Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

The SeaDoc Society has published a book for the next generation. Filled with beautiful photography and engaging stories, Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids inspires children to explore the unique marine ecosystem that encompasses the coastal waters from Seattle’s Puget Sound up to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Strait of British Columbia. Discover the Salish Sea and learn about its vibrant ecosystem in this engaging non-fiction narrative that inspires outdoor exploration. Filled with full-color photography, this book covers wildlife habitats, geodiversity, intertidal and subtidal sea life, and highlights what is unique to this Pacific Northwest ecosystem. The book was written by SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos and board member Audrey Benedict.Puget Sound up to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Strait of British Columbia. Discover the Salish Sea and learn about its vibrant ecosystem in this engaging non-fiction narrative that inspires outdoor exploration. Filled with full-color photography, this book covers wildlife habitats, geodiversity, intertidal and subtidal sea life, and highlights what is unique to this Pacific Northwest ecosystem"-- Provided by publisher

ix, 53 pages : color illustrations, color map ; 23 x 29 cm

The Pacific Northwest, like many other regions of the United States, has been touted as the Promised Land. As early as the 1830s, “Oregon fever” brought missionaries, promoters, speculators, politicians, and settlers to the nation’s far West. Spared the ravages of the Civil War and the scars of rapid northern industrialization, the region continued to offer Golden Opportunity. Its promise encompassed the bounties of sea and land, a mild and healthful climate, and an unusually homogeneous population. Practically since the turn of the century, the Northwest has been a region of paradoxes. Women, who in Washington had acquired suffrage and lost it in the 1880s, regained it and later elected a woman mayor of Seattle. Exploitation of workers, despite, or perhaps because of, abundance has been extreme-- and has engendered some of America’s most radical labor movements. Both racial backlash and enlightened reforms characterize the region. Until now, no single-volume history has taken up the modern issues of women, minorities, radicalism and environment. The editors of Experiences in the Promised Land, G. Thomas Edwards and Carlos Schwantes, themselves teachers and writers of Northwest history, have carefully compiled a selection of essays that treats the full scope of the region’s history, with a special emphasis on 20th century topics. They have gathered together the best of recent scholarship: the work of regional authorities as well as contributions by some of the most promising of the new generation of scholars. A variety of writing styles and approaches, subjects ranging from individual biographies to studies of broad policies and movements, a chronological organization enhanced by concise, insightful chapter commentaries, and an extensive bibliography make this volume indispensable for teachers, students, and the general reader of Northwest history.

xvi, 397 pages ; 24 cm

"The Shuswap has all the attributes to attract someone who enjoys four seasons -- nature, clean water, recreation, and culture and reasonably close access to larger cities. There is an amazing diversity of plant and animal life here and thankfully due to the small population, a minimum of pavement, crowds and pollution. Yet until now, there has been little written about the region. Author Jim Cooperman, a dedicated environmentalist and back-to-the-lander, spent 12 years researching and writing this comprehensive, bioregional guidebook that includes 36 maps and over 350 stunning photos. Tour through the watershed and explore the lakes region and each of the 12 sub-drainages. Learn about the region's ancient geology and its mostly unsuccessful mining ventures. Discover why the Shuswap is so ecologically diverse and why mountain caribou are endangered and how the sockeye salmon may be next. Learn about the Secwepemc people, who have lived on this land since time immemorial and understand why, after nearly two centuries of exploitation and mistreatment, they are regaining their heritage. Understand the factors behind the pattern of European settlement and discover details about the sternwheeler era. Everything Shuswap is more than a book; it is also an educational project. Proceeds from book sales will be used to support outdoor learning; the book will be used in the grade 10 social studies curriculum; and, there is a plan to involve students in the research for the next two volumes. Given that Dr. David Suzuki wrote after receiving a copy, 'Every part of the country should have something like Everything Shuswap,' the book can also serve as a template for other communities."-- Provided by publisher

240 pages : illustrations (some colour), maps ; 28 cm.

