For many years Mark Highberger wrote and published books about the history of Wallowa Valley, Oregon and the Northwest. Although his Bear Creek Press is no longer in business, we carry the remaining inventory.
FRONTIER EASTERN OREGON From the Great Migration to the Great Depression, and from the Cascade Range to the Snake River -- this is a compilation of histories and memories that show what life was like for those who crossed the mountains to build their homes and their futures on the far side of the state, along the frontier that was eastern Oregon. In addition to new material, this volume contains ten chapters previously published as separate books, including 300 Miles Awheel, Frontier Days, I Remember, The Laws of War, The Town That Was Maxville, A Town Wild & Uncultivated, Snake River Massacre, The Backwoods Teacher, Stagecoach Days, and The Last Wagon Train. ISBN 978-1-930111-79-0, 155 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, numerous historical photographs and illustrations, maps, extras, index. $27.00 cover price.
LOOKING BACK AT OUR TOWN a photographic portrait of Wallowa Oregon 5.00
GRANDMA’S MEMORIES by Edith Van Camp Cattron & Thelma McCulloch, remembering the homestead years in Flora, Oregon
1900-1927 9.00
AS IT WAS by Itol Lathrop Rucker, a homesteader’s memories of Wallowa Valley in the 1890s 5.00
SNAKE RIVER MASSACRE the story of the 1887 murders of Chinese miners 8.00
BEHIND THE NEZ PERCE WAR, letters and reports tracing the beginning of the epic 1877 conflict 18.00
THE PURSUIT & CAPTURE OF CHIEF JOSEPH by Charles Erskine Scott Wood, a story of the end of the Nez Perce War 8.00
FROM WHERE THE SUN NOW STANDS the story of Chief Joseph’s surrender speech based on the letters of Charles Erskine Scott Wood 7.00
THE SOLDIERS’ SIDE OF THE NEZ PERCE WAR eyewitness accounts of the Nez Perce War 14.00
CHIEF JOSEPH AS A COMMANDER by Lt Albert Gallatin Forse 8.00
THE DEATH OF WIND BLOWING the story of the 1876 murder that helped trigger the Nez Perce War 8.00
ROADS LESS TRAVELED IN NORTHWEST OREGON II a guide to back roads and special places 17.00
NEAH-KAH-NIE MOUNTAIN a 1909 Journey to the Oregon Coast 12.00
Frontier Cavalryman
Lt. William Carey Brown's Letters from Fort Klamath, Oregon, 1878-1880
Transcribed & Edited by Cath Clark
Introduction by Richard W. Helbock
"Frontier Cavalryman is a fascinating journey into times past." Herald and News
Soon after graduating from West Point in 1877 and receiving his assignment to one of the far-flung corners of the West at Oregon's Fort Klamath, Second Lieutenant William Carey Brown began a lifetime of adventure and service in the U.S. Army. "This roving life suits me quite well just now," he wrote in an 1879 letter to his family. "I am seeing plenty of new country, people, and having plenty of 'experience' -- enough that if I were a writer I think I could get up an interesting book." Even though Lt. Brown never wrote that book, the numerous letters he left behind-more than fifty appear in this volume-serve much the same purpose, giving us a glimpse into what seems today to have been a long-ago time and a faraway land, a personal view of what it was to serve as a soldier on the Western frontier. While stationed at Fort Klamath from 1878-1880, a period that saw the end of the Indian wars in the Pacific Northwest, Lt. Brown wrote frequently to his mother, father, and sisters living in Denver, Colorado. Taken as a whole, this collection opens a door into the life and times of a man who devoted himself to the service of his country in a career that spanned four decades, stretching from the Indian campaigns through World War I. Yet even more important, those letters also give us a human connection to a chapter in Northwest history as they convey a sense of what life was like for a frontier cavalryman. ISBN 1-930-111-65-7, 63 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, maps, historical photographs, bibliography, index. $14.00 cover price.
Homesteading the Oregon Desert
by Barbara Allen Bogart
By the hundreds they came, in horse-drawn wagons and Model T Fords, following a dream that today seems doomed from the start -- to build their farms and their futures in Oregon's high desert. Even though the land was free, this new wave of pioneers who arrived in the first years of the twentieth century found they paid a dear price for their homesteads. "It usually took five years for a man to arrive," said one of the homesteaders, "build a house, fence some land, break it, put in a crop, wait in vain to harvest it, lose his money, get tired of jackrabbit stew, and leave." Yet in spite of their failures -- no matter where they staked their claims across the high desert of the country's last frontier -- these desert homesteaders became part of the story, as well as the spirit, of the American West. ISBN 978-1-930-111-47-7, 116 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, numerous maps, historical photographs, bibliography, index. $20.00 cover price.
Somewhere in Oregon
Gems of State History
by Patrick C. Wilkins
"Pat Wilkins is a fine storyteller. This is a collection of his best, and I envy you if you're about to experience Pat's stories for the first time." Paul Linnman, author of The Exploding Whale: And Other Remarkable Stories from the Evening News
"The stories are delightful for both newcomers and fifth-generation Northwesterners." The Chronicle
"A good book! Interesting, compelling." West Side Newspaper
"Offers fascinating peeks at odd tales and leaves readers craving for more. Much more." Herald and News
"Wilkins has a way with a tale. The collection is a pleasant stroll through the myths, history and people of the Northwest." East Oregonian
"Wilkins' stories are informative, often fascinating, and sometimes infused with the touch of the poet." Statesman Journal
Through four decades, Pat Wilkins was a familiar face and voice to thousands of Northwest television viewers who tuned in his newscasts, yet Wilkins' true calling lay outside the studio and along the less-traveled roads of Oregon. Here, far beyond the usual range of TV cameras and crews, Wilkins searched for the people, places, and events that shaped what a colleague calls "his first love, feature reporting." In following this love, Wilkins spent twenty years of his working life on the road, roaming the countryside in search of stories that capture the history and heart of the region. "Kind of like Charles Kuralt," he says, "but with a smaller territory." Contained within these pages are thirty of Wilkins' favorite stories, gems of state history, that he discovered while traveling somewhere in Oregon. ISBN 978-1-930111-55-4, 82 pages, trade paper, maps, historical and contemporary photographs, drawings. $16.00 cover price.
Looking Back at the Oregon Coast
A Photographic Journey
The sea may be timeless, but those things that stand beside it -- rocks, dunes, roads, towns, and so much more -- sometimes seem to change almost as rapidly as the tides themselves. What the Oregon coast looked like, say, 120 years ago is uncertain, save for scattered descriptions mined from mariners' logs, explorers' journals, and settlers' diaries. Move ahead a bit toward the end of the nineteenth century, however, and you find professional photographers lugging hundreds of pounds of cameras, chemicals, and glass plates to numerous beaches to capture thousands of, well, Kodak moments, which didn't actually come along until 1888, when the first Kodak camera hit the market along with the slogan, "You press the button -- we do the rest." It was the birth of the snapshot and a big reason -- along with one-cent picture postcards-that we now have more than a century-old photographic record of our beloved coast, from seashore waders to main streets, river tours to train depots, resort hotels to campgrounds. Such rare images (this book contains more than 140 of them) comprise a photographic journey across both time and space, dating back more than 100 years -- the earliest photo is from the 1860s and the latest from the 1930s, with the majority coming from the time of Model T's and one-piece bathing suits -- and stretching across approximately 400 miles from Astoria on the Columbia River to Brookings near the California line, with a few side trips in between. ISBN 978-1-930111-66-0, 81 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, 145 historical photographs, 10 maps, index. $20.00 cover price.
Looking Back at Main Street Eastern Oregon
A Visit to More Than 100 Towns Across More Than 100 Years
"This book is a true treasure." Statesman-Journal
Through the decades it has gone by many names and has shown many faces. But whether it's called Wall Street in Bend or Adams Avenue in La Grande, Broadway in Burns or Highway 82 in Lostine, Main Street once was, and in many cases still is, the heart of virtually every community located east of Oregon's Cascade Range. After all, it was here that people gathered to fill the larder, hop the stage, grab a beer, get a haircut, shoe a horse, court a beau, or just spend some time in the company of long-distance neighbors who helped make tolerable the life of toil and seclusion waiting back home on the farm or ranch. Yet Main Street in Eastern Oregon was sometimes not a street all. In fact, in the earliest days of settlement it often consisted of nothing more than a store or saloon, a stagestop or hotel. And when these were gone, so was the town. As a result, some of the photographs in this book are of places that survive only in memory or history or as names on a map (though some have even vanished from maps), while others have grown into small cities. But whether the 101 towns shown in these pages are gone or thriving or situated somewhere in between, all of them have for a moment opened a door to their past and invited us in for a visit, for some time spent Looking Back at Main Street Eastern Oregon. ISBN 1-930111-53-3, 109 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, 126 historical photographs, 101 maps. $22.00 cover price.
