Lewiston, Washington Territory 1862
by Carol Grende LaForde

Timothy Nolan’s Idaho, 1862-1890: Being Several Scholarly Accounts of Adventures and Events in and Around Lewiston Idaho from Gold Rush to Statehood
 is a history of life in the mining
communities and supply towns of central Idaho during its territorial

"We danced to whatever he played"
by Connie McLeod

period, penned as a historical narrative by fictitious Timothy Nolan. Nolan
writes his reminiscence in 1890, nostalgically looking back over his
twenty-eight years in the territory, where he arrived as a prospective
miner and transitioned into a contributing member of the new and developing
community of Lewiston. By presenting the history in the voice of
someone who lived through those years, Simon-Smolinski recounts the
events and describes the people and places in a highly readable, fast
paced, first person interpretation.

"The monotonous cabin"
by Connie McLeod

Complementing and completing the
narrative are Illustrations by Connie McLeod—along with historic
regional photographs and a map.


Most of Timothy's interest and activities are directed towards the
Clearwater and Salmon River gold districts in the heart of Idaho Territory.

He describes each community, the travel routes and methods used to
reach them, life in the mining camps, and the businesses that supply their
needs. Timothy is mesmerized by the magnificent landscape and the Nez
Perce Indians who inhabit it; even so, he closely observes all of the people
whom he meets through his travels—from the best to the worst, the
exotic to the ordinary—and introduces many of them on these pages,

John Smolinski, Greer Idaho freighter

trying to draw the larger picture of this great American adventure.



332 pages, 28 illustrations, 55 photographs, map, index, sources

"One must contemplate God's creation..."
by Connie McLeod

$27 + shipping & handling ISBN: 978-1-4675-8610-8 2013
Order: Artisans at the Dahmen Barn • (509) 229-3414
shopatthebarn@lewiston.com • www.ArtisanBarn.org

Book Review

Frances Allard of Craghead, Allard & Wirtanen, Booksellers wrote:

The character of Timothy in Timothy Nolan’s Idaho, 1862 to 1890 represents the voice historical writer and teacher Carole Simon-Smolinski has heard speaking to her throughout her many years of research on the creation of the State of Idaho. Timothy came to life in 1983, as he chronicled daily about his trip from the east to find gold in Idaho Territory.  Now, his personal recollections figure as a guide to the years that birthed the full-fledged state. In this present work, as in the previous one, Timothy focuses on other people, revealing little of his own life. The reason for this is that in an unusual approach to what is truly a nonfiction work, Timothy Nolan is a fictional character, as Carole makes clear in her prologue. As she looks back upon her own journey with these two books, Carole has come to realize that she herself is Timothy, and that he represents her deep desire to actually live in and tell about the times she writes about.

Timothy is Carole’s time-travelling self, which lends a wonderful sense of immediacy to his comments on the Idaho history he’s seen happening and lived. His vision is clear, vivid and accessible to readers because Carole can virtually “see” that time period when she writes about it through Timothy’s eyes and ears. She uses his wisdom gleaned from years of observation; in other words, she’s on the spot reporting. As Timothy carefully records his “conversations” with real people (both common and prominent) across the years of the developing territory to Idaho statehood, she uses his “dialogues” (which are compiled using details gleaned from her own extensive research of personal diaries, newspapers, journals, interviews and other sources), to bring the reader along on her journey back in time.

The result was well worth the experiment with the grey area between nonfiction and fiction.

Timothy Nolan's Idaho 1862-1890: Being Several Scholarly Accounts of Adventures and Events in and Around Lewiston Idaho from Gold Rush to Statehood