Jim Cooperman’s Everything Shuswap: Developing the Region, Cashiers to Communes (Volume 1) offers an integrated regional study examining the geographic, ecological, and human history of the Shuswap Lake watershed. Cooperman traces the physical landscape from its glacial formation through millennia of Secwépemc stewardship, detailing traditional resource harvesting around Switsemalph and the Salmon River delta. The narrative explores early fur trade exploration, the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway through Salmon Arm in 1885, and subsequent waves of agricultural settlement, logging operations, and mid-twentieth-century counterculture communes, framing Salmon Arm as the primary commercial and transport nexus of the watershed.

240 pages : color illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

Jim Cooperman’s Everything Shuswap: The People and the Land (Volume 2) deepens the cultural, institutional, and environmental history of the Shuswap watershed, focusing on community formation and twentieth-century ecological challenges across Salmon Arm and adjacent lake communities. Cooperman details the evolution of civic infrastructure, local farming cooperatives, park creation, and environmental activism surrounding Shuswap Lake and the Salmon River estuary. The text documents the complex intersection between expanding municipal development, provincial forest management, and ongoing Secwépemc territorial land rights throughout the modern era.

256 pages : color illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

"Today’s explorers of Vancouver Island may be familiar with the name “Hankin”--Hankin Island lies off the coast of Ucluelet within the famous Pacific Rim National Park; Mount Hankin looms amidst the dense forests of central Vancouver Island; and nestled in the San Juan Islands, Hankin Point sits on the easternmost tip of Shaw Island. The man behind the name is Philip Hankin, a little-known but fascinating figure who led an eventful life marked by immense swings in fortune. In 1849, at just thirteen years old, Philip Hankin, then in England, entered the Royal Navy and engaged in the navy’s campaigns to suppress the trade of enslaved people on the coasts of Africa. His naval career brought him to Vancouver Island in 1858, where he helped survey the coastline on the Royal Navy’s HMS Plumper and Hecate. In his journeys on the Indigenous homelands of the Nuu-chah-nulth and Huu-ay-aht Peoples in what is now Vancouver Island, and the Lummi, WSÁNEĆ and Tulalip Peoples to the south, Hankin learned several Indigenous languages, a skill that would prove pivotal in his career. After leaving the navy at age twenty-eight, he walked from Yale to Barkerville to try his hand at prospecting. In this, despite family connections to Billy Barker, he failed miserably. Broke, he returned to Victoria, where within months he was appointed Superintendent of Police for the Colony of Vancouver Island, but the merger of the colonies in 1866 left him again jobless. He served as colonial secretary in British Honduras and then in late 1868 he returned to British Columbia as colonial secretary. Hankin was at the centre of BC politics in the years before BC’s accession to Canada in 1871. In his memoirs, Hankin reflected on his eventful life: “I have had many ups and downs and have travelled several times around the world… although I have been somewhat of a rolling stone, yet, I have gathered some moss.” In The Eventful Life of Philip Hankin, bestselling author and historian Geoff Mynett tells the story of the adventurous and often tumultuous life of this “rolling stone” and reveals his remarkable resilience."-- Provided by publisher

240 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Writing in the early years of the 20th century, novelist Eva Emery Dye captured the imagination of American readers with her epic accounts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Oregon Trail, and the conquest of the American West. Brimming with adventure, drama, and romance, her books helped to shape an entire generation's understanding of American history and Manifest Destiny. In this first biography of Dye, Sheri Bartlett Browne chronicles the life of one of Oregon's most successful early writers. Drawing on previously unknown letters and diaries, Browne examines Dye's determination to write historical fiction, the history of her involvement in the suffrage movement, and her lifelong promotion of education through the Chautauqua movement. Dye is best remembered for The Conquest, one of the first fictional works to popularize (and romanticize) the Lewis and Clark Expedition, in which she introduced a new American heroine, Sacagawea. Although the book's portrayal enhanced the young Shoshone's role, it was Dye's later efforts to memorialize her with statues and speeches that turned Sacagawea into an American icon. Dye's most extensive project was a historical novel recounting the achievements of 19th century American missionaries in Hawaii. Completed in the 1920s but never published, her manuscript promoted a controversial view of American influence in Hawaii. Dye wrote one last book, The Soul of America, which examined the accomplishments and perseverance of pioneer women. Eva Emery Dye: Romance with the West offers a fascinating look at a figure once prominent in literary and suffrage circles in the Pacific Northwest, and highlights the significance of family and education in women's lives at the turn of the twentieth century.

