Catalog of British Columbiana and Pacific Northwest Americana

Capturing stories from Seattle newspapers and other sources, this narrative history traces a turbulent decade that scarred a generation and defined years of policy and culture—from the city’s real estate depression, savings and loan failures, and waterfront Hooverville, to its political fights over unemployment assistance, intense business rivalries, union growth, and more.

260 pages, illustrations, notes, bibliography

A relentless advocate for Native rights, Ramona Bennett Bill has been involved in the battles waged by the Puyallup and other Northwest tribes around fishing rights, land rights, health, and education for over six decades. This invaluable firsthand account includes stories of the takeover of Fort Lawton as well as events from major Red Power struggles, including Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and the Trail of Broken Treaties. She shares her experiences at the Puyallup fishing camp established during the Fish War of the 1960s and 1970s, which led to the federal intervention that eventually resulted in the Boldt Decision. She also covers the 1976 occupation of a state-run facility on reservation land and the lobbying that led to the property's return to the tribe. Bennett Bill served for nearly a dozen years as a Puyallup Tribal Council member and ten as chairwoman, organizing social welfare, education, and enrollment initiatives and championing Native religious freedom. Her advocacy for Native children, especially those who had been adopted out of their community, helped pave the way for the Indian Child Welfare Act. Now in her mid-eighties, she continues to organize for Native rights and environmental justice. The book is full of vivid stories of her fearless testimony in courtrooms and press conferences on issues affecting Indian Country, and of the many friends and comrades she made along the way.

Ancient and carbon-rich, old-growth forests play an irreplaceable role in the environment. Their complex ecosystems clean the air, purify the water, cool the planet, and teem with life. In a time of climate catastrophe, old-growth and other natural forests face existential threats caused by humans—and their survival is crucial to ours. In a bicoastal journey, environmental journalist Lynda V. Mapes connects the present and future of Pacific Northwest forests to the hard-logged legacy forests of the northeastern United States. Beginning in Oregon and Washington, where old growth supports, and is supported by, the region’s salmon, we meet Jerry Franklin, who led scientists in recognizing and studying the distinctiveness of these majestic spaces. From there, we journey to Vancouver Island, where Indigenous activists and scientists strive to preserve the health of Nuu-chah-nulth traditional homelands amid continued clearcutting. On the East Coast, we see the corduroy patterns of lands that have been logged for generations, leaving industrial carnage along formerly life-filled waterways. Mapes interviews Penobscot elders and scientists whose new practices are restoring the fish runs, as well as loggers using new technologies to harvest more sustainably. With vibrant storytelling supported by science and traditional ecological knowledge, Mapes invites readers to understand the world where trees are kin, not commodities. The Trees Are Speaking is essential reading for those with a deep interest in environmental stewardship, Indigenous land rights, and the urgent challenges posed by climate change.

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The Northwest Coast of North America is a treacherous place. Unforgiving coastlines, powerful currents, unpredictable weather, and features such as the notorious Columbia River bar have resulted in more than two thousand shipwrecks, earning the coastal areas of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island the moniker “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Beginning with a Spanish galleon that came ashore in northern Oregon in 1693 and continuing into the recent past, Wrecked includes stories of many vessels that met their fate along the rugged coast and the meanings made of these events by both Indigenous and settler survivors and observers. Commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place-names, and the remains of the ships themselves, the shipwrecks have created a rich archive. Whether in the form of a fur-trading schooner that was destroyed in 1811, a passenger liner lost in 1906, or an almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999, shipwrecks on the Northwest Coast opens up conversations about colonialism and Indigenous persistence. Thrush’s retelling of shipwreck tales highlights the ways in which the three central myths of settler colonialism—the disappearance of Indigenous people, the control of an endlessly abundant nature, and the idea that the past would stay past—proved to be untrue. As a critical cultural history of this iconic element of the region, Wrecked demonstrates how the history of shipwrecks reveals the fraught and unfinished business of colonization on the Northwest Coast.

