The Great Columbia Plain

Dismissed in early years as a wasteland, the rolling open country that covers the interior parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho is today one of the richest farmlands in the nation. This work is the story of its transformation. Meinig traces all of the aspects of its development by combining geographic description with historical narrative.

"Meinig’s approach emphasizes not dramatic personalities or events but the lay of the land, the sweep of seasons, and certain early perceptions of the area that influenced its development."

"From the Indians who roamed the desert and grasslands, to the farmers who came to raise cattle and wheat, Meinig has mapped and written the changing attitudes towards the area and the changing economic patterns. . . . This is an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of history, geography, and economics."

"This study proves that regional history can have significance as well as genuine vitality. . . . The work is imaginative in theme, well organized, and ambitious in scope."

"A finely drawn and richly documented geography."

"This is a regional historical geography of exceptional quality. Regional studies, Carl Sauer once remarked in a seminar, involve judgement and perspective, insight and talent, and therefore should be attempted only by the mature practitioner. Donald Meinig qualifies on all counts. His excellent book makes us painfully aware of how little really good and readable work has been done in this genre."

"By offering so richly textured a description of the region he knows and loves so well, Meinig reminds us how the meaning of a place can only be understood in time. The deeper lesson of this book is that history and geography yield some of their greatest insights when they make common cause and work together. To understand a place, we must know its history; to understand history, we must know the place in which it has occurred. ."—William Cronon, From the Foreword