Magazine
Seen and Unseen
  • Digital Editions are available for our paid subscribers. Please login here.

  • If you wish to subscribe, click here.

June 1, 2023

This June, we meet a remarkable woman: Letitia Carson, who was born into slavery and yet became the only Black woman known to secure a homesteading claim, despite Oregon Territory’s strict Black-exclusion laws. Now, Black Oregonians want to preserve the homestead site — without forgetting the Indigenous people who were forcibly removed from that land. A gifted photographer looks at rural life in Colorado’s North Fork Valley. Can geothermal energy help power the West? The Canada lynx is on the move as the snow it depends on recedes. Locals are becoming community scientists to protect the Salton Sea. HCN examines Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman’s relationship with Indian Country, and we learn about making syrup from the Northwest’s bigleaf maple trees. Ohtani basketball is a Japanese American tradition in California, while queer culture flowers amid that state’s superbloom. We interview John Vallaint about Canada’s wildfires and his new book, Fire Weather. Jane Wong’s new memoir reveals how compulsive gambling tragically derailed an Asian American family — her own.

Feature

The many legacies of Letitia Carson
The many legacies of Letitia Carson
An effort to memorialize the homestead of one of Oregon’s first Black farmers illuminates the land’s complicated history.
A refuge in the North Fork
A refuge in the North Fork
Harvesting memories on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Reportage

How the tiny brine shrimp can help protect the Great Salt Lake
How the tiny brine shrimp can help protect the Great Salt Lake
A conversation with the sixth-grade activists behind Utah’s new state crustacean.
How do you count the elusive lynx?
How do you count the elusive lynx?
Wildlife cameras may be key to understanding the threatened species’ response to climate change.
Is Harriet Hageman an ally of Indian Country?
Is Harriet Hageman an ally of Indian Country?
The rookie congresswoman says she wants to advance tribal autonomy.
In search of answers at the Salton Sea
In search of answers at the Salton Sea
To protect air and water quality, shoreline residents become community scientists.
Sugaring the Pacific Northwest
Sugaring the Pacific Northwest
How climate and cost cramp bigleaf maple syrup production.

Editor's Note

The West is an accumulation of stories
The West is an accumulation of stories
Complex and different to all, the region changes with time and tellings.

Facts & Figures

Geothermal: Hot or not?
Geothermal: Hot or not?
This old, abundant, relatively clean energy source has barely been tapped.

Photo Essay

The fight to keep Ohtani basketball alive
The fight to keep Ohtani basketball alive
Increasing housing costs and the pandemic threaten an important tradition in the Japanese American community.

Essays

The flamboyance of wildflowers
The flamboyance of wildflowers
My Pansy Craze Expedition commemorated an important era of queer culture before it was trampled like a super bloom.

Conversation

When fire goes feral
When fire goes feral
A conversation with John Vaillant, author of ‘Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World.’

Poetry

The Mirage of Marriage
The Mirage of Marriage
A poem by Karen Holmberg.

Book Reviews

Gambling’s hidden price
Gambling’s hidden price
Meet Me Tonight In Atlantic City details the cost of gambling addiction for one Asian American family.

Heard Around the West

Ferry felines, ornithopters and Tokitae going home at last!
Ferry felines, ornithopters and Tokitae going home at last!
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

#iamthewest

‘It’s about supporting the queer community, uplifting people and bringing magic here’
‘It’s about supporting the queer community, uplifting people and bringing magic here’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.

Dear Friends

Read with us
Read with us
As summer arrives, so too does another summer reading challenge.

Letters

Letters to the editor, June 2023
Comments from readers.
High Country News Classifieds
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) seeks a strategic and visionary Executive Director: View all job details here- https://bit.ly/CCRHED
  • MONTANA BLUES
    The new novel by Ray Ring, retired HCN senior editor, tackles racism in the wild, a story told by a rural White horsewoman and a...
  • DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST
    Title: Digital Engagement Specialist Location: Salt Lake City Reports to: Communications Director Status, Salary & Benefits: Full-time, Non-Exempt. Salary & Benefits information below. Submission Deadline:...
  • CONSERVATION FIELD ORGANIZER
    Title: Conservation Field Organizer Reports to: Advocacy and Stewardship Director Location: Southwest Colorado Compensation: $45,000 - $50,000 DOE FLSA: Non-Exempt, salaried, termed 24-month Wyss Fellow...
  • UTAH STATE DIRECTOR
    Who We Are: The Nature Conservancy's mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    Apply by Oct 18. Seeking collaborative, hands-on ED to advance our work building community through fresh produce.
  • INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS EDITOR - HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
    High Country News is hiring an Indigenous Affairs Editor to help guide the magazine's journalism and produce stories that are important to Indigenous communities and...
  • STAFF ATTORNEY
    Staff Attorney The role of the Staff Attorney is to bring litigation on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, and at times our allies, in the...
  • ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
    Northern Michigan University seeks an outstanding leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. With new NMU President Dr. Brock...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Clark Fork Coalition seeks an exceptional leader to serve as its Executive Director. This position provides strategic vision and operational management while leading a...
  • GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT MANAGER
    Help uphold a groundbreaking legal agreement between a powerful mining corporation and the local communities impacted by the platinum and palladium mine in their backyard....
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) is seeking a strategic and dynamic leader to advance our mission to "conserve the lands and waters of the...
  • COLORADO DIRECTOR
    COLORADO DIRECTOR Western Watersheds Project seeks a Colorado Director to continue and expand WWP's campaign to protect and restore public lands and wildlife in Colorado,...
  • ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY - INDIGENOUS HISTORIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WEST
    Whitman College seeks applicants for a tenure-track position in Indigenous Histories of the North American West, beginning August 2024, at the rank of Assistant Professor....
  • DAVE AND ME
    Dave and Me, by international racontuer and children's books author Rusty Austin, is a funny, profane and intense collection of short stories, essays, and poems...
  • CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
    Rural Community Assistance Corporation is looking to hire a CFO. For more more information visit: https://www.rcac.org/careers/
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation (ABWF) seeks a new Executive Director. Founded in 2008, the ABWF is a respected nonprofit whose mission is to support...
  • CANYONLANDS FIELD INSTITUTE
    Field seminars for adults in natural and human history of the northern Colorado Plateau, with lodge and base camp options. Small groups, guest experts.
  • COMING TO TUCSON?
    Popular vacation house, everything furnished. Two bedroom, one bath, large enclosed yards. Dog-friendly. Contact Lee at [email protected] or 520-791-9246.
  • ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSTRUCTION GEOPHYSICS
    We characterize contaminated sites, identify buried drums, tanks, debris and also locate groundwater.