Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

The stories and legends of the Lushootseed-speaking people of Puget Sound represent an important part of the oral tradition by which one generation hands down beliefs, values, and customs to another. Vi Hilbert grew up when many of the old social patterns survived and everyone spoke the ancestral language. Haboo, Hilbert's collection of thirty-three stories, features tales mostly set in the Myth Age, before the world transformed. Animals, plants, trees, and even rocks had human attributes. Prominent characters like Wolf, Salmon, and Changer and tricksters like Mink, Raven, and Coyote populate humorous, earthy stories that reflect foibles of human nature, convey serious moral instruction, and comically detail the unfortunate, even disastrous consequences of breaking taboos. Beautifully redesigned and with a new foreword by Jill La Pointe, Haboo offers a vivid and invaluable resource for linguists, anthropologists, folklorists, future generations of Lushootseed-speaking people, and others interested in Native languages and cultures.

XXIII, 204 Seiten : Illustrationen ; 28 cm

"Gumboot Girls and Dancing in Gumboots chronicled the fascinating and inspiring stories of the 1970's migration of women seeking a new way of life on BC's West Coast, from Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii to the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. But what about the men who came in search of their own adventure, who became smitten with boats and the smell of salty air? Now, Gumboot Guys joins the two previous collections in chronicling this exciting decade, when all seemed possible. Stories of buying, fixing, building and running boats; learning to navigate the ocean's many moods; describing the abundance, and subsequent decline, of salmon stocks; and many, many tales of the unpredictable nature of life on the sea paint a vivid picture of the thrilling, adventurous and occasionally dangerous world awaiting these men. The constant current running through each of these stories is community--the guidance of experienced mentors, the encouragement from fellow adventure-seekers and the generous support of partners and families. These stories serve as a time capsule commemorating an era of hope, fortitude and freedom."-- Provided by publisher

191 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Layne Sawyer and the Oregon State Archives’ Guide to Oregon provisional and territorial government records explores the foundational legal maturation and cooperative civic resilience required to establish the earliest formal governance in the Pacific Northwest. The narrative—anchored by meticulous archival documentation—illustrates how the severe geographic realities of this isolated frontier—separated from federal authority by thousands of miles of arduous overland trails and towering mountain ranges—required intense self-reliance and shared, structured adaptation from early American settlers. By detailing the gradual transition from precarious, loosely organized homesteads to the cooperative establishment of a provisional legal framework initiated at Champoeg, the guide highlights how regional stability relied entirely on community-driven agreements regarding land claims, resource management, and frontier justice. Ultimately, the archival catalog demonstrates that patiently forging these foundational legislative boundaries and collaboratively building a functioning territorial bureaucracy were essential steps in transforming a remote, vulnerable pioneer settlement into a cohesive, deeply rooted civic society poised for statehood.

125 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm + e 1 computer disc (5 1/4 in.)

Authored by regional writer Robert H. Dreisbach, Guide to Northeast Oregon provides a comprehensive travel companion and historical handbook exploring the rugged canyons, high desert plateaus, and forgotten mining towns of Oregon's Blue Mountains and Wallowa country. The book details backroad itineraries, local geological anomalies, and the fascinating remnants of frontier settlement scattered across the state's most isolated eastern terrain. Through precise route descriptions and historical context, the text encourages travelers to look past the damp Willamette Valley to discover a radically different, arid landscape defined by deep gorges and pioneer grit. A keen insight drawn from the work is how regional geography directly dictates historical consciousness; by guiding modern explorers through a landscape shaped by ancient basalt flows and grueling wagon trails, the book illustrates how northeastern Oregon's vast, unforgiving topography has preserved a sense of frontier time that more densely populated urban centers have long since paved over.

156 pages ; 22 cm

Published in local editions by Patricia Lander, Guide to Ferryboats of Puget Sound: Past and Present provides a comprehensive historical and structural inventory of the iconic vessels that have navigated the inland waters of Washington State. The book catalogs a diverse fleet ranging from the early mosquito fleet steamers to the modern auto-ferries that form an indispensable maritime highway across the Salish Sea. Through detailed vessel histories, operational timelines, and archival photographs, the text captures how these floating bridges shaped regional commerce, commuting, and coastal community-building. A keen insight drawn from the work is how Puget Sound ferries function as floating public town squares; by forcing diverse commuters, tourists, and islanders into shared, slow-paced transit, the ferry system preserves a unique communal culture that directly resists the anonymous speed of modern mainland highways.

