Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

Modern western Oregon was a crucial site of imperial competition in North America during the formative decades of the United States. Whaley examines relations among newcomers and between newcomers and Native peoples--focusing on political sovereignty, religion, trade, sexuality, and the land--from initial encounters to Oregon's statehood. He argues that the process of Oregon's founding is best understood as a contest between the British empire and a nascent American one, with Oregon's Native people and their lands at the heart of the conflict

xi, 303 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

A collection of Robin Cody's nonfiction writing, 1982-2008. Another Way the River Has collects Robin Cody’s finest nonfiction writings, many appearing for the first time in print. Cody’s prose rings with a sense of place. He is a native speaker who probes the streams and woods and salmon that run to the heart of what it means to live and love, to work and play, in Oregon. His characters—from loggers to fishers to cowboys to the kids on his school bus—are smart and curious, often off-beat, always vivid. Cody brings the ear of a novelist and the eye of a reporter to the people and places that make the Northwest, and Northwest literature, distinctive.

190 pages ; 23 cm.

The history of the Siletz is in many ways the history of all Indian tribes in America: a story of heartache, perseverance, survival, and revival. It began in a resource-rich homeland thousands of years ago and today finds a vibrant, modern community with a deeply held commitment to tradition. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians—twenty-seven tribes speaking at least ten languages—were brought together on the Oregon Coast through treaties with the federal government in 1853–55. For decades after, the Siletz people lost many traditional customs, saw their languages almost wiped out, and experienced poverty, killing diseases, and humiliation. Again and again, the federal government took great chunks of the magnificent, timber-rich tribal homeland, a reservation of 1.1 million acres reaching a full 100 miles north to south on the Oregon Coast. By 1956, the tribe had been “terminated” under the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act, selling off the remaining land, cutting off federal health and education benefits, and denying tribal status. Poverty worsened, and the sense of cultural loss deepened. The Siletz people refused to give in. In 1977, after years of work and appeals to Congress, they became the second tribe in the nation to have its federal status, its treaty rights, and its sovereignty restored. Hand-in-glove with this federal recognition of the tribe has come a recovery of some land--several hundred acres near Siletz and 9,000 acres of forest--and a profound cultural revival. This remarkable account, written by one of the nation’s most respected experts in tribal law and history, is rich in Indian voices and grounded in extensive research that includes oral tradition and personal interviews. It is a book that not only provides a deep and beautifully written account of the history of the Siletz, but reaches beyond region and tribe to tell a story that will inform the way all of us think about the past.

xvi, 564 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm

This important volume sheds new light on the stories and lives of mexicanos in Oregon: why migrants come to Oregon fields, construction sites, and warehouses; what their experiences are when they settle here; and how they adapt to life in the United States. Building on the work of earlier scholars and providing new and original research, Gonzales-Berry and Mendoza draw from the disciplines of history, anthropology, sociology, and gender and cultural studies to present a comprehensive view of the experiences of the Mexican-origin population in Oregon. The number of Latinos residing in Oregon has increased dramatically in the last two decades, leading to increased diversity across the state, particularly visible in the public school system and in agricultural and service occupations. This, however, is not a new phenomenon. There has been a settled Mexican-origin population in Oregon since the mid-nineteenth century. Mexicanos in Oregon explores this history of migration and settlement of mexicanos, highlighting their sustained practices of community building, their struggles for integration, and their contributions to the economic and cultural life of the state. Using archival records, primary and secondary scholarly works, demographic statistics, and personal testimonies, the authors create a picture of the economic, political, social, and cultural conditions that have shaped the lives of mexicanos. The blend of scholarly research and individual stories reflect the very human dimension and complex forces that make up the whole story of Mexican migration and settlement in Oregon. It is an essential resource for immigration scholars, historians, students, and for all Oregonians.

287 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

The Kooskia Internment Camp, a unique, virtually forgotten, World War II Detention and road building facility, was located on the remote, wild, and scenic Lochsa River in north central Idaho. Between mid-1943 and mid-1945 the Kooskia camp held an all-male contingent of some 265 so-called "enemy aliens" of Japanese ancestry. Most came from 21 states and 2 territories, but others were from Mexico; some were even kidnapped from Panama and Peru. Two alien internee doctors, an Italian and later a German, provided medical services; 25 Caucasian employees included several women; and a Japanese American man censored the mail. Despite having committed no crimes, but suspected of potential sabotage, these noncitizen U.S. residents of Japanese descent had been interend elsewhere in the U.S. following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. They volunteered for transfer to the Kooskia Internment Camp and received wages for helping construct the Lewis-Clark Highway, now Highway 12, supervised by U.S. Bureau of Public Roads employees. Knowledge of their rights under the 1929 Geneva Convention empowered the Kooskia internees to successfully challenge administrative mistreatment, thereby regaining much of the self-respect they had lost by being so unjustly interned. Here, finally, is their story. --back cover

xxxiv, 323 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 23 cm

"A Force for Change is the first full-length study of the life and work of one of Oregon's most dynamic civil rights activists, Beatrice Morrow Cannady." "Between 1912 and 1936, Cannady tirelessly promoted interracial goodwill and fought segregation and discrimination. She gave hundreds of lectures to high school and college students and shared her message with radio listeners across the Pacific Northwest. She was assistant editor, and later publisher, of The Advocate, Oregon's largest African American newspaper. Cannady was the first black woman to graduate from law school in Oregon, and the first to run for state representative. She held interracial teas in her home in Northeast Portland and protested repeated showings of the racist film The Birth of a Nation. And when the Ku Klux Klan swept into Oregon, she urged the governor to act quickly to protect black Oregonians' right to live and work without fear. Despite these accomplishments, Beatrice Cannady fell into obscurity when she left Oregon in the late 1930s." "A Force for Change illuminates Cannady's key role in advocating for better race relations in Oregon in the early decades of the twentieth century. It describes her encounters with the period's leading black artists, editors, politicians, and intellectuals, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Oscar De Priest, Roland Hayes, and James Weldon Johnson. It dispels the myth that African Americans played little part in Oregon's history and it enriches our understanding of the black experience in Oregon and the civil rights movement across the country."--BOOK JACKET

[vii], 344 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm

With the addition of 200,000 more acres designated by Congress as Oregon wilderness in 2009, use this as a planning guide to explore new areas and old favorites from The Three Sisters and Mount Hood to Eagle Cap and Steens Mountain. This is a complete guide to Oregon's backcountry. This complete guide to Oregon's backcountry includes the new wilderness areas designated by Congress in March 2009 as well as old favorites from Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters to Steens Mountain and the Wallowas. The atlas features 70 pages of detailed, shaded-relief maps, 40 pages of color photographs, 146 recommended backpacking trips, 500 featured hikes, and tips for mountain climbers, whitewater rafters, kayakers, Nordic skiers, and snowshoers.

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

With The Lumberman’s Frontier, Thomas Cox has reconstructed a groundbreaking history that stands apart from all previous studies of American forests. Forests were ubiquitous in early America, but it was only in selected areas that trees, rather than farming, ranching, or mining, attracted settlement. These areas constitute the lumberman’s frontier, which appeared first in northern New England in the seventeenth century, followed by upstate New York, the Allegheny Plateau, the upper Great Lakes states, the Gulf South, and the Far West. The forest frontiers generated capital and building materials important in the nation’s development, but they also left a legacy of environmental problems, class and urban-rural divisions, and economic frictions. The 1930s marked the end of the lumberman’s frontier, but these consequences continue to shape attitudes and policies toward forests, most notably the questions “Whose forests are they?” and “How and by whom should forests be used?” Drawing upon recent work in social and economic history, as well as a wealth of historical data on forest industries and individuals, The Lumberman’s Frontier neither glorifies economic development nor falls into the maw of ecological gloom-and-doom. It puts individual actors at center stage, allowing the points of view of the workers and lumbermen to emerge.

