Stewart Hall Holbrook (1893–1964) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

logger, writer, and popular historian. His writings focused on what he called the "Far Corner":

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

. A self-proclaimed "low-brow" historian, his topics included

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and fo ...

, the

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, the

timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

, the

Wobblies The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

, and eccentrics of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

. An early proponent of

conservationism The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the f ...

, Holbrook believed that Oregon's growing population would damage the state's environment.

Career

Holbrook was a logger before he moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, in 1923, when he was 30 years old and became a very accomplished writer. He wrote for ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' for over thirty years, was featured in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

,'' and authored over three dozen books. He also produced a number of satirical paintings under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

of "Mr. Otis," in a style he called "primitive modern." These paintings are still shown occasionally at the Portland Museum of Modern Art or can be found at the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections. In the early 1960s, Holbrook was the founder and leading spokesperson of an early fictitious conservation movement called the

James G. Blaine Society The James G. Blaine Society is an unofficial organization dedicated to protecting the U.S. state of Oregon from overpopulation. It was founded in the early 1960s by writer Stewart Holbrook. The goal of the society is to discourage people from i ...

, writing on subjects from

sustained yield The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (or MUSYA) ( Public Law 86-517) is a federal law passed by the United States Congress on June 12, 1960. This law authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and administer the renewab ...

forestry to his concerns about unplanned population growth.Booth, Brian (2000)
"Stewart Holbrook"

Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission The Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission (OCHC) is a non-profit organization based in the U.S. state of Oregon. The commission was formed in 1988 in order to discover and commemorate important literary and cultural contributions to Oregon's histor ...

, Portland, Oregon. Retrieved June 17, 2012.

Awards and honors

The Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award is named after Holbrook and is presented every year "to a person or organization in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s literary community."

Bibliography

*''Holy Old Mackinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack'' (1938) *''Let Them Live'' (1938) *''Iron Brew: A Century of American Ore and Steel'' (1939) *''

'' (1940) *''Tall Timber'' (1941) *''Murder Out Yonder: An Informal Study of Certain Classic Crimes in Back-Country America'' (1941) *''None More Courageous: American War Heroes of Today'' (1942) *''A Narrative of Schafer Bros. Logging Company's Half Century in the Timber'' (1945) *''Burning an Empire: The Study of American Forest Fires'' (1943) *''Green Commonwealth: A Narrative of the Past and a Look at the Future of One Forest Products Community'' (1945) , *''Promised Land: A Collection of Northwest Writing'' (1945) *''Lost Men of American History'' (1946) , *''The Story of American Railroads'' (1947) *''Little Annie Oakley & Other Rugged People'' (1948) *(with Henry Sheldon) ''Northwest Corner: Oregon and Washington: the Last Frontier'' (1948) * *''America's Ethan Allen'' (1949) *''Yankee Exodus: an Account of Migration'' (1950) *''The Portland Story'' (1951) *''Far Corner: A Personal View of the

'' (1952) *''Saga of the Saw Files'' (1952) *''(with Ernest Richardson)

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement ...

Tames the West'' (1952) *''Age of the Moguls'' (1985) (Original work published 1953) *(with Milton Rugoff) ''Down on the Farm, A Picture History of Country Life in America in the Good Old Days'' (1954) *'' James J. Hill: A Great Life in Brief'' (1955) *''Machines of Plenty: Pioneering in American Agriculture'' (1955) *''

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of ...

'' (1955) *''

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...

: U.S. Marshall'' (1956) *''The Columbia'' ( Rivers of America Series) (1956) *''The Rocky Mountain Revolution'' (1956) *''Dreamers of the American Dream'' (1957) *(with Ernest Richardson) ''Swamp Fox of the Revolution'' (1957) *''Mr. Otis'' (1958) *''The Golden Age of Quackery'' (1959) *''The Golden Age of Railroads'' (1960) *''Yankee Logger: A Recollection of Woodsmen, Cooks and River Drivers'' (1961) *''The Old Post Road: The Story of the Boston Post Road'' (1962) *(with Nard Jones and Roderick Haig-Brown) ''The Pacific Northwest'' (1963) *''The Wonderful West'' (1963) *''The

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

'' (1965) *''Wildmen, Wobblies & Whistle Punks: Stewart Holbrook's Lowbrow Northwest'' (1992) - an anthology of his writings.

References

External links

*
The Wild, Wild Wobblies, by Stewart HolbrookBio at Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbrook, Stewart 1893 births 1964 deaths Writers from Portland, Oregon Historians of the Industrial Workers of the World American loggers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists The Oregonian people Industrial Workers of the World in Oregon