The book is about the inhabitents that lived and worked and raised their family's on the river prior to the building of the dam. It starts with the Norhtern Pacific Railroad surveys. It then tells about a band of the Nez Perce Indians that lived in the upper regions of this river for hundreds of years before the white man came. It then talks about the miners and the trapers that found their way into the upper reaches of this river. Then came the home steaders when the area was opened up. The U. S. Forest Service taking controle of the vast amount of land and timber. The loggers that came to harvest the timber. The development of fire protection and finnaly how the river is used today.