The Northwest Coast

• Main Author: Pritzker, Barry M
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University PressNew York, NY 2000
• Subjects: Yakutat; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195138979.003.0003; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52501367/isbn-9780195138979-book-part-3.pdf

Abstract For the purposes of this book, the Northwest Coast geographic region extends from just north of Yakutat Bay in southwest Alaska more or less to the California-Oregon border, including lands west of the Coast and Cascade Mountains. Its length is roughly 1,500 miles, but its width averages less than 100 miles. It is a territory dominated and defined by water. Especially in the north, great sounds, inlets, and fjords bring the maritime world to people well away from the coast and islands, and numerous rivers further contextualize their liquid world. Depending on elevation and precise distance from the coast, it is an area of seemingly endless fog and rain, fierce winter storms, dense forest, and giant trees. The climate is generally moderate.