering and subsequent agrarian claiming. By mapping the transformation of these sheltered riverbanks from complex Chinookan trading hubs into a permanent, highly connected commercial gateway, the narrative highlights how this specific estuarine geography anchored continuous human reliance on the waterways. Ultimately, this historical collection serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense hydrological network and rich alluvial basin of this Pacific Northwest landscape fundamentally shaped the highly connected, river-dependent character of the Multnomah region.

318 pages illustrations 24 cm

David Lavender’s Land of Giants: The Drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750-1950 chronicles the monumental, two-century imperial and industrial conquest of an impossibly scaled wilderness defined by impenetrable mountain barricades, towering temperate rainforests, and violent riverine highways. The narrative maps how the sheer physical magnitude of the region—stretching from the treacherous maritime choke point of the Columbia River Bar to the sheer alpine walls of the Rocky Mountains—initially dictated all human movement, forcing early explorers and overland pioneers to rely entirely on dangerous aquatic corridors for basic survival. By detailing the massive transition from rudimentary fur-trading outposts to a booming regional empire driven by mechanized timber extraction, transcontinental rail networks, and unprecedented hydroelectric dam construction, the text illustrates how the large-scale subjugation of this oversized topography was strictly governed by the severe environmental constraints of the Pacific edge. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that systematically breaching these massive continental barriers and artificially harnessing the region's volatile hydrology were the absolute prerequisites for transforming a geographically isolated frontier into the industrialized powerhouse of the modern Pacific seaboard.

x pages, 2 unnumbered pages, 468 pages, 12 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Co-authored by Charles Lillard and Michael Gregson, Land of Destiny: The Golden Age of British Columbia captures the vibrant, optimistic, and often turbulent era of early 20th-century development in Canada's westernmost province. The book chronicles an age of rapid railway expansion, booming resource extraction, and ambitious town-building that promised to transform the Pacific wilderness into an economic empire. Through rich historical anecdotes, vintage photographs, and archival documents, the authors reconstruct a time when pioneers and speculators viewed the landscape as an unexhausted horizon of boundless wealth. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the cultural obsession with a "golden age" relied on willful blindness toward ecological and human costs; by framing aggressive resource exploitation as a heroic destiny, society masked the rapid depletion of local forests and fisheries behind a glittering facade of unstoppable progress.

162 pages : illustrations ; 23 x 28 cm

Published by the Southern Oregon Historical Society and authored by Joy B. Dunn, Land in Common: An Illustrated History of Jackson County, Oregon chronicles the complex and vibrant heritage of the Rogue River Valley. The book traces the region's transformation from ancestral indigenous homelands and a turbulent 1850s gold rush frontier into a thriving agricultural and timber-producing community. Through an extensive collection of historical photographs and archival records, the text highlights the diverse waves of settlers, miners, and entrepreneurs who shaped the physical and social landscape of southern Oregon. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the book's title operates as a poignant irony; by documenting how a land once held in common by native nations was rapidly parceled out into private claims, the history reveals that the foundational wealth of the frontier was built entirely upon the systematic legal enclosure of indigenous geography.

xiv, 178 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Published by local historian Junius Rochester, Lakelure: A Tale of Medina, Washington chronicles the colorful transformation of an exclusive eastern shore community along Lake Washington. The book traces Medina's evolution from a dense, stump-strewn wilderness and early 20th-century strawberry-farming enclave into one of the most affluent residential suburbs in the Pacific Northwest. Through historical photographs and engaging local archives, the text captures the summer-resort origins of families who fled the urban clamor of Seattle via the historic mosquito fleet ferries long before the floating bridges spanned the lake. A keen insight drawn from the work is how suburban wealth in the Seattle region repurposed geographical sanctuary into exclusivity; the transition of Medina from a quiet agrarian refuge into a fortress of tech barons and elites illustrates how pristine lakeside isolation is ultimately commodified and walled off from the very metropolitan core it once sought to escape.

ii, 42 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

The Lake County Historical Society’s Lake County history the first 100 years, 1876-1976 explores the enduring pioneer settlement and collaborative agricultural development within the expansive, arid expanses of Oregon’s high desert. The narrative illustrates how the profound environmental realities of this remote Basin and Range topography—defined by vast alkaline lakes, the sheer basalt cliffs of Abert Rim, and the demanding, highly variable climate of the "Oregon Outback"—required immense physical resilience and thoughtful agrarian adaptation from early homesteaders and ranchers. By detailing the gradual transition from isolated, vulnerable cattle and sheep operations to the cooperative establishment of enduring civic centers like Lakeview and the shared management of the region's vital timber and water resources, the text highlights how the county's prosperity relied heavily on community-driven responses to its challenging geography. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that cooperatively navigating the extreme seasonal shifts of the high desert and patiently cultivating a shared, neighborly identity were essential steps in transforming a rugged, isolated frontier into a cohesive, deeply rooted civic heartland of south-central Oregon.

History of Lake County, Oregon from 1876-1976, compiled by the local historical society. Includes black and white historical photographs.

viii, 250 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

"Hunkered down in his childhood bedroom in Seattle's worn-out Lake City neighborhood, idealistic but self-serving striver Lane Bueche licks his wounds and hatches a plot to win back his estranged Manhattanite wife. He discovers a precarious path forward when he is contracted by a wealthy adoptive couple to seduce and sabotage a troubled birth mother from his neighborhood. Lane soon finds himself in a zero-sum game between the families as he straddles two cultures, classes, and worlds. Until finally, with the well-being of the toddler at stake, Lane must choose between wanting to do the right thing (if he could only figure out what that is) and reclaiming his idea of privilege"-- Provided by publisher

304 pages ; 22 cm

Lake Chelan in the 1890's 1891 steamboat trip to Stehekin on Lake Chelan's first steamer examines the early pioneer transit and nascent recreational exploration situated within the deep, glacially carved fjord-like trench of the eastern Cascade Range. Durham details how the region's extreme vertical topography—specifically the precipitous, rock-walled alpine slopes, the immense depth and narrowness of the 50-mile-long lake, and the profound overland isolation of the Stehekin valley at the lake's head—strictly dictated the margins of pioneer access and early commercial navigation. By mapping the precarious introduction of the first steam-powered vessel to navigate this formidable waterway, transforming an impenetrable mountain barrier into a vital marine corridor for remote miners and homesteaders, the narrative highlights how this specific hydro-geological trench anchored the region's total reliance on waterborne transit. Ultimately, this historical travelogue serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the sheer geological scale, severe overland isolation, and crucial navigable waterway of this Pacific Northwest landscape fundamentally shaped the highly constrained, steamboat-dependent character of early Lake Chelan.

30 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

John Fahey fell in love with Lake Chelan at an early age and became convinced it is the world's greatest lake. As an adult, he set out to prove it. What unfolds is a story of remarkable endurance through extensive travel, exhaustive research, and countless baffled looks from friends and family. By foot, barstool, and paraglider, John explored Lake Chelan’s complex drainage system, from the cozy towns and vineyards to the glaciered peaks, and all the diverse microclimates in between. He determined to discover how this incredible body of water compared to others around the globe.

243 pages ; 23 cm