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The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest
Timothy Egan describes his journeys in the Pacific Northwest through visits to salmon fisheries, redwood forests and the manicured English gardens of Vancouver. Here is a blend of history, anthropology and politics.
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First published January 1, 1990
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About the author
Timothy Egan
26 books1,975 followersTimothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning author of nine books, including THE WORST HARD TIME, which won the National Book Award. His latest book, A PILGRIMAGE TO ETERNITY, is a personal story, a journey over an ancient trail, and a history of Christianity. He also writes a biweekly opinion column for The New York Times. HIs book on the photographer Edward Curtis, SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER, won the Carnegie Medal for best nonfiction. His Irish-American book, THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN, was a New York Times bestseller. A third-generation native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Seattle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 338 reviews
March 8, 2025
“As the summer dries out and the pink glow off the western glaciers of Mount Baker disappears earlier and earlier, I begin to feel like a spiritual delinquent, holding up a long-planned reunion of body and soul.”
This book is the perfect combination of travel writing, history and nature, all wrapped in adept and often lovely prose with a dose of humor as the bow set firmly on top. If The Good Rain was a novel rather than a work of non-fiction, I’d say author and journalist Timothy Egan deftly presented the reader with a powerful dose of man versus nature conflict. Egan has a wish to fulfill from the start. I’ll let him explain it to you himself, so you can get a feel for the tone of his writing:
“All summer long Grandpa remains in the basement, two pounds of cremated ash in a plain cardboard cylinder. I can’t get used to the idea of this odorless beige powder as the guy who taught me how to land brook trout with a hand-tied fly, the son of a Montana mineral chaser, the teller of campfire tales about hiding from the Jesuits with his schoolboy chum, a jug-eared kid named Bing Crosby.”
“I will take a year… from Oregon desert to green-smothered rain forest, from storm-battered ocean edge to the inland waters, from the new cities of the Northwest to the homesteads of the Columbia Plateau, to see what a century can produce from scratch, and maybe… come to some understanding of why Grandpa belonged in the wellspring of the White River, as do I.”
I traipsed with Egan across the Pacific Northwest, more specifically through Oregon, Washington and parts of British Columbia. I spent time in the temperate rainforest, the volcanic mountain ranges, the Columbia River gorge, and the Pacific coast. He touches on a lot of the history from the indigenous peoples to the first white settlers to the timber and salmon fishing industries. He caused me to add a trip to the San Juan Islands to my list when I finally make it to this region of the world. I learned a bit about the plight of the sea otter and the orca, the pleasures of wine and apples, and the harnessing of the powers of the mighty rivers. As per usual, when man plants himself in the natural world, we begin to see the demise of some of our most abundant resources.
I wish I had more time to dive into the particulars of Timothy Egan’s knowledgeable discourse, but I find that commodity lacking these days. Suffice to say that I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about the Pacific Northwest. With that said, keep in mind that this was published in 1990. I’m hoping a lot of advances in the protection of those endangered resources will have been put in place since that time. I’ll be on the lookout for more recent works concerning the region in the future. Any suggestions are welcome! I’ll leave you with some of the highlights of my reading with the goal of enticement.
“But he (John Muir) would most likely disapprove of the odd distinction the camp named after him has gained: it is the site of the world’s most expensive outhouse, a $50,000 solar shitter which uses high-altitude ultraviolet rays to cook and compost climbers’ waste.”
“Before the dams, some chinook would swim as far inland as the Continental Divide, deep in Idaho, Montana and British Columbia, before committing the final act of fornication, a very proper squirt before death. Like British sex, it is dignified and oddly ritualistic, following a strict set of biological rules, most of which seem to make sense at first glance.”
“Most of my life, I’ve stared out at The Brothers from Seattle – a two-breasted beauty that seems to sweep up from the very surface of Puget Sound. From the city, the tips turn pastel in sunset and then dark in silhouette, a very theatrical mountain, almost a custom fit of Winthrop’s description of a peak that, viewed from a seat in civilization, stirs the soul.”
“It was the British, the apostles of rose gardens and high tea, who nicknamed this place “England of the Pacific,” and sent boatloads of pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing, Queen-loving, tea-drinking gentlemen here to settle it. Unlike the American settlers, who brought bibles and guns to their new land, the British immigrants were urged to arrive with cricket bats, carriage harnesses and a library of the classics.”
“Full moon over Puget Sound, the last one of summer. Look at the sky, all full of doubt. The light is gone from the back side of Mount Rainier, leaving a coned cutout on the horizon.”
“Any doubts that the land is alive and in command of all that lives atop its surface are removed by the view to the south. Still smoking and stuffed with debris, Mount St. Helens, the youngest of all Cascade volcanoes, looks like an ashtray after an all-night party. Denuded, it nonetheless pulses with new life as the dome inside the crater rebuilds.”
“My past is imprinted on me, a tattoo of sensory dimensions, released by a breath of fog-dampened air or the sight of a leaf of faded color. So it is with the Pacific salmon, who are guided home by the smells from their juvenile days.”
This book is the perfect combination of travel writing, history and nature, all wrapped in adept and often lovely prose with a dose of humor as the bow set firmly on top. If The Good Rain was a novel rather than a work of non-fiction, I’d say author and journalist Timothy Egan deftly presented the reader with a powerful dose of man versus nature conflict. Egan has a wish to fulfill from the start. I’ll let him explain it to you himself, so you can get a feel for the tone of his writing:
“All summer long Grandpa remains in the basement, two pounds of cremated ash in a plain cardboard cylinder. I can’t get used to the idea of this odorless beige powder as the guy who taught me how to land brook trout with a hand-tied fly, the son of a Montana mineral chaser, the teller of campfire tales about hiding from the Jesuits with his schoolboy chum, a jug-eared kid named Bing Crosby.”
“I will take a year… from Oregon desert to green-smothered rain forest, from storm-battered ocean edge to the inland waters, from the new cities of the Northwest to the homesteads of the Columbia Plateau, to see what a century can produce from scratch, and maybe… come to some understanding of why Grandpa belonged in the wellspring of the White River, as do I.”
I traipsed with Egan across the Pacific Northwest, more specifically through Oregon, Washington and parts of British Columbia. I spent time in the temperate rainforest, the volcanic mountain ranges, the Columbia River gorge, and the Pacific coast. He touches on a lot of the history from the indigenous peoples to the first white settlers to the timber and salmon fishing industries. He caused me to add a trip to the San Juan Islands to my list when I finally make it to this region of the world. I learned a bit about the plight of the sea otter and the orca, the pleasures of wine and apples, and the harnessing of the powers of the mighty rivers. As per usual, when man plants himself in the natural world, we begin to see the demise of some of our most abundant resources.
