Reading Lists

Fun History of Washington State

The history of the state of Washington has plenty of fun in it. Here's some of my favorites!

• Sons of the Profits, by William Speidel. An informal history of the bad boys (... and women ...) who made Seattle what it is today. Highly amusing, informative and scandalous.

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• Eccentric Seattle: Pillars and Pariahs Who Made the City Not Such a Boring Place After All, J. Kingston Pierce . Lots of short biographies of the lively characters that made Seattle what it is today ...for better or for worse! Pioneers, con artists, merchants, whores, pro- and anti-vice politicians, and more ... great stories that are better than fiction!

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• Doc Maynard: The Man Who Invented Seattle, by William Speidel. An irreverent biography of Seattle's most, uh, creative founding father. Thriftily renting Madam Damnable's whorehouse for day use as a federal court, finding a way to make a profit even from rock ballast, and showing more than a little courage in fighting cholera and outwitting the frankly genocidal Isaac Stevens .... truly Doc Maynard was the stuff of legend (and not someone to mess with!)

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• Roadside Geology of Washington , by David Alt and Donald W. Hyndman. This practical and fun guidebook is easy to read and use. The terrain of Washington tells a complex story that will enliven your next drive!

  This is part of the wonderful Roadside Geology Series. Check it out!

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• Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle, by Murray Cromwell Morgan. One of the first good informal histories of Seattle; a delightful collection of anecdotes of a pioneer city and the characters who built it.

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• Green timber: On the flood tide to fortune in the great Northwest , by Thomas Emerson Ripley. A Yankee slacker turns timber baron and tireless booster of the greatest city on Puget Sound: Tacoma! Writing in the 1890s, he explains why Tacoma (the "City Of Destiny") is destined to overtake Seattle!

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• West Coast Journeys 1865-1879: The Travelogue of a Remarkable Woman , by Caroline C. Leighton. New England-born Caroline Leighton traveled fearlessly throughout the Pacific Northwest during the 19th century, recording observations that may not have made it into official histories.

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• One Hundred One Reasons Not to Move to Seattle: If the Rain Don't Get You, the Volcanos Will, by Heidi Buck. It is all true! Don't Come Here!

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• Teaching on Poverty Rock , by Joby Lee McGowan . An eccentric account of teaching in one of America's richest little small towns, this is a bitter and funny revelation of the dangers of parental involvement in their children's education.

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