RiVeR oF tHe WeSt
New book explores the history of the Columbia River
BY ZOË BUCHLI
Been wanting to brush up on your his-
tory of the Northwest United States’ dom-
inant river system?
Arcadia Publishing recently released
a new book titled “The Columbia River.”
The historic collection of 200 black
and white photos is curated by author
John Harrison, a Vancouver, Washing-
ton, based historian and writer. The book
explores the river’s rich history and many
uses as a source of power, irrigation, rec-
reation and food.
Harrison spent years compiling a writ-
ten history of one of the country’s larg-
est rivers for the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council, which served as
the groundwork for Harrison’s expan-
sive knowledge of the Columbia. Harri-
son has worked at the council for more
than three decades, serving as their infor-
mation offi cer.
When Arcadia Publishing reached out
to Harrison to contribute to their “Images
of America” series, Harrison jumped at
the opportunity to work on the book in
his free time. That extra time is some-
thing he recently acquired through the
time saved working from home and
avoiding a lengthy commute.
Harrison’s love and deep knowledge
for the river is evident. Harrison recalled
that when he fi rst drafted the book, he
wrote over the word limit.
“What that forced me to do was to
think strategically about what are the
important things to write about in the
history of the river,” Harrison said. He
focuses on two prongs of the river’s his-
tory — its geological history, and its
B.L. Singley (Keystone View Co.)
A man works on a wharf on the Columbia River in 1899.
The book
‘The Columbia River’ by John A. Harrison
Arcadia Publishing — 128 pages — $23.99
arcadiapublishing.com
tribal and cultural history.
“You just kind of build up,” Harrison
said. “You start at 64 million years ago
and you go to the present day. ” He added
that along the way several events umped
out at him as being pivotal in the river’s
history.
Harrison was especially intrigued by
the river’s nexus of its natural and built
environment.
“In essence, it’s a machine on one
hand and an organic thing on the other,”
he said, explaining that the river pro-
duces half the Northwest’s electricity but
also has free-fl owing sections. It provides
slack water for navigation and recreation
but also irrigation.
“But what’s interesting about the
Columbia is how diligently people are
working to preserve both aspects,” Harri-
son said. “I’ve been exposed to this inter-
play of the environment. The built envi-
ronment or natural environment; the fi sh
and w ildlife on one side and hydropower
on the other, for most of my working
career.”
Harrison also wrote about many com-
mercial industries that are associated
with the river, including canning, fi shing
(namely salmon) and timber markets. The
impacts these industries had on Indig-
enous people in North America is also
addressed in Harrison’s book.
Before joining the Northwest Power
and Conservation Council, Harrison
worked as a reporter at The Columbian
newspaper covering environmental top-
ics. Exploring the political side of the
environment fascinated Harrison and set
him on his path for exploring the Colum-
Benjamin A. Giff ord
A photo of the Columbia River taken in 1906.
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
bia River in the future.
To gather images Harrison explored
diff erent organizations, including the
Library of Congress, the Washington
State Archives, the Columbia River Mar-
itime Museum, Oregon and Washington
h istorical s ocieties and archives in Brit-
ish Columbia, Canada. Digging for pho-
tos and facts about the history of the river
made compiling the book a fun project
for Harrison.
He hopes readers will fi nish his book
with a broader perspective of all that the
river does , yet understand that it’s not an
endless resource. He pressed that he spe-
cifi cally wanted to focus on the fact that
the river’s power supply and resources
are not unlimited.
Harrison feels that one of the key
things that people don’t realize is when
they fl ip that switch in their house,
approximately 50% of the electrons that
make their lights come on originate from
the Columbia River .
“I hope people come away with the
understanding that the Columbia River
gives us many things. It’s a river of many
uses or many voices, if you will,” he
said.