Tracing the geological and railroad history of the Pacific Northwest, Leon Speroff uniquely evokes the Age of the Railroad in his newest book, The Deschutes River Railroad War. With intricate detail, expert understanding and amusing anecdotes, he brings to life this facinating true tale of the race to expand railroad service from the Columbia River up the Deschutes River to Bend, Oregon. There are 89 black & white historical photos, 55 full color photos, 16 maps, numerous charts, railroad logos and memoribilia.

The definitive resource for tiers and anglers interested in the rich tradition of steelhead flies. Learn the histories of these classic flies, as well as how to tie them. • Covers steelhead flies from their origins in the 1890s up through the mid-1970s • Includes flies that remain popular today, as well as forgotten classics that were once popular or that exhibit stylistic merit • Contains 350 beautiful full color photos

This richly comprehensive history by a self-proclaimed "low-brow" historian features more than 100 photographs and contemporary prints of America's railway system. Stewart H. Holbrook presents a dramatic, highly readable chronicle of the development of the backbone of the country's commerce and industry. Abounding in episodes of ingenuity and achievement, the growth of the railway system required constant improvements in techniques, devices, and machines, from the first wood burner that traveled on wooden rails to modern streamliners and diesel-powered giants. In addition to technological innovations, the colossal enterprise required courage and resolve to battle challenges posed by nature as well as by political maneuvering and corruption. This fascinating survey draws upon many hitherto unknown original sources and new data, in addition to firsthand accounts from hundreds of brakemen, conductors, engineers, and other railroad employees. Sound and authoritative, it constitutes a definitive history of America's railroads.

Bend, astride the Deschutes River at the eastern foot of the Cascade Range, got its name from a place on the river that runs through it. Pioneer travelers called the place Farewell Bend because it was where they had their last view of the double bend in the river that afforded a good place to camp and to ford the waterway, otherwise flowing through deep canyons. When the U.S. Post Office Department approved a name for a post office established there in 1886, it settled on a shorter version-Bend-because there already was a Farewell Bend on the Snake River in eastern Oregon. Arrival of a railroad in 1911 connected Bend with a market for Central Oregon's vast timber resources. Large sawmills began operations in 1916 and Bend grew tenfold in 10 years. And it kept on growing into a favored place to live. By its centennial in 2005, some 75,000 people called Bend home.

One of America's foremost civil engineers of the past 150 years, John Frank Stevens was a railway reconnaissance and location engineer whose reputation was made on the Canadian Pacific and Great Northern lines. Self-taught and driven by a bulldog tenacity of purpose, he was hired by Theodore Roosevelt as chief engineer of the Panama Canal, creating a technical achievement far ahead of its time. Stevens also served for more than five years as the head of the US Advisory Commission of Railway Experts to Russia and as a consultant who contributed to many engineering feats, including the control of the Mississippi River after the disastrous floods of 1927 and construction of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam. Drawing on Stevens's surviving personal papers and materials from projects with which he was associated, Clifford Foust offers an illuminating look into the life of an accomplished civil engineer.

Early in 1868, Francis Barney Prine arrived in the Crooked River Valley of Central Oregon, established a blacksmith shop made of logs, and dispensed spirits from the back of the cabin. Prine saw the potential for development and industry along the lush banks of Crooked River and Ochoco Creek, and as more and more settlers arrived, the post office of Prine was established in 1871. The community soon emerged as a major commercial center for Central Oregon, one of the last frontiers in the state. In fact, Prineville boasts the only remaining city-owned railroad to operate in the United States. The decline of the timber industry led to hard times, but after Les Schwab established the headquarters of his emerging tire empire in Prineville, the city became one of the burgeoning communities in the Northwest.