Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

200 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

"This book is a gift to Oregon about Oregon birds by the Oregonians who care so much about saving the precious creatures and the habitats they live in. It is a series of engaging essays about the dramatic efforts these scientists have made and continue to make to reduce the decline of threatened Oregon bird species. Readers learn about the innovative approaches avian ecologists have used over the decades and the important role of citizen scientists in saving our treasured birds. Ten years ago, no one would have imagined welcoming majestic California Condors back into Oregon. Very few would have predicted record numbers of Snowy Plovers on the coast. Yet, thanks to the efforts of these authors and others, the birds are returning. These essays provide hope for species recovery, despite environmental threats, when scientists and the public work together. They also offer to other regions examples of adaptive management learned over the decades. The full color book is beautifully illustrated by noted Oregon Coast artist Ram Papish and includes over 80 stunning bird photographs donated by some of the state's finest nature photographers. An additional 50 biographies of noted Oregon avian scientists and conservationists rounds out the inspirational stories about the monumental efforts that have taken shape for decades - often with national and international attention. The book is an easy read for interested nature-lovers and can serve as the basis for conservation-related discussions from the high school level through graduate seminars."--Provided by publisher

xxiii, 334 pages : color illustrations, color maps, color portraits ; 26 cm

As the Anvil Rings by Geneva Bair Wilson is a 1986 autobiographical memoir published by the regional historical publisher Ye Galleon Press, based in Fairfield, Washington. The book chronicles Wilson's pioneer childhood and coming-of-age experiences, tracing her early life in eastern Kansas and near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, up to her marriage to True Wilson in 1925. While its primary setting is geographically east of the Pacific Northwest, the work is part of the broader Western Americana catalog preserved by this notable Washington press, serving as a valuable firsthand account of early 20th-century frontier settlement, agricultural challenges, and rural family dynamics.

313 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm

As Rugged as the Terrain: CCC Boys, Federal Convicts, and World War II Alien Internees Wrestle with a Mountain Wilderness explores some intriguing history of Idahos wild and scenic Lochsa River. In 1893 this site, at turbulent Canyon Creek, was a footnote in the saga of the ill-fated Carlin hunting party. Next, in 1933, it held nearly 200 tent-dwelling Civilian Conservation Corps recruits, most from New York State. The antics of these city slickers provide colorful insights into CCC camps housing young men far from home.

xxxviii, 393 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Marie Hatten’s Arthur Denny's dream: a story of pioneers who came over the old wagon trail and founded a city on Puget Sound chronicles the grueling overland pioneer migration and the initial maritime subjugation of a densely forested, deep-water enclave carved directly into the volatile eastern shoreline of the inland sea. The narrative maps how the severe environmental realities of this untamed coastal topography—defined by towering, impenetrable stands of old-growth timber plunging directly into the treacherous tidal currents of Elliott Bay, and the sheer alpine barricades isolating the coast from the inland plateau—initially challenged early settlers who had just survived the agonizing terrestrial gauntlet of the transcontinental wagon trails. By detailing the precarious transition from an exhausted overland emigrant party to the aggressive founders of a deep-water port, the text illustrates how physical and economic survival was strictly dictated by the urgent necessity of abandoning terrestrial transit and pivoting entirely to the mastery of heavy maritime timber extraction. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that violently clearing this formidable coastal rainforest and artificially anchoring localized wharf infrastructure along its steep marine drop-offs were the absolute prerequisites for transforming a geographically isolated, rain-choked wilderness camp into the premier commercial and maritime anchor of the Pacific edge.

61 pages illustrations 28 cm

"Originally published in 2006, Art of the Northwest Coast offers an expansive history of this great tradition, from the earliest known works to those made at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Although non-Natives often claimed that First Nations cultures were disappearing, Northwest Coast Native people continued to make art during the painful era of colonization, often subtly expressing resistance to their oppressors and demonstrating the resilience of their heritage. Integrating the art's development with historical events following contact with Euro-Americans sheds light on the creativity of artists as they appropriated and transformed foreign elements into uniquely Indigenous statements. A new chapter discusses contemporary artists, including Marianne Nicholson, Nicholas Galanin, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, and Sonny Assu, who address pressing issues ranging from Indigenous sovereignty and destruction of the environment to the power of Native women and efforts to work with non-Natives to heal the wounds of racism and discrimination"-- Provided by publisher

xxiv, 387 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm

Covers art in Seattle's neighborhoods, including the downtown, Pioneer Square, the University of Washington, Green Lake and north Seattle. Includes sculpture, stained glass and murals