I wish I had more time to dive into the particulars of Timothy Egan’s knowledgeable discourse, but I find that commodity lacking these days. Suffice to say that I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about the Pacific Northwest. With that said, keep in mind that this was published in 1990. I’m hoping a lot of advances in the protection of those endangered resources will have been put in place since that time. I’ll be on the lookout for more recent works concerning the region in the future. Any suggestions are welcome! I’ll leave you with some of the highlights of my reading with the goal of enticement.
“But he (John Muir) would most likely disapprove of the odd distinction the camp named after him has gained: it is the site of the world’s most expensive outhouse, a $50,000 solar shitter which uses high-altitude ultraviolet rays to cook and compost climbers’ waste.”
“Before the dams, some chinook would swim as far inland as the Continental Divide, deep in Idaho, Montana and British Columbia, before committing the final act of fornication, a very proper squirt before death. Like British sex, it is dignified and oddly ritualistic, following a strict set of biological rules, most of which seem to make sense at first glance.”
“Most of my life, I’ve stared out at The Brothers from Seattle – a two-breasted beauty that seems to sweep up from the very surface of Puget Sound. From the city, the tips turn pastel in sunset and then dark in silhouette, a very theatrical mountain, almost a custom fit of Winthrop’s description of a peak that, viewed from a seat in civilization, stirs the soul.”
“It was the British, the apostles of rose gardens and high tea, who nicknamed this place “England of the Pacific,” and sent boatloads of pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing, Queen-loving, tea-drinking gentlemen here to settle it. Unlike the American settlers, who brought bibles and guns to their new land, the British immigrants were urged to arrive with cricket bats, carriage harnesses and a library of the classics.”
“Full moon over Puget Sound, the last one of summer. Look at the sky, all full of doubt. The light is gone from the back side of Mount Rainier, leaving a coned cutout on the horizon.”
“Any doubts that the land is alive and in command of all that lives atop its surface are removed by the view to the south. Still smoking and stuffed with debris, Mount St. Helens, the youngest of all Cascade volcanoes, looks like an ashtray after an all-night party. Denuded, it nonetheless pulses with new life as the dome inside the crater rebuilds.”
“My past is imprinted on me, a tattoo of sensory dimensions, released by a breath of fog-dampened air or the sight of a leaf of faded color. So it is with the Pacific salmon, who are guided home by the smells from their juvenile days.”
July 15, 2020
Book of the month nonfiction book club 2020
It is the all star break and I am having baseball withdrawal symptoms, so I turned to a preferred nonfiction author to get be through the boredom. News flash: there is no baseball, at least not for another week, but in a regular year, this is my favorite week in summer for reading. No baseball for a good part of four days, lots of reading time during those long summer days, the apex of summer when there are still a good six weeks before school starts. As we adjust to a new normal life, I have noticed that my concentration span for reading nonfiction books has gone way time. Especially in the summer, I have found myself gravitating to escapist fiction and long family sagas, finding new gems and rereading favorites. When the nonfiction book club chose to read Timothy Egan’s first book, I knew that I could not pass it up. A fifth generation westerner, Egan has become a preferred author at the nonfiction book club; this is the fifth book of his the group has read. Egan tells as good a story as the best fiction writer, so I decided that it was time for another journey to the Pacific Northwest.
Before Egan turned to full time book writing, he was the Pacific Northwest correspondent for the New York Times based out of Seattle. For Egan, a fifth generation westerner and in love with the land, this was a dream job after living in Manhattan. Following the death of his grandfather, the man who had taught him fly fishing and a deep appreciation for the land the family called home, Egan decided to take a year and retrace the travels of Theodore Winthrop. The great-great-great grandson of John Winthrop, in 1853 Theodore Winthrop traveled to the Pacific Northwest in search of that elusive city on a hill where the land meets the sea. He wrote about his journeys in The Saddle and the Canoe, a recap of his autumn spent in nature. Following that luscious autumn, Winthrop returned home but envisioned a time when easterners tired of the hustle and bustle of city life would settle the Pacific coast, America’s last untapped frontier. Winthrop was about one hundred years too early but one could sense that he had fallen in love with the northwest as much as any native. Egan, in homage to his grandfather who loved the Pacific Northwest as much as any man, chose to take the same travels as Winthrop.
Even though this book is now thirty years old, one can still sense the appreciation for the Pacific Northwest. There is no Starbucks or Microsoft or grunge culture of Seattle in this book, but Boeing and Reynolds Aluminum do make an appearance. This book is not about Seattle; the city is front and center in a much later book of Egan’s Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, which is excellent. Here, Egan travels the Columbia River on a coast guard trip, hikes in the Cascades up mountain summits, fishes for salmon in the same streams that Native Americans have for thousands of years. At one point, the territory between Northern California and British Columbia was one expanse of unsettled land. Both British and American explorers of the 19th century sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and up the coast. From either London or New York, the voyage took months. Upon arrival, the explorers found a land that was unforgiving; the Columbia swallowed and sunk ships and the idea of a western New York City did not take shape for these new comers. What the explorers did find was otters, whales, orcas, and salmon, tradable commodities. Eventually, the British received the land north of the 49th parallel, which became British Columbia, and the United States got the land below it, which became Washington and Oregon. These states would not become well settled by caucasians until after the completion of the transcontinental railroad; after 1867, when Winthrop was back on the east coast, the land was anyone’s for the taking.
After the native Americans were driven from the land, Egan argues that the Northwest underwent the same transformation as other deforested areas. Loggers and dams destroyed the land for their own personal use. Salmon which had traveled the Columbia River for thousands of years to spawn in the Pacific had their routes taken away in the name of electricity and irrigation. National forests which are supposed to belong to all the people have contracts given to logging companies, who in turn fell trees for export. If there are any villains in this book, it is those mega companies like Weyerhaeuser and Hill who have turned thousands of acres of forest into a one species ecosystem, destroying the nation’s last vestige of natural beauty. Yet, the land remains: the Columbia and Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains and hills and valleys. Egan traveled it all and even had a chance to fish and sample the bounty of the region- apples, cherries, pears, hops, Merlot. As this book is dated, there has been hope for the fauna and flora since then. Salmon has made a comeback and apples appear to be in abundance. The northwest has become a tourist destination to witness natural beauty as Egan originally foresaw.
A Good Rain gives a strong sense of time and place in the Pacific Northwest. It introduced me to new historical characters as George Vancouver and Baron St Helens as well as lauding Theodore Roosevelt for establishing the national park system. As this was Egan’s first book, one can sense that this was originally written as a series of longer columns, an ode to different facets of Northwest life. His writing has evolved in the years since as he has become a prolific writer. I might not have the patience to read much nonfiction these days, and with baseball on the verge of being played, these days even less. Yet, it is always a treat to read the works of Timothy Egan, and I am sure my reading path will cross with his writing again down the road.
