‘Remember When, Stories of Lewiston, Idaho’
From how many U.S. vice presidents have visited Lewiston (four) to how many students have graduated from Lewiston High School (25,000), Lewiston historian Dick Riggs compiles little-known facts about the area and personal stories in the self-published book “Remember When, Stories of Lewiston Idaho.”
Riggs’ book spans a wide variety of topics. Among the articles are: Anatone school memories, the parking meter era, cemeteries of Nez Perce County, downtown Lewiston car dealers, when Lewiston and Clarkston had streetcars; Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian Bounds of Lapwai; the Weyerhaeuser kidnapping, grand opening of the Lewis-Clark Hotel; Lewiston’s neighborhood grocery stores; and Potlatch before the paper mill. Some articles were previously published in the Nez Perce County Historical Society journal “The Golden Age.”
Riggs, 81, grew up in Lewiston graduating from high school in 1951. He is a retired educator who ran for Idaho state Senate in 2002. Riggs will sign copies of his book from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Nez Perce County Historical Society Museum, 0306 Third St.; and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 6 at And Books, Too, 918 Sixth St., Clarkston. The book costs $20. Copies can be obtained by mail by sending $25 to Riggs at 701 Ninth Ave., Lewiston.
‘Defending Idaho’s Natural Heritage’
When it comes to preservation of land and water the term “radical environmentalist” is often bandied about, but in the new book “Defending Idaho’s Natural Heritage,” award-winning retired journalist Ken Robison shows the real people behind Idaho’s conservation story that began in the early 1900s.
From the free-flowing river in Hells Canyon and the primitive Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, to the Selway Bitterroots and jagged Sawtooths, “Defending Idaho’s Natural Heritage,” details the ordinary Idahoans, key political figures, motivations and victories that shaped the state’s terrain by stopping dams, limiting mining and passing wilderness acts. Robison, of Boise, served as editorial page editor at the Idaho Statesman from 1966 to 1976, winning the national Edward G. Meeman Award for Conservation Writing in 1976. He also worked for the Associated Press and served 20 years as a member of the Idaho Legislature.
The 351-page book is $29.95 and available online at
‘White Pine Wobblies and Wannigans’
After being out of print for some time, the Clearwater Historical Society has published a second edition of “White Pine Wobblies and Wannigans: A History of Potlatch Logging Camps, North Central Idaho, 1903-1986.”
First published in 1996, the book was researched and written by local historian Thomas P. Farbo, who died in 2001. The society felt the book was an important work of regional history that needed to be preserved, says society member Lin Tull Cannell, Orofino author of “The Intermediary: William Craig Among the Nez Perces.”
The society contacted Farbo’s family about returning it to print. The original manuscript and photographs were lost and Farbo’s family and the society spent a year relocating or recreating the text and photos.
Proceeds from the book’s sales will go to the society. The book is available for $30 at the Clearwater Historical Museum, 315 College Ave., Orofino. It, and other regional history books, will also be for sale 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Museum’s Patchwork Bazaar booth at Orofino Junior Senior High School.
