Although his training was in surgery and medicine, Archibald Menzies' great love was botany. He served as naturalist and ship's surgeon with the Vancouver expedition from 1791 to 1795. As a result of the Nootka Sound Convention of 1790, Captain Vancouver had been ordered to take possession of Friendly Cove in Nootka Sound from the Spanish. In addition, he was to search for the legendary Northwest Passage. As part of his assignment, Menzies collected seeds and botanical specimens, faithfully recording the wonders he observed during the expedition. His daily record of the people encountered, descriptions of the fauna and flora, and accounts of the activities of the survey parties provide important insights into coastal Alaska of 200 years ago.
The bestselling, award-winning author of Bad Land takes us along the Inside Passage, 1,000 miles of often treacherous water, which he navigates solo in a 35-foot sailboat, offering captivating discourses on art, philosophy, and navigation and an unsparing narrative of personal loss. "A work of great beauty and inexhaustible fervor." —The Washington Post Book World With the same rigorous observation (natural and social), invigorating stylishness, and encyclopedic learning that he brought to his National Book Award-winning Bad Land, Jonathan Raban conducts readers along the Inside Passage from Seattle to Juneau. But Passage to Juneau also traverses a gulf of centuries and cultures: the immeasurable divide between the Northwest's Indians and its first European explorers—between its embattled fishermen and loggers and its pampered new class.
The story of one of Alaska’s last Indigenous strongholds, shut off for a century until a fateful encounter between a shaman, a preacher, and a naturalist. Tucked in the corner of Southeast Alaska, the Tlingits had successfully warded off the Anglo influences that had swept into other corners of the territory. This Native American tribe was viewed by European and American outsiders as the last wild tribe and a frustrating impediment to access. Missionaries and prospectors alike had widely failed to bring the Tlingit into their power. Yet, when naturalist John Muir arrived in 1879, accompanied by a fiery preacher, it only took a speech about “brotherhood”—and some encouragement from the revered local shaman Skandoo’o—to finally transform these “hostile heathens.” Using Muir’s original journal entries, as well as historic writings of explorers juxtaposed with insights from contemporary tribal descendants, Across the Shaman’s River reveals how Muir’s famous canoe journey changed the course of history and had profound consequences on the region’s Native Americans. “The product of three decades of thought, research, and attentive listening. . . . Henry shines a bright light on events that have long been shadowy, half-known. . . . Now, thanks to careful scholarship and his access to Tlingit oral history, we are given a different perspective on familiar events: we are inside the Tlingit world, looking out at the changes happening all around them.” —Alaska History
For half a century Earl and Floyd Willits built some of the world's finest canoes, first near Artondale, Washington, then on Day Island, right off of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Turning out approximately twenty canoes a year, carefully logging and numbering each one, the brothers emphasized quality and design rather than volume. Willits Brothers Canoe Company earned a reputation that enabled the tiny company to compete successfully with businesses much larger, leaving a name and legacy which is still admired by canoe aficionados today. Carefully researched and documented, this combination biography and company history tells the story of Earl and Floyd Willits and their unique canoe company. Beginning with their family's westward migration from Illinois, it follows the brothers as they set about starting the business that would become their lifelong work. Close attention is given to the Willitses' business management and construction techniques as well as their personal lives. Interviews with surviving contemporaries and family members add a personal dimension to the Willitses' story. Appendices include a detailed company logbook, instructions from the Willits brothers on various areas of canoe use and maintenance, a price list of canoes from 1928 to 1964 and a list of serial numbers and dates of manufacture. In addition, a price comparison with the Old Town Canoe Company, a listing of museums exhibiting a Willits Brothers canoe, two Willits Brothers Canoe company catalogs and various plans of Willits canoes are provided. Contemporary photographs from the Willits family collection are also included.
Before Alaska became a mining bonanza, it was a scenic bonanza, a place larger in the American imagination than in its actual borders. Prior to the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, thousands of scenic adventurers journeyed along the Inside Passage, the nearly thousand-mile sea-lane that snakes up the Pacific coast from Puget Sound to Icy Strait. Both the famous—including wilderness advocate John Muir, landscape painter Albert Bierstadt, and photographers Eadweard Muybridge and Edward Curtis—and the long forgotten—a gay ex-sailor, a former society reporter, an African explorer, and a neurasthenic Methodist minister—returned with fascinating accounts of their Alaskan journeys, becoming advance men and women for an expanding United States. In Darkest Alaska explores the popular images conjured by these travelers' tales, as well as their influence on the broader society. Drawing on lively firsthand accounts, archival photographs, maps, and other ephemera of the day, historian Robert Campbell chronicles how Gilded Age sightseers were inspired by Alaska's bounty of evolutionary treasures, tribal artifacts, geological riches, and novel thrills to produce a wealth of highly imaginative reportage about the territory. By portraying the territory as a "Last West" ripe for American conquest, tourists helped pave the way for settlement and exploitation.
CLICK HERE to download the first chapter from A Long Treak Home * Compelling adventure with an environmental focus * An informative natural and cultural history of one of our last wild coastlines * Author is a pioneer in "packrafting," an emerging trend in backcountry travel In June 2007, Erin McKittrick and her husband, Hig, embarked on a 4,000-mile expedition from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, traveling solely by human power. This is the story of their unprecedented trek along the northwestern edge of the Pacific Ocean-a year-long journey through some of the most rugged terrain in the world- and their encounters with rain, wind, blizzards, bears, and their own emotional and spiritual demons. Erin and Hig set out from Seattle with a desire to raise awareness of natural resource and conservation issues along their route: clear-cut logging of rainforests; declining wild salmon populations; extraction of mineral resources; and effects of global climate change. By taking each mile step by step, they were able to intimately explore the coastal regions of Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, see the wilderness in its larger context, and provide a unique on-the-ground perspective. An entertaining and, at times, thrilling adventure, theirs is a journey of discovery and of insights about the tiny communities that dot this wild coast, as well as the individuals there whom they meet and inspire.
“Unlike the standard nature guides that explain how to recognize common animals, Nature stresses the web of interrelationships that link the regional flora and fauna. This affectionate examination of some of North America’s most spectacular surviving old-growth forests will delight backpackers and armchair naturalists.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Everything you ever wanted to know about the flora and fauna of Southeast Alaska is contained in the third edition of this lively field guide to the natural world, from bears to banana slugs, mountains to murrelets. The authors, who are both Alaskan residents and biologists, combine scientific research with personal experiences to make a definitive field guide for residents of or visitors to Southeast Alaska. The unique features of the book include: In-depth information about how wildlife coexists with the environment Detailed discussions of mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, fungi, and plants Detailed map of wilderness areas in Southeast Alaska More than 200 black-and-white illustrations A bibliography, list of common and scientific names, and an index New to this edition: More than 100 new illustrations, many never before published, as well as new maps and photos Major expansion of sections on geology, old-growth forests, marine mammals, and amphibians Fifty-two new sidebars—written in the first person to give the text a more personal touch—that describe recent findings or experiences. Sweeping updates and elaborations to chapter narratives—often thanks to technology unknown in 1992. In-depth guide to Southeast Alaska’s flora and fauna; more than an identification manual, Nature explores how the species and habitats encountered in the woods and waters of Southeast Alaska fit into the bigger picture.
Alaska Trees and Shrubs has been the definitive work on the woody plants of Alaska for more than three decades. This new, completely revised second edition provides updated information on habitat, as well as detailed descriptions of every tree or shrub species in the state. New distribution maps reflect the latest survey data, while the keys, glossary, and appendix on non-native plants make this the most useful guide to Alaska trees and shrubs ever published.
'Passport's Trip Planner and Travel Diary' is a handy, take-along companion that helps you plan your travels before you go and recall your journey once you're home again.