Behind the Nez Perce War
Letters and Reports Tracing the Beginning of the Epic 1877 Conflict
Although this book was originally intended for historians and researchers as possibly the first bound collection of historical correspondences tracing the beginnings of the Nez Perce War, it soon became clear that these accounts from army officers, Indian agents, and government administrators are extremely readable, sometimes lively, and often entertaining. In these pages you'll find no ranting about "heathen savages" on the "warpath," no glowing accounts of pioneer heroism in the face of insurmountable odds--only the most "officially" reliable information of the day in the form of reports and letters from army officers, Indian agents, and government administrators-documents that not only describe the situation leading to that epic 1877 conflict, but also reveal some of the humanity and the drama behind the Nez Perce War. ISBN 978-1-930111-72-1, 93 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, historical photographs, maps, illustrations. $18.00 cover price.
Oregon's Trail
Following the Path of the Pioneers from the Snake River to the Willamette Valley
by Mark Highberger
"This is a superior guide book, a nice easy read and a good source of facts. A must for anyone who wants to maintain a complete Oregon history library." Statesman-Journal
Oregon. It was more than a name -- it was a promise of free land and fresh opportunities that lured hundreds of thousands of people across two thousand miles of plains, mountains, and deserts to the far edge of the continent. And now for those who want either to see the trail for themselves or to capture a modern version of this historical experience, Oregon's Trail serves as a guide to the path of the pioneers from the Snake River to the Willamette Valley. ISBN 1-930111-57-6, 111 pages, 8.5x11 inches, high-quality trade paper, numerous maps, historical and contemporary photographs, artwork, index. $20.00 cover price.
Oregon Times
A Chronology of State History
Through the pages of Oregon history step those who have shaped its land, its laws, and its destiny -- Native people and distant mariners, trappers and settlers, miners and loggers, cowboys and soldiers, and many others. From the coming of the horse to the celebration of the state’s centennial, their stories are told here through a chronology that covers more than 400 years, and that illuminates some of the details that make up Oregon Times (a companion volume to Oregon Life, below). ISBN 978-1-930111-76-9, 89 pages, trade paper, historical photographs, maps, and illustrations. $18.00 cover price.
Oregon Life
Memories of the State's Past
This is a book of thoughtful recollections from folks who lived through their share of Oregon history. Their stories -- which date to as early as the covered-wagon days -- are the result of the Federal Writers Project, a government program begun during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when a group of writers were sent across the United States to track down people who might know something first-hand about what it was like to live in an older America. Those who visited Oregon talked with people who had many different experiences during their long lifetimes. Unfortunately, these interviews were never published—until now. his collection -- first published in the year of Oregon’s 150th birthday and 70 years after the last Oregon interview took place -- offers readers a compelling, human view of the struggles and joys and labors that once made up Oregon Life (a companion volume to Oregon Times, above). ISBN 978-1-930111-77-6, 103 pages, trade paper, index. $18.00 cover price.
General Howard's Own Story
A Story of the Beginning of the Nez Perce War
by Major General Oliver Otis Howard
A companion volume and personal rebuttal to Chief Joseph's Own Story, this book presents the viewpoint of General Howard, who led the U.S. Army's campaign against the Nez Perce in the war of 1877. "Chief Joseph's tale appeared to reflect unfavorably upon my official conduct," he wrote in 1879. "Now permit me to present a few simple facts which will show whether, in manner or matter, I have failed to meet the requirements of the situation." Part of the Northwest Classics Series. ISBN 1-930111-12-6, 27 pages, 7x8.5 inches, trade paper, map, photographs. $7.00 cover price. Will be out-of-print when current stock is sold.
