Columbia

The scope of Columbia--the first epic saga of our country's final courageous thrust into the continental unknown, the Pacific Northwest--is as massive as the Columbia River itself. The story begins nine thousand years ago, when the river was new, and unfolds in a magnificent family portrait spanning five generations, from the end of the eighteenth century to the present.

At the head of ancient family is Ilchee, a Chinook Indian princess married to a white trader, who founds a dynasty of rare...