Far Corner: A Personal View of the Pacific Northwest

"Far Corner" is the saga of a latter-day pioneer who invaded the Pacific Northwest wearing the only derby hat those parts had ever seen. Author Stewart H. Holbrook bought the hat in Boston just before he boarded the steam-cars to seek fame and fortune amidst the booms and busts of the roaring '20s. On his journey, he discovered there were still people who liked fried elk for breakfast and noticed that not all cowboys were six feet tall and lithe. He was delighted with a hamlet named Pluvius because one year it rained for 362 days and the other three days, according to the sole resident, "was goddam cloudy."

For many years Holbrook ranged the immense regions as a reporter.

He came to believe that far too much had been written about the wars with Indians and far too little about "the wars of the cities for survival and supremacy" Here he adjusts the balance by telling why this town failed and that one flourished. He also deals with the many "cities of illusion," like Bourne, which published two newspapers, one for its handful of residents, the other for a mailing list of suckers in all parts of the world.

Holbrook's main interest was in background--the regional events of the past century that had some influence in forming the unique character of the Pacific Northwest and its people.