Ashley Henderson Geography 351-I: Pacific Northwest

The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest.

Timothy Egan. 254pp., index, maps. (ISBN 0-679-73485-6)

Timothy Egan is a correspondent for the New York Times, and first book, The Good

Rain, is a book all about the Pacific Northwest. He sorts out Pacific Northwest history,

geography, and general description into thirteen chapters. The book seems to be written for

anyone interested in the subject, whether or not their home is in the featured location. I think

Egan’s goal was to capture the spirit of the Northwest, to get it’s feeling and to transcribe it. He

want someone to be able to read it and get an impression of what it’s like to be there. A five

paragraph summary is as follows:

Egan begins his book with a story of releasing his grandpa’s ashes in the Winthrop

glacier and then another story about riding in a boat at the bar at the mouth of the Columbia

River. The history of shipwrecks at the bar is told. While hiking through the “Enchanted Valley”

(The Olympic Rainforest) Egan poetically discusses the dynamics of the forest while inserting

key historical information. Such as, how the rain and natives continuously kept settlers away,

how part of the forest was ripped apart by loggers (the spruce was used for planes in the war) and

the naming of the mountains. He describes the decimation of the Quinault Indians and the

protection of the forest by Roosevelt by turning it into a national park. Egan takes a ferry to

Vancouver Island where he has tea with Gordon Rogers, the queens represenative. Vancouver

Island is examined, its history, its relationships (Native Americans to settlers and then British to

Americans later on).

While hiking in the Cascades looking for Fred Beckey, Egan educates the reader on

climbers and explorers who have come to the mountains. Beckey is profiled, his climbing

history, lack of money, and love of women. Then while Kayaking to Elliott Bay, he describes

Vancouver’s exploration and the naming of features along the coast. The story is told of how

Seattle was named by David Swinson Maynard for the Native American boy Sealth. The cities

rough beginnings and physical manipulations (leveling) is told. Egan attends the 70th birthday

party of Emmett Watson, while telling the story of Dave Beck and then looking at the growing

popularity of Seattle. The Good Rain describes Frank Wright Jr. and legal dealings between

Native Americans and the U.S. government over property rights. Then the history of Northwest

Indians treaties and wars, the defeat of the Native Americans, and the assimilation of natives.

Finally the Fish War is explored, the battle over fishing rights. The chapter ends with the story of

Bob Satiacum.

While traveling to the Nisqually Delta, Egan discusses sea otters, the draw of sea otter

pelts, the decimation of wolves and killer whales being taken form their Pacific Northwest home.

While climbing Mt. Rainier he talks about Pacific Northwest volcanoes and the 1980 St. Helens

eruption. All the destruction it caused and all it took to rebuild. Then he discusses Crater Lake.

He talks about clear cutting old growth in the Siskiyou Forest, the timber industry and the

resistance against it. The loggers wanted the wood and the citizens wanted to save the forest and

promote tourism. Earth First started practicing “ecotage” by tree spiking, tree climbing and

blockades.

According to Egan, the rivers of the Northwest are completed by the spawning of salmon.

We should clean up the Willamette river of pollution to save the fish. He goes over the history of

fishing practices, hatcheries, dams with fish ladders and Indian fishing rights. Damaged

spawning grounds hurt salmon reproduction, and we need to stop clear cutting the clean up

pollution. to save the fish. While hiking up The Naches to Yakima Valley to stay at Jim

Doorninks fruit farm, Egan talks about apples, growth and appearance enhancing chemicals, and

the creation of different types. Followed by a discussion of grapes and wine. The next chapter is

about the Goldmark family in Okanogan Valley and their communist trial.

Egan discusses the geography of the Columbia (Beacon Roc, Hood River, The Gorge,

etc.) while taraveling through it. He interacts with an Indian in the Dalles and then talks about

the Big Bend and it’s nuclear history. Egan feels that the Corps of Engineers will kill salmon

with a dam they want to build and dredging they want to do. He then goes over the history of the

Grand Coulee Dam. Interwoven within the thirteen chapters of the book are the explorations of

John Winthrop. He is quoted numerous times..

Egan uses a “story-within-a-story” method of organizing his subjects and information.

All of the chapters begin with him traveling to a destination, which is a very effective

introduction. It grabs your attention. The reader is then led into the general information about the

topic. After that there is usually a combination of stories and historical information that weave

within one another. This is successful in keeping the readers attention if they are not interested in

a section section, there’s variety. A lot of information can also be covered without becoming dull

because it fade3s in and out with stories or his present-tense-traveling-commentary. He presents

a ton of facts that sound very credible. He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. He

meets many people in The Good Rain, where it seems he already investigated information but he

came to the authorities on the subjects to confirm what he had found. He also tries to learn more.

The book is well written with few noticeable errors. All of the chapters fit with and complement

each other, but one, chapter twelve. “God’s Country’s Cancer” was ridiculously unrelated to the

theme of the book.

If Timothy Egans goal was to capture the spirit of the Northwest, I’d say he did it. He had

enough history to understand the place and its people and the relationship if one to the other. It

covered the major geography of the area to know what areas are key points in the Northwest.

There were enough biographical profiles to really understand what kind of people call the

Northwest home. By reading The Good Rain I feel a lot closer to the region in which I live. The

only part of the book I didn’t see fit was chapter twelve, because I didn’t see how in the world it

had to do with anything about the spirit of the Northwest. The rest of the book his the nail right

on the head. It feels like home. It feels like the Pacific Northwest.