The River Pioneers

History of Grays Harbor, its coastal towns and river valleys in Grays Harbor County, Washington from 1775-1948. Narrative insights into the lives of the native Indians, early explorers and the pioneers who settled the valleys and established towns such as Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Cosmopolis and Grays Harbor City.

History of Grays Harbor, its coastal towns and river valleys in Grays Harbor County, Washington from 1775-1948. Narrative insights into the lives of the native Indians, early explorers and the pioneers who settled the valleys and established towns such as Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Cosmopolis and Grays Harbor City.

"As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River. McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam; Cutler's son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent figure in American science. They and their families created a town in a primeval wilderness, while coping with such frontier realities as trees of a size never imagined, floods, fires, wolves, bears, even an earthquake, all the while negotiating a contentious and sometimes hostile relationship with the native people. Like so many of McCullough's subjects, they let no obstacle deter or defeat them. Drawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figures, The Pioneers is a uniquely American story of people whose ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments."--Dust jacket.

From its headwaters, the Middle Fork of the Flathead River flows 92 wild and scenic miles through the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wildernesses and alongside Glacier National Park. It also flows through history, carrying the stories of explorers, trappers, prospectors, railroad builders and train robbers, moonshiners, hoteliers, horse packers, wilderness rangers, and more. Author John Fraley (Heroes of the Bob Marshall Wilderness; A Woman’s Way West; Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers) knows this river and its stories as well as anyone, and Wild River Pioneers is his collection of true tales about shootouts, grizzly bear attacks, a murder (and a hanging), secret caves, fortunes won and lost, a wily Josephine Doody bootlegging in Glacier National Park, and an ice cream–eating pet bear. • 20th Anniversary Edition updated with new information and images • Meticulously researched from primary sources and in-person interviews • Amply illustrated with historical photographs * 92 black-and-white photographs * 2 illustrations * 2 maps

Living in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, young Black activist Mifflin Gibbs was feeling disheartened from fighting the overwhelming tide of White America’s legalized racism when abolitionist Julia Griffith encouraged him to “go do some great thing.” These words helped inspire him to become a successful merchant in San Francisco, and then to seek a more just society in the new colony of Vancouver Island, where he was to become a prominent citizen and elected official. Gibbs joined a movement of Black American emigrants fleeing the increasingly oppressive and anti-Black Californian legal system in 1858. They hoped to establish themselves in a new country where they would have full access to the rights of citizenship and would be free to seek success and stability. Some six hundred Black Californians made the trip to Victoria in the midst of the Fraser River Gold Rush, but their hopes of finding a welcoming new home were ultimately disappointed. They were to encounter social segregation, disenfranchisement, limited employment opportunities and rampant discrimination. But in spite of the opposition and racism they faced, these pioneers played a pivotal role in the emerging province, establishing an all-Black militia unit to protect against American invasion, casting deciding votes in the 1860 election and helping to build the province as teachers, miners, artisans, entrepreneurs and merchants. Crawford Kilian brings this vibrant period of British Columbia’s history to life, evoking the chaos and opportunity of Victoria’s gold rush boom and describing the fascinating lives of prominent Black pioneers and trailblazers, from Sylvia Stark and Saltspring Island’s notable Stark family to lifeguard and special constable Joe Fortes, who taught a generation of Vancouverites to swim. Since its original publication in 1978, Go Do Some Great Thing has remained foundational reading on the history of Black pioneers in BC. Updated and with a new foreword by Adam Rudder, the third edition of this under-told story describes the hardships and triumphs of BC’s first Black citizens and their legacy in the province today. Partial proceeds from each copy sold will be donated to the Hogan's Alley Society.

A history of men who worked the rivers in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Drift back in history to time when the rivermen still plied their trade through the northern rivers of BC. Crooked River Rats tells the tales of men and women who traveled the river highways living and working in the wilderness. Generations of trappers, hunters, big game guides and prospectors depended on the riverboat for their supplies. Using brute strength and strong will, these river pioneers endured much hardship as they opened up the northern bush. These are their stories. Today as motorists travel the John Hart Highway running north from Prince George they will see the Crooked River appear on the west side of the road. It is a very slow-running stream that is for the most part shallow and often very narrow. Yes, the river is unimposing and quiet now, but only fifty years ago this river was the only highway to the north and, as such, teemed with activity. All the freight to the north was carried along the Crooked, Pack, Parsnip, Finlay and Peace Rivers by long riverboat. The decades of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s were the heyday of the rivermen. These were the years when the price of wild fur was high. Roads had penetrated the headwaters of the Crooked and Pack Rivers by the 50s, but the country northward still was serviced mainly by riverboats until 1969 when Williston Lake was formed by hydro development, thereby cutting off the rivers. The communities and trading posts of McLeod Lake, Finlay Forks, Fort Graham and Fort Ware all depended on the river highways for their existence. Generations of trappers, hunters and big game guides, as well as independent prospectors depended on the boats for their supplies. These provisions would, in many cases, have to last and entire winter with freight being almost impossible to move during the November to April freeze up. The book begins with events that took place before the advent of motorized power, when river travel required simple, brute strength. I then continued with stories that took place through the 1920s and 30s when outboard engines arrived on the scene. Trappers and the trapping industry are what opened up all of Canada and this book would be remiss if these enterprising men were not given their due. I have included discussions on what life was like for the men and women who braved the rivers and the hardships of northern wilderness life. To this end, I have included excerpts from letters and diaries of the day that described the hardships these people faced, and accepted as almost routine, in their daily lives. These excerpts were copied as the original authors wrote them so none of their flavor would be lost. There are also true-life stories about gold seekers, big game guides and the missionaries who lived and thrived throughout the 40's, 50s and 60s. The last chapter of this book describes the enormous impact the Peace River Dam, completed in 1968, had on the area and its people. The men and women that lived and worked in this Rocky Mountain Trench area and particularly the rivermen themselves were a hardy lot. They were individualistic and resourceful in emergencies and they just loved to be living and working in the wilderness. These are their stories.