Pacific Books

This is an excellent first hand account of the original discovery of what was to be the Oregon Trail (in reverse). Robert Stuart originally left New York on the ship the Tonquin, funded by John Jacob Astor, and sailed around the tip of South America and then eventually up to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon to establish a trading post. Stuart then proceeded to head back east to report to Astor about the state of affairs of the trading fort. With only a handful of men, they went by canoe, horseback and mostly by foot, from the mouth of the Columbia to St. Louis, then eventually to New York. This historical narrative is beyond words. They faced the hardships of hunger, fatigue, Indians, weather, and about everything else one can think of. It is truly a fascinating portrayal of day to day survival in the 1812 wilderness written from the hand of the man who was there. What I also enjoyed about the book was the Appendix on Wilson Price Hunt who, also working for Astor, took an expedition by land from St. Louis to Oregon at about the same time. His written account is also mind-blowing and puts the whole book into perspective. There is also an excellent forward by Rollins which gives you a background on what you are about to read.

This book represents a major achievement in the annals of western exploration, and deserves a prominent spot on anyone's American history shelf. In 1810, Robert Stuart, a partner with John Jacob Astor, shipped to the mouth of the Columbia River, where he helped establish Astoria. But troubles at the post with the British during the War of 1812 impelled Stuart with six other men to make an overland winter journey over the Rockies to St. Louis. Throughout the journey Stuart kept a journal, in which he recorded everything encountered along the way: the precise route taken, various Indian tribes, flora and fauna, perspective trapping grounds - and their own personal hardships, which included, near starvation, freezing weather, and hostile Indians. He gave the journal to Astor, who sent it to President James Madison. Stuart then wrote a more formal version of the journey, which was published in France. The original journal made its way back to the Stuart family, where it remained forgotten until it was discovered in a cupboard and finally published in 1935.

This book publishes both the original journal and the French rewrite, known as the "Traveling Memoranda." Both are meticulously edited by Philip Ashton Rollins, which is the key that makes this edition not only definitive but a masterwork. With Rollin's notes it's possible to follow Stuart's route precisely. He is especially detailed where the men crossed South Pass, the first known whites to do so, though their "discovery" would go unrecognized (Jedediah Smith is credited with making the first "recorded" crossing of the Pass in 1824.) In addition to these works, there is a 70-page Forward that summarizes events and puts the Narratives into perspective and a detailed Biographical Note on Stuart's family history.

The book indeed is a major accomplishment. Anyone interested in the early exploration of the West must read this book. Highly recommended.

Robert Stuart, a partner of John Jacob Astor, was sent by ship to Oregon on company business, and returned cross country by horseback, canoe and foot. Along the way he kept a journal, written in berry juice, which is reprinted here. Washington Irving also wrote "Astoria" based on this journal.

Our whole country should be grateful to Robert Stuart for his discovery of the Oregon Trail and his courage against unbelievable odds in making such a tortuous journey. This book was first printed in 1935 and the original copies are scarce and valuable. So I was thrilled to discover that Amazon not only sold it but that it was now in paperback! When the word gets around to the rest of his descendants, we will have this book on the best seller list, where it belongs. So take that, Lewis & Clark!

A tale of simple believing and self forgiveness. By letting go of the anger, including the ego and pride, Eagle Boy coupled the powerful believing in friendships and trusting in the inner spirit within all true hearts, a transformation of healing can take place in our inner mind and body, within our families, whithin our communities, within the nation and around the world. Imagine and conceive the resulting peace that cannot be robbed from us, no matter the events of the world. Great retelling of this legend, that combines the best in many cultures and beliefs. Perfect for these very times.

Sharing, kindness and friendship are the main themes in this wonderful Native American folktale. Readers will become aware of the true bonds that can develop between humans and animals. That is an invaluable lesson that will help deepen appreciation for nature.

"Eagle Boy: A Pacific Northwest Native Tale" is retold by Richard Lee Vaughan with illustrations by Lee Christiansen. Together they tell the story of a Native American boy called Eagle Boy by the people of his village. Eagle Boy is scolded by the villagers because he shares his food with the eagles. But when his village faces a food shortage, Eagle Boy's kinship with the winged predators becomes important for everybody.

"Eagle Boy" is a story of ostracism, love, magical transformation, and a mystical human-animal connection. Eagle Boy is a memorable hero. The illustrations are truly marvelous: they are rich with warm colors, and make dramatic use of light and shadow. The book opens with a stunning picture of eagles fishing by the seashore, and contains many other great images. Recommended.