4 stars
It is the all star break and I am having baseball withdrawal symptoms, so I turned to a preferred nonfiction author to get be through the boredom. News flash: there is no baseball, at least not for another week, but in a regular year, this is my favorite week in summer for reading. No baseball for a good part of four days, lots of reading time during those long summer days, the apex of summer when there are still a good six weeks before school starts. As we adjust to a new normal life, I have noticed that my concentration span for reading nonfiction books has gone way time. Especially in the summer, I have found myself gravitating to escapist fiction and long family sagas, finding new gems and rereading favorites. When the nonfiction book club chose to read Timothy Egan’s first book, I knew that I could not pass it up. A fifth generation westerner, Egan has become a preferred author at the nonfiction book club; this is the fifth book of his the group has read. Egan tells as good a story as the best fiction writer, so I decided that it was time for another journey to the Pacific Northwest.
Before Egan turned to full time book writing, he was the Pacific Northwest correspondent for the New York Times based out of Seattle. For Egan, a fifth generation westerner and in love with the land, this was a dream job after living in Manhattan. Following the death of his grandfather, the man who had taught him fly fishing and a deep appreciation for the land the family called home, Egan decided to take a year and retrace the travels of Theodore Winthrop. The great-great-great grandson of John Winthrop, in 1853 Theodore Winthrop traveled to the Pacific Northwest in search of that elusive city on a hill where the land meets the sea. He wrote about his journeys in The Saddle and the Canoe, a recap of his autumn spent in nature. Following that luscious autumn, Winthrop returned home but envisioned a time when easterners tired of the hustle and bustle of city life would settle the Pacific coast, America’s last untapped frontier. Winthrop was about one hundred years too early but one could sense that he had fallen in love with the northwest as much as any native. Egan, in homage to his grandfather who loved the Pacific Northwest as much as any man, chose to take the same travels as Winthrop.
Even though this book is now thirty years old, one can still sense the appreciation for the Pacific Northwest. There is no Starbucks or Microsoft or grunge culture of Seattle in this book, but Boeing and Reynolds Aluminum do make an appearance. This book is not about Seattle; the city is front and center in a much later book of Egan’s Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, which is excellent. Here, Egan travels the Columbia River on a coast guard trip, hikes in the Cascades up mountain summits, fishes for salmon in the same streams that Native Americans have for thousands of years. At one point, the territory between Northern California and British Columbia was one expanse of unsettled land. Both British and American explorers of the 19th century sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and up the coast. From either London or New York, the voyage took months. Upon arrival, the explorers found a land that was unforgiving; the Columbia swallowed and sunk ships and the idea of a western New York City did not take shape for these new comers. What the explorers did find was otters, whales, orcas, and salmon, tradable commodities. Eventually, the British received the land north of the 49th parallel, which became British Columbia, and the United States got the land below it, which became Washington and Oregon. These states would not become well settled by caucasians until after the completion of the transcontinental railroad; after 1867, when Winthrop was back on the east coast, the land was anyone’s for the taking.
After the native Americans were driven from the land, Egan argues that the Northwest underwent the same transformation as other deforested areas. Loggers and dams destroyed the land for their own personal use. Salmon which had traveled the Columbia River for thousands of years to spawn in the Pacific had their routes taken away in the name of electricity and irrigation. National forests which are supposed to belong to all the people have contracts given to logging companies, who in turn fell trees for export. If there are any villains in this book, it is those mega companies like Weyerhaeuser and Hill who have turned thousands of acres of forest into a one species ecosystem, destroying the nation’s last vestige of natural beauty. Yet, the land remains: the Columbia and Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains and hills and valleys. Egan traveled it all and even had a chance to fish and sample the bounty of the region- apples, cherries, pears, hops, Merlot. As this book is dated, there has been hope for the fauna and flora since then. Salmon has made a comeback and apples appear to be in abundance. The northwest has become a tourist destination to witness natural beauty as Egan originally foresaw.
A Good Rain gives a strong sense of time and place in the Pacific Northwest. It introduced me to new historical characters as George Vancouver and Baron St Helens as well as lauding Theodore Roosevelt for establishing the national park system. As this was Egan’s first book, one can sense that this was originally written as a series of longer columns, an ode to different facets of Northwest life. His writing has evolved in the years since as he has become a prolific writer. I might not have the patience to read much nonfiction these days, and with baseball on the verge of being played, these days even less. Yet, it is always a treat to read the works of Timothy Egan, and I am sure my reading path will cross with his writing again down the road.
4 stars
January 6, 2011
Personally I found this book created the seminal event that influenced the remaining course of my life; both as a lifelong resident of Washington State, and particularly as an Aquatic Scientist. My work has caused me to travel many parts of Washington State that Timothy Egan mentions in this book, so in many ways Egan and I are kindred spirits. Between this work and the book: "King of the Fish" by David R. Montgomery, I gained insight into the workings of man that I'd never know without this information.
As an aside, I stumbled upon some interesting information when Egan mentioned the real-estate transaction that occurred between railroad tycoon James J Hill, and lumber magnate George Weyerhauser. Among strange coincidences I was reading another book about my family history that spoke of my ancestors living on 16 Summit Ave in St. Paul, Minnesota, just a couple blocks away from the Hill (240 Summit) and Weyerhauser (266 Summit) residences. Without spoiling the plot, my relatives lived in St. Paul a few years after the transaction that transformed the shape of the northwest (and the country), no wonder the deal was announced in January 1900.
In addition, Egan helps to expose the dark side of the political divide splitting the east and west portions of this State. This can be explained in part by the former Idaho governor who once declared that the only water he'd allow to flow west would only be a potato! It also explains the amazing facts behind the grime holiday homicide of a Seattle family that could only be attributed to a seriously misguided form of politics.
This book should be required reading if you want to live in Washington State.
As an aside, I stumbled upon some interesting information when Egan mentioned the real-estate transaction that occurred between railroad tycoon James J Hill, and lumber magnate George Weyerhauser. Among strange coincidences I was reading another book about my family history that spoke of my ancestors living on 16 Summit Ave in St. Paul, Minnesota, just a couple blocks away from the Hill (240 Summit) and Weyerhauser (266 Summit) residences. Without spoiling the plot, my relatives lived in St. Paul a few years after the transaction that transformed the shape of the northwest (and the country), no wonder the deal was announced in January 1900.
In addition, Egan helps to expose the dark side of the political divide splitting the east and west portions of this State. This can be explained in part by the former Idaho governor who once declared that the only water he'd allow to flow west would only be a potato! It also explains the amazing facts behind the grime holiday homicide of a Seattle family that could only be attributed to a seriously misguided form of politics.
