This is the first section of the book concentrating on what the northwestern corner of Oregon was like during the time the Indians dominated the area. It was chosen to precede the epidemics of the 1770’s.
Chapter One: The Wapato Valley
- Midsummer 1750.
- The densest population in North America?
- Village Life
- Camas and Wapato
- Hunters
- Native Trails
- The Nehalem Valley
- The Columbia River Basin
- The Lower Willamette River
Chapter Two: Mud is Us
- Trilobites galore
- Immersed in Basalts
- Volcanoes and Floods
Chapter Four: Illahee and the tribes
- A profusion of Indians
- The Chinook
- Fishing – the Chinook way
- Chinook Plank Houses
- The Pacific Coast Slave Trade
- Chinook Women
- Illahee
- The Calapooyans
- The Clatsops
- The Tillamooks
- Vanishing act:
Chapter Three: Cowaniah and the Klickitats
- The Klickitats
- The Kanakas
- Chief Cowaniah
Chapter Five: Contagion and the Multnomah’s
- Epidemics in the 18th century via Mexico
- Epidemics in the 19th century
- The Multnomahs
Chapter Six: Origins (indigenous stories)
- The Giant and the Ogress
- How Coyote Spread Salmon all the way up the river
- Myths and indigenous stories about the origins of 1st people
- The rhythm of the annual migratory life
- Information about the state of fisheries on the Lower Columbia
- Kathlapotle and the various villages along the lower Columbia