vi, 186 pages ; 23 cm

Since its original publication in 1945, this small classic has acquired a new audience concerned with living in harmony with the environment and interested in the particularly intimate relationship of Native Americans to the land. This survey of the use of plants by Native Americans in western Washington describes the ways in which more than 150 species served as food and medicine, and were used for the manufacture of clothes and other objects. Since its original publication in 1945, this small classic has acquired a new audience concerned with living in harmony with the environment and interested in the particularly intimate relationship of Native Americans to the land. This survey of the use of plants by Native Americans in western Washington describes the ways in which more than 150 species served as food and medicine, and were used for the manufacture of clothes and other objects.

71 pages : illustrations, map ; 27 cm

"Very little has been published until now on the ethnobotany of western Oregon indigenous peoples. Ethnobotany of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians documents the use of plants by these closely-related coastal tribes, covering a geographical area that extends roughly from Cape Perpetua on the central coast, south to the Coquille River, and from the Coast Range west to the Pacific shore. With a focus on native plants and their traditional uses, it also includes mention of farming crops, as well as the highly invasive Himalayan blackberry, which some Oregon coast Indians called the 'white man{u2019}s berry.' The cultures of the Coos Bay, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw are distinct from the Athabaskan speaking people to the south, and the Alsea to the north. Today, many tribal members are reviving ancient arts of basket weaving and woodworking, and many now participate in annual intertribal canoe events. Ethnobotany of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians contributes to this cultural renaissance by filling an important gap in the historical record. It is an invaluable resource for anyone who wishes to learn about the indigenous cultures of the central and southern Oregon coast, as well as those who are interested in Pacific Northwest plants and their cultural uses."--Publisher's website

xv, 147 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Esquimalt Naval Base: A History of Its Work and Its Defences by Major F. V. Longstaff is a detailed 1941 historical account chronicling the establishment, growth, and strategic significance of the British and Canadian naval presence on Vancouver Island. The book explores the evolution of the base from its early days in the 19th century through the World Wars, offering an in-depth look at its fortifications, engineering achievements, and role in Pacific maritime defense.

189 pages frontispiece, XII plates on 6 leaves 23 cm

Esquimalt: Place of Shoaling Waters by Leigh Burpee Robinson is a 1947 local history detailing the early settlement and maritime evolution of Esquimalt, British Columbia. The book chronicles the area's transformation from its origins as a Salish First Nations home and Hudson's Bay Company property into Canada's vital western naval base. Through rich historical detail and illustrations by B. Digby Robinson, the author explores the military and community developments that firmly established Esquimalt's significance on the Pacific Coast.

1 online resource (128 pages)

Twenty years ago, two empty-nesters with a love of the outdoors stumbled upon a vacant beach house on a small island in Clayoquot Sound, part of an off-grid, ten-acre stretch nestled within a provincial park reserve. Our Stolen Years in Clayoquot Sound is an extended love letter to this place, chronicling the decade John and Bea Dowd spent as year-round caretakers of the property. Told with humour and heart in alternating voices, and lavishly illustrated throughout with stunning natural photography, this book a story of joyful solitude, of living in harmony with wildlife and respecting the forces of nature. It is about the fleeting definition of home and family, and about creating community in the wilderness. Above all, it is a tribute to an achingly beautiful, fragile place.

