| Encounters in Avalanche Country Subjects: SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Meteorology & Climatology.; NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Mountains.; HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Pacific Northwest (OR WA).; Human ecology; Human ecology; Avalanches; Avalanches; Avalanches; Avalanches; Mountain life; M; Every winter settlers of the U.S. and Canadian Mountain West could expect to lose dozens of lives to deadly avalanches. This constant threat to trappers, miners, railway workers-and their families-forced individuals and communities to develop knowledge, share strategies, and band together as they tried to survive the extreme conditions of "avalanche country." The result of this convergence, author Diana Di Stefano argues, was a complex network of formal and informal cooperation that used disaster preparedness to engage legal action and instill a sense of regional identity among the many lives affected by these natural disasters. Diana L. Di Stefano is editor of Montana The Magazine of Western History and publications director of the Montana Historical Society Press. She maintains an active research and writing agenda related to disasters in the American West. |