Books reviewed in this essay:
At first glance, it is difficult to imagine two more dissimilar books, although the titles imply a degree of semblance in their promise of exploring homelessness in an American city (Ensign) and from a national point of view (Willison). Each book does this in its own unique way. Ensign's Skid Road is a deeply researched history of Seattle, a city with a colorful, tumultuous history where Indigenous peoples (Tlingit, Coast Salish, Duwamish) worked alongside white settlers to send countless felled cedar and fir trees tumbling down a “skid road” to the sawmill at the hill's bottom on the docks. Although often at odds with the settlers who came in droves seeking wealth and adventure, Native Americans maintained their dignity living in the relative luxury of a mild climate, dense forests, and an abundance of fish and shellfish. Over time, this abundance of natural resources fueled...
