0304, 2023

Exploring Maritime Washington

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I am proud to announce the publication of my new book, Exploring Maritime Washington—a History and Guide. Each of the places covered in its pages has a connection to Washington’s maritime history, whether a popular tourist destination or a hidden gem known only to longtime locals. Exploring Maritime Washington provides visitors with a fun and easy way to enjoy each community while learning about Washington’s nautical history. By visiting and

0509, 2022

Virginia V and the Mosquito Fleet

Washington Our Home
September 5, 2022
History, Maritime, Podcast, Puget Sound, Western Washington
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317

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Before there were roads around the Puget Sound region, there were rivers. Before the stagecoaches, there were Salish canoes. And before the planes, the trains, and the automobiles…there was the water, and the ships that traveled upon it. In the earliest days of human habitation in what is now Washington State, the fastest way to get from place to place around the Salish Sea was by paddling a canoe, whether

0606, 2022

The Washington Museum Association

Washington Our Home
June 6, 2022
Events, History, Podcast, Western Washington
0
1021

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There are hundreds of different museums scattered far and wide across Washington state. Many of them are focused on the history of their particular city, county, or region. Others feature arguably some of the most interesting, thought-provoking, and unique art and sculpture in the world. And a few have captured more of a niche area, showcasing things like robots, quilts, and puppets. But the thing that binds these varied institutions

0111, 2021

The Daring Heist of D.B. Cooper

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Feeling a slight bump up in the cockpit, the pilots of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 looked at each other nervously as rain pelted against their windshield at around 200 miles per hour…a relatively slow speed for a Boeing 727. They didn’t yet know that that bump meant their ordeal of the past several hours was just about over; that they, along with their flight engineer and flight attendant, would live to see another day—because the man known only as Dan Cooper had just exited the plane by leaping from the rear staircase in mid-flight, with a parachute and 200-thousand dollars strapped to his body, never to be seen again.

0401, 2021

Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest

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Two weeks after Valentine’s Day, 2001, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the south sound region of Washington state near where the Nisqually River empties into Puget Sound. It was nearly 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, and the state legislature was in full swing. The violent tremors lasted nearly a minute, rocking the state capital of Olympia and the nearby cities of Lacey, Tumwater, Nisqually, DuPont, and Shelton. The shocks registered

0712, 2020

Who was Mother Joseph?

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Born Esther Pariseau in 1823, the third of 12 children, in a farmhouse three miles from Saint-Martin, Laval, Quebec, this Canadian Religious Sister grew up to lead members of her congregation to the Pacific Northwestern United States where they established a network of schools and healthcare facilities to serve the American settlers in that new and remote part of the country. She was the first female architect in British Columbia,

0306, 2019

Finding the Ship That Flew

Washington Our Home
June 3, 2019
History, Podcast, Recreation, Western Washington
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9795

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There are dozens of things to see and do on the Lewis and Clark Trail Highway in southwest Washington (see here and here for just a few examples), but surely one of the most unique lies just outside a tiny berg called Knappton on the bank of the Columbia River. If you head west from Knappton Cove you might spot a rusty barge parked in a shallow bay called Hungry Harbor. There is

0402, 2019

The Deadliest Bridge Collapse in Washington State History

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On Wednesday, January 3rd, 1923, Cowlitz County Commissioner-elect Benjamin Barr sat in the back seat of his vehicle, when his driver – Arleigh Millard – felt an unsettling shudder through the springs in his seat. Miller glanced nervously at Barr through the rear-view mirror, unable to move the vehicle forward. The pair were stuck atop the Allen Street Bridge here in Kelso, Washington, when seconds later it all came crashing

2108, 2018

Columbia Gorge Overlook and the Wanapum Indian Tribe

Until recent times, the Wanapum Indians inhabited the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State from Beverly Gap to Pasco, about 75 miles south. The Wanapums were a very religious and peaceful people, living on venison, berries, roots, and fish…expertly caught using nets, spears and woven willow traps. Yet today, the Wanapums are virtually extinct. What happened to the tribe that once numbered in the thousands, and what’s left of their culture?

1005, 2018

Firearms training at Abernathy Creek

The video game, Oregon Trail, was an educational masterpiece of activity and learning, and one of the most successful early entries into the early world of computer gaming. I remember spending hours trying (usually unsuccessfully) to reach the state just south of the one in which I grew up. And one of the key skills needed to reach the Columbia River was hunting. Love them or hate them, firearms are a