xi, 531 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

A River Without Banks chronicles one family’s journey to Idaho, with all of its uncertainties, promises, and hopes. The book explores their encounters with a place still partly wild, whose communities and landscapes teach them how to respect the earth and each other. William Johnson’s essays move from a family vacation spent observing moose, to a comparison of the creation myths from Genesis and the Nez Perce, to watching a raptor seeking prey. Johnson meditates on how places, animals, and people teach us “how to see, and how we do, and don’t, belong.” In prose that reveals a poet’s eye, Johnson examines how family relationships affect how we see the natural world. He explores the power of words to divide and to heal. He illuminates the challenges of sustaining a vital relationship with a home place. A River Without Banks will appeal to readers interested in the literature of place, ecology, natural history, indigenous culture, and conservation.

160 pages ; 22 cm

To the Woods is a tale of adventure, inspiration, and living life in concert with nature. It is the true story of Evelyn Searle Hess, who, in her late fifties, walks away from the world of modern conveniences to build a new life with her husband on twenty acres of wild land in the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range. To the Woods tracks the natural history of place through the seasons. It describes Hess's day-to-day challenges, from living in a trailer without electricity or indoor plumbing to excavating a pond to dealing with health crises. It explores the joys of living simply, building a relationship with the natural world, and awakening to the interconnectedness of all life. Hess's careful attention to detail, her extensive knowledge of local flora and fauna, and her thoughtful philosophical meditations add richness to her engaging prose. To the Woods will appeal to readers interested in the environment and sustainable living, and to anyone who has ever considered fleeing the city for a life closer to nature.

xvi, 175 pages ; 23 cm

Small towns punctuate the landscape of Oregon and Washington. They burrow in crinkles of hills, sit alongside mighty rivers, survive in desert canyons and sagebrush plains, dot the fertile Willamette Valley, and perch at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. In Discovering Main Street, Foster Church reveals the unexpected and unique pleasures of exploring small towns, what he calls “the last frontier of American tourism.” Organized by region—Willamette Valley, Oregon Coast, Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Washington—the profiles in Discovering Main Street begin with route tips and end with comments on where to stay and eat. Church’s engaging narratives provide history, highlights, and insights into each of the nearly fifty profiled communities. A useful introduction summarizes Church’s recommendations for a small town visit, which include hanging out at the local cafe, attending a school sports event, and hiking the surroundings—because without exception, small towns in the Northwest are set in hauntingly beautiful environments, from stark deserts to deep, mossy forests. Discovering Main Street provides an alternative to the outdoor adventure guides that dominate bookshelves in the Northwest. It will appeal to armchair travelers, to Northwest enthusiasts, and to any curious explorers seeking adventure in hidden—and unexpected—places.

192 pages : maps ; 22 cm

There is an otherness to the high desert, something momentous and sacred in the purity of the silence. In this compelling collection of personal essays, award-winning poet and author Ellen Waterston illuminates the people, places, and landscape of Central Oregon’s vast high desert. In Where the Crooked River Rises, Waterston reveals the blessings and challenges of decades spent as a rancher and town resident in a place that “has been, and remains,” her touchstone and crucible. The high desert is Waterston’s teacher, and she describes its lessons with grace and care, inviting readers to look at their own lives through a lens of wide-open spaces, sagebrush and juniper, pumice and rabbit brush.

142 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

"Before Forks, a small town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, became famous as the location for Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series, it was the self-proclaimed "Logging Capital of the World" and ground zero in a regional conflict over the fate of old-growth forests. Since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Dietrich first published The Final Forest in 1992, logging in Forks has given way to tourism, but even with its new fame, Forks is still a home to loggers and others who make their living from the surrounding forests. The new edition recounts how forest policy and practices have changed since the early 1990s and also tells us what has happened in Forks and where the actors who were so important to the timber wars are now."--Pub. desc

336 pages : maps ; 23 cm

Shadow Tribe offers the first in-depth history of the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River Indians -- the defiant River People whose ancestors refused to settle on the reservations established for them in central Oregon and Washington. Largely overlooked in traditional accounts of tribal dispossession and confinement, their story illuminates the persistence of off-reservation Native communities and the fluidity of their identities over time. Cast in the imperfect light of federal policy and dimly perceived by non-Indian eyes, the flickering presence of the Columbia River Indians has followed the treaty tribes down the difficult path marked out by the forces of American colonization. Based on more than a decade of archival research and conversations with Native people, Andrew Fisher’s groundbreaking book traces the waxing and waning of Columbia River Indian identity from the mid-nineteenth through the late twentieth centuries. Fisher explains how, despite policies designed to destroy them, the shared experience of being off the reservation and at odds with recognized tribes forged far-flung river communities into a loose confederation called the Columbia River Tribe. Environmental changes and political pressures eroded their autonomy during the second half of the twentieth century, yet many River People continued to honor a common heritage of ancestral connection to the Columbia, resistance to the reservation system, devotion to cultural traditions, and detachment from the institutions of federal control and tribal governance. At times, their independent and uncompromising attitude has challenged the sovereignty of the recognized tribes, earning Columbia River Indians a reputation as radicals and troublemakers even among their own people. Shadow Tribe is part of a new wave of historical scholarship that shows Native American identities to be socially constructed, layered, and contested rather than fixed, singular, and unchanging. From his vantage point on the Columbia, Fisher has written a pioneering study that uses regional history to broaden our understanding of how Indians thwarted efforts to confine and define their existence within narrow reservation boundaries.

xi, 337 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Compiled by the Bear Lake County Historical Society, Bear Lake County presents a photographic and spatial ledger documenting the development of the high mountain basin from pioneer pre-emptions through early twentieth-century modernization. The book traces how agricultural settlements, irrigation networks, and rail corridors were superimposed over ancestral Shoshone seasonal hunting grounds. Featuring extensive archival imagery from local family collections, the text documents the architectural vernacular of pioneer brick and stone residences, early logging mills in the Bear River Range, and the recreational development along the turquoise shores of Bear Lake at Fish Haven. Detailed narrative captions record civic milestones and community institutions across Paris, Montpelier, Bloomington, St. Charles, Georgetown, Ovid, and Pegram.

128 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm

Ray Argyle’s The Boy in the Picture: The Craigellachie Kid and the Driving of the Last Spike provides a focused historical narrative detailing the climactic completion of Canada’s transcontinental railway on November 7, 1885. Centering on eighteen-year-old Edward Mallandaine, who stood alongside financier Donald Smith in Alexander Ross's iconic photograph, the narrative reconstructs the harsh alpine terrain and fragile logistics of Eagle Pass in the Selkirk and Monashee ranges. Argyle details how railroad survey crews, construction gangs, and supply packers established temporary canvas boomtowns and track beds across ancient interior river valleys navigated by Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, the work illustrates how the completion of the rail link at Craigellachie permanently opened interior British Columbia to rapid settler immigration, industrial resource extraction, and federal administrative integration.

176 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Jay Sherwood’s Return to the Frontier: The Photographs and Journeys of Frank Swannell, 1920–1928 documents government surveying and mapping expeditions through northern British Columbia along the route of the Dominion Telegraph Line. Drawing upon surveyor Frank Swannell’s journals and photography, Sherwood maps the trail running from Hazelton through the Stikine wilderness toward the Yukon boundary. The chronicle details the operation of remote telegraph maintenance stations—including Fourth Cabin and Fifth Cabin—and packhorse supply outposts such as Days Ranch, Callison Ranch, Rupert, and Hiusta Meadow. The narrative highlights encounters with Tahltan families, lineman crews, and packers who maintained communication across this demanding subarctic terrain.