145 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm

Richard C. Waldbauer's book is the story of a small, almost forgotten Pacific Northwest mining area, the Hoodoos of north Idaho. It describes the activities of mining promoters, adventurers, community boosters, and how their boundless enthusiasm affected settlement in the Palouse Hills, one of the Pacific Northwest's most important agricultural regions. Grubstaking the Palouse captures the excitement that accompanied the opening of the nineteenth-century Northwest frontier, revealing how a handful of fortune-seeking miners inspired others to have visions of homesteads, farms, factories, churches, and schools. Using documents, archaeological findings, ethnographic studies, and his keen understanding of regional geology, Waldbauer has created a masterpiece of local and regional history. As he unravels the social fabric of a bygone era, he offers insights into the ways frontier society shaped Pacific Northwest culture.

9 preliminary leaves, 75 pages : illustrations, maps, portrait ; 28 cm

2 volumes : illustrations ; 28 cm

2 volumes : illustrations ; 28 cm

"In all scientific disciplines, there is an expanding gap between what is known by the general public and what is known by scientists. In this book, Dr. Bruce McLellan tries to bridge that gap. Coexisting with grizzly bears into the future will be an increasing challenge and require a deep understanding of these large carnivores and what factors make their populations tick. Based on perhaps the longest uninterrupted wildlife research project done by one individual, this is the intertwined story of the science underlying our understanding of grizzly bears and family life in the wilderness while following bears. The story of grizzly bear behaviour and ecology is based on dozens of research papers published in this study, which in turn are based on the actual lives of over 200 radio-collared bears. These chapters are not written "for dummies" but contain considerable substance for people interested in the science behind animal ecology and conservation. The scientific chapters cover topics ranging from the bears' diet and how it influences changes in body fat and muscle, to how bears are counted and factors that influence births and deaths and regulate population size. Mixed among the science chapters is the story of how a couple in their mid-20s began the Flathead grizzly project, built a log cabin on the bank of the Flathead River, had babies, and raised them in the wilderness among bears, wolves, and mountain lions. They endured floods that washed away part of their camp, forest fires that burned thousands of square miles, and some very weird people. Both children grew up with grizzly bears and eventually earned their own M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in the ecology of these amazing animals"-- Provided by publisher

xiii, 304 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 23 cm

"Beneath the 24/7 national news cycle and argument over "fake news," there is a layer of journalism that communities absolutely depend upon. Grit and Ink offers a rare look inside the financial struggles and family dynamic that has kept a Pacific Northwest publishing group alive for more than a century. The newspapers of the Aldrich-Forrester-Bedford-Brown family depict the histories of towns like Pendleton, Astoria, John Day, Enterprise, and Long Beach, Washington. Written by noted historian William Willingham, Grit and Ink describes threats presented by the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Astoria Fire of 1923, the Great Depression, the Aryan Nation, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, the Digital Revolution, and more."

218 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 23 cm

xiv, 363 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Stewart H. Holbrook’s Green Commonwealth chronicles the aggressive industrial colonization and massive mechanized subjugation of the impenetrable, rain-gorged coastal timberlands dominating the eastern flank of the Olympic Peninsula. The narrative maps how the severe environmental realities of this untamed marine topography—defined by sprawling barricades of massive old-growth Douglas fir, treacherous riverine valleys, and the plunging maritime inlets of southern Puget Sound—initially paralyzed efficient terrestrial transit, forcing early logging operations into a precarious reliance on slow, localized aquatic transport. By detailing the grueling transition from vulnerable, isolated bull-team logging outposts to the explosive deployment of heavy, steam-powered yarding machinery and robust trans-peninsular rail networks, the text illustrates how the long-term economic survival of the Shelton enclave was strictly dictated by the urgent necessity to systematically engineer and domesticate this colossal arboreal wealth. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that violently carving mechanized extraction corridors through sheer coastal mountains and imposing a highly integrated, sustained-yield corporate architecture over the forest were the absolute prerequisites for shattering the region's geographical detachment and transforming a raw wilderness camp into a permanent, industrialized timber empire on the Pacific edge.

166 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

With Green Afternoons in hand, travelers, gardeners, and plant enthusiasts now have an exciting new guide to more than six dozen gardens throughout western and central Oregon and southwestern Washington. In her tour of the region, Amy Houchen uses the word "garden" broadly to include not only traditional gardens but also plantings of interest in such places as parks, college campuses, farms, and community gardens. Along with providing detailed descriptions of Oregon's best known and best loved gardens, Green Afternoons introduces readers to such unlikely but rewarding spots as an arboretum at a freeway rest area and climbing roses dressing up the cyclone fence around a ballfield. Arranged geographically, the garden listings include seasons of interest, directions, whether plants are labeled, a section on background and history, and a description of what to see. Indexes by plant name and topic allow for ease in locating plant specialties and such features as gardens for the blind and composting exhibits. Also included is information on holding weddings and listings of special events. From the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland and the International Rose Test Garden in Portland's Washington Park to Shore Acres in Coos Bay and the Sunriver Botanical Garden, Green Afternoons offers an informative and easy-to-use guide for locating and learning about the region's most beautiful gardens.

