Craig Holstine

Designed first and foremost to be practical, bridges nevertheless are often breathtaking in their construction, combining function and aesthetics. The historic structures that span the Evergreen State's highways are no exception. These technological wonders are extraordinary by any measure, yet their stories have remained largely unknown. Conceived by visionary engineers and built by anonymous workmen, Washington's highway bridges are amazing triumphs of skill, and played a significant role in the state's history. Several, at the time of their completion, attracted worldwide attention and the praise of professional engineers, influencing the course of bridge construction. In their quest to compile the first comprehensive history of the state's highway bridges, the authors poured through the extensive records at the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), collecting definitive documentation and photographs from across the state. This magnificent book, including more than 100 illustrations, represents the culmination of years of study by many individuals associated with WSDOT and the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (Olympia).

On March 21, 1933, with the nation in darkest despair because of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to create a civilian conservation corps to be used in forestry, the prevention of soil erosion, flood control, and similar projects. Thus, just seventeen days after taking office, Roosevelt's New Deal had launched the mobilization of the largest peacetime labor army in American history--helping to save not only the nation's long-neglected natural resources, but also its vastly underemployed youth. In the Shadow of the Mountain recounts the story of Edwin G. Hill, a typical recruit who spent "the most enjoyable and rewarding years" of his life in the Civilian Conservation Corps-the "We can take it" boys. Hill was enrolled for a year at Camp Hard Labor Creek in Georgia and for two years in Washington state in the great "shadow" of Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens. He recounts how recruits gained hope where there was none before, learned skills for lifelong occupations, received education, laughed and roughhoused, met and married local girls, and answered their nation's call during World War II, when nearly 3,000,000 CCC men, accustomed to barracks life and toughened by outdoor work, made a substantial contribution to America's ultimate victory.