Resource Bibliography
Columbia River: Origins, Salmon & Culture
The Evergreen State College
Spring 2006 Core program
Faculty: Rob Cole, Liza Rognas
T.A. David Smith
David’s Rule No: 1—There’s always a Peterson’s and a Nat’l Geographic guide to everything.
That’s okay. Use them. But if you’re serious about learning the flora and fauna in depth, take a plunge into other resources. Here’s a few to get you started.
Liza’s Philosophy: If you don’t study native history, women’s history, and labor history, you’re not paying attention to the daily, lived experience of humans—past or present.
David’s Bird Books:
Sibley, David Allen. 2002. Sibley’s Birding Basics (NY: Knopf) ISNB: 0375709665
$15 new/ $5-$10 used. Very worthwhile for beginners for elementary identification.
Sibley, David Allen. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds (NY: Knopf) ISBN: 0679451226
$35 new and between $15-30. Easily found in local, Oly area book stores. This is the birding bible –shows birds in various stages of molt; includes regional variations. Here you’ll see birds as they appear in nature, not nailed to a perch in a studio.
Sibley, David Allen. 2003. The Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. (NY:Knopf).
ISBN: 0679451218. $19.95 new paperback. Much less used. This is the western version of Sibley’s big Guide to Birds of N. America.
National Geographic. 2002, 4th ed. The National Geographic Guide to Birds of North America.
ISBN: 0792268776. $22 new. A good, durable book, well illustrated and well laid-out. They also include a CD with vocalizations that reference page numbers in the guide (if you choose, you may also go to their website and buy the stuffed animal version of the birds, complete with voice boxes—tweet! tweet!)
Alderfer, Jonathan (ed.) 2006. National Geographic Field Guide to Birds: Washington/Oregon.
ISBN: 0792253132. $15 new. Compact version for the N.W.; if the more general Nat’l Geo. Guide is any indication, this should be fine for $15, but I’d spring for the bigger version.
Peterson, Roger Tory. 2001. A Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds. (NY: Houghton Mifflin).
Okay, Peterson has been doing this since the 1960s. It’s fine, it’s safe. Sibley’s and National Geo. beat Peterson’s hands down. Can’t go wrong, but if you’re a birder, you don’t need it. Peterson painted his birds dead on a wire, so . . .go with Sibley.
David’s Herps (Herpetology=Reptiles & Amphibians) Books:
Corkran, Charlotte C., 1996. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia: A Field
Identification Guide. (Edmonton: Lone Pine Pub). $30-$5, new used. ISBN: 1551050730. A good book for the Pac. N.W. region with lots of pretty pictures! If you’re hunting for what you’ve just discovered under a rock, or next to a rock—this is the thing!
Stebbins, Robert C.A. 2003. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. Peterson Field Guide
Series. (NY: Houghton Mifflin) ISBN: 0395982723. $22-$10, new-used. This is the basic guide
for herps in the west. If you want one basic book—here ya go.
Storm, Robert M., and Leonard, Wm. P., 2003. Reptiles of Washington and Oregon.
(Seattle: Seattle Audubon Society). ISBN: 0914516124. Very good, and enjoys wide-use on campus, at the DNR and DFW in the state.
David’s Mammals Books:
Ingles, Lloyd G. 1965. Mammals of the Pacific States : California, Oregon, Washington.
(Stanford: Stanford University Press). ISBN: 0804718431. $ $28 new--$4-10 used. This is the only other guide, aside from Peterson’s, that I have found specific to this region. It’s not as portable and compact as Peterson’s. So, this is better, but Peterson’s is easier . . .to carry, to read, to buy, but . . . .this is better.
David’s Plant Books:
Parish, Robert J. 1999. Plants of the Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest
(Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing). ISBN: 1551052199 $20 and less, new-used. Essential , essential, essential. This is the inland world of flora behind the Cascades. Best when combined with Pojar, Hence:
Pojar, James & Mackinnon, Andy. 2004. Plants of the Pacific NorthwestCoast: Washington, Oregon,
British Columbia & Alaska. This what we use around here, folks! This is THE book. Say Pojar, and you’re “in”—it’s the bomb. Pojar & MacKinnon. Like hotdogs and baseball. Combine with Parish and you’ve got twins separated at birth. Find ‘em used, buy ‘em cheap and treasure them.
Taylor, Ronald J. 1992. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary. (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub.
Co.) ISBN: 0878422803. $14 new and counting down to used. A good useable book for the beginner. Hey, this ain’t for botany snobs, it’s just practical and useful for the masses. Specific to the Big Basin—Eastern WA, OR, and ID and MT.
David’s Geology Books:
Alt, David D., and Hyndman, Donald W. 1984. Roadside Geology of Washington. (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press). $15 and counting down, used. It’s been around for 20+ years. It hasn’t been pushed off the pedestal and it’s fun on a road trip. Look at road-cuts and stare at canyon walls!
Easterbrook, Don J., 1970 . Landforms of Washington : the geologic environment (Bellingham, WA:
Western Washington State College). Find it if you can. Go look. It’s one of the most rare, and also fairly comprehensive studies. It’s not that user-friendly, but well---it’s in the TESC library.
Liza’s Pacific Northwest History Books:
Schwantes, Carlos. You can’t go wrong with anything written by this historian. He defaults to labor sensibilities, and social history. See especially:
Blair, Karen J. –take a look at women’s history in the state and learn a deeper social history!
Women in Pacific Northwest History (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988/2001)
Same title, slightly different contents between the 1988 and the 2001 versions.
Armitage, Susan Hodge. If you’re reading Washington history or western history, you must read Armitage.
So Much To Be Done : Women Settlers On The Mining And Ranching Frontier (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska press, 1990) **she’s published several other works, go look!
Barber, Katrine. 2005 Death of Celilo Falls (Seattle: Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
in association with University of Washington Press). I’ve read drafts of this and am glad to finally see it
in press. I was in grad school with Katie and greatly respect her research. We may meet her when
we go to the Center for Columbia River history.
Robbins, William. 2001. The great Northwest : the search for regional identity
(Corvallis: Oregon State University Press). Robbins studies labor, land and identity.
He’s published several other works.
Schwantes, Carlos. 1989 or 1996. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press). This is one of the primary Pac. NW history texts. It merges social and economic and political history. If history of this region will be one of your research goals or reference points for the future, buy this book! $10-30 new-used in most regional book stores.
Le Warne, Charles. Another must for Pac. NW History! These three are his most known works.
He taught high school history for decades and is the main impetus behind “Historylink.org.”
Utopias on Puget Sound: 1885-1915 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1978/1995)
Washington: A Centennial History (ditto, 1988)
Washington State (ditto, 1986)
Hall, Greg. 2001. Harvest Wobblies : the Industrial Workers of the World and agricultural laborers in the American West,
1905-1930 (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press). This is THE primary publication on migrant labor and agricultural labor in the west as it pertains to the IWW—the strongest and largest agricultural union in the U.S.! Very interesting read. I’m happy and proud to say I was part of the process this manuscript endured from thesis to press.
Gamoa, Erasmo. 1984. Under the thumb of agriculture : Bracero and Mexican American workers in the Pacific Northwest,
1940-1950. Look, if you don’t read several of the books this man has published, then you don’t take labor and migrant agricultural labor seriously. If you eat food that comes from the Northwest, you must read his works so you know who brings you the food—and the human cost of that labor.
White, Richard. Just read any thing by him. Organic Machine is one of many.
Aguilar, George. When the River Ran Wild—a seminal work on Native American history and the Columbia River.
Hilbert, Vi. –author/collector/keeper of several Puget Sound native stories and honored elder of several Puget Sound tribes.
Doty, Thomas. 2003. We who watch the river : a native view of the Columbia. Ashland: Upriver downriver productions)