iv, 250 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Published by Dick Pintarich, Great and Minor Moments in Oregon History: An Illustrated Anthology of Illuminating Glimpses into Oregon's Past from Prehistory to the Present offers a compelling mosaic of state history that deliberately bypasses standard dry chronology in favor of vivid, overlooked vignettes. The book compiles short essays and rare illustrations spanning geological prehistory, early indigenous life, eccentric frontier characters, and twentieth-century turning points. By interspersing major milestones with quirky historical footnotes, the text paints a remarkably human portrait of how the state's distinct cultural landscape actually evolved. A keen insight drawn from the work is how regional history is best understood through its narrative friction; by giving equal weight to forgotten local anomalies and grand political events, the anthology demonstrates that a state's true character is forged not just by its headline heroes, but by the myriad eccentricities of everyday people colliding with an untamed environment.

xix, 527 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Grays Harbor, 1885-1913 captures the explosive industrial transformation of a massive, rain-soaked estuarine basin situated along Washington’s rugged Pacific coast. Weinstein details how the region’s profound geographic convergence—where the Chehalis River and numerous coastal tributaries empty into a sprawling, sheltered deepwater harbor—created an unrivaled logistical hub for extracting the immense wealth of the surrounding old-growth timberlands. By mapping the rise of the twin mill towns of Aberdeen and Hoquiam, the narrative illustrates how the physical isolation of this dense coastal rainforest forced early timber operations to rely entirely on a massive fleet of lumber schooners that continuously braved the treacherous, shifting sandbars of the harbor entrance. Ultimately, this heavily photographic record serves as a localized environmental and economic history, demonstrating how the sheer scale of both the maritime topography and the towering Pacific seaboard forests fundamentally shaped one of the most intense periods of resource extraction in the Pacific Northwest.

190 pages : illustrations, map, portraits ; 25 cm

Authored by Joean K. Fransen, Gray & Columbia's River chronicles the maritime explorations of Captain Robert Gray and his historic 1792 discovery of the great river of the West. The book traces Gray's momentous voyage aboard the Columbia Rediviva, detailing his navigation of treacherous Pacific Northwest coastal waters and the lucrative sea otter trade that tied the region to global maritime markets. Through engaging historical narrative, the text highlights the sheer tenacity and seamanship required of early American merchants operating along an unmapped and dangerous frontier. A keen insight drawn from the work is how a single geographic discovery altered the geopolitical fate of an entire continent; by successfully crossing the treacherous bar of the Columbia River, Gray secured vital territorial claims for the United States that fundamentally reshaped the destiny of the Pacific Northwest.

ii, 143 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Graeme Pole’s Gravity, Steam and Steel: An Illustrated Railway History of Rogers Pass offers an exhaustive technical and spatial history of the Canadian Pacific Railway corridor across the Selkirk Range in the Columbia-Shuswap region. The work details the staggering logistical demands of overcoming mountain grades and avalanche tracks between Golden, Glacier, and Revelstoke, tracing the physical progression from early timber trestles and elaborate loop tracks to the completion of the Connaught Tunnel in 1916 and the Mount Macdonald Tunnel in 1988. Pole examines the severe physical environment that dictated railway operations, highlighting the specialized rotary snowplows, push engines, and railway work camps that anchored daily operations along the Illecillewaet River. Richly illustrated with historic engineering schematics and archival photographs, the book documents the human labor and technological systems that tamed the most formidable mountain crossing in western Canada.

288 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 29 cm

The Lumby Historians’ Grassroots: A History of Lumby and District provides a comprehensive local and spatial record of the eastern valleys situated between Vernon and the Monashee foothills. The volume documents the early settlement of "White Valley" (later renamed Lumby after pioneer Moses Lumby), detailing how early French-Canadian and European pre-emptors cleared dense cedar and hemlock bottomlands to establish dairy farms and cattle spreads across Creighton Valley, Trinity Valley, and Blue Springs. The text traces the development of independent sawmill camps, regional rail links via the Canadian National Railway, and the construction of the early twentieth-century hydroelectric generating station at Shuswap Falls. Richly supported by property cadastrals, one-room schoolhouse records, and pioneer recollections, the chronicle captures the everyday realities of rural community formation.