This book should be required reading if you want to live in Washington State.
October 9, 2012
This book is one of the most depressing books I've read in a long time. In this book Egan set out to follow in the footsteps of Theodore Winthrop, a 19th century American writer and traveller, who wrote a deailed book about his travels around the Pacific Northwest of the North American continent. Egan talks about the differences he found 137 years after Winthrop wrote his book.
And as I said at the start it's very depressing. The sheer amount of damage and devestation caused by man is horrendous. Forests and rivers that had lasted thousands and thousands of years were destroyed within decades. Mankinds insatiable greed and stupidity has butchered so much that is irreplaceable. But there is hope, though this book doesn't show much. Written 20 years ago environmentalists back then were seen as druggies and hippies, people on the fringe. Since that time environmental awareness has grown throughout the world. It's still nowhere near good but it's the most aware Western civilization has been for an extremely long time.
I can't wait to travel to the locations Egan talks about to see how they have fared since the book was written. Internet searching shows most of the threatened forests have survived and are starting to prosper. Native populations of grey wolves, sea otters, salmon and orca are slowly building back up. We may unfortunately never go back to what it once was but we can stop it from disappearing altogether.
And as I said at the start it's very depressing. The sheer amount of damage and devestation caused by man is horrendous. Forests and rivers that had lasted thousands and thousands of years were destroyed within decades. Mankinds insatiable greed and stupidity has butchered so much that is irreplaceable. But there is hope, though this book doesn't show much. Written 20 years ago environmentalists back then were seen as druggies and hippies, people on the fringe. Since that time environmental awareness has grown throughout the world. It's still nowhere near good but it's the most aware Western civilization has been for an extremely long time.
I can't wait to travel to the locations Egan talks about to see how they have fared since the book was written. Internet searching shows most of the threatened forests have survived and are starting to prosper. Native populations of grey wolves, sea otters, salmon and orca are slowly building back up. We may unfortunately never go back to what it once was but we can stop it from disappearing altogether.
April 17, 2009
Three stars doesn't do this book justice. It should get 5 for the second half, and -1 for the worst parts.
When it's good, this is a beautiful, moving and informative description of the Pacific Northwest. Egan can be wonderful at describing the beauty of the region and the emotions it induces in people, and at the stupidity and sheer unbridled greed that has led to some of the worst problems we have today. But he can also over-reach, both in terms of just over-egging his writing and exaggerating claims (he makes Rainier Valley sound like Compton) to the point of undermining his own credibility. And in places he falls for the sort of ridiculous stereotypes and cliches that make it sound like he's writing this all from New York.
The chapter about Victoria, in particular, was such an irritating pastiche of stereotypes about Canada, the US and Britain that it almost made me stop reading and I would advise anyone to skip it altogether. I'm glad I continued though, and most of the badness is concentrated towards the beginning.
The chapters on native tribes and on salmon are particularly beautifully written, and the parts that I know the factual background to check out with the other things I've read or learned about. They will make you angry, but appropriately so.
When it's good, this is a beautiful, moving and informative description of the Pacific Northwest. Egan can be wonderful at describing the beauty of the region and the emotions it induces in people, and at the stupidity and sheer unbridled greed that has led to some of the worst problems we have today. But he can also over-reach, both in terms of just over-egging his writing and exaggerating claims (he makes Rainier Valley sound like Compton) to the point of undermining his own credibility. And in places he falls for the sort of ridiculous stereotypes and cliches that make it sound like he's writing this all from New York.
The chapter about Victoria, in particular, was such an irritating pastiche of stereotypes about Canada, the US and Britain that it almost made me stop reading and I would advise anyone to skip it altogether. I'm glad I continued though, and most of the badness is concentrated towards the beginning.
The chapters on native tribes and on salmon are particularly beautifully written, and the parts that I know the factual background to check out with the other things I've read or learned about. They will make you angry, but appropriately so.
August 19, 2021
A colorful and heartfelt review of the history of the Pacific Northwest. He covers the European invasion, the story of the natives, geography (mountains), trees, salmon, fruit, and rivers. The book is a moving analysis of the region, its natural beauty and the influence modern America has inflicted or caused. He discusses some individual stories to enhance his points. The book is a tiny bit dated now in some discussions but it is all still highly relevant and interesting.
May 5, 2024
I've come as far as I can with this one.
I have a pure fascination for the Pacific Northwest, I have no idea why. It calls to me somehow.
When Timothy Egan sticks to the physical, the meteorological, and the geological aspects of this area, I'm absolutely hooked. When he veers into the historical and heavily anthropological, I'm less enamoured. People that came, saw and conquered or attempted to conquer hold no interest for me! They saw nature and wanted to tame and ruin it, thanks a lot!
So I give this book a 3 star rating. When it was about the terrain of the Pacific Northwest, it was a 5 star, when it was about history and time, it was a 1 star so I'm settling in the middle with a 3. Too much "people", not enough landscape.
I have a pure fascination for the Pacific Northwest, I have no idea why. It calls to me somehow.
When Timothy Egan sticks to the physical, the meteorological, and the geological aspects of this area, I'm absolutely hooked. When he veers into the historical and heavily anthropological, I'm less enamoured. People that came, saw and conquered or attempted to conquer hold no interest for me! They saw nature and wanted to tame and ruin it, thanks a lot!
So I give this book a 3 star rating. When it was about the terrain of the Pacific Northwest, it was a 5 star, when it was about history and time, it was a 1 star so I'm settling in the middle with a 3. Too much "people", not enough landscape.
February 23, 2024
Perhaps I expected more of a hiker's travelogue depicting backpacking adventures throughout the Pacific Northwest, but Egan's approach also injected a lot of geographical, historical, and cultural content, much of which was especially relevant to the time of writing in the early 1990s.
I am definitely not disappointed, as Egan does set out on various adventures of the backpacking kind, but that is not the book's focus. He indeed takes us around different parts of the region, often re-examining the 19th century perspective of Theodore Winthrop, an early traveler to the area from the eastern U.S. He compares Winthrop's enthusiastic musings of a bountiful future for this new, virgin territory of pristine forests, mountains, rivers and farmland that is just being settled and the late 20th century issues of deforestation, urban development, and damming of rivers and the decimation of salmon, the fish that was the basis of the indigenous culture for this region.
In summary, Egan describes the region's natural scenery with beautiful prose and its modern issues with the insightful cutting edge of a good journalist.
I am definitely not disappointed, as Egan does set out on various adventures of the backpacking kind, but that is not the book's focus. He indeed takes us around different parts of the region, often re-examining the 19th century perspective of Theodore Winthrop, an early traveler to the area from the eastern U.S. He compares Winthrop's enthusiastic musings of a bountiful future for this new, virgin territory of pristine forests, mountains, rivers and farmland that is just being settled and the late 20th century issues of deforestation, urban development, and damming of rivers and the decimation of salmon, the fish that was the basis of the indigenous culture for this region.