176 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 22 x 26 cm

Remembering the Power of Words recounts the personal and professional journey of Avel Gordly, the first African-American woman elected to the Oregon State Senate. The book is a brave and honest telling of Gordly’s life. She shares the challenges and struggles she faced growing up black in Portland in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as her determination to attend college, the dedication to activism that took her from Portland to Africa, and her eventual decision to run for a seat in the state legislature. That words have power is a constant undercurrent in Gordly’s account and a truth she learned early in life. “Growing up, finding my own voice,” she writes, “was tied up with denying my voice or having it forcefully rejected and in all of that the memory of my father is very strong. To this day—and I am today a very experienced public speaker—preparation to speak takes a great deal of energy.” That this memoir has its origins as an oral history is fitting since Gordly has used her voice, out loud, to teach and inspire others for so many years. Important as a biographical account of one significant Oregonian’s story, the book also contributes “broader narratives touching on Black history (and Oregon’s place within it), and most particularly the politics associated with being an African American woman,” according to series editor Melody Rose.

176 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

In Potluck, Ana Maria Spagna explores the enduring human connection to place, journeying from Tijuana to a California beach to Utah’s canyon country—and, always, back to the sparsely populated valley in the North Cascades that she calls home. Potluck homes in on the everyday gatherings that, over time, define a community: a makeshift wedding, an art gallery opening, a farewell potluck, a work party, a work party, a campfire, a political caucus, a funeral. “What connects us?” Spagna asks, and she reveals, again and again, the gift of community—easy and uneasy, deep and enduring and essential.

175 pages ; 22 cm

Growing interest in watching and identifying dragonflies and damselflies has sharpened the need for an authoritative resource like Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon, a definitive field guide devoted solely to dragonflies and damselflies found in the state. Cary Kerst and Steve Gordon include information on identification, as well as biology and behavior, using common terms useful to the novice and experienced enthusiast alike. The book features stunning color photographs of male and female of all species currently known in Oregon, along with helpful illustrations and charts with important identification characteristics. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon presents the life cycle and larval habits of dragonflies and damselflies, along with photographs of the larvae of families. The Oregon range for each species is mapped, and the size range of adults is provided in text and illustration. The book also includes a description of the best sites in Oregon to observe these amazing insects, a useful tool for viewing uncommon species in spectacular settings. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon is an essential reference for Odonatists, entomologists, birders, butterfly watchers, fishermen, wetland experts, naturalists, gardeners, artists, photographers, and all outdoor enthusiasts.

xi, 304 pages : color illustrations, maps ; 22 cm.

Could cow horns, vortexes, and the words of a prophet named Rudolf Steiner hold the key to producing the most alluring wines in the world—and to saving the planet? In Voodoo Vintners, wine writer Katherine Cole reveals the mysteries of biodynamic winegrowing, tracing its practice from Paleolithic times to the finest domaines in Burgundy today. At the epicenter of the American biodynamic revolution are the Oregon winemakers who believe that this spiritual style of farming results in the truest translations of terroir and the purest pinot noirs possible. Cole introduces these “voodoo vintners,” examining their motivations and rationalizations and explaining why the need to farm biodynamically courses through their blood. Her engaging narrative answers the call of oenophiles everywhere for more information about this “beyond organic” style of winemaking.