This book gives a well rounded look at the work of Edward Sheriff Curtis in a size that is easy to handle.

After viewing on PBS, a documentary of Edward Sheriff Curtis, I was moved to purchase this excellent work.
I was touched to my soul, by the photos, and how well they conveyed a race of people who have all but vanished.
The text that goes with the pictures is also quite good, and tells a remarkable story of a man obsessed to tell the world a story which we all need to hear and see. Curtis sacrificed his own finances and marriage, and did succeed in completing a very exhausting pilgrimage.

This is perhaps the greatest book authored by my uncle, Victor Hugo Boesen. He worked diligently with Curtis' daughter and other members and friends of the Curtis family to research and to write this book. The photographs are stunning. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the American Indian and Curtis' crucial role in recording this history. This book has been translated into French and German. Victor Boesen served as a war correspondent for Liberty Magazine during World War II and was present at the signing of the peace treaty on the USS Missouri. His writings appeared in Life, Look, the Los Angeles Times, and other major periodicals and newspapers.

"These stories are at once bittersweet, tender, and funny without ridiculing. We recognize ourselves or know someone in those shoes and they touch our hearts. We root for or pray along with them as they try to unravel the puzzle of their lives. Romo skillfully maintains and heightens the momentum and allure of the story with folkloric intrigue: how and why has the Rio Grande turned red?" -- Liz Raptis Picco, for El Andar.

Imagine Joyce's Dubliners set on the Rio Grande. Like life itself, this book is sweet, sad, beautiful, astonishingly interconnected, and all too short. When Tomasita burns the beans, she sets in motion a series of events that touches the lives of a dozen other women, and attracts the notice of millions. Romo employs a series of brief vignettes to tell powerful, emotion-packed stories of life and death and love and pain, and ties them all together into an exquisite package. Short, but delightful in its richness and complexity, this is a perfect gem of a novel, and one of few works of fiction this reviewer has read recently that didn't cry out to be edited down. All of the main characters are Mexican-American women, so women and Latinos may find this book especially endearing, but such is the power of Romo's achievement that this slim volume can readily be appreciated by everyone.

"Romo has a pleasing, unpretentious writing style, and he sometimes exhibits a real eye and ear for the ordinary moments that give life meaning. Throughout EL PUENTE, I was frequently reminded of John Steinbeck. Romo isn't as obsessed with social and economic justice, but he has a similar knack for describing the lives of plain, simple folk on the street.... EL PUENTE shows a lot of promise."--Steven Robert Allen

I've been growing NW natives for 25 years with successes and failures (and a lot of fun). With this book, I would have had many fewer failures! I've pulled it out a dozen times already this season and it's never failed me. Excellent photos, descriptions, and propagation instructions. It looks like a tea-table treasure, but it performs like a combination field guide and cultivation handbook. Highly recommended.

This is the best book on NW natives I've found. Great pictures, descriptions and very complete. If I could only have one native plant book this'd be the one. Worth the pirce

The layout and format are excellent. I especially appreciate that the pictures are on the same page as the relevant text. (Books that make me turn to page 437 for the picture annoy me.) You won't be taking this book along in your backpack as you hike in the wilderness, due to its size and weight, but that's what Pojar and Mackinnon's Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska is for. You'll keep this book at home near your garden, and the wealth of pictures will help you dream and plan about the beautiful natives you could have in your garden.

The descriptions feature recommendations for locations within your garden, helping you put the right plant in the right place. With large native evergreens, this is the absolute critical step, as many a cute little fir has grown up to menace the neighborhood. This book is similar to Kruckeberg's Gardening With Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest but with ten times as many plants to choose from.

The book is not as complete as Hitchcock's Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual, but it is much more user friendly. You could spend a lifetime trying to fit every plant in this encyclopedia into your garden, and you would be kept happily busy.

Any northwest gardener with the slightest interest in gardening with natives will want to add this book to his or her shelf.

...I found Dobereiner's book the most staggeringly impressive, on its subject, that I have ever come across. The contents of the book bring so much insight and information, emerging from his creative genius that I believe it is epoch making, a landmark for all environmental designers as well as an inspiration for the life-positive evolution of homo sapiens.

Paul Ritter
Author of 'Planning for Man and Motor'

David Dobereiner's just published THE END OF THE STREET, Sustainable Growth Within Natural Limits, gives us hope that our march toward oblivion can be reversed through examples of "green" communities both large and small. Dobereiner gives examples; his model city Matripolis, his rammed earth buildings in Nepal and his Tenerife Bioclimatic Design house in the Canary Islands.

I recommend this book for design students almost as enthusiastically as I once did R. Buckminster Fuller's OPERATING MANUAL FOR SPACESHIP EARTH, and Victor Papanek's DESIGN FOR THE REAL WORLD. THE END OF THE STREET will provoke discussion and convince young people to design responsibly to save the planet.

Al Gowan
Professor Emeritus of Design
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston

The End of The Street: Sustainable Growth Within Natural Limits was written by my partner so I am prejudiced. but nevertheless, it is an important book. I had the opportunity to watch David work on the book for many years and can vouch that he has been ahead of his time in many areas, especially ecology.
One of his co-workers once said that he could solve a design problem better and faster than any other architect he knew and I have witnessed this many times over . In " The End of the Street", he presents many examples of ecological and architectural ideas, in word and in image.
His views of the sustainable city and of the society of the future are brilliant and innovative.
David is a dedicated, earnest, quietly intelligent, creative person with a great deal to donate to the discussion of the climate crisis, to architecture and to our world.
David became a vegetarian over 55 years years ago when, as an architectural student in England, he was sent to study slaughter houses. His love of animals is evident in the book. The description of our cat is particularly apt. David rides his bike almost everywhere and tries to live as ecologically as possible so, he does not recommend things that he doesnt try to practise in his daily life.
I'm not sure if the American public is yet ready to forgo the large single family house and the 3 cars and the huge stores but with the climate crisis becoming more imminent,there may be no choice.
David has adapted Matripolis so that other countries with varying topographies and populations, especially poor countries, might find an answer for their housing and ecological problems.
Apart from general reading I hope that The End of the Street will be used as a text ...It is informative, interesting ,timely and well written.

Es un libro para adolescentes, pero que sin duda le hace muy bien a los adultos. La primera vez que lo leí lo llevé al aula para que lo leyesen mis estudiantes de secundaria. El efecto fue grandioso, leían entusiasmados y lograron vencer su apatía haciendo preguntas que habitualmente no hacían. Es un libro muy bueno. El autor logra captar la atención de los adolescentes, lo cual en este tiempo es un gran logro.

Cuando tuve este libro en mis manos por primera vez no entendí mucho el propósito del autor. Sin embargo, cuando se lo dí a leer a mis alumnos de secundaria pasó algo extraordinario, comenzaron a hacer preguntas, se lo recomendaban entre ellos y a diferencia de lo que suponía lo leyeron de manera entusiasta. Realmente las mejores clases que tuve fueron a raíz de este libro. Luego he preguntado a padres y otros colegas y la reacción a sido la misma. El autor logra captar la atención de los adolescentes, lo cual es mucho en este tiempo.

La primera vez que me llegó este libro a mis manos quedé grátamente sorprendido por su sencillez y a la vez profundidad. La sorpresa mayor fue cuando se lo di a leer a mis alumnos de secundaria. En seguida se produjo un efecto inesperado, ellos habitualmente reacios a leer comenzaron a devorar el libro y recomendarselo entre ellos. Sentían como si fueran ellos los que hablasen. Realmente lo recomiendo, especialmente a padres y profesores para tener dialogos con sus adolescentes. Además, cada página trae preguntas para hacer, por si no se nos ocurre ninguna.

Want to get outdoors and be active in the Boston area? Start by buying this book. Lee Sinai describes, in wonderful detail, many of the rides and hikes one can take within a thirty-five-mile radius of Boston. The author has organized the forty trips around geographical areas, north, south or west of Boston, so selecting one is easy. Maps of each destination are included. Each trip description includes what's important to an outdoor enthusiast.... availability of restrooms, closest access to food, degree of difficulty, directions for getting there, and a historical background of the area.
Using this book, I discovered Dogtown, a mountain biking haven in Gloucester. I also experienced Cameron's, home to the best lobster roll in Massachusetts. The author led me to Great Brook Farm in Carlisle for cycling and then to Kimball's for a memorable ice cream treat.
As a guidebook, I give Exploring In and Around Boston on Bike and Foot the highest rating.

Lee Sinai has taken a group of varied and unusual hikes and trails around Boston and compiled them into an informative and accessible guide. We refer to her book often when looking for interesting, new places to explore, and have found it invaluable in "rediscovering" Boston.

Right from the get go I found this hiking and biking guide to be a miracle of organization and indispensable information. This book not only groups locations by geographical location, but also with respect to hiking, road biking and mountain biking. I found the handy reference guide towards the beginning of the book extremely useful while including not only difficulty ratings, but also mileage for each trip, something not always available in one specific location in a guide book. The maps accompanying each site are extremely easy to follow and the descriptions really do fit the terrain perfectly, whether or not you chose to take the book along on your journeys. I found the directions to each location to be extremely useful and especially appreciated the public transportation options that help those city dwellers who lack automobiles. Other handy features include locations and descriptions of local restaurants, attractions and even restrooms. This book included an very helpful mix of locations both in the greater Boston area, as well as highlighting several gems in the neighboring suburbs. I especially appreciated the handy reference map showing the location of all the spots, as well as the ever present tips to find geater enjoyment in your outdoor adventures!

I bought this for my wife, who is enamored with Lahaina. The book does a great job of detailing the history of this quaint whaling port and once capital of the Hawaiian Islands.

*****
This small book (122 pages) is filled with beautiful vintage photos of Lahaina, including merchants, plantation photos, government buildings, school photos, churches, the waterfront, and more. The vintage photos are beautiful black-and-white pictures, many from archives and the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.

There is even a picture of Moku'ula included, the sacred home of the ali'i on Maui---wild and overgrown, but still evoking a mystique and beauty that is unique.

Each photo has a paragraph of explanation included. Reading this book is a pleasant way to go on a "walking tour" of Lahaina before actually visiting and going on a real walking tour. Or reliving memories of visiting or living in Lahaina.

Highly recommended.
*****

An intriguing look at the beauty that was Hawaii's first capitol, Lahaina. Personally, this book evoked memories buried deep in my heart. The collection of photos and the author's eloquent writing combine to create a book of high caliber. It is evident that Ms. Kupau is quite knowledgeable of Lahaina's history. This volume of the "small town series" allowed me to relive the vivid images of Lahaina that was my youth. Sigh. I remember my old friend Edith Miyahira and her two daughters Jean & Jane who operated the jewel of the Front Street restaurants at the time, Seaside. The home made saimin, fried rice, shrimp curry, hamburger steak and potato salad were among my favorites. Just thinking about the food makes my mouth water. Emeril could learn a thing or two from Edith. BAM! In conclusion, I am anxiously waiting Summer Kupau's next book. She is an excellent author. Keep it real, keep it old school.

This 1995 edition is still a wonderful guide to the large area covered. My wife and I recently used the book to greatly enhance our touring, camping, and hiking experience during a trip covering the areas north and south of Isabella Lake. History that we learned from the book was new to some local residents we met during our stops.

You'll find out all about the bridges that span the Kern, bridges that range from little teetering footpaths to proud products of the interstate age. Jenkins is an affable guide to the different bridges, his roguish voice straightforward and poetical, like the narrator of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. You will find no covered bridges here, though. The Sierras are harsh country.

I took a few trips with Jenkins in my back pocket, walked around the majestic giant sequoias, and saw with my own eyes the reseeding and the replanting of the great forest. Jenkins has it all down, even to the black flies that will make your life miserable unless you do what he says. If you're tired of swatting, use this book instead. Try tubing and canoeing the Jenkins way, and you'll have the Sierras forever, with a whole new perspective, as pioneered by this man and his late mother, who seems to have been a remarkably good sport.

You'll also want to see the abandoned land mines, some of which are open to the public. Pioneers pulled tons of silver and gold out of "them there hills," and the romance of the Gold Rush is never too far away. At any moment, you feel, there could be another wildcat strike that will shake up this sleepy old world. Find out history and economics all within the covers of this invaluable guide.

I am one of those people who grew up in the city and until about seven years ago, hardly ever placed my feet on unpaved ground. I recieved a copy of Jenkins' book as a gift and began taking some of the easier trips in this beautiful country. The book is full of descriptive detail, well thought out hikes,and enjoyable car tours. The original author, J.C. Jenkins, actually travelled every inch of the territory described in the book with a mileage wheel.After his untimely death, his mother,Ruby Johnson Jenkins,set about the task of rewalking every trip in order to keep the book up to date. There is no second-hand information in either of the books(the companion book is called "Exploring the Southern Sierra,East Side"). I have been of many of the longer trips now and find the books to be reliable, interesting, and informative.