In summary, Egan describes the region's natural scenery with beautiful prose and its modern issues with the insightful cutting edge of a good journalist.
May 18, 2010
This is Timothy Egan's homage to the Northwest. I bought the book at an author's reading for his new book The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America. When Egan signed it for me, he said that I might find it dated. It was published in 1990 and is somewhat dated--the Seahawks are still playing in the Kingdome, Astoria has not yet attained cuteness (based on being mostly a tourist town) and although he talks about the wind in the Gorge in reference to the windsurfers, the windmill generators have not shown up.
He ties the narrative to a book written by Theodore Winthrop, the great, great, great grandson of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Theodore Winthrop took a three month journey around the Northwest in 1853 and wrote a book about it. Egan compares what Winthrop found with what has happened since--salmon, timber, rivers, Native Americans, farming. As an Oregonian, many of the tales are familiar, but he knits some of the recent history together for me. And there are stories that are new to me.
His writing is beautiful and evocative. For instance, he describes, perfectly, something that I have never been able to put into words--"Sometimes the wind along the Pacific shore blows so hard it steals your breath before you can inhale it."
He ties the narrative to a book written by Theodore Winthrop, the great, great, great grandson of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Theodore Winthrop took a three month journey around the Northwest in 1853 and wrote a book about it. Egan compares what Winthrop found with what has happened since--salmon, timber, rivers, Native Americans, farming. As an Oregonian, many of the tales are familiar, but he knits some of the recent history together for me. And there are stories that are new to me.
His writing is beautiful and evocative. For instance, he describes, perfectly, something that I have never been able to put into words--"Sometimes the wind along the Pacific shore blows so hard it steals your breath before you can inhale it."
June 8, 2013
An amazing journey through the beautiful and tragic Pacific Northwest. This might just be the best book I've read in the past 10 years. I'd seen in on shelves for the past 20 and finally picked it up in a used bookstore in Cannon Beach.
Author Timothy Egan follows the path of 19th century adventurer Theodore Winthrop - for whom a town in Washington and a glacier on Mount Rainier were named. During Egan's journey, he shared environmental concerns regarding timber, salmon, rivers, dams and pollution.
It is a beautifully written book that I will recommend heartily to many of my friends.
Author Timothy Egan follows the path of 19th century adventurer Theodore Winthrop - for whom a town in Washington and a glacier on Mount Rainier were named. During Egan's journey, he shared environmental concerns regarding timber, salmon, rivers, dams and pollution.
It is a beautifully written book that I will recommend heartily to many of my friends.
January 4, 2014
The tone is level but there's no hiding the fact this is, ultimately, a rather indignant book. And to the reader a depressing one. It is also very good.
Egan - following in the footsteps of a mid-19th century traveler of the Northwest, Theodore Winthrop (who wrote of his trip in The Canoe and the Saddle) - takes a year out "attempting to follow the Yankee [Winthrop] from Oregon desert to green-smothered rain forest, from storm-battered ocean edge to the inland waters, from the new cities of the Northwest to the homesteads of the Columbia Plateau, to see what a century can produce from scratch" all in order to understand whether the land here would change a man, as argued by Winthrop, or whether the man would change the land.
Unsurprisingly, Winthrop's faith in mankind was far too generous. Though all is not lost, to read about the ravages of the Northwest since Winthrop's travels is harrowing. Over the course of thirteen chapters, Egan writes about a variety of subjects but the theme centers around the trinity of salmon, timber and native Americans. It is, as you would expect, pretty discouraging but the writing is engaging and illuminating. The misdeeds of the Robber Barons are unlikely to be news to anyone but Egan's verdict of the Forest Service and the Corps of Engineers might be.
It's worthwhile to note the book was written in 1990 but, though it occasionally feels dated in some of the details, it appears to have held up reasonably well. Saying that, I can't help but wish he'd do a follow-up piece to see what the last 25 years have brought. One hopes it would be more positives than negatives.
As in Egan's other books it is not all doom and gloom. His love of the land comes across as well as it always does and there is lot of wonder to savor. I'll end with a quote from the man who started it all though: Here's Winthrop writing in awe of Mt Rainer (Tacoma) and surroundings:
And, studying the light and the majesty of Tacoma, there passed from it and entered into my being, to dwell there evermore by the side of many such, a thought and an image of solemn beauty, which I could thenceforth evoke whenever in the world I must have peace or die. For such emotion years of pilgrimage were worthily spent. If mortal can gain the thoughts of immortality, is not his earthly destiny achieved?
Egan - following in the footsteps of a mid-19th century traveler of the Northwest, Theodore Winthrop (who wrote of his trip in The Canoe and the Saddle) - takes a year out "attempting to follow the Yankee [Winthrop] from Oregon desert to green-smothered rain forest, from storm-battered ocean edge to the inland waters, from the new cities of the Northwest to the homesteads of the Columbia Plateau, to see what a century can produce from scratch" all in order to understand whether the land here would change a man, as argued by Winthrop, or whether the man would change the land.
Unsurprisingly, Winthrop's faith in mankind was far too generous. Though all is not lost, to read about the ravages of the Northwest since Winthrop's travels is harrowing. Over the course of thirteen chapters, Egan writes about a variety of subjects but the theme centers around the trinity of salmon, timber and native Americans. It is, as you would expect, pretty discouraging but the writing is engaging and illuminating. The misdeeds of the Robber Barons are unlikely to be news to anyone but Egan's verdict of the Forest Service and the Corps of Engineers might be.
It's worthwhile to note the book was written in 1990 but, though it occasionally feels dated in some of the details, it appears to have held up reasonably well. Saying that, I can't help but wish he'd do a follow-up piece to see what the last 25 years have brought. One hopes it would be more positives than negatives.
As in Egan's other books it is not all doom and gloom. His love of the land comes across as well as it always does and there is lot of wonder to savor. I'll end with a quote from the man who started it all though: Here's Winthrop writing in awe of Mt Rainer (Tacoma) and surroundings:
And, studying the light and the majesty of Tacoma, there passed from it and entered into my being, to dwell there evermore by the side of many such, a thought and an image of solemn beauty, which I could thenceforth evoke whenever in the world I must have peace or die. For such emotion years of pilgrimage were worthily spent. If mortal can gain the thoughts of immortality, is not his earthly destiny achieved?
January 11, 2020
Great read about the history of the PNW.
