American State History

In many ways, the United States are becoming more homogeneous than they were fifty or a hundred years ago. The rise of mass technology, communication, and entertainment has meant more people get the same information through the same media, resulting in a sameness among people and places not possible before.

The old days were much different. For one thing, until recently a large percentage of the U.S. population were immigrants, bringing with them the culture and ethnic traditions of their home countries. Italians, Chinese, Africans, Dutch, Puerto Ricans, Irish, Jews, Scandinavians—they all tended to settle together, and were thus able to preserve what they knew.

Communication was also far less unifying. Correspondence was much more local, typically, and interactions between regions were limited, usually to word-of-mouth and newspapers. In such circumstances, different parts of the country often seemed almost like different countries altogether; this was especially true in places that didn't become part of the Union until relatively late in the nation's history.

Each state has a history of its own, and each one is uniquely fascinating. Even where there seems to be considerable overlap, the differences are very real, such as the difference between the California Gold Rush and the Alaska Gold Rush. An appreciation of the diversity of our nation is almost always preceded by a knowledge of the individual states and regions within it.

Some states naturally have more written about them than others, like Texas, which before it was a U.S. state was an autonomous nation. Nevertheless, we're working on building a diverse collection, though we do have a slight bias for books about the Pacific Northwest. We also have a bias for books from a Christian perspective, though we carry both Christian and secular titles.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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57 Items found Print
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Adventures of Captain Bonneville
by Washington Irving, illustrated by Robert Reynolds
Klickitat from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of Oregon
by William G. Loy (director and cartographer), text by Clyde P. Patton
from University of Oregon
for Adult
in World & U.S. Atlases (Location: GEO-ATLAS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Back Roads of Oregon
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Back Roads of Washington
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Bridge of the Gods
by F. H. Balch, illustrated by L. Maynard Dixon
from A.C. McClurg & Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Captain Cook R. N. the Resolute Mariner
by Thomas Vaughan and A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Museum Exhibition Catalog for Adult
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chief Joseph Country
by Bill Gulick
from Caxton Press
for 8th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Christians on the Oregon Trail
from College Press
for Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
Colonial Entrepreneur
by Olivia Coolidge, edited by Danny Smith
from Tilbury House Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
David Douglas, A Naturalist at Work
by Jack Nisbet
from Sasquatch Books
for 10th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Diedrich Knickerbocker's A History of New York
by Washington Irving, illustrated by F.O.C. Darley, introduction by Andrew B. Myers
Facsimile, First Printing from Sleepy Hollow Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Early Days in Old Oregon
by Katharine B. Judson
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Early Portland
by Eugene E. Snyder
1st edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
East of the Cascades
by Phil F. Brogan
3rd edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Embarcadero
by Richard H. Dillon, foreword by William Hogan
from Coward McCann
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Explorers of the Pacific
by A. Grove Day
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Finns and Finnicans
by Walter Mattila
from Walter Mattila
for Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
Four Wagons West
by Robert Frye Watt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
General History of Oregon
by C. H. Carey
3rd edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 11th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Geology of Oregon
by Ewart M. Baldwin
2nd edition from University of Oregon
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Give All to Oregon
by Cecil P. Dryden
from Hastings House
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Gold, Guns, and Ghost Towns
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest
by Derek Hayes
First Edition from Sasquatch Books
for 4th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
How Edison's Lamp Helped Light the West
by John Dierdorff
from Pacific Power & Light
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Islands of Hawai'i
from Hawaii Preparatory Academy
for 4th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Johnstown Flood
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
McLoughlin and Old Oregon
by Eva Emery Dye
1936 Printing from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Old Forts of the Northwest
by Herbert M. Hart
from Bonanza Books
for 7th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Oregon Desert
by E. R. Jackman and R. A. Long
from Caxton Press
for Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Oregon Geographic Names
by Lewis A. McArthur
Sixth Edition from Oregon Historical Society Press
for Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Oregon in the Making
by C. Louis Barzee
from Statesman Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Frederic Remington
1993 printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Maynard Dixon
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Oregon Trail
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 5th-Adult
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
Famous Books for Young Americans
by Francis Parkman
from A. L. Burt Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman Jr., illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton
from Garden City Books
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman Jr., illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Little, Brown & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman Jr., illustrated by James Daugherty
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Pacific Graveyard
by James A. Gibbs
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Paddle-Wheel Days in California
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Portland Then and Now
by Linda Dodds & Carolyn Buan
from Thunder Bay Press
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ranch under the Rimrock
by Dorothy Lawson McCall
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Saddles East
by John W. Beard
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Scenic Geology of the Pacific Northwest
by Leonard C. Ekman
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in CLEARANCE & FREE BOOKS (Location: ZCLE)
Ships of the Redwood Coast
by Jack McNairn and Jerry MacMullen
1960 printing from Stanford University Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast
by James A. Gibbs
2nd edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Story of the Pacific
by Harold Rabling
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Strawberry Point
by Florence Roe Wiggins
from T.S. Denison & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Vancouver's Discovery of Puget Sound
by Edmond S. Meany
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
We Must March
by Honoré Willsie Morrow
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
We Remember
by Mildred Searcey
from East Oregonian Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
West Coast Windjammers in Story and Pictures
by Jim Gibbs
from Superior Publishing Company
for 8th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
White Columns in Georgia
by Medora Field Perkerson
from American Legacy Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Flowers of the Pacific Coast
by Leslie L. Haskin
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 4th-Adult
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
Willamette Landings
by Howard McKinley Corning
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Women to Reckon With
by Gary Peterson and Glynda Schaad
from Poseidon Peak Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
$12.00 (1 in stock)