309 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm

Equality on the Oregon frontier: Jason Lee and the Methodist Mission, 1834-43 examines the grueling ideological adaptation and precarious pioneer settlement of an early religious outpost situated within the isolated, fertile river corridors of the Willamette Valley. Loewenberg details how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the immense, continental overland distances separating the mission from eastern supply lines, the towering spine of the Cascade Range, and the dense, rain-drenched temperate environment of the Pacific slope—strictly dictated the margins of early human survival, agricultural expansion, and institutional focus. By mapping the immense physical labor required to clear heavy riparian forests, cultivate the waterlogged soils of the valley floor, and establish vital agrarian self-sufficiency, the narrative highlights the monumental effort necessary to anchor a permanent, sustainable community in this demanding, deeply remote frontier environment. The absolute geographic isolation from established American infrastructure initially forced these idealistic missionaries into a strict reliance on the precise topography of the Willamette watershed, completely anchoring their daily physical survival and evolving secular politics to the localized agricultural dictates and hydrological realities of the valley. Ultimately, this historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense physical isolation and specific riverine geography of this early Pacific Northwest frontier fundamentally shaped the fiercely resilient, highly pragmatic, and agriculturally dependent character of the Methodist Mission's foundational settlement.

xi, 287 pages ; 24 cm

Episode of the west the Pendleton Round-Up, 1910-1951: facts and figures examines the cultural consolidation and equestrian traditions situated within the vast, semi-arid high desert plains and rolling bunchgrass prairies of northeastern Oregon's Umatilla River valley. Boylen details how the region's sweeping topography—specifically the expansive, sun-baked grazing lands, the rugged foothills of the Blue Mountains, and the wide, open spaces necessary for massive livestock operations—strictly dictated the margins of regional agriculture and fostered a deeply entrenched ranching culture. By mapping the transformation of this specific arid landscape into a celebrated arena of frontier exhibition, the narrative highlights how the sheer scale of the inland plateau directly shaped the grand equestrian spectacles and deeply rooted indigenous traditions of the famous rodeo. Ultimately, this civic and statistical record serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the expansive, wide-open geography of this Pacific Northwest interior fundamentally defined the rugged, culturally intertwined, and fiercely pastoral character of the Pendleton community.

92, [6] pages : illustrations, portraits ; 21 cm

Edited papers of the one-day symposium held on February 18, 1984, at Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon, together with the bibliography of the E.G. Chuinard collection of Lewis and Clark materials at the Lewis and Clark College and housed in the Rare Book Room of the Aubrey Watzek Library. This collection consists of more than 370 items of rare books, journals, pamphlets, and reprints, some dating to the decade following Lewis and Clark's successful completion of their epic journey in 1806

x, 72 pages, [1] folded leaf : facsimiles, 1 map ; 23 cm

This project focused on researching approximately 100 liturgical textiles in the collection of St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Yale, BC. St. John the Divine is one of the oldest churches in the province, and many of the handmade textiles appear to date back to the time of its origins in the 1860s. The Church is now de-sanctified and designated as a Provincial Heritage Site. The Church was associated with the All Hallows Anglican girls school, which operated in Yale from 1884 to 1920. Part of the research concentrated on the production of textiles for the Church by the faculty and students of the school. Research included an analysis of the technical construction of the textiles to help determine their origins. The study of the St. John the Divine collection was contextualized within a broader history of the production of Anglican liturgical textiles, particularly in Western Canada. Comparisons were made between the Yale pieces and those from other sites. Oral history interviews with members of Anglican textile guilds, sanctuary committees, and descendants of students from All Hallows School helped fill out the research.

52 p. : ill., port. (some col.) ; 28 cm.