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One of America's most walkable cities, Seattle rewards urban trekkers with expansive scenery and architectural and historical riches. The second edition of this acclaimed guidebook offers eithteen walks chosen for interest and easy accessibility. Williams's compelling stories bring the city to life, revealing often-overlooked details of Seattle's past and present.

304 Pages, 5.5 x 7.5 in, 54 color illus., 33 b&w illus., 19 maps

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Grays Harbor was the Lumber Capital of the World. While thousands of lumber and maritime workers fought for higher wages and decent conditions, employers unified to protect their interests, often through violent and corrupt means. They spied on unionists, expelled them from their own towns, vilified them in the press, and physically assaulted labor activists. But with deep roots in their communities, radical workers continued to meet in their halls and immigrant neighborhoods—and to influence the wider labor movement well into the 1930s. In Red Harbor, Aaron Goings resurrects the forgotten history of lumber workers in a bastion of labor radicalism, examining the conflict as workers faced down an alliance of employers, police, and violent anti-radicals, including the Ku Klux Klan. But he goes beyond these clashes to illuminate the vital roles of families, immigrants, and working-class women in the labor movement, revealing how people fought not only for labor rights but also for the good of their communities. The Industrial Workers of the World (or Wobblies) in particular adopted views and tactics from socialist Finnish immigrants while authoring programs responsive to local needs and supported by the people—radical and otherwise. Vivid and revealing, Red Harbor shines a light on lumber workers and the pursuit of justice in the Pacific Northwest.

360 Pages, 6 x 9 in, 19 b&w illus

Nestled against the Cascade Mountains, former lumber town Bend, Oregon, entices residents who long to live in a wonderland of sagebrush and forests. But like so many other communities across the West, Bend has too few homes for everyone clambering for access. In High Desert, Higher Costs, Jonathan Bach takes a closer look at the housing crisis in this mid-sized city that is both the population center for rural Central Oregon and a major recreation area. Bach uses Bend as a lens into the growing housing crisis in the region, where residents and tourists alike prize access to outdoor recreation, and housing issues have been brewing for decades. Like other cities in Montana, Idaho, and Colorado, Bend serves as a gateway to popular natural areas while also experiencing a limited amount of new housing, increasing populations, amenity migrants in the age of remote work, depressed or stagnating wages, and a widening gulf between homeowners and renters. High Desert, Higher Costs introduces us to regular people—from the former political candidate evicted during COVID-19 to the nonprofit worker hoping to build apartments for the houseless—who struggle to call Bend home. Bach explores the causes of these issues and the political, legal, economic, and cultural factors influencing them, and also offers potential solutions for current and future residents to build their lives now, and in the years to come, in Bend and throughout the American West.

6x9 inches, 200 pages, 10 black-and-white photos

First Fruits offers a fascinating look at the lives of Pacific Coast horticulturists Henderson, Jonathan, and Seth Lewelling. Traveling across the Overland Trail—Henderson to Oregon in 1847, with a wagonload of fruit trees, and Seth and John to California three years later—the brothers would establish themselves as pioneers in the West’s growing fruit industry. By recounting how Henderson planted the first orchard of grafted fruit trees in Oregon, how Seth originated the Black Republican and Bing cherries, and how John led the development of the Napa Valley wine industry, First Fruits preserves the Lewellings’ place in history. However, the Lewellings were not simply planters, grafters, and breeders. They were also adventurers, colonists, gold seekers, reformists, and explorers—experiencing firsthand the westward expansion of the nation. Their stories provide a unique glimpse into the social, economic, and political history of the day. From their Quaker upbringing in North Carolina and Indiana to Henderson’s attempt to start a utopian colony in Honduras, John’s efforts to grow the Grange in California, and Seth’s contribution to democratic reforms in Oregon, the Lewellings’ legacy extends far beyond their agricultural endeavors. In the first biography to reclaim the brothers’ histories, Linda Ziedrich splendidly captures their dedicated support of one another and their communities, their contributions to the development of the modern fruit industry, and their lasting influence on the cultivation of fruits synonymous with the Pacific Coast region.

304 pages : b&w photos, 6 maps, 4 family trees

Few places could hope to rival the rich history of Washington's San Juan Island. From the famed Pig War to the secretive "kingdom" at Roche Harbor, the island has played host to countless remarkable stories. Like any other historical place, however, there are some tales that the textbooks tend to omit; tales like the terrifying "Cry Baby House," or the subterranean sasquatch said to stalk the woods around Cady Mountain. With the aid of articles, first-hand accounts, and period photographs, Mysterious San Juan Island attempts to document this strange side of San Juan history-and to ensure that the island's campfire stories remain suitably spooky for years to come.

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond-a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and '80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing? As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem-the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson-Fraser's Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy's Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser's investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers. A propulsive nonfiction thriller, Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk"-- Provided by publisher

466 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm

Published by the Office of the Secretary of State's Legacy Washington program, New Land: Southeast Asian Refugees Finding Home in Washington chronicles the profound humanitarian effort and individual resilience surrounding the resettlement of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees in the Pacific Northwest following the 1975 fall of Saigon. Drawing on extensive oral histories and archival research, authors John C. Hughes and Edward Echtle trace how thousands of displaced families rebuilt their lives from the ground up, establishing enduring cultural, economic, and civic roots across the state. A keen insight drawn from the book is how Washington's successful integration of these communities—spearheaded by pioneering political leadership under figures like Governor Dan Evans—fundamentally transformed the state's cultural landscape. By shifting the historical perspective away from distant geopolitical conflict to focus on grassroots local welcome, the book highlights how regional humanitarian action successfully countered national xenophobia and redefined the Pacific Northwest as a vibrant, multicultural diaspora.

327 pages, 14 unnumbered pages : illustrations, portraits ; 26 cm.

"This uniquely west-coast take on Canada's origin story focuses on a long-forgotten event that nearly led to British Columbia becoming part of the United States. Long before a certain American president took to social media to express his desire to make Canada the fifty-first state, the west coast of what is today called British Columbia found itself in the crosshairs of two imperial powers, faced with the very real possibility of being ceded to the United States. In the summer of 1789, a political and trade dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, imperial Spain, Great Britain, and the USA converged in Nootka Sound, off Vancouver Island. If not for the intervention the King George's Sound Trading Company, Vancouver Island and British Columbia's fate could have turned out very differently, and the concept of a Canada that extended from Atlantic to Pacific would have been finished before it even began. With clear, engaging prose, author Graeme Menzies lays out the setting, intrigue, and dynamic cast of characters that ultimately determined Canada's geographical fate. Released at a time when imperialism, sovereignty, and national identity are more relevant than ever, this book asks us to ponder the events that shaped a nation and established a relationship between neighbouring countries that has once again become precarious."-- Provided by publisher

296 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

"With evidence of human habitation dating back fifteen thousand years to the last ice age, British Columbia boasts a fascinating array of famous and lesser-known archaeological sites. Across the province, archaeologists are changing how archaeology is practised by working in partnership with Indigenous and other descendant communities to document important cultural sites. In this up-to-date overview, professional archaeologist Robert Muckle visits sites around the province to explain what archaeology is (and isn’t), how research is undertaken in this province, and what it contributes to our broader understanding of human history. Once upon This Land introduces readers to some of the most notable archaeological investigations, including footprints left in mud on Calvert Island thirteen thousand years ago, the remains of a large First Nations village near Lillooet, and the body of a man frozen in ice for centuries in the Tatshenshini region. He also investigates more recent phenomena, such as a fur-trade fort, remains of the gold rush, a World War I internment camp near Fernie, a Japanese logging camp in North Vancouver, shipwrecks, airplane crashes, and even the remnants of COVID-19 left behind in urban landfills."-- Provided by publisher

xii, 205 pages cm