From 1805, when Lewis and Clark claimed it for the United States, to the present era of the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams, the Columbia River and played an exciting and important role in the Pacific Northwest. In this latest volume of the regarded Rivers of America series for children, the distinguished author Stewart Holbrook records the story of the Columbia through the days of fur trapping and trading, timber and logging, the enormous salmon industry, the period of steamboats, and lively railroad wars.
As rich in personalities as in events, Mr. Holbrook's story highlights such figures as John Jacob Astor; Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company; Dr. Marcus Whitman, the missionary-victim of the Indian massacre in 1847; Peter Verigen, leader of a strange religious sect who died most mysteriously; and Harry Tracy, the Lone Bandit, who brought fleeting fame to the small town of Creston, Washington, close by the Columbia.
Written in a crisp and colorful style, complemented by Paul Laune's handsome illustrations, The Columbia River is both an absorbing historical chronicle and a useful guide to a fascinating territory.
From the dust jacket
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