Harvest Heritage: Agricultural Origins and Heirloom Crops of the Pacific Northwest by Richard D. Scheuerman and Alexander C. McGregor

Abstract

 OHQ vol. 115, no. 2 efforts as well as challenges that lie ahead. The former include rebuilding and transforming the old Columbia River Highway, trails-based recreation developments, and breaching dams and restoring rivers.The impacts of coal trains running through the gorge, local initiatives to expand urban boundaries, and extremely difficult relationships among the Gorge Commission ,the state legislatures,and the counties are examples of the latter. The author’s well supported overall conclusion to this engagingly written work: while the Gorge Commission is today on very shaky political and financial ground, several gorge communities are prospering, and environmental advocates and watchdogs are doing an effective job of protecting scenic, natural, and cultural resources.Durbin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while working on the manuscript ,and died a few weeks after delivering the final draft. She believed the National Scenic Area is“a gift bestowed by nature and protected by far-sighted, public-spirited people” that keeps on giving; this book is her legacy, her gift to those who will shape its future (p. 1). It would be appropriate as a supplemental reading in courses on Northwest environmental policies and politics. Sy Adler Portland State University Harvest Heritage: Agricultural Origins and Heirloom Crops of the Pacific Northwest by Richard D. Scheuerman and Alexander C. McGregor Washington State University Press, Pullman. Photographs, maps, tables, notes, bibliography, index. 186 pages. $32.95 paper. Food has taken center stage in the consciousness of many Americans as we grapple with issues of biodiversity,food safety,and the consequences of intensive industrial agriculture.It is important for our society to understand the roots of these contemporary issues.Historians must endeavor to create narratives and frameworks of analysis that help our fellow citizens understand the complexity of food history and the development of our contemporary food systems. Richard Scheuerman and Alexander McGregor contribute to the understanding of food production in the Pacific Northwest in Harvest Heritage. The authors describe in detail the rise of grain production in the Pacific Northwest, primarily wheat and oats.This is not surprising since both Scheuerman and McGregor grew up on the Washington Palouse and have a deep knowledge of grain cultivation and production, and both authors have written about agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Scheuerman and McGregor chose to emphasize two themes throughout the book. The first is the global connections of Pacific Northwest agriculture that developed quite early during the nineteenth century. Food production was first and foremost about subsistence for early agriculturalists in the region, but from the very beginning that food was used to feed the employees of an international corporation , Hudson Bay Company, and found its way to Russian colonists in Alaska and many different people along the Pacific Rim. The second theme emphasized throughout the book is the ethic of experimentation and collaborative work that characterized those involved in farming and scientific innovation in the region. That willingness by farmers, scientists, business leaders, and politicians to collectively address problems and create new technologies and plant varieties specific to Pacific Northwest conditions has been the basis for the success of grain production in the region. It has also lifted this region to one of the preeminent grain producing regions in the world.  Reviews The authors begin their discussion of agriculture and grain production in the Pacific Northwest with an introduction to the historic development of grain cultivation throughout the world.They then explain the early story of farming in the region,focusing on the efforts of Hudson’s Bay Company and its employees to develop reliable sources of food in the region. While describing early farming of fur trappers and employees of the fur trade,the authors also highlight the adoption of agriculture by Native peoples in the region. The book continues with a detailed narrative of frontier farming in chapter four,shifting the narrative from local details about farming and crops to integration into global trade and markets. The authors focus on the move east of the Cascade Mountains and the growing importance of railroad and federal government land policy in the region. Chapter five provides a captivating look into agricultural life and work in the Pacific Northwest. The authors describe technological innovations and...