Imagine prairie grasslands and oak savannas surrounded by forests of Douglas fir. Lewis and Clark saw pristine wilderness when they reached Washington’s frontier. Although Capt. James Cook failed to find a northwest passage to the Far East, he discovered a land rich in animal furs. Mink, otter, fox, lynx, bear, and especially beaver made 19th Century Vancouver a fur-trading dynamo, with a cultural, commercial, and political history worth exploring.