The Laws of War
A Story of the Modoc War of 1873
by Mark Highberger
They were the Modocs, a people whose mythology assured them, "Though you may be few, even if many and many people come against you, you will kill them." When that mythic promise took shape on the battlefields of the Modoc War in 1873, it generated one of the costliest conflicts of America's western frontier. The six month campaign to defeat some 50 Modoc warriors and their families found the army deploying more than 1,200 troops and suffering more than 160 civilian and military casualties. But then a fateful decision on the part of Modoc leader Captain Jack led him to his own execution and his people into exile -- all in accordance with "the laws of war." "I never realized what a horrible thing war is," said an army lieutenant who fought in the Modoc campaign, "until I came out on this trip." Part of the Northwest History Series. ISBN 1-930111-15-0, 47 pages, 7x8.5 inches, trade paper, map, photographs, notes, bibliography, index. $8.00 cover price. Will be out-of-print when current stock is sold.
The Long Road to Lonesomeville
A Guide to Small Town Eastern Oregon
by Mark Highberger
"It's a great book that's too short." East Oregonian
For travelers who want to explore the quieter places and simpler times found in eastern Oregon's small towns, for those who want to visit communities that stand alone and sometimes lonesome along the region's backroads and blue highways, The Long Road to Lonesomeville has arrived to serve as a guide. Yet the road to any Lonesomeville is long only in terms of the time it holds. Here the tick of a clock, the arc of the sun, and the flow of the seasons seem to slow down and wait for you. Sometimes they even nudge you back a bit, for all the stories in this book are about towns secluded but not empty, remote but not abandoned. And those who take the journey will find places that show us what we once were, not long ago, in the morning of our lives. ISBN 1-930111-29-0, 90 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, historical and contemporary photographs. $18.00 cover price.
Exploring Northeast Oregon
A Traveler's Guide
by Mark Highberger
A journey across northeast Oregon means leaving behind the traffic and following the backroads through a countryside of furrowed fields and small towns, of blue mountains with sky-high summits and steep-walled canyons. In this land formed from ancient seas and fiery volcanoes, you'll find yourself traveling through a world that still remembers a frontier Oregon. This is the first book in the Exploring Oregon series. ISBN 978-1-930111-71-4, 109 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, contemporary and historical photographs, maps, index. $20.00 cover price.
Exploring Southeast Oregon
A Traveler's Guide
by Mark Highberger
Take a journey through a land of space and sky, of sprawling distances and solitary roads in this second book in the Exploring Oregon series. ISBN 978-1-930111-75-2, 95 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, contemporary and historical photographs, maps, index. $20.00 cover price.
Oregon Historical Maps
Two-Volume Set
(Volume One SOLD OUT)
Four hundred years of Oregon maps stretching across five centuries and presented in two 8.5x11-inch volumes, each containing 50 color maps. Each volume is sold separately. To our knowledge, the 100 maps in this two-volume set is the most extensive collection of Oregon historical maps ever printed. The first printing of each volume will be limited to 150 copies to commemorate Oregon's 150th birthday in 2009. ISBN 978-1-930111-73-8 (Volume I) and 978-1-930111-74-5 (Volume II), 65 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, gloss cover, 50 color maps, historical photographs and illustrations, chronologies, introduction, notes, sources, index, $30 cover price (each).
Vol. 2
Steens Country
An Explorer's Guide to Oregon's Steens Mountain Area
by Mark Highberger
"The book will leave you hungry to know more." East Oregonian
Standing almost 10,000 feet high and more than 30 miles long, Steens Mountain serves as the snow-white center of a far-reaching, breathtaking land in Oregon's southeast corner -- and Steens Country is a guide for those who want to explore the main routes, back roads, and natural wonders of this remarkable region. Built from the upheaval of natural forces dating back millions of years and shaped by a parade of human history stretching through 100 centuries, Steens Country is home to what many believe are some of the most awe-inspiring spans of landscape on the continent. ISBN 1-930111-26-6, 79 pages, 8.5x11 inches, trade paper, contemporary and historical photographs and maps, index. $16.00 cover price.