320 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm

Donald Collier, Alfred E. Hudson, and Arlo Ford’s Archaeology of the upper Columbia region explores the deep historical presence and profound environmental adaptation of the indigenous communities residing along the vast, arid reaches of the upper Columbia River basin. The narrative illustrates how the demanding environmental realities of this inland topography—defined by deep, plunging riverine trenches, expansive sagebrush plateaus, and the dramatic seasonal fluctuations of the region's hydrology—required immense ingenuity, resilience, and a deep, localized ecological knowledge from the area's earliest inhabitants. By detailing the careful archaeological recovery of material culture—including specialized aquatic harvesting technologies, complex semi-subterranean winter dwellings, and intricate tools for processing indigenous flora and fauna—the text highlights how these societies flourished by thoughtfully harmonizing their daily lifeways with the river's vital rhythms. Ultimately, the account demonstrates that collaboratively managing the seasonal abundance of the natural waterways and patiently utilizing the resources of the Columbia Plateau were essential elements in sustaining vibrant, enduring cultures deeply rooted in this rugged environment long before the era of modern industrialization.

176, [1] pages : including illustrations (including maps, plans) XXII plates, tables, profiles ; 26 cm

Published by local historians David and Alma English, Arch Cape Chronicles: A Bit of Oregon Coast's Past explores the intimate, isolated history of a windswept coastal community nestled between Cannon Beach and Nehalem. The book traces Arch Cape’s evolution from an untamed wilderness of dense old-growth timber and rocky headlands into a quiet haven for pioneering homesteaders, loggers, and vacationers. Drawing on historical documents, oral histories, and vintage photographs, the authors document how early travelers navigated the treacherous coastline before the construction of modern highways and tunnels carved open the rugged terrain. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the very geographic barriers that delayed Arch Cape's development—such as towering sea cliffs and impassable tides—ultimately preserved its secluded character, transforming what was once an existential travel hazard into an exclusive sanctuary for those seeking refuge from the modern world.

357 pages : illustrations ; 26 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.

"This is the journal of Duncan McDougall, supervising partner of the Pacific Fur Company at Astoria. It records the daily operations at the post and in the Oregon country from the ship Tonquin's arrival on the Columbia until the sale of the post and the company assets to the North West Fur Company in November 1813"--Jacket

xxx, 256 pages ; 24 cm

Ancient Modocs of California and Oregon explores the deep prehistoric and cultural heritage of the Modoc people across the rugged Klamath Basin that straddles the modern border of southern Oregon and northern California. The author details how the tribe ingeniously adapted to this severe high-desert environment, focusing on their historical habitation of the vital marshlands around Tule and Lower Klamath lakes, as well as the arid, riverine ecosystem of the Lost River watershed. By anchoring extensive archaeological findings to the stark, fractured basalt formations of the Lava Beds region, Howe connects the tribe's material culture directly to the specific geological constraints of their territory. Ultimately, the book presents a geographically grounded history that illustrates how the unique juxtaposition of rich wetlands and harsh volcanic topography in this southern Pacific Northwest corridor shaped the ancient survival strategies of the Modoc.

xi, 250 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

An expanded collection of foundational Yakama stories. Central to the Yakama oral tradition, storytelling enables Tribal Elders to share lessons, values, and customs with younger generations across the Columbia River plateau and the Pacific Northwest. Drawn from a time before the coming of human beings when animals were like people, the stories present characters and motifs that paint a bigger picture of the world as Yakama ancestors knew it. The original edition of Anakú Iwachá featured stories that Yakama Tribal Elders recorded in several dialects of the Ichishkíin language that were collected and translated into English by renowned linguist and scholar Virginia Beavert. This new edition adds a preface from the Yakama Nation and essays on the history of the project and on Ichishkíin-language education. It includes four additional legends in Ichishkíin and English, annotations, an updated glossary, and more artwork by Tribal artists, helping readers, teachers, and students engage with the legends as teaching and learning tools and as a precious gift to current and future Yakama generations.

xxi, 372 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 23 cm

Nellie May Young’s An Oregon Idyl, drawn from the 1883 diary of Janette Lewis Young, chronicles the profound geographic transition from a grueling transcontinental rail journey across the massive, arid interior to daily pioneer life in the rain-fed valleys of the Pacific Northwest. The narrative maps the formidable topography that historically isolated the western frontier, detailing how the newly completed mechanical infrastructure of the railroad finally conquered the towering alpine barriers of the Rockies and Cascades to safely deposit settlers into the fertile but heavily timbered Oregon landscape. By chronicling the domestic realities of homesteading within this damp, densely vegetated environment, the book illustrates how adapting to local climatic constraints and relying on these vital new overland transit arteries were the absolute prerequisites for enduring on the remote western seaboard.

111 pages illustrations 22 cm

Situated among the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State, in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area, Miners Ridge contains vast quantities of copper. Kennecott Copper Corporation’s plan to develop an open-pit mine there was, when announced in 1966, the first test of the mining provision of the Wilderness Act passed by Congress in 1964. The battle over the proposed “Open Pit, Big Enough to Be Seen from the Moon,” as activists called it, drew the attention of both local and national conservationists, who vowed to stop the desecration of one of the West’s most scenic places. Kennecott Copper had the full force of the law and mining industry behind it in asserting its extractive rights. Meanwhile the U.S. Forest Service was determined to defend its authority to manage wilderness. An Open Pit Visible from the Moon tells the story of this historic struggle to define the contours of the Wilderness Act—its possibilities and limits. Combining rigorous analysis and deft storytelling, Adam M. Sowards re-creates the contest between Kennecott and its shareholders on one hand and activists on the other, intent on maintaining wilderness as a place immune to the calculus of profit. A host of actors cross these pages—from cabinet secretaries and a Supreme Court justice to local doctors and college students—all contributing to a drama that made Miners Ridge a cause célèbre for the nation’s wilderness movement. As locals testified at public hearings and writers penned profiles in the nation’s magazines and newspapers, the volatile political economy of copper proved equally influential in frustrating Kennecott’s plans. No law or court ruling could keep Kennecott from mining copper, but the pit was never dug. Identifying the contingent factors and forces that converged and coalesced in this case, Sowards’s narrative recalls a critical moment in the struggle over the nation’s wild places, even as it puts the unpredictability of history on full display.

xiii, 236 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Irene O’Connor’s An Introduction to Quinault Valley Rain Forest provides an intimate ecological and pioneer chronicle of one of the most heavily vegetated and hydro-intense environments in the Pacific Northwest. The narrative meticulously maps the formidable topography of the Olympic Peninsula’s western slope, where relentless Pacific storm systems collide with the rugged Olympic Mountains to deluge the deeply entrenched Quinault River basin. By detailing the arduous survival of the indigenous Quinault people and subsequent pioneer homesteaders, the book illustrates how human settlement was physically constrained and perpetually overshadowed by the sheer biological mass of the ancient temperate rainforest. The text highlights how the dense, virtually impenetrable understory and towering canopy of Sitka spruce and western red cedar rendered overland transit nearly impossible, forcing early inhabitants to rely entirely on the glacier-fed lifeline of the Quinault River and its expansive lake for transportation and sustenance. Ultimately, the account captures the profound environmental severity of this isolated maritime valley, demonstrating how yielding to the overwhelming forces of extreme rainfall and immense timber was the absolute prerequisite for enduring in this remote coastal sanctuary.

39 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Published in 1890, Horatio Hale’s An International Idiom; A Manual of the Oregon Trade Language, or "Chinook Jargon" presents a sophisticated linguistic defense of the Pacific Northwest's unique contact language as a viable instrument for broader human communication. Building upon his earlier work as the philologist for the 1838-1842 Wilkes Exploring Expedition, Hale meticulously outlines the grammar and vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon while arguing that its cross-cultural adaptability rendered it a legitimate "international idiom." A keen insight drawn from the text is how Hale’s late-19th-century academic elevation of the Jargon stands as a paradoxical act of preservation; even as the pidgin was rapidly dying out due to aggressive English-only assimilation policies and the physical displacement of Indigenous populations, he framed its historical utility as proof of a harmonious, multicultural genesis that conveniently sanitized the brutal realities of frontier conquest.

63 pages ; 19 cm

The settling of Wheeler County, Oregon, makes for rich storytelling combined with the historical facts. Excerpting from interviews with old timers, their stories are told in their own words. The story tells of the courageous and very independent people that still populate Wheeler County,. These folks are representative of the pioneer spirit that gives such backbone and character to rural life in America.

336 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Published in 1901, W. D. Lyman’s comprehensive volume chronicles the pioneer settlement, agricultural expansion, and civic maturation of Walla Walla County in southeastern Washington. A keen insight drawn from the text is how Walla Walla's strategic evolution from a chaotic gold-rush supply post into a highly stable, wheat-producing powerhouse allowed it to economically and politically dominate the early Washington Territory long before the rise of the Puget Sound cities. The narrative meticulously details this transformation alongside the complex pioneer interactions with Native American tribes, including the profound regional impact of the Whitman Massacre. Like similar historical works of its era, the book ultimately serves as a vital genealogical archive by preserving hundreds of detailed biographical sketches of the resilient farmers, merchants, and civic leaders who built the region.

Published in 1893 by Reverend Harvey K. Hines, this voluminous work chronicles the early exploration, pioneer settlement, and rapid economic expansion that culminated in Washington's 1889 statehood. The narrative details the establishment of early Protestant missions, the turbulent era of the territorial Indian Wars, and the foundational growth of the region's timber, agricultural, and railroad industries. A keen insight drawn from the text is how the publication exemplifies the classic 19th-century "mug book" or subscription history model, where the grand, providential narrative of Manifest Destiny was explicitly monetized by pairing regional history with hundreds of highly flattering biographical portraits of the affluent citizens who paid to have their legacies immortalized in print. Consequently, while the historical analysis remains heavily shaped by Hines's religious and colonial biases, the volume survives today as an indispensable genealogical archive of the commercial and civic leaders who built Washington's early institutions.

933, [1] pages, 36 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 30 cm

Published in 1893 by the Reverend Harvey K. Hines, this expansive volume provides a comprehensive chronicle of Oregon's development from early European maritime exploration through its pioneer settlement and eventual statehood. The narrative emphasizes the pivotal role of Protestant missionaries and early overland pioneers in securing the region for the United States, while extensively documenting the political and economic evolution of the territory. A keen insight drawn from the text is how Hines’s own background as a Methodist clergyman deeply colors the historical narrative, actively framing the American colonization of the Pacific Northwest not merely as a secular triumph of Manifest Destiny, but as a divinely ordained Protestant mission to civilize the frontier. Furthermore, the work functions as a classic Gilded Age "subscription history," preserving hundreds of highly flattering biographical sketches of the prominent citizens and merchants who funded the book's publication while actively promoting the region to outside investors.

1300 pages frontispiece, plates, portrait 30 cm

Published in 1899 by the Lewis Publishing Company, this expansive volume offers a comprehensive chronicle of Idaho’s evolution from its earliest European exploration and volatile territorial days through its first crucial decade of statehood. A keen insight drawn from the text is how its enthusiastic, progress-driven narrative actively attempts to rebrand Idaho—deliberately transitioning its public reputation from a transient, lawless mining frontier into a stable, unified agricultural and civic powerhouse ready for outside investment. To reinforce this vision of civilized permanence, the text devotes substantial space to extensive biographical sketches of the prominent pioneers, merchants, and ranchers who built the state's foundational institutions. Ultimately, the work stands as both a vital genealogical archive and a fascinating artifact of Gilded Age boosterism designed to cement a cohesive identity for the newly formed state.

xv, 726 pages, 105 unnumbered leaves of plates : frontispiece (portrait) illustrations, portraits ; 30 cm

Published in 1904, this comprehensive volume documents the pioneer settlement, agricultural development, and civic formation of the Columbia River's Big Bend region in eastern Washington. A keen insight drawn from the text is how the seemingly barren, arid landscape was rapidly transformed into a highly lucrative wheat-producing powerhouse through the advent of dry farming techniques and the critical expansion of railroad infrastructure. The authors chronicle this dramatic economic and cultural shift across Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, detailing their transition from harsh frontier to thriving agricultural communities. Furthermore, the book serves as an invaluable genealogical archive by providing extensive biographical sketches of the resilient early settlers who drove this remarkable regional transformation.

xxiv, 1024 pages : plates, portraits ; 31 cm

Published in 1904 by the Western Historical Publishing Company, this comprehensive volume chronicles the pioneer settlement, civic foundation, and industrial emergence of four rugged counties in northern Washington state. A keen insight drawn from the text is how the sudden, controversial opening of former Native American reservation lands (such as the Colville Reservation) to white prospectors triggered explosive mining booms, acting as the primary catalyst that rapidly transformed this isolated northern frontier into permanent communities. The narrative details the distinct economic drivers across the region, from the rich mineral districts of Ferry and Stevens to the vast cattle ranges and early orchard irrigation projects of Okanogan and Chelan counties. Furthermore, the book preserves the area's pioneer legacy by featuring hundreds of detailed biographical sketches of the resilient prospectors, ranchers, and civic leaders who built these foundational settlements.

xxii, 867 pages, 43 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 31 cm