312 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 29 cm

Richmond P. Hobson, Jr.’s Grass Beyond the Mountains is a classic firsthand narrative recounting the late 1930s expedition to carve out a massive cattle ranching frontier in the remote wilderness of the northwestern Chilcotin plateau. Hobson and his partner Panhandle Phillips traversed hundreds of miles of rugged subalpine muskeg and timber north and west of Anahim Lake to claim the vast grasslands surrounding the Blackwater River and the Itcha and Ilgachuz mountain ranges. The narrative details the physical demands of blazing pack horse trails, building winter base camps in deep snow, and driving cattle herds across unmapped terrain long stewarded by the Ulkatcho Dakelh and Tsilhqot'in peoples. Hobson documents the vital relationships established with Indigenous guides and neighboring homesteaders, capturing the daily endurance and cooperative labor that forged the last great open-range cattle frontier in British Columbia.

236 pages : map ; 21 cm

86 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Published in 1862, Grammar and Dictionary of the Yakama Language originated from the field notes of Catholic Oblate missionary Charles Marie Pandosy, whose French manuscript was subsequently translated and edited by federal ethnologist George Gibbs and historian John Gilmary Shea. The volume stands as the first formal linguistic documentation of the Sahaptin language spoken by the Yakama people of eastern Washington, detailing its intricate grammatical syntax alongside a comprehensive bilingual lexicon. A keen insight drawn from the publication is how the collaboration between a proselytizing missionary and a government ethnologist illustrates the profound entanglement of religion and colonial statecraft, demonstrating how linguistic reference materials originally designed to facilitate spiritual assimilation were systematically repurposed by officials like Gibbs to execute federal treaty negotiations and accelerate indigenous displacement.

59 pages ; 26 cm.

"Robert E. Smylie was born in Marcus, Iowa, in 1914 and first came to Idaho as a student at what was then the College of Idaho in Caldwell. Subsequently he worked his way through law school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., served in the Coast Guard during World War II, married, and came back to Idaho in 1947 first as Assistant Attorney General and then Attorney General."--BOOK JACKET. "In 1954 Robert E. Smylie decided to run for governor, was elected, and served in that office until 1967. During his three terms in office, Governor Smylie could count among his many achievements an increase in the minimum wage, a five-day work week for state employees, creation of the Department of Commerce, a massive state highway construction program, promotion of the interests of business, land, and water within Idaho, serving as chair of the Western Governor's Association, the establishment of the state park system, and the introduction of a state sales tax to fund education."--BOOK JACKET

xv, 234 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

At the end of the twentieth century, the state government of Oregon was routinely entangled in intense partisan conflict, with opposing sides waging bitter battles in elections, the legislature, and the courts. Many of the most important state laws—such as Measure 5, which capped property taxes—were decided through the initiative process rather than by lawmakers in Salem. As the twenty-first century began, this political dynamic began to shift. Partisan conflict in the capitol grew less rancorous, legislative gridlock eased, and ballot initiatives lost their central role in defining Oregon politics. Less visible changes reshaped issues from agricultural policy to tribal government. This shifting dynamic coincided with significant transformations in Oregon’s economy and cultural life. The state’s economy sustained severe blows twice in the early 2000s, but by 2014, Oregon boasted one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation. Along with economic expansion, Oregon’s population grew in both size and diversity. Despite these powerful forces of change, other aspects of Oregon political life remained entrenched, including the deep urban-rural divide and the state’s problematic fiscal system. With contributions from twenty-seven leading experts and political insiders, Governing Oregon: Continuity and Change offers insight into the people, political practices, governing institutions, and public policies of Oregon. It will be of tremendous value to political scientists, public servants, and engaged citizens alike.

xii, 372 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Idaho is a state with many varied interests vying for political control. Whether it be in the politically liberal north, the staunchly conservative southeast, or the rapidly changing southwest of the state, the social and political factors that determine who gains power in the Gem State often flies in the face of logic and makes for an interesting study in contrasts.

xi, 237 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Goodbye, White Bluffs examines the thriving agrarian settlement and abrupt federal erasure situated along the arid, sun-baked banks of the Columbia River in central Washington. Harris details how the region's stark interior macro-geography—specifically the sprawling, isolated sagebrush steppes, the towering sedimentary escarpments of the White Bluffs, and the vital, fast-flowing hydrological lifeline of the Hanford Reach—strictly dictated the margins of pioneer orchard cultivation and the town's eventual vulnerability. By mapping the grueling transformation of this desert plateau through localized irrigation into a tight-knit agricultural enclave, and its subsequent wholesale condemnation by a wartime government seeking vast, secluded terrain and abundant river water for the Manhattan Project, the narrative highlights how this specific remote geography anchored both the community's creation and its sudden destruction. Ultimately, this historical memoir serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the extreme geographic isolation, arid expanse, and powerful riverine forces of this Pacific Northwest landscape fundamentally shaped the agriculturally rich but fatally compromised character of White Bluffs.

iv, 155 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm