Rich Wandschneider
Director, Josephy Library of Western History and Culture
Joseph, WA
8/31/2022
We caught up with Rich Wandschneider on the banks of Wallowa Lake, where azure water ran towards a horizon of sheer, glaciated peaks. Rich cheerfully encouraged the Westies to jump in the lake before our meeting. The water was cool, clear, and after a long morning in the sun, incredibly refreshing.
As we dried off in the shade, Rich told us about his work as a historian, writer, and entrepreneur in Wallowa County. Rich has lived in the area for some fifty years, during which time he founded the Bookloft community bookstore in nearby Enterprise and was instrumental in starting Fishtrap, a prestigious writing workshop centered in the Wallowas. He now directs the Josephy Library of Western History and Culture in Joseph, Oregon. This community space promotes community understanding about the history of the West and particularly the Indigenous peoples of this area.
Wallowa County is famous in part as the historic home of Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, also known as Chief Joseph the Younger. Joseph led a large band of Nimípu (Nez Perce) people in a fighting retreat towards Canada after the United States evicted them from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley. Rich told that story and spoke to the Westies about recent efforts by the Nez Perce tribe to reestablish a formal presence in the county. Mentioning the push to use the knowledge of Indigenous people in managing wildfire, fish, and other conservation issues, Rich comments that, "We are listening to tribal people because for one thing, we screwed up a lot. We screwed up with fire. