Welcome to the online extension of Oregon Guides Publishing’s bookstore which is located in Canyon City Oregon. We are a special kind of bookstore so a little explanation is in order.

First, we are an eastern Oregon bookstore. Most of the world does not know that such a place as eastern Oregon exists. Some of you may have some notion of Oregon and the Pacific northwest: damp, green, fertile soil, a mild climate, Indians famous for their totem poles and canoes, the towns filled with coffee shops and trendy design boutiques. Absolutely none of this applies here. This is not just the old west, but some of the oldest west. Settled before the coming of railroads and the telegraph, the mines in Canyon City were played out before the first shack was built in Tombstone or Fargo. The local Indians were the great horse breeders of America. This is gold and cattle country and the cowboy life endured here for years after the automobile age eclipsed it in most of the rest of the country. In keeping with our setting, we have our own way and we don’t mind that the rest of the world does things differently.

This is a very specialized bookstore. We concentrate on the history and culture of eastern Oregon. We don’t offer anywhere near the range you can find at Amazon or even Powell’s but, within our compass, we have things that they don’t.

We are also fussy. I try to avoid acquiring vacuous books and I don’t put any effort into marketing them. If I list a book here, I think it is worth reading for some reason. I focus on history and prefer history written by participants to that by historians. I find that it is the contemporary accounts and the memoirs that contain the suprising and illuminating details that bring the past alive. We are also low volume, low tech and very hands-on.

If you have any questions or special requests, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to accomodate you.

 

Thanks,
Dave Driscoll