Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

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

"L.V. Rogers, after whom Nelson's Secondary School is named, was born in England in 1886 and sent on his own to Canada at the age of five. This booklet tells the story of his remarkable life." - back cover

31 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 21 cm

LD is the colourful biography of Louis Taylor, the longest-serving mayor in Vancouver's history; he was first elected mayor in 1910, and served off and on until 1934, for a total of eleven years. Taylor's story is also the story of Vancouver in the early decades of the 20th century, a young city experiencing a turbulent adolescence. Louis Taylor, or LD as he was known, arrived in Vancouver from Chicago in 1896 at the age of 39. He got involved in the newspaper business, first as an executive with The Daily Province, then as proprietor of The World, during which time he built the World Tower, which remains one of Vancouver's landmark buildings (now better known as the Sun Tower). He launched his political career in 1902 when he ran successfully for licence commissioner; it was the first of 26 civic elections in which he ran, including 20 for mayor. In his early political life he was considered "the workers' friend" and was opposed by the city's business elite, who portrayed him as corrupt. He also had a reputation for being soft on crime, and was implicated in a 1928 police investigation that lost him an election. But his achievements included the establishment of the airport, a town planning commission, and the water board. His private life, however, was another story, a virtual soap opera that mirrored the ups and downs of his political career; his wife was addicted to opium, and he found himself mired in bigamy and divorce scandals. As Vancouver grew from small frontier town to a major international port city, LD saw the city through the Depression, and in a sense Vancouver grew up under his tutelage. LD: Mayor Louis Taylor and The Rise of Vancouver vividly documents the life of a man who dominated the city for years, and the integral role he played in shaping the Vancouver of today. Winner of the City of Vancouver Book Prize

239 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Robert Galois’s Kwakwa̲ka̲'wakw settlements, 1775-1920: a geographical analysis and gazetteer explores the profound environmental adaptation and enduring spatial resilience of the Kwakwa̲ka̲'wakw people across the intricate maritime landscapes of northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent British Columbia mainland. The narrative illustrates how the dynamic environmental realities of this coastal topography—defined by labyrinthine glacial fjords, dense cedar rainforests, and the vital, rhythmic abundance of marine resources—required immense spatial ingenuity and deeply localized ecological knowledge from indigenous communities. By detailing a meticulous geographical gazetteer that tracks shifting village sites and seasonal harvesting camps over a century and a half of profound colonial contact, the text highlights how the Kwakwa̲ka̲'wakw society navigated massive demographic and economic changes by thoughtfully adapting their settlement patterns. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that collaboratively maintaining these complex spatial networks and patiently preserving traditional territorial knowledge were essential elements in sustaining a vibrant, enduring indigenous cultural identity deeply anchored to the rugged coastal geography of the Pacific Northwest.

This book provides a geographic overview of the demography and settlement patterns of the Kwakwa̲ka̲'wakw, who lived in northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia.

xvii, 465 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Koom of the Tillamooks, written by Margaret Watt Edwards and illustrated by Roger Cooke, is a historical fiction story aimed at middle-grade readers. The narrative centers on the title character, Koom, who finds himself unable to remain with the last few surviving Tillamook Native Americans living along Oregon's Tillamook Bay. Feeling equally alienated and uncomfortable in the encroaching white man's world, Koom makes the difficult decision to forge his own path. The plot follows his journey as he prepares to isolate himself and spend the upcoming winter surviving entirely off the land.

