Bob Boring, great-grandson of the Civil War veteran who lent his name to the community, says, �Boring is a name, not a condition.� The recent pairing of Dull, Scotland, and Boring, Oregon, has created worldwide multimedia reports, including articles in Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal that published the same week. Never incorporated as an official entity, Boring has been a thriving farm, logging, and sawmill community since Joseph and Sarah Boring traveled the Oregon Trail in an o...

Traveling the Barlow Road, 50,000 pioneers rolled their wagon wheels over the site of today's Sandy Historical Museum without stopping. Not until the arrival of Francis Revenue in 1853 did anyone consider the area suitable for homesteading. Building a store and a bridge across the Sandy River, Revenue established the first bit of civilization the pioneers encountered in Oregon. Among the heroes and legends to appear on the slopes of Mount Hood were Elijah "Lige" Coalman, who climbed the mo...

In this true story—a haunting saga of medical murder set in an era of steamships and gaslights—Gregg Olsen reveals one of the most unusual and disturbing criminal cases in American history.In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, arrived at a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary “fasting treatment” of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters, but within a mon...

New York Times Bestseller: From the journalists who covered the story, the shocking crimes of Gary Ridgway, America's most prolific serial murderer.In the 1980s and 1990s, forty-nine women in the Seattle area were brutally murdered, their bodies dumped along the Green River and Pacific Highway South in Washington State. Despite an exhaustive investigation—even serial killer Ted Bundy was consulted to assist with psychological profiling—the...

Fjord-like Hood Canal channels beneath the snowcapped Olympic National Park, creating a summer paradise of warm days and inspiring scenery as well as a haven for marine life and watercraft. For eons, Twana Indians crisscrossed in canoes that sliced through water like salmon. The canal�s first tourist, Captain Vancouver, sailed a launch down the scenic route in 1792. For the next century, a mosquito fleet of tugboats, stern-wheelers, fishing boats, and barges ferried the men who came for lo...

The 50th anniversary edition of this classic work on the art of Northwest Coast Indians now offers color illustrations for a new generation of readers along with reflections from contemporary Northwest Coast artists about the impact of this book.The masterworks of Northwest Coast Native artists are admired today as among the great achievements of the world’s artists. The painted and carved wooden screens, chests and boxes, rattles, crest hats, and other artworks display the complex...

Residents and visitors in today�s Seattle would barely recognize the landscape that its founding settlers first encountered. As the city grew, its leaders and inhabitants dramatically altered its topography to accommodate their changing visions. In Too High and Too Steep, David B. Williams uses his deep knowledge of Seattle, scientific background, and extensive research and interviews to illuminate the physical challenges and sometimes startling hubris of these large-scale transformations,...

Landscapes of Promise is the first comprehensive environmental history of the early years of a state that has long been associated with environmental protection. Covering the period from early human habitation to the end of World War II, William Robbins shows that the reality of Oregon's environmental history involves far more than a discussion of timber cutting and land-use planning.Robbins demonstrates that ecological change is not only a creation of modern industrial so...

Between 1920 and 1933 the issue of prohibition proved to be the greatest challenge to Canada-U.S. relations. When the United States adopted national prohibition in 1920—ironically, just as Canada was abandoning its own national and provincial experiments with prohibition—U.S. tourists and dollars promptly headed north and Canadian liquor went south. Despite repeated efforts, Americans were unable to secure Canadian assistance in enforcing American prohibition laws until 1930.Bo...

In the hardscrabble early days of Portland's seaport, "shanghaiing" or "crimping" ran rampant. The proprietors of crooked saloons and sailors' boardinghouses coerced unwitting patrons to work on commercial ships. Shanghaiers like James Turk, Bunko Kelley and Billy Smith unashamedly forced men into service and stole the wages of their victims. By the 1890s, these shanghaiers had become powerful enough to influence the politics of Astoria and Portland, charging sea captains outrageous fees f...

The town of Rogue River is a small community in southern Oregon located on the banks of the famous river for which it was named. Situated on Interstate 5, just 59 miles north of the California border, it lies between the cities of Grants Pass and Medford in the beautiful Rogue Valley. Founded in the midst of Native American wars and prolific gold mining, the town was originally called Tailholt before becoming Woodville. It incorporated and took its final name in 1912. A town proud of its a...

The North Fork and the South Fork of the Skagit River were navigated by those searching for gold and land in the 1870s. Flooding became a deterrent for many, but those who stayed discovered an abundance of fertile soil and natural resources. Scandinavian immigrants, predominantly Norwegian, came to settle in the area, some with their families, and worked in logging and in farming. As the population grew, small towns and businesses were soon established. Skagit City and Fir were located on ...