The Last Wilderness

$21.98
by Murray Morgan

Shop Now
Murray Morgan’s classic history of the Olympic Peninsula, originally published in 1955, evokes a remote American wilderness “as large as the state of Massachusetts, more rugged than the Rockies, its lowlands blanketed by a cool jungle of fir and pine and cedar, its peaks bearing hundreds of miles of living ice that gave rise to swift rivers alive with giant salmon." Drawing on historical research and personal tales collected from docks, forest trails, and waterways, Morgan recounts vivid adventures of the area’s settlers―loggers, hunters, prospectors, homesteaders, utopianists, murderers, profit-seekers, conservationists, Wobblies, and bureaucrats―alongside stories of coastal first peoples and striking descriptions of the peninsula’s wildlife and land. Freshly redesigned and with a new introduction by poet and environmentalist Tim McNulty, this humor-filled saga and landmark love story of one of the most formidably beautiful regions of the Pacific Northwest will inform and engage a new generation of readers. "The name Murray Morgan is synonymous with Washington State history. Like all his works, The Last Wilderness is meticulously researched, yet delightfully conversational and entertaining. Morgan's works are a treasure for history buffs not just in the Pacific Northwest, but everywhere."―Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here "A surprise on every page, this rich history is necessary reading for understanding the Olympic Peninsula both as it was and is today."― Seattle Times "Morgan turns his readers’ eyes to the mountains, the wild coastline and the early streets of Port Townsend and Port Angeles. His true tales are loaded with wit―and lush with moisture . . . [and McNulty] turns his introduction into a poetic venture into the emerald woods."― Peninsula Daily News "Murray Morgan’s Last Wilderness is one of the classics of northwestern literature and popular history."― Pacific Northwest Quarterly Journalist, educator, and historian Murray Morgan (1916–2000) authored more than twenty books, including Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle and Puget’s Sound: A Narrative of Early Tacoma and the Southern Sound . He worked for Time magazine and CBS News, hosted the Northwest radio show Our Town, Our World , and wrote for magazines ranging from Cosmopolitan to the Nation and the Saturday Evening Post . Tim McNulty is an award-winning poet, essayist, and nature writer based in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. His natural history books include Olympic National Park: A Natural History and Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park . His work has received the Washington State Book Award and the National Outdoor Book Award.

Customer Reviews

No ratings. Be the first to rate

 customer ratings


How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Review This Product

Share your thoughts with other customers