178 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Publisher description: Rising above the northern part of the Cascades is the magnificent bulk of Mt. Baker - "Koma Kulshan" (the steep white mountain) to the early Nooksack Indians. Long a focal point of human interest, this slumbering volcano has been seen in many different lights - as a sacred object (Indians), a great challenge (mountaineers, explorers), a stimulus for creativity (poets, painters, photographers), a playground (marathon runners, skiers), and as a resource (entrepreneurs, loggers, miners, developers, park administrators). Yet, despite all human actions and aspirations over the years, the mountain retains its majesty, power and mystery. This is the story of man and Mt. Baker, complete with engaging first-hand tales and a wealth of rare historic photos

232 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 23 cm

Know your town Pocatello, Idaho: gate city to the great Northwest examines the strategic urban development and critical transportation role of a settlement positioned at a crucial geographic chokepoint of southeastern Idaho. The League of Women Voters of Pocatello details how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the narrowing, rugged corridor of the Portneuf River Valley flanked by the imposing peaks of the Bannock Range—strictly dictated the flow of overland migration and the subsequent expansion of transcontinental rail networks onto the vast Snake River Plain. By mapping the deliberate establishment of massive railroad infrastructure designed to funnel freight and pioneer traffic through this narrow topographic gateway, the narrative highlights the immense logistical effort required to anchor a modern industrial hub in a demanding, semi-arid inland environment. The absolute geographic necessity of traversing this specific mountain pass forced both early overland pioneers and the Oregon Short Line Railroad into a strict reliance on the valley's contours, permanently concentrating human settlement and economic survival around this vital transportation nexus. Ultimately, this civic and historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the specific topographical funnels and severe environmental realities of the inland Pacific Northwest fundamentally shaped the enduring, transit-dependent character of the Pocatello gateway.

47 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 x 14 cm

Knappton the first 50 years, Pacific County, Washington chronicles the grueling industrial expansion and isolated maritime settlement along the rugged, storm-battered northern shore of the massive Columbia River estuary. Appelo details how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the treacherous, shifting sandbars of the river mouth, the violent winter squalls driving in from the open Pacific, and the steep, impenetrable coastal rainforests plunging directly into the tidal wash—strictly dictated the margins of early human survival, commercial fishing, and timber extraction. By mapping the immense physical labor required to construct precarious salmon canneries and maritime quarantine facilities on piling-supported wharves directly over the tidal flats, and to wrestle massive old-growth timber from the sheer coastal bluffs, the narrative highlights the monumental effort necessary to anchor a permanent industrial enclave in this demanding estuarine environment. The profound lack of viable overland routes to the territorial interior initially forced these remote laborers and pioneer homesteaders into an absolute reliance on the perilous marine highway, completely anchoring their commercial existence and physical survival to the unpredictable arrival of coastal schooners and the severe hydrological force of the Columbia River's massive tidal exchange. Ultimately, this local historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the extreme estuarine geography, violent maritime weather, and immense hydrological power of this Pacific Northwest frontier fundamentally shaped the fiercely resilient, strictly maritime-dependent character of the Knappton settlement.

88 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Klamath Heartlands introduces the unique-in-the-nation plan by the Klamath Tribes of southern Oregon to restore the "remembered forest" of their former reservation, an area that Oregon governor Tom McCall called "the greatest single stand of ponderosa pines to be found anywhere in the West." Part of the Tribes' effort to regain lands they lost in 1954, the Klamath Reservation Forest Plan offers a vision of ecological and cultural restoration that will change the way we think about Western forests. Klamath Heartlands combines photographs, maps, and text in a sturdy and engaging field guide. A series of fold-out and fold-up map pages leads each reader into the forest itself to discover the Tribes' vision and the significance of achieving it.

[20] folded pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 20 cm

Kittitas frontiersmen chronicles the grueling pioneer settlement and early resource extraction across the sweeping, wind-swept basins and rugged alpine corridors of central Washington. Glauert and Kunze detail how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the massive, impenetrable eastern slopes of the Cascade Range, the severe climatic extremes created by the mountain rain shadow, and the imposing, semi-arid ridges encircling the Kittitas Valley—strictly dictated the margins of overland migration, early cattle ranching, and human survival. By mapping the arduous physical labor required to drive livestock across treacherous alpine passes, extract deep-seam coal from the precipitous upper mountain flanks, and engineer vital irrigation networks drawing from the Yakima River, the narrative highlights the monumental effort necessary to anchor permanent communities in this demanding inland environment. The profound geographic isolation created by the towering mountain divides initially forced early homesteaders into a strict reliance on the precise topography of the valley floor and its narrow river canyons, completely anchoring their commercial and agricultural existence to the severe intermountain climate. Ultimately, this historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense geological barriers and harsh environmental realities of this Pacific Northwest inland basin fundamentally shaped the fiercely resilient, highly adaptable character of the Kittitas frontier.

x, 219 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 29 cm

Published by Pediment Publishing in cooperation with regional archives, Kittitas County Historic Photo Album compiles a rich visual chronicle of central Washington's transition from an indigenous homeland and rugged frontier corridor into an organized agricultural and mining hub. The volume showcases rare vintage photographs documenting the rise of towns like Ellensburg, the punishing construction of railroads through mountain passes, and the daily lives of ranchers, homesteaders, and coal miners. Through its expansive visual catalog, the text captures the stark beauty of the high desert and river valleys alongside the relentless human labor required to harness the arid landscape. A keen insight drawn from the work is how photographic collections of inland Washington reveal the profound visual tension between monumental geography and fragile human enterprise; the stark, towering backdrops of the Cascade foothills dwarf the modest wooden storefronts and rail lines, underscoring how precarious early settlement truly was against the vast scale of the high desert.

128 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 20 x 27 cm

Kitsap County history: a story of Kitsap County and its pioneers chronicles the intensive maritime settlement and rapid industrial timber extraction across the deeply indented, water-bound geography of the Kitsap Peninsula. The Historical Society Book Committee details how the region’s defining physical barriers—a highly fractured shoreline surrounded almost entirely by the complex tidal currents of Puget Sound and Hood Canal, coupled with completely impenetrable old-growth forests—strictly dictated the placement and survival of early frontier communities. By mapping the strategic establishment of massive, highly capitalized lumber mills at the edge of protected deepwater anchorages like Port Gamble and Port Blakely, the narrative highlights how the utter lack of overland wagon routes forced pioneers to rely absolutely on the "Mosquito Fleet" of coastal steamers for daily existence and regional commerce. This complete dependence on the marine highway allowed settlers to harvest immense coastal timber reserves and load them directly onto global shipping networks without ever penetrating the interior. Ultimately, this exhaustive compilation serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the complex, deeply carved aquatic topography and heavily forested environment of this Pacific Northwest peninsula inherently forged its enduring identity as a resilient, strictly maritime-dependent frontier.

1 volume (various pagings) illustrations

In the early years of the twentieth century, Spokane was singled out for praise in the West for the quality of its architecture and the impressive way it had rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1889. Major credit for the city's distinctive character was extended to Kirtland Kelsey Cutter for his "rare architectural force and genius for design." His remarkable career, stretching from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression, allows a fascinating study of the evolution of an eclectic form of architecture that was an inevitable response to rich regional and historical influences during a time of transition from frontier settlements to modern city. Cutter's influence was felt beyond Spokane--in Seattle, other areas of Washington, and in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. He was also responsible for buildings in the East and even for one in England. After financial problems ended his career in the Northwest, he began anew at age sixty-three in southern California, and worked there as an architect until his death in 1939 at age seventy-nine. Henry Matthews presents a comprehensive study of the whole body of Cutter's work, with ample photographs and illustrations. The book is based on exhaustive research in both the Northwest and California, revealing the influences on Cutter and his associates, the processes at work in the design and construction of the buildings, and the relations between the architect and the many people who commissioned his work. Particularly useful to Matthews's research was a collection of 290 sets of drawings, as well as office accounts, letters, and books from Cutter's library--materials acquired by the Eastern Washington State Historical Society. He also was able to interview former assistants and clients, who provided valuable insights on the architect and the way Cutter worked. In addition, many of the architect's residences, hotels, clubs, and commercial buildings are still standing. This book adds significantly to an understanding of Western urban and regional history. But Cutter's experimentation in many styles and the imaginative nature of his work make for a study that goes beyond regional limits and sheds light on national trends.

x, 438 pages : illustrations, plans, portraits ; 26 cm

Kin-i-wak, Kenewick, Tehe, Kennewick by Martha Berry Parker is a localized historical compilation primarily focused on the origins and development of Kennewick, Washington, and its surrounding region. The book originated as a series of historical chapters and articles previously published in local columns or regional issues of The Courier. It details the transition of the area from its early indigenous roots through the trials of early settlement, homesteading, local infrastructure challenges, and community milestones.

414 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 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

175 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

"Keeping Oregon Green is a new history of the signature accomplishments of Oregon's environmental era: the revitalization of the polluted Willamette River, the Beach Bill that preserved public access to the entire coastline, the Bottle Bill that set the national standard for reducing roadside litter, and the nation's first comprehensive land use zoning law. To these case studies is added the largely forgotten tale of what would have been Oregon's second national park, intended to preserve the Oregon Dunes as one of the country's first National Seashores. Through the detailed study of the historical, political, and cultural contexts of these environmental conflicts, Derek Larson uncovers new dimensions in familiar stories linked to the concepts of 'livability' and environmental stewardship. Connecting events in Oregon to the national environmental awakening of the 1960s and 1970s, the innovative policies that carried Oregon to a position of national leadership are shown to be products of place and culture as much as politics. While political leaders such as Tom McCall and Bob Straub played critical roles in framing new laws, the advocacy of ordinary citizens--farmers, students, ranchers, business leaders, and factory workers--drove a movement that crossed partisan, geographic, and class lines to make Oregon the nation's environmental showcase of the 1970s. Drawing on extensive archival research and source materials, ranging from poetry to congressional hearings, Larson's compelling study is firmly rooted in the cultural, economic, and political history of the Pacific Northwest. Essential reading for students of environmental history and Oregon politics, Keeping Oregon Green argues that the state's environmental legacy is not just the product of visionary leadership, but rather a complex confluence of events, trends, and personalities that could only have happened when and where it did"-- Provided by publisher

ix, 307 pages ; 23 cm

The European explorers who first visited the Northwest Coast of North America assumed that the entire region was virtually untouched wilderness whose occupants used the land only minimally, hunting and gathering shoots, roots, and berries that were peripheral to a diet and culture focused on salmon. Colonizers who followed the explorers used these claims to justify the displacement of Native groups from their lands. Scholars now understand, however, that Northwest Coast peoples were actively cultivating plants well before their first contact with Europeans. This book is the first comprehensive overview of how Northwest Coast Native Americans managed the landscape and cared for the plant communities on which they depended. Bringing together some of the world's most prominent specialists on Northwest Coast cultures, Keeping It Living tells the story of traditional plant cultivation practices found from the Oregon coast to Southeast Alaska. It explores tobacco gardens among the Haida and Tlingit, managed camas plots among the Coast Salish of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia, estuarine root gardens along the central coast of British Columbia, wapato maintenance on the Columbia and Fraser Rivers, and tended berry plots up and down the entire coast. With contributions from ethnobotanists, archaeologists, anthropologists, geographers, ecologists, and Native American scholars and elders, Keeping It Living documents practices, many unknown to European peoples, that involve manipulating plants as well as their environments in ways that enhanced culturally preferred plants and plant communities. It describes how indigenous peoples of this region used and cared for over 300 different species of plants, from the lofty red cedar to diminutive plants of backwater bogs.

xi, 404 pages : illustrations, 1 map ; 25 cm

Polk's cry of 54-40 hastened the survey of military forts. The Olympic Peninsula was recognized as a key point in the national structure. Three forts were established within Admiralty Inlet. Fifty years of armed insurance by the Coast Artillery guns held the peace ... Book jacket

367, [1]pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 23 cm

Published in 1901 by pioneering anthropologist Franz Boas, Kathlamet Texts is a foundational ethnographic compilation of the myths, legends, and cultural narratives of the Kathlamet Chinookan people of the lower Columbia River. Working closely with Charles Cultee, one of the final fluent speakers of the nearly extinct language, Boas meticulously recorded these oral traditions using rigorous phonetic transcriptions alongside literal English translations. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the complex syntax and untranslatable idioms preserved in these bilingual texts vividly demonstrate Boas's foundational theory of linguistic relativity, proving that the nuanced Kathlamet worldview was inextricably bound to the specific structure of their language. Consequently, the book stands not merely as a collection of folklore, but as a critical act of linguistic salvage that permanently secured the grammatical and cultural heritage of a vanishing Pacific Northwest civilization.

261 pages : portraits ; 30 cm

Franz Boas’s 1901 compilation, Kathlamet texts, serves as a vital companion to his earlier Chinookan research, preserving the complex oral traditions and ecological knowledge of the communities located along the upper estuary of the lower Columbia River. Also transcribed from Charles Cultee, these narratives function as deep environmental ledgers that map the specific riverine corridors, seasonal salmon-fishing encampments, and dense timberlands defining Kathlamet territory. The text reveals a highly structured indigenous society that relied on tight family networks and interdependent alliances to manage the region's rich aquatic resources and coordinate regional inland trade. For historians of Pacific Northwest settlement, these transcribed traditions demonstrate that the subsequent pioneer development in areas like Wahkiakum County—such as the establishment of early logging camps, steamship docks, and commercial canneries—was explicitly mapped onto the ancient, culturally managed geography of the Kathlamet people. Ultimately, Boas’s work underscores that the frontier infrastructure and supply networks utilized by incoming Euro-American homesteaders were entirely built upon a foundation of established indigenous territorial knowledge.

261 pages, 1 unnumbered leaf of plates : portraits ; 30 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

Kamloops cattlemen one hundred years of trail dust examines the extensive livestock-ranching economy and grueling overland cattle drives situated across the vast, semi-arid interior plateau of south-central British Columbia. Bulman details how the region's formidable interior topography—specifically the sprawling, sun-baked bunchgrass steppes of the Thompson River valley, the rugged, heavily timbered alpine summer ranges, and the vital, isolated riparian watering corridors—strictly dictated the margins of massive cattle operations and seasonal transhumance routes. By mapping the grueling establishment of expansive pioneer ranches and the arduous transit of herds across unforgiving, arid distances to distant railheads and markets, the narrative highlights how this specific high-desert geography anchored a deeply resilient, livestock-dependent frontier economy. Ultimately, this agricultural record serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense overland distances, harsh semi-arid climate, and vital bunchgrass forage of this Pacific Northwest interior fundamentally shaped the highly rugged, ranching-driven character of the early Kamloops region.

183 pages illustrations, map (on lining papers), portraits 24 cm

Ken Favrholdt and Lynne Schuyler Bracewell’s Kamloops meeting of the waters: an illustrated history chronicles the rich civic and commercial evolution at the strategic confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers in the arid interior plateau of British Columbia. Set against the sprawling sagebrush hills and vital river corridors traditionally stewarded by the Secwepemc people, the narrative details how early fur traders, gold prospectors, and overland ranching families navigated profound geographic isolation by establishing cooperative agrarian and mercantile networks. By tracing the collaborative labor required to transition from a transient Hudson's Bay Company trading post into a major Canadian Pacific Railway and agricultural hub, the text reveals how these dispersed inland residents forged tight-knit civic alliances to survive the extreme seasonal demands of the high desert environment. Ultimately, this illustrated history documents how the shared utilization of the region's defining waterways successfully transformed a remote frontier crossroads into a resilient, highly connected urban community that continues to anchor the British Columbia interior.

111 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.

volumes : illustrations, map, portraits ; 24 cm