Reading Portland is a literary exploration of the city's past and present. In over eighty selections, Portland is revealed through histories, memoirs, autobiographies, short stories, novels, and news reports. This single volume gives voice to women and men; the colonizers and the colonized; white, Hispanic, African American, Asian American, and Indian storytellers; and lower, middle, and upper classes.In his introduction, John Trombold considers the history of writing about a place that has nourished a provocative and errant literary tradition for over 150 years. In the preface, Peter Donahue considers the influence of region--particularly Portland's urbanity and its hybrid population--on literature.Included here are the voices of Carl Abbott, Kathryn Hall Bogle, Beverly Cleary, Robin Cody, Lawson Fusao Inada, Rudyard Kipling, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joaquin Miller, Sandy Polishuk, Gary Snyder, Kim Stafford, Elizabeth Woody, and many more.

The Pull of the Rivers: A Preface, by Peter Donahue / xvAcknowledgments / xxiReading Portland: An Introduction, by John Trombold / xxiiiEarly Portland: Muddy Streets and DestinyMATTHEW DEADY / 3Portland-on-WallametHARVEY W. SCOTT / 6From History of PortlandPosition and Advantages of PortlandSettlement and Early TimesJANET STEVENSON / 10From DepartureThe Third MonthThe Fourth MonthThe Fifth MonthROBERT ORMOND CASE / 20From Empire Builders1850?InterludeOnce to Every WarriorALFRED POWERS / 28From Long Way to FriscoTHERESA TRUCHOT / 31From Charcoal Wagon BoySmuggler CatchersERNEST HAYCOX / 34From The Long StormMALCOLM CLARK JR. / 40The War on the Webfoot SaloonSTEWART HOLBROOK / 50The Three Sirens of PortlandRUDYARD KIPLING / 56From From Sea to SeaJOAQUIN MILLER / 59From Memorie and RimeThe New and the OldJOEL REDON / 62From The Road to ZenaE. KIMBARK MACCOLL / 66From The Shaping of a CityA Wide Angle ViewSTEPHEN DOUGLAS PUTER / 71From Looters of the Public DomainHistory of the Picture that Elected Hermann to CongressANONYMOUS / 74The Life Story of a Japanese ServantANONYMOUS / 78The Portland ExpositionJAMES STEVENS / 85From Big Jim TurnerLittle Pretty and the Seven BullsSTEVEN LOWENSTEIN / 98From The Jews of OregonThe Story of Aaron and Jeanette MeierModern Portland: The Rose CityCHARLES ERSKINE SCOTT WOOD / 105Portland's Feast of RosesLOUISE BRYANT / 112Two JudgesEVELYN MCDANIEL GIBB / 114From Two Wheels NorthBARBARA BARTLETT HARTWELL / 120The Wood HouseholdJOHN REED / 126Almost ThirtyALAN CHEUSE / 132From The BohemiansALAN HART / 147From Doctor MallorySANDY POLISHUK / 152From Sticking to the UnionMICHAEL MUNK / 160Portland's ?Silk Stocking Mob?LAURENCE PRATT / 168From I Remember PortlandChinatownBicycleJAMES BEARD / 172From Delights and PrejudicesNANCY NOON KENDALL / 181From The Wise in HeartMARY BARNARD / 191From Assault on Mount HeliconBEVERLY CLEARY / 201From A Girl from YamhillHigh School FreshmenWise FoolsLove and the Spelling BeeCLYDE RICE / 210From Nordi's GiftTOM MCALLISTER and DAVID B. MARSHALL / 215HometownELIZABETH MCLAGAN / 219From A Peculiar ParadiseSober, Industrious, and HonestKATHRYN HALL BOGLE / 225An American Negro Speaks of ColorAUGUSTA CLAWSON / 230From Shipyard Diary of a Woman WelderJOHN OKADA / 237From No-No BoyLAWSON FUSAO INADA / 247The Flower GirlsMARIE ROSE WONG / 258From Sweet Cakes, Long JourneyPortland Proper: Neighborhoods,Activists, Nature, and BeerROBERT DIETSCHE / 265Where Jump Was a NounDON CARPENTER / 274From The Class of '49May Fete DayRICHARD NEUBERGER / 280My Hometown Is Good Enough for MePHIL STANFORD / 287From Portland ConfidentialBack to Business as UsualThe Tantalizing Candy ReneeHot Times at the Desert RoomGARY SNYDER / 292From The Practice of the WildThe Same Old Song and DancePAUL PINTARICH / 293From History By the GlassMIKAL GILMORE / 304From Shot in the HeartSettling DownStrangersKIM STAFFORD / 314The Separate HearthSHANA ALEXANDER / 321From Astonishing ElephantThe Elephant's ChildRUTH BARNETT and DOUG BAKER / 329From They Weep on My DoorstepALBERT DRAKE / 336From One SummerLost LakeScotch BroomSmellsAt the BranchURSULA K. LEGUIN / 343From The Lathe of HeavenKENNETH STERN / 353From Loud HawkA Bullet in a Guy's HeadALEXANDER PATTERSON / 358Terrasquirma and the Engines of Social Change in 1970s PortlandED EDMO / 367After CeliloRICHARD HUGO / 371From Death and the Good LifeJEWEL LANSING / 384From Deadly Games in City HallLOUIS MASSON / 390From the Wheelhouse of the Western CougarDAVID JAMES DUNCAN / 395From The River WhyLittle, But StrongClosing the DoorWALT CURTIS / 402From Mala Noche and Other ?Illegal? AdventuresImmigrantsNotes on the Mexican KidsDANIEL CHACÓN / 409From Chicano ChicaneryAztlan, OregonDOUGLAS COUPLAND / 420From Generation XMTV Not BulletsTransformWelcome Home from Vietnam, SonROBIN CODY / 427From Voyage of a Summer SunThe Urban WaterwayWILLIAM LEAST HEAT MOON / 433From River-HorseRobot of the RiverContemporary Portland: Scenes and ReflectionsELINOR LANGER / 439From A Hundred Little HitlersThe Death of Mulugeta SerawUndergroundSUSAN ORLEAN / 445Figures in a MallED GOLDBERG / 454From Dead AirKATHERINE DUNN / 463From TruckLEE WILLIAMS / 468From After NirvanaCARL ABBOTT / 473From Greater PortlandRamona Quimby's Portland: The Nicest City Possible?DAN NEWTH / 481Chillin'JAN MORRIS / 482The Other PortlandPHILLIP MARGOLIN / 486From Ties That BindAPRIL HENRY / 491From Buried DiamondsMARTHA GIES / 495From Up All NightObdulia at the Rose GardenKATHLEEN DEAN MOORE / 501From RiverwalkingThe WillametteDONALD MILLER / 503From Blue Like JazzShiftsCHUCK PALAHNIUK / 508From Fugitives and RefugeesGetting Off: How to Knock Off a Piece in Portlandxii READING PORTLANDMATTHEW STADLER / 512From The StrangerBrown at the Edges with a Chewy White CenterSALLIE TISDALE / 518Portland from the AirELIZABETH WOODY / 524BuckskinMIRANDA BEVERLY-WHITTEMORE / 526From The Effects of LightPETER ROCK / 530From The BewilderedKEVIN CANTY / 537From Winslow in LoveDAVID OATES / 541From City Limits: Walking Portland's BoundaryBoots on the Ground in Sherwood ForestSelected Bibliography / 549Citations and Permissions / 563