x, 182 pages ; 23 cm

Every state in the nation has geographic divisions—upstate/downstate, urban/rural, major city/rest of the state—that loom large as barriers to common cause. Toward One Oregon examines the prospects for uniting one geographically diverse state in the years ahead. When Oregon became a state in 1859, its role in the nation and the global economy was quite different than it is today. Boundaries that made sense in the nineteenth century don’t always serve twenty-first century needs productively. Current times demand a new, strategic understanding of the state and its role in the nation and the world if its people—all of its people—are to thrive. Oregon, like many states, is faced with recovering and rediscovering a sense of shared purpose as it attempts to meet the needs of its diverse communities, peoples, and landscapes. Toward One Oregon explores Oregon’s urban and rural history and assesses the current situation through political, economic, and demographic lenses. The book’s contributors include historians, urban planners, journalists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists. They explore the links and splits between urban and rural Oregon and together offer a collaborative path forward—for Oregon and for any state faced with similar, seemingly insurmountable, geographic divisions—using the best of urban and rural policies in strategic and complementary ways.

183 pages : illustrations, charts, maps ; 23 cm

Up the Capitol Steps is a personal and political memoir by Oregon’s first (and only) woman governor, one of only thirty-four women who have served as state chief executives in the history of the United States. Barbara Roberts offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a woman’s life in politics and aims to “demystify” leadership by telling the story of her own unlikely rise to power. The mother of an autistic child before the advent of special education, Roberts began her life in public service as an advocate for the rights of children with disabilities. She documents her expanding political career from school board member to legislator to Secretary of State and finally, Governor. In this gripping and poignant memoir, hotly contested elections and tough policy decisions are interspersed with intimate details of personal ups and downs. Throughout, Roberts reveals the warmth and humor that show the “real” person behind the politician. Only the third published autobiography by an American woman head of state, Up the Capitol Steps is “a very significant contribution to Oregon history, the history of women in politics, and especially the history of women governors,” according to series editor Melody Rose. The book captures a period of our nation’s political history and a view of women’s expanding role in government that brings new understanding to the term, “social revolution.”

x, 438 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

The second edition of the highly acclaimed Wild in the City brings more than one hundred of the best parks, trails and natural areas to your fingertips. This comprehensive “must-have” reference will be the go-to field guide for hikers, cyclists, paddlers, bird watchers, and nature enthusiasts. This revised and updated edition contains new maps organized according to watershed and includes twenty-eight unique “rambles” that explore multiple sites for recreation, wildlife viewing, or simply contemplating the joys of nature. New natural history essays by Ursula K. Le Guin, Kim Stafford, Robin Cody, Judy BlueHorse Skelton, Robert Michael Pyle, Jonathan Nicholas, and Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, offer fresh perspectives on the little pockets and expansive corridors of Portland’s wild environs. The book also examines the innovative strategies that cities, agencies, and nonprofits are using to create an ecologically sustainable metropolitan region. This invaluable resource will be an essential guide for educators and parents who want to explore the region’s natural wonders with their students and children. Included are tips on living with wildlife, as well as a new section that provides essential information on how urban living and green spaces intersect.

xx, 427 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Oregon Archaeology tells the story of Oregon’s human history beginning more than 14,000 years ago with the earliest evidence of human occupation and continuing into the twentieth century. An historical narrative informed by evidence from critical sites, Oregon Archaeology carries the story forward, describing aspects of first encounters between Native Americans and newcomers of European and Asian heritage, as well as important trends in the development of modern Oregon. Oregon’s early human history is linked to four of the five major cultural regions of western North America: the Great Basin, the Columbia Plateau, the Northwest Coast, and the western valleys that share features with California’s Central Valley. Oregon Archaeology offers a coherent and unified history of an area that is highly differentiated geographically and culturally. Enriched with maps, photographs, line drawings, and an extensive bibliography, Oregon Archaeology is an essential reference for archaeology professionals and students and for general readers interested in Oregon’s Native American culture and history. Oregon Archaeology offers a coherent and unified history of an area that is highly differentiated geographically and culturally. A historical narrative informed by evidence from critical sites, Oregon Archaeology is enriched with maps, photographs, line drawings, and an extensive bibliography. Oregon Archaeology is an essential reference for archaeology professionals and students, and also for general readers interested in Oregon’s Native American culture and history.

496 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm