North West History

Rural America is struggling. The average farmer is now 57 years old. Family agriculture is gradually fading, and prime farmland is often converted into environmentally harmful applications. But food cultivation has ecological consequences, too. Farms consume 80 percent of the nation’s water. Although they often prevent sprawling development, improve water quality, or provide wildlife habitat, they also pollute rivers, drain wetlands, or emit destructive greenhouse gasses.

Responding to reports of gold discoveries on the Fraser River, thousands of prospectors from California and other points on the Pacific coast crossed the 49th parallel to British territory in 1858. Most returned to San Francisco and Puget Sound later in the same year, blaming their failure to find wealth in the river canyons on uncooperative Hudson's Bay Company officials and the English government.

Beginning in 1786, Captain John Meares of Great Britain bravely explored the North Pacific, but his attempt to dominate the fur trade between the Northwest Coast and Asia was frustrated when the Spanish navy seized his ships off Vancouver Island. Meares missed the opportunity to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca or discover the Columbia River. Hence, he was almost a hero.

Netting the Sun offers a carefully crafted diversity of natural and human stories from a landscape seemingly empty and forlorn to passing casual travelers. This surprising interpretation of south central Oregon's botany, geology, wildlife, ethnography, and history reveals what a truly special place the high desert is.

A true story of one man who believed he could conquer new territory for the newly declared United States. His ragged group of frontiersmen (around 200 in number) ultimately displaced British forces and added new lands for their new country. A bold historical event co-written by President Teddy Roosevelt and narrated by Glenn Hascall.

Sometimes you just get stuck. You can't move forward in life. No amount of education, money, love, or discipline has changed the fact that you have plateaued. What else could be holding you back? Becoming Unstuck explores how the first four relationships in our lives affect our ability to make choices in adulthood. Often, our automatic responses—shaped by these past relationships—hamper our decision-making ability. Our emotions get stuck in time. The tools we use to handle life don't seem to work any more. Our relationships, workplace, and sense of self all suffer.

Sailors trusted him with their money and their lives. That was a mistake. The lucky ones woke up with headaches in the holds of ships headed to China. The others never took another breath. Billy Gohl robbed, shanghaied, and killed sailors across the Pacific Northwest. Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Washington, was so full of bodies that newspapers dubbed it a "floaters fleet". His trapdoor of death was famous. In his time, Gohl murdered over 100 people, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.

The last days of the colonial era in America seemed to spawn a number of Renaissance men, unique individuals who were as comfortable in a log cabin as a ballroom and could write as well as they could hunt. George Rogers Clark was one of these men, and in many ways he was a paler, less-accomplished version of his illustrious neighbor, George Washington.

You’ll learn about Alaska’s history, pop culture, folklore, sports, and so much more in this interesting and informative trivia-packed book.