Printed and offered as a collector's limited edition, Where Rolls the Oregon is bound in rich Imperial bonded leather, 11"x11" in size, and signed by the authors. The book is lavishly illustrated with over 100 color photographs, historic works of art, and detailed maps. The first European to sail the waters of the North Pacific was pirate Sir Francis Drake. He plundered the gold of South America then escaped up the coast in search of a northwest passage which would take his ship, the "Golden Hind," back to the Atlantic Ocean. Russian, Spanish, and English sailors came in later years to explore the Pacific coast, and It was Captain Cook's crew that took a few sea otter pelts to China, discovering the fabulous riches awaiting the adventurous sea trader. This caused rumors to circulate among fur trading sea captains that a great river emptied from the North American interior into the Ocean near the 46th parallel. Their name for this fabled river was the "Oregon." On May 11,1792, American Robert Gray penned in his log: "At 8 A.M., being a little to windward of the entrance to the harbor, bore away and run in east-northeast, between the breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. When we were over the bar we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we steered. . . . .Vast numbers of natives came alongside." The "Great River of the West" had been discovered, and Captain Robert Gray named it the "Columbia" after his valiant ship. 
 Exploration of the American continent was pushed westward by two British fur companies, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. The first to reach the Pacific coast overland was the North West's Alexander Mackenzie. At the water's edge he inscribed on the face of a rock, "Alexander Mackenzie from Canada by land, the 22nd day of July, 1793." 
 The Louisiana Territory, including the Pacific Northwest, was purchased from Napoleon in 1803. The following year President Thomas Jefferson dispatched an expedition to explore the new country from the edge of civilization to the Pacific Ocean. Leading the expedition were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Along with a party of 45 adventurers, they traveled from St. Louis , up the Missouri, and over the Rocky Mountains to the vast wilderness drained by the mighty Columbia. 
 Following the expedition's success, New York fur dealer John Jacob Astor founded the Pacific Fur Company with a plan to send two groups of men, one by sea and the other overland, thereby assuring he would gain control of the mouth of the Columbia and all the interior drained by it. Astor sent the ship "Tonquin" around the Horn to establish Fort Astoria in March of 1811. That summer the ship's crew was attacked and all hands murdered by Indians as the "Tonquin" laid at anchor off Vancouver Island. Disaster also plagued the overland expedition. After crossing the Rocky Mountains the hunters were not able to find enough wild game to sustain the men. They were forced to kill and eat their horses. Continuing on foot, and in the dead of winter they crossed the Blue Mountains and would have perished except for the generosity of Indians who provided horse and dog meat to ward off starvation. 
 Singly or in small groups, other trappers came to the country. In the long shadows of evening they poked along the shore looking for sign and setting traps. Surrounded by the silence of early morning they returned to collect the beaver. 
 No matter the caution, smoke from a campfire was sometimes spotted curling from a secret valley. A war hoop would split the stillness, an arrow would find its mark and there in the vast wilderness, beside a nameless stream, the body of a trapper would lie. In time the sun would bleach the bones to fine white powder. Where Rolls the Oregon depicts the rich history of the Pacific Northwest from discovery to settlement. The explorers, traders, and trappers who opened the country live again in the writings of Rick Steber and photographic illustrations of Jerry Gildemeister. 
 Steber introduces the characters and allows them to speak in their own words, taken from original logs and journals: whereas, Gildemeister, with mood-setting photography, visually represents the country with the same wonderment of the discoverers and explorers. Through their combined talents, they guide the reader through the vast untamed wilderness that was the magnificent Oregon Country.

Where Rolls The Oregon

History

Steber, Rick

Americas

Bear Wallow Pub Co

A Letter Home portrays the early-day travels over the longest emigrant road in history -- the Oregon Trail. This author-signed, limited-edition printing features a blend of words and illustration with over 40 color and monochromatic illustrations by artist Don Gray and author Jerry Gildemeister depicting the wild countryside as the pioneers encountered it -- raw and unrelentingly beautiful. This case-bound edition, 9"x8" in size, is an unique blend of storyline, artwork, and photography.

A Letter Home

Gildemeister, Jerry

Gray, Don

Williams, Lucia

Science & Math

As a 10th Anniversary commemorative, the Bear Wallow presents this rich history of the American West with an author-signed, limited edition printing 9" x8" in size. Thirty-five fascinating true-to-life stories of men, women, and children are blended with over 70 black &amp; white photographs to create a collector's edition of early-day life on the Western Frontier. 
Journey back in time to meet a myriad of souls who tilled the soil, freighted the goods, tended the stock, and built the towns. It is unlikely that you recognize their names, as they were never immortalized on a grand scale. They were just plain, ordinary folk who struggled to make a life for themselves in the vast regions across the wide Missouri. They were part of the epic movement that made the West what is was, for where else on earth could such a varied lot pack their possessions across thousands of miles to pursue their dream of a better life?

An American Vignette

An elegant blend of story and illustration developed from a diary and childhood memories of two sisters growing up on a homestead in the mountain country of Northeast Oregon. An author-signed, limited-edition printing, 8-1/2" x 11" in size, illustrated with original watercolors by Don Gray and photographic imagery by Gildemeister, with 28 black &amp; white images and 18 color plates. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the branch route to the Pacific Northwest in 1884 many families who could muster the rate of passage chose the much safer and faster rail travel westward. Instead of six months of grueling travel by horse-drawn wagon, the trip by rail could be made in less than a week. one of these families who traveled by emigrant train was the Wassons -- Joseph and Jennie with their two children, Daisy and Caroline, and their Grandmother Blevans, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Allie. The group left their home in Nevada, Missouri in 1885 and headed for the Wallowa Valley of northeast Oregon. 
 People would ask, "Why in the world did your folks ever come to this Godforsaken place when they could have had a much easier life in the Grande Ronde Valley? " 
 If only I could make them see with our eyes the way it looked to us, coming from Missouri -- all clean, lovely waving grass, cold water, tall trees, and mountain scenery too beautiful for words to describe." -- Daisy Wasson. 
 The Wasson family's reason for seeking a new life in the West differed from most others, for Caroline had contracted spinal meningitis, and her doctor recommended the drier climate of Eastern Oregon, for he believed it would be better for her health. 
 When the family arrived in the Wallowa Valley they found the choice land taken up, so Joseph decided on a plot of ground situated on the Divide, an open bench close to the Cat's Back Ridge. There, a long eighteen miles from any semblance of civilization, with the closest neighbor over two miles away, he started his homestead with a new log cabin. 
 The family struggled to survive in this high, inhospitable land, with its short growing season and long hard winters. But they loved this place on the high open bench with its awesome view of the surrounding mountains, and remained there for ten years while the girls grew up, assembled a variety of family pets, and attended their first school. 
 For Christmas of 1894, Caroline received her very first diary, and promptly began an account of daily family life, recording common events as well as cherished memories and troubled times. Over the years the girls corresponded, recalling their childhood and reminiscing about their experiences. Nearly fifty years after leaving the homestead, Daisy sat down to write their family life on the Divide. "Mama always knitted while Papa read to us each evening in the comfort of our new log cabin. Although the cabin was finished in every way that was possible without money, and we had plenty of good food thanks to the carefully hoarded seeds which Mama brought from Missouri, and a kindly neighbor who plowed our garden, we still needed winter supplies, and perhaps a cow and chickens. So, the first few years Papa would go outside the area and work during the summer. This was to be his first time out, and as he prepared to leave for the mining town of Cornucopia he promised, 'When I come back I'll bring you each a big silver dollar.' With tears in our eyes we kissed him goodby. Oh! How we would miss him and wait for his return. . . . ." The Wasson homesteading story is just one of thousands about families who settled the American West, but this story of their ten years on the Divide symbolizes the typical life of the early pioneers -- searching for a new home site, battling the elements of nature, and the day-to-day struggles to survive. But, there were also the good times, and the wonderful memories of their homesteading years far from civilization. What makes this story so special and unusual is that the accounting is taken from a child's point of view.

Around the Cat's Back

Jerry Gildemeister

Real-life stories of aviation pioneers and historic events blended with original artwork of vintage aircraft and photographic images . . . . . with ten color plates and over 75 black and white photographs, chronological history of events, and biographical sketches, this author-signed, limited edition printing, 8-1/2 x 11 1/4" in size, illustrated with original oil paintings by Tim Larson, photography by Gildemeister, and restored historic images is a lasting tribute to the men and women who pioneered the skies. Wagon Train pioneers were still trekking westward when man's dreams of going aloft actually became a reality . . . . . The prospect of manned flight had eluded everyone for centuries, and it took two bicycle-building brothers to finally make a breakthrough. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright made history when they became the first to successfully take a flying machine into the air. For the next two years, they continued their experiments in near secrecy until they were satisfied with their efforts. On their forty-sixth flight of the season at Huffman Prairie, near their home of Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur stayed aloft for thirty-eight minutes over an oval course of twenty-four miles, making their 1905 Flyer the world's first practical airplane.  As incredible as it seems, their extraordinary accomplishment was all but ignored, for hardly anyone was ready to accept the idea that man would ever be able to fly. It took the persistence of a few believers like the Wrights, Glenn Curtiss, and John Moisant to prove them wrong. These aviation pioneers were such firm believers that they set up flying schools and scoured the nation for young daredevils who would risk their necks for a chance to take to the air. At first, these exhibition flyers thrilled everyone by just flying their marvelous machines overhead, but it didn't take long for the novelty to wear off. The demand of the spectators led pilots to develop trick flying, and then progress on to repertoires of spectacular stunts. They started to spin, dive, and loop-the-loop. When crowds began to wane, the stunters recruited young women daredevils to walk the wings and parachute from the skies to lure the masses back to their impromptu airfields. There, they hopped passengers for a buck or two a ride, and before they were through, they had introduced the public clear across the nation to the wonderful world of flight. The Golden Age of Aviation has long since passed, but you can still thrill to the wonder of it all! In Avian Dreamers, the Bear Wallow brings you the exciting history of flight in America. Come relive the adventures, chills, and thrills of the men and women who pioneered the skies . . . . . Marvel at the early history of those who dreamed and experimented with the prospect of manned flight. Soar with the early-day exhibition flyers, aviators on the Western Front, and the pilots who barnstormed the country and carried the U.S. Mail . . . . . and finally, thrill to the record seekers and speed freaks who opened the skies to modern-day air travel and flight into space.

Avian Dreamers

Technology