October 15, 2018
Great writing about the Pacific Northwest, and although it's a bit dated, much of the history remains relevant. Egan has a beautiful way with words, his language both precise and descriptive, and each of the essays or chapters in this book explores a different aspect of the region, from the salmon to the Columbia River, to a Cold War-era killing. I lived on the OR coast from 1996-2005. This book filled in the outlines of history I had heard about, but did not know -- the logging wars, for example, centered around the spotted owl. Egan points out that no one, except the shortsighted, benefits from "resource towns." Timber from the NW is sent to Japan, and when all the trees are gone, so is the industry. Small communities that try to hold onto limited natural resources in the name of jobs eventually lose them. Without new economic blood, you end up with communities that look like Southern Appalachia in the wake of the coal industry. Egan's writing about the diminished Columbia River is especially evocative. This book is an education that may make you desolate for a place that none of us ever got a chance to see or know.
November 4, 2019
When I worked at a picturesque little indie bookstore located along a PNW waterfront in the 1990s, we couldn't hardly keep this book in stock. I should have read it then, because I am sure I would have loved it too. Alas, I didn't, and it took me until now in 2019 to check it off my to-read list. I should not have waited, because what would have seemed timely and insightful then feels somewhat dated and incomplete now. So much more history has happened in almost 30 years, and the way we write about marginalized populations has shifted too. To be honest, the reason I finally read The Good Rain was to see if it would be a good choice to give my teens for their local history studies. Unfortunately, despite being very well written, it isn't going to serve that task well anymore. We would need to stop every other page and provide corrections and/or a long winded update to bring them up to speed to current affairs; there's more recent resources that will do that job more effectively. Too bad. If the author revised and updated, then we'd probably be all over it.
July 2, 2008
I am a native Oregonian and move through life radiating a lot of Oregon love. But loving Oregon means embracing the ongoing conflict between civilization and nature.
Timothy Egan's book does an excellent job sharing both the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest and the man-made disaster. As Egan travelled around the region, exploring the history of Native Americans, white settlers and the land, I was dumbstruck by the shear number of salmon and trees obliterated by over-logging, over-fishing and dam-building practices over the last 200 years. His use of journals written by explorers and interviews with the still-living makes the book alive with first hand accounts of how it was, how it is, and how it could be.
The description of the Columbia River Bar, and all of the explorers who never found it was great. The stories behind places I regularly visit (Cape Disappointment, the Olympic Peninsula, Victoria, BC) were fantastic.
Timothy Egan's book does an excellent job sharing both the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest and the man-made disaster. As Egan travelled around the region, exploring the history of Native Americans, white settlers and the land, I was dumbstruck by the shear number of salmon and trees obliterated by over-logging, over-fishing and dam-building practices over the last 200 years. His use of journals written by explorers and interviews with the still-living makes the book alive with first hand accounts of how it was, how it is, and how it could be.
The description of the Columbia River Bar, and all of the explorers who never found it was great. The stories behind places I regularly visit (Cape Disappointment, the Olympic Peninsula, Victoria, BC) were fantastic.
February 11, 2023
What a fine writer Egan is! Part travelogue, part history and part adventure, I want to visit each and every one of the places he explored. I learned so much about early exploration, salmon, timber industry and the many tribes native to the area. Might make a great audio as his descriptions are so evocative.
April 14, 2014
Written before locally based Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft took over the world, Egan's book defines the Pacific Northwest in terms of its abundant, and increasingly threatened, natural resources. Almost 25 years later, it seems as relevant as ever.
January 2, 2026
Reading this book felt like watching a documentary. A love letter to the PNW: intimate, heartbreaking, and deeply nostalgic.
May 1, 2021
After reading a more recent book by Timothy Egan, I couldn’t wait to read his earlier book on my shelf—each book a gift from my Seattle relatives, whose generous hospitality in showing me many and various parts of their geography helped me visualize much of the scenery in The Good Rain. Not that the writing needed such help. Egan’s masterful descriptions bring vivid pictures to the mind of his reader.
The subtitle, Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, aptly abstracts the contents of The Good Rain. Egan follows the footsteps of Theodore Winthrop, a direct descendant of the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, known for the Mayflower Compact (1630) with its principle of law for and by the people. In his twenties, in 1853, Theodore Winthrop explored the Pacific Northwest and wrote The Canoe and the Saddle, a brilliant account of his observations. Egan updates Winthrop’s keen observations with his own investigations of how things have changed in the course of 150 years.
Mostly, things have changed for the worse from Egan's perspective. Fur traders killed off the playful sea otters. Dam building, land filling, and industrial fishing have drastically reduced habitat for many varieties of salmon. Lumber corporations have stripped mountainsides of their old-growth trees. Chapter after chapter laments heartbreaking effects of resource extraction in vivid detail. Personal encounters with colorful characters Egan meets on his journey are laced throughout these chapters.
The author sympathizes deeply with the indigenous population, which was nearly wiped out by successive smallpox epidemics and by being forced to give up fishing as a way of life so they could be restricted to reservations. As one wretched, old native said,
On the other hand, Egan despises the Army Corps of Engineers (my father’s employer). He portrays the Corps as short-sighted, virtually blind to the environmental impact of its headlong march to build more dams on the Columbia, Snake, and other rivers in the Northwest.
While Egan’s intense indignation separates the righteous from the wicked in these stories, his observations include the morally ambiguous trade-offs between economic development and environmental protection. Although he wrote The Good Rain over 30 years ago, it’s as relevant today as then, and applicable not only to the Northwest, but to wherever economy and environment seem contrary. Egan’s book mourns environmental destruction and desecration, yet realistically yearns for restraint and balance.
I like nature, I enjoy reading excellent writing about history, and I recommend this book.
The subtitle, Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, aptly abstracts the contents of The Good Rain. Egan follows the footsteps of Theodore Winthrop, a direct descendant of the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, known for the Mayflower Compact (1630) with its principle of law for and by the people. In his twenties, in 1853, Theodore Winthrop explored the Pacific Northwest and wrote The Canoe and the Saddle, a brilliant account of his observations. Egan updates Winthrop’s keen observations with his own investigations of how things have changed in the course of 150 years.
Mostly, things have changed for the worse from Egan's perspective. Fur traders killed off the playful sea otters. Dam building, land filling, and industrial fishing have drastically reduced habitat for many varieties of salmon. Lumber corporations have stripped mountainsides of their old-growth trees. Chapter after chapter laments heartbreaking effects of resource extraction in vivid detail. Personal encounters with colorful characters Egan meets on his journey are laced throughout these chapters.
The author sympathizes deeply with the indigenous population, which was nearly wiped out by successive smallpox epidemics and by being forced to give up fishing as a way of life so they could be restricted to reservations. As one wretched, old native said,
“The white creator lives up there. The Indian creator lives all around. . . . You see him in the day, in the sun, and at night, in his brother the moon. But most of all, you see him in that water. That river. It’s never emptied out yet. It controls all of life. It controls everything. The Indians call that Father.”