Primarily a collection of Brock Evans' contemporaneous writings, including witness testimony, diary entries, and speeches, Endless Pressure Endlessly Applied highlights and documents his 50-year career as a leader in the environmental movement

491 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits (some color) ; 27 x 28 cm

Robert Crouch’s Enderby: Past to Present serves as the primary municipal and industrial history of the settlement nestled along the lower navigable reaches of the Shuswap River. Crouch chronicles how early cattle ranchers and milling pioneers established outposts at "Fortune’s Landing" directly within the traditional territory of the Splatsin people. The work details the establishment of A.L. Fortune’s grist mill and the Lambly Brothers' sawmills, which utilized river log drives from Mabel Lake and Kingfisher to anchor early civic expansion. Crouch traces the construction of the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway, which stimulated agrarian settlement along the river benches of Grindrod, Mara, and Ashton Creek, while documenting the municipal incorporation of Enderby in 1905 and its enduring role as a regional lumber and agricultural processing center.

264 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 29 cm

For the first time, everything you always wanted to know about BC is gathered together in one place! The Encyclopedia of British Columbia is the definitive reference work on BC. With more than 4,000 entries and hundreds of photos, maps, tables and charts, the EBC is the source of readable and authoritative information on all the significant BC people, places and things that you would currently have to search a vast library to find. What makes the EBC even better is the wealth of special local information and BC lore - all those details that make BC the weird and wonderful place it is. The EBC was conceived and compiled by Harbour Publishing, an award-winning, independent, 100% BC-owned company, with advice and assistance from more than 200 British Columbians. It is indispensable at home, at school, in the office - everywhere comprehensive, authoritative, concise information about BC is needed.

xviii, 806 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 29 cm + 1 computer optical disc (4 3/4 in.)

Authored by historians Carlos A. Schwantes and Evelyne Pickett, Encounters with a Distant Land: Exploration and the Great Northwest examines the centuries-long process by which fur traders, maritime explorers, and overland expeditions mapped and integrated the Pacific Northwest into the global consciousness. The book weaves together historical journals, rare maps, and firsthand exploration accounts to trace how distant empires and ambitious individuals conceptualized and claimed a rugged, uncharted wilderness. Through these documented journeys, the text illustrates the profound friction between the romanticized fantasies of early explorers and the harsh geographic realities they encountered on the ground. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the act of cartographic exploration was fundamentally an exercise in imperial imagination before it was an administrative reality; by projecting European political boundaries and commercial grids onto vast native landscapes long before permanent settlement, mapmakers and explorers successfully colonized the region's geography in the abstract years before governments ever established physical control.

xii, 220 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

The southern Gulf Islands between Nanaimo and Victoria are among British Columbia's greatest scenic treasures, projecting an appeal so powerful as to make nesomanes (island lovers) of the most unromantic souls. Ranging in size from Saltspring (pop. 12,000) to unoccupied D'arcy, they first began to attract European settlers in 1859 and have been home to a special breed of freedom-loving denizen ever since. Author David A.E. Spalding and photographer Kevin Oke are both members of this unique tribe and in this book pay tribute to their chosen region with the sensitivity and insider knowledge only long-time residents can provide. Brimming with gorgeous colour photographs by Oke, Enchanted Isles begins with a historic overview detailing how the islands served as a favoured hideaway of some of BC's most distinguished eccentrics. Remittance men and other escapees from British stuffiness form one stream of islanders, but there have been many others. A census of Saltspring in 1895 included a Patagonian, Germans, Portuguese, Hawaiians, Americans, Shetlanders and Scandinavians. Today you may expect to find individuals from virtually anywhere in the world. Enchanted Isles showcases local wildlife, captures local character and history and offers insider tips for visitors. It is a spectacular coffee-table book that shows why the Gulf Islands rank with Whistler and the Pacific Rim as one of the most popular tourist destinations in BC.

144 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm.

Published by Fernando Monge, En la costa de la niebla: el paisaje y el discurso etnográfico ilustrado de la expedición Malaspina en el Pacífico examines the late 18th-century scientific voyage led by Alejandro Malaspina along the fog-shrouded Pacific Northwest coast. The book analyzes the intricate intersection of Enlightenment-era exploration, landscape representation, and the visual ethnography captured by artists and naturalists documenting indigenous societies from Alaska down to the Spanish colonial outposts. Through a close reading of historical journals and newly contextualized illustrations, the text reveals how imperial ambition sought to categorize and control remote foreign geographies through the dual lens of science and art. A keen insight drawn from the work is how Enlightenment science in the Pacific was never truly neutral; rather, the detailed cataloging of local native cultures and misty coastlines served as an aesthetic tool of Spanish territorial claim-making, transforming indigenous homelands into legible imperial commodities.

238 pages ; 24 cm

Empty Nets is a disturbing history of broken promises and justice delayed. It chronicles the Columbia River Indians' fight to maintain their livelihood and culture in the face of an indifferent federal bureaucracy and hostile state governments. In 1939, the U.S. Government promised to provide Columbia River Indians with replacements for traditional fishing sites flooded in the backwater of the Bonneville Dam. Roberta Ulrich recounts the Indians' decades-long struggle, in the courts and on the river, to persuade the government to keep its promise. From the beginning, the battle was intertwined with the tribes’ larger effort to assert treaty-guaranteed fishing rights. Ulrich deftly examines a host of other issues—including declining salmon runs, industrial development, tribal self-government, and recreation—that became enmeshed in the tribes’ pursuit of justice. Her broad and incisive account ranges from descriptions of the dam’s disastrous effects on a salmon-dependent culture to portraits of the plights of individual Indian families. Descendants of those to whom the promise was made and activists who have spent their lives working to acquire the sites reveal the remarkable patience and resilience of the Columbia River Indians. As Ulrich notes in a new epilogue to Empty Nets, the story continues to the present. With most of the replacement fishing sites now completed, the government’s promise will finally be fulfilled in this new century.

vii, 254 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm.

Dorothy O. Johansen and Charles M. Gates’s Empire of the Columbia chronicles the monumental pioneer and industrial subjugation of a vast continental expanse unified and dominated by the violent, immense hydrological network of the Columbia River basin. The narrative maps how the severe environmental realities of this massively fractured topography—spanning the treacherous coastal ocean bar, the towering alpine barricades of the Cascades, and the sprawling, arid inland plateaus—initially dictated all human migration and economic expansion, forcing early explorers and settlers to rely exclusively on this singular, volatile aquatic highway. By detailing the grueling transition from vulnerable fur-trading canoe fleets and arduous overland wagon migrations to the deployment of transcontinental railways and colossal hydroelectric dams, the text illustrates how the aggressive exploitation of regional timber, agriculture, and raw kinetic energy was strictly governed by the necessity of mastering these imposing geographic extremes. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that artificially harnessing the violent hydrology of the Columbia and deploying massive mechanized infrastructure to breach the region's immense overland barriers were the absolute prerequisites for transforming a geographically isolated, untamed wilderness into a deeply integrated, industrialized empire on the Pacific seaboard.

xiii, 685 pages illustrations, maps 24 cm

Dorothy O. Johansen and Charles M. Gates's Empire of the Columbia serves as a foundational historical text that frames the sprawling Pacific Northwest through the unifying geographic force of the Columbia River basin. The comprehensive narrative maps the region's physical development, tracing early exploration from the rugged maritime outposts of the British Columbia coast and Washington's Puget Sound, eastward across the towering Cascade Mountains into the vast, arid interior plateaus of Oregon and Idaho. By detailing the arduous overland pioneer migrations and the modern industrialization of the mighty Columbia and Snake river watersheds via railroads and massive hydroelectric dams, the authors illustrate how human settlement adapted to and ultimately reshaped this diverse topography. Ultimately, the book captures the immense geographic scale of the region, demonstrating how interconnected aquatic networks and formidable mountain ranges dictated the political and economic destiny of these western territories.

xiii, 654 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm