Richard D. Scheuerman

Hardship to Homeland recounts Volga Germans' unique story in a saga that stretches from Germany to Russia and across the Atlantic. Burdened by war and debt, life was extremely difficult for impoverished European peasants until a former German princess came to power. Seeking to increase borderland population, provide a buffer against Ottoman Empire incursions, and bring agricultural ingenuity to her country, Russian empress Catherine II issued a remarkable 1763 manifesto inviting Europeans to immigrate. Their passage paid, colonists would become Russian citizens, yet retain their language and culture. For the next four years, some 27,000 settlers came--mostly from Hesse and the Palatinate--founding 104 communities along both banks of the Volga River near Saratov and introducing numerous agricultural innovations. But the Russian Senate revoked the original settlement terms in 1871. Facing poor economic conditions and a forced Russian army draft, 100,000 Volga Germans joined other immigrant waves to the New World. After a decade of hardship in the Midwest, some began moving to the Pacific Northwest, and their westward movement was one of the region's largest single ethnic group migrations. From outposts in Washington State they spread throughout the Columbia Basin, along the coast, and into northern Idaho, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alberta, transforming their new homelands into centers of western productivity and significantly influencing North American religion, politics, and social development. Hardship to Homeland is a revised and expanded reprint of The Volga Germans: Pioneers of the Northwest, published in 1985 and long out of print. This edition offers a new introduction as well as Volga German folk stories from the Pacific Northwest, collected and retold by Richard D. Scheuerman, with illustrations by Jim Gerlitz.

Originally released in 1986 as Renegade Tribe, this award-winning title sensitively retells the compelling saga of western expansion and Indian-white conflict from a Native American perspective. The Snake River-Palouse resisted immigrant encroachment and fought a losing battle to retain their way of life. The Whitman Massacre, as well as a refusal to enter into U. S. government treaties, left them with a hostile reputation among the newcomers. With settlers increasingly demanding their removal and no reservation of their own, these Inland Northwest Indians faced extermination by the end of the nineteenth century. Examining written and oral evidence left by both indigenous and white cultures, this book presents the Snake River-Palouse as important actors in events and demonstrates how their initiative and decisions influenced the course of history. This revised edition offers a new introduction by the authors and a new foreword by Chief Tilcoax's descendent Wilson Wewah.

Using imported heirloom grains and fruits, Spanish explorers, fur traders, missionaries, and some Native Americans planted subsistence gardens in the Pacific Northwest. After immigration surged in 1843, it took a surprisingly short time for the region's fertile lands to become a commercial agricultural powerhouse. Demand for food exploded with the industrial revolution as well as the urbanization of Europe and eastern America, and the doors of international export opened wide. Agribusiness expanded to meet the need. By 1890, advancements in mechanization, seed quality, irrigation, and sustainable practices had spurred a farming boom. Columbia Basin irrigation and the development of synthetic fertilizers, as well as Cooperative Extension efforts and impressive work by agricultural researchers greatly boosted regional production. Harvest Heritage explores the people, history, and major influences that shaped and transformed the Pacific Northwest's flourishing agrarian economy.

Born to T'siyiak, a champion horse racer and Com-mus-ni, the daughter of Chief Wiyáwiikt, Kamiakin helped relatives tend his family's rapidly expanding herds. He wintered in tule mat lodges in the Kittitas and Ahtanum valleys, shared in spring root gathering, went salmon fishing in the summer, and participated in fall hunting and berry picking. The young Indian also learned ancestral traditions. Alone as an adolescent on the treacherous, icy heights of Mount Rainier, he dreamt of the Buffalo's power and completed his quest for a spirit guide. Muscular and sinewy, he became a skilled horse racer and competitor in feats of agility. He married and established his home on Ahtanum Creek, where he raised potatoes, squash, pumpkins, and corn in large, irrigated gardens. As Kamiakin matured, he became more prominent among the Yakamas; leaders of both Sahaptin and Salish tribes often sought his counsel. Through personal aptitude as well as family bonds, he emerged as one of the region's most influential chiefs. He cautiously welcomed White newcomers and sought to learn beneficial aspects of their culture. His dignified manner and attire impressed both soldiers and missionaries. In the 1850s, the arrival of unprecedented numbers of White immigrants incited a cataclysmic upheaval that would threaten the very existence of the Plateau's native people. On May 29, 1855, the Walla Walla Council commenced with a brief meeting attended by some 5,000 Indians, including Chief Kamiakin. Two weeks later, with great reluctance, he signed the Yakima Treaty of 1855. He also resolved to fight against the destruction of his people and desecrations upon the land. Finding Chief Kamiakin is his story.