On the other hand, Egan despises the Army Corps of Engineers (my father’s employer). He portrays the Corps as short-sighted, virtually blind to the environmental impact of its headlong march to build more dams on the Columbia, Snake, and other rivers in the Northwest.
While Egan’s intense indignation separates the righteous from the wicked in these stories, his observations include the morally ambiguous trade-offs between economic development and environmental protection. Although he wrote The Good Rain over 30 years ago, it’s as relevant today as then, and applicable not only to the Northwest, but to wherever economy and environment seem contrary. Egan’s book mourns environmental destruction and desecration, yet realistically yearns for restraint and balance.
I like nature, I enjoy reading excellent writing about history, and I recommend this book.
August 25, 2019
Informative and beautifully written, essential reading for the Northwest. It's a bit out of date, having been written 30 years ago, but still relevant to PNW culture. I'd love to see a 30 year anniversary edition with a new chapter or two on how things have changed since then. The profiles are sometimes a tad reductive, almost to the point of comedy (the chapter on Victoria for example made the whole town sound like a British cult), and it's depressing as hell to read all the reminders of how humans are murdering the natural world with no regard for the future. But overall, stellar writing and highly recommended. 4.5 stars.
July 1, 2024
Egan's first book is still one of his best. If you can understand the vernacular and recall the local stories, then you probably have lived near the Salish Sea for a very long time. Tim Egan has a great flair for a turn of a phrase and an applicable analogy which makes the book fun to read. The depressing parts are about the squandering of resources in the great Pacific northwest, which has made my heart sad for as long as I have lived in Seattle. The happy parts lift my soul and motivate me out-of-doors again, even in the (good) rain.
October 13, 2017
Growing up in the Northwest, and then reading this book 27 years after the author tromped about the region and explored the culture, history, and geography, I'm struck by what has changed in those 27 years. Some things have improved, and some things have grown worse, and others have just changed.
But overall, this is still a really good love song to "the good rain" and the lovely Pacific Northwest.
But overall, this is still a really good love song to "the good rain" and the lovely Pacific Northwest.
April 16, 2012
A must read for anyone who lives here, particularly newcomers. Egan's selection great stories and characters from the Pacific Northwest and the masterful way in which he weaves those threads into a beautiful tale is what makes this a tough book to put down.
March 5, 2015
This book is a romance to the place I grew up. Not always pretty, and often scarred, it is beauty in its truth. Grandeur and simple it is all laid out.
May 12, 2020
I read Good Rain when it was first published, re-reading it thirty years later gives differing perspectives on how some things in Pacific Northwest changed as predicted, some in unpredicted ways and how others have remained the same.
The book starts with Timothy Egan's grandfather's ashes, he wants to bury them somewhere that would be special to his grandfather who fished waters all over the Northwest. Egan decides on the White River's source and leaves them at the Winthrop glacier on Mt Rainier. That prompts Egan to wonder about the glacier's namesake, he researches and learns about Theodore Winthrop's book, the Canoe and the Saddle that told of his 1853 visit to the Pacific Northwest. Egan retraces Winthrop's travels, the Good Rain is somewhat of a 1990 update to Winthrop's book.
The first chapter on Astoria gives example of changes between 1990 and now. Egan describes Astoria as a rare remaining "resource town" where blue collar work, black coffee, chain smoking, windowless taverns on the Columbia still dominate compared to places like Bend and Coeur d'Alene which changed from blue collar work to trendy. Astoria today has many of the trendy features that Egan found absent. However, the power of the Columbia flowing into the Pacific so well described by Egan in his trip on a Coast Guard rescue boat is still there.
Winthrop and Egan traveled over much of the Northwest giving Egan opportunities to describe the it as Winthrop saw it, how it was in 1990 and anticipate changes. His trip to the Yakima Valley both validates and contradicts some predictions. He meets with apple orchardists who detail the history of the Red Delicious that dominated the industry and wonder about the future varieties that will challenge its dominance. Today that has happened. On the other hand when Egan visits the Hogues to discuss wine a theme along with the climate and soil conditions that make for such great wine grapes is that there are no chateaus, no fancy wineries. A trip today to the wine regions of Eastern Washington shows an abundance of such wine tasting venues.
Reading of Egan's visit to Okanogan County and its sad discussion of the two Goldmark cases, the original libel trial where a legislator was libeled by the local paper for being a Communist and the murder of his son and family years later because of the lingering conspiracy theory of Goldmarks and Communism gives lessons for today. Egan deftly describes that the Communist libel was perpetuated by pro-private power leaders who saw Goldmark as being effective in his advocacy for public power in Eastern Washington. Not able to defeat public power at the ballot box they turned to the hoax of Communism to defeat Goldmark. This anticipated the Koch brothers efforts after passage of Obamacare to stir up the beginnings of the Tea Party movement with its own conspiracy theories, and today's right wing radio and internet conspiracy theories that are so based on hate
I'm glad I took the time to re-read this great book on our great Northwest
The book starts with Timothy Egan's grandfather's ashes, he wants to bury them somewhere that would be special to his grandfather who fished waters all over the Northwest. Egan decides on the White River's source and leaves them at the Winthrop glacier on Mt Rainier. That prompts Egan to wonder about the glacier's namesake, he researches and learns about Theodore Winthrop's book, the Canoe and the Saddle that told of his 1853 visit to the Pacific Northwest. Egan retraces Winthrop's travels, the Good Rain is somewhat of a 1990 update to Winthrop's book.
The first chapter on Astoria gives example of changes between 1990 and now. Egan describes Astoria as a rare remaining "resource town" where blue collar work, black coffee, chain smoking, windowless taverns on the Columbia still dominate compared to places like Bend and Coeur d'Alene which changed from blue collar work to trendy. Astoria today has many of the trendy features that Egan found absent. However, the power of the Columbia flowing into the Pacific so well described by Egan in his trip on a Coast Guard rescue boat is still there.
Winthrop and Egan traveled over much of the Northwest giving Egan opportunities to describe the it as Winthrop saw it, how it was in 1990 and anticipate changes. His trip to the Yakima Valley both validates and contradicts some predictions. He meets with apple orchardists who detail the history of the Red Delicious that dominated the industry and wonder about the future varieties that will challenge its dominance. Today that has happened. On the other hand when Egan visits the Hogues to discuss wine a theme along with the climate and soil conditions that make for such great wine grapes is that there are no chateaus, no fancy wineries. A trip today to the wine regions of Eastern Washington shows an abundance of such wine tasting venues.
Reading of Egan's visit to Okanogan County and its sad discussion of the two Goldmark cases, the original libel trial where a legislator was libeled by the local paper for being a Communist and the murder of his son and family years later because of the lingering conspiracy theory of Goldmarks and Communism gives lessons for today. Egan deftly describes that the Communist libel was perpetuated by pro-private power leaders who saw Goldmark as being effective in his advocacy for public power in Eastern Washington. Not able to defeat public power at the ballot box they turned to the hoax of Communism to defeat Goldmark. This anticipated the Koch brothers efforts after passage of Obamacare to stir up the beginnings of the Tea Party movement with its own conspiracy theories, and today's right wing radio and internet conspiracy theories that are so based on hate
I'm glad I took the time to re-read this great book on our great Northwest
March 14, 2024
For years, I told newcomers to the Pacific Northwest that this 1990 book was the best introduction to the land, the people, the history, and the issues of the Northwest. I found a copy at an estate sale for fifty cents and thought, I wonder if it still holds up?
It does. Granted, the 'current situation' he describes at the time is now historical, but it's uncanny how many of the same issues apply today: Saving the salmon, protecting the wilderness, climate change (just rearing its head then), and dealing with increased cost of housing (more affordable then but climbing).
Egan uses the 1853 journey of Theodore Winthrop as documented in 'The Canoe and the Saddle' as an inspiration to revisit many of the sites that Winthrop visited. Of course, Egan can go places (like a fair ways up Mt. Rainier) that Winthrop couldn't go. Along the way, Egan compares what Winthrop found and saw to what he finds.
Egan is a journalist by profession, and brings a journalist's gift for storytelling to the book. Always engaging, often funny, constantly contemplative, Egan's themes recur: Resource exploitation and exhaustion, the unique nature of the PNW, the supplanting of the Native populations (but coming back with the 1974 Boldt decision of fishing, even more significant today). I like Egan's definition of how far the Pacific Northwest extends: “Wherever the salmon are (were) able to reach.” That feels right.
I'd still give this book to any newcomer, and even to anyone who's been here awhile who would like a wide-ranging historical tour of this upper left corner of the 48 contiguous states. I'd tell them “a lot of people can tell you what's changed in the last thirty years or so, but this book will tell you where we're coming from, and why we stay here.”
It does. Granted, the 'current situation' he describes at the time is now historical, but it's uncanny how many of the same issues apply today: Saving the salmon, protecting the wilderness, climate change (just rearing its head then), and dealing with increased cost of housing (more affordable then but climbing).
Egan uses the 1853 journey of Theodore Winthrop as documented in 'The Canoe and the Saddle' as an inspiration to revisit many of the sites that Winthrop visited. Of course, Egan can go places (like a fair ways up Mt. Rainier) that Winthrop couldn't go. Along the way, Egan compares what Winthrop found and saw to what he finds.
Egan is a journalist by profession, and brings a journalist's gift for storytelling to the book. Always engaging, often funny, constantly contemplative, Egan's themes recur: Resource exploitation and exhaustion, the unique nature of the PNW, the supplanting of the Native populations (but coming back with the 1974 Boldt decision of fishing, even more significant today). I like Egan's definition of how far the Pacific Northwest extends: “Wherever the salmon are (were) able to reach.” That feels right.
I'd still give this book to any newcomer, and even to anyone who's been here awhile who would like a wide-ranging historical tour of this upper left corner of the 48 contiguous states. I'd tell them “a lot of people can tell you what's changed in the last thirty years or so, but this book will tell you where we're coming from, and why we stay here.”
March 16, 2020
This was a lovely short history of the Pacific Northwest as told by retracing the steps of original visitors. I now have stories to go with many of the place names on the map. Seattle, Fort Stevens, Vancouver, Victoria. It covers some of the great volcanoes of the Cascade. And it also illustrate how the unlimited bounty of the northwest has exhausted by short term thinking. The salmon runs, the sea otters, the timber, the old growth forests... all of these natural resources have been depleted. And the Native Americans that lived here for 10,000 years have mostly been shipped off to Oklahoma or worse.
This book is similar in style to "A River Lost" by Blaine Harden that recounts the history of the Columbia.
This book is similar in style to "A River Lost" by Blaine Harden that recounts the history of the Columbia.
October 18, 2025
This book is like a love letter to the Pacific Northwest, and I enjoyed every second of it. I also learned a lot from it. Even though it was written more than 30 years ago, I feel everything the author conveyed, and the wonder this region evokes is unchanged.
The loss of trees, salmon, and American Indians is acute. I feel conflict by benefitting from the development of this region, without which I could not be here. But it is still so beautiful, so unique, so capable of inspiring awe (which is why we moved here). I suffer with the agony of not being able to be in nature, due to the foot injury that has left me unable to hike for over a year and terrified that I'll never be able to again.
The Pacific Northwest is the most wonderful part of the world.
The loss of trees, salmon, and American Indians is acute. I feel conflict by benefitting from the development of this region, without which I could not be here. But it is still so beautiful, so unique, so capable of inspiring awe (which is why we moved here). I suffer with the agony of not being able to be in nature, due to the foot injury that has left me unable to hike for over a year and terrified that I'll never be able to again.
The Pacific Northwest is the most wonderful part of the world.
January 14, 2019
As a native Washingtonian it's hard to believe that's I've missed reading this book for so long. Reading the pages I felt like I was back home, in the world from my childhood exploring all the corners of the state.
Published in 1991 there are definite needed updates, some which reflect good (Nisqually Refuge renamed Billy Frank Jr. and dikes taken out, Elwah dam removal project, Hanford Reach National Monument recognized, etc) - though some perhaps where there's been not as much progress (Willapa Bay hills still being clearcut).
A good read for those from the area hoping to learn some more history about their space. It would be helpful to look up updates though to every chapter to better understand. Fingers crossed a new edition comes out at some point.
Published in 1991 there are definite needed updates, some which reflect good (Nisqually Refuge renamed Billy Frank Jr. and dikes taken out, Elwah dam removal project, Hanford Reach National Monument recognized, etc) - though some perhaps where there's been not as much progress (Willapa Bay hills still being clearcut).
A good read for those from the area hoping to learn some more history about their space. It would be helpful to look up updates though to every chapter to better understand. Fingers crossed a new edition comes out at some point.
October 9, 2022
Glad to know some of the history and context of places in the PNW that are often under-reported on and misunderstood, but I found this book to be very much a product of its time (late ‘90’s). I was very offput by the author’s choice to retrace the path of Winthrop and how much Winthrop was idolized and centered in this narrative of the PNW’s history. Too much white man’s gaze for me, but still giving it 3 stars since I did learn a lot about the PNW’s history, and I thought the over-the-top descriptive language was kind of endearing. Would definitely be interested in diving deeper into some of the topics that were touched on here, but from an author who has a more immediate/intimate connection to the history.
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