Washington's History: The People, Land, and Events of the Far Northwest

by Harry Ritter

An anything-but-dry history textbook in a pocket-sized package, WASHINGTON'S HISTORY is a fascinating walk through the lengthy story of a place and its people. Historian Harry Ritter introduces the Native American peoples who lived in the region's coastal rainforests and inland plateau, the European and U.S. seafarers who explored and mapped the complicated shores and islands, and the leaders involved in conflicts over boundaries, resources, and religion. There's the story of The Pig War, which began with an assassinated pig in 1859 and escalated into an international skirmish. Read about the construction of the massive Grand Coulee Dam in 1933, and the creation and aftermath of Hanford, and the hopefulness surrounding the World's Fair. And then there's the land vast, stirring in its stark beauty, and fearsome when natural disaster strikes, as it has in every century. Ritter offers fifty-two lively vignettes illustrated with rare archival photographs that together comprise a picture of life in the Far Northwest. Learn about the Natives, explorers, traders, missionaries, loggers, farmers, inventors, and politicians. From Chief Seattle to Dr. John McLoughlin, William E. Boeing, Henry M. ""Scoop"" Jackson, and Bill Gates, these are the people at the epicenter of events that shaped the Evergreen State.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is your memory slipping away? Have you forgotten what you learned about Washington state history in the 9th grade? Here’s that you need to do: read Harry Ritter’s book. It is a short, well-written book providing basic information about Washington’s history.

[Dale Grauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a quick read that addresses some major themes in Washington history. It's a good place to start.

Each chapter is only two pages long, so you could easily read one before bed each night--or you could read the whole book in an afternoon.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having moved here a year ago I want to learn all I can, and this book allowed me a greatest hits collection of its history. Well written in a very simply put manner, the book is easy to digest if you live a busy life.

[Sinan Sari]

It was fun to read. Washington is not at the center of the world by geography and not attracting people just by gloomy weather. But it is filled with a modest history and a bright future. This place is new, you won't find a deep history here except natives, but you will be part of the history by being and contributing here.

[Debbie Cowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. Nice introduction to Washington state history. Organized in short little nuggets, easily digestible. One critique is that many times I felt they were only getting started on a given topic, but because of the format, had to quickly sum up a lot of history in one paragraph.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, lets be honest - was this book five stars? Maybe not. However, it was perfect for me, and I think the author deserves some props. So there!

I picked this up to read to my kids during this spring of home-schooling. I have had it in my mind for a while to augment the middle school history curriculum which appears to be.... lets be generous and say 'light'. But I decided to read it to all three kids this spring to accomplish a few things:

1. Give each of them some history regularly
2. Learn something about Washington St. history myself, since its not something I learned in school.
3. Use someone else's material since history is far from my best subject
4. Have something we were doing together adding structure to our days.
5. Have something we could discuss.

For these things the book was perfect. Each section is small, which made breaking it into bite sized chunks easy. The language is accessible. The book neither avoided the sordid facts of our past, nor dwelled on them to excess.

Let's be real - this is an introduction to Wa State history. But its something that I could see recommending that basically everyone read.

[James Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book as it offers a two page highlight on the major events concerning the history of Washington. It gave me the oppurtunity to be aware of things in the past with just enough detail to consider further research on topics of interest.

[Jason Kinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nifty little introduction to the players in Washington history. The two-page-chapter format makes this volume ideal for reading on or around the can.

[Christabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun reminder of the area I grew up in. I still love the beauty of the NW and its history. I was glad for the short chapters and ease of reading.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a small, in color book that devotes a page or 2 to each topic.