author
William Denison Lyman
1852–1920
A Pacific Northwest historian and teacher, he wrote lively books about regional history, Native traditions, and the landscapes he knew firsthand. His work helped shape how readers understood Washington and the broader Northwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
3 Audiobooks
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce
by William Denison Lyman
About the author
Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1852, William Denison Lyman became an educator, historian, and writer with deep roots in the Pacific Northwest. He studied at Pacific University and later earned a degree from Williams College before returning to a teaching career that eventually brought him to Whitman College in Walla Walla.
At Whitman, he taught history for many years and became one of the college's best-known professors. Alongside his academic work, he wrote extensively on the Northwest, including books on regional history, Native American stories and traditions as they were recorded at the time, and the mountains and landscapes of the area.
Lyman's writing reflects both scholarly ambition and personal experience: he was known not only as a professor and lecturer, but also as an outdoorsman who explored the region he described. He died in 1920, leaving behind a body of work that remains closely tied to the history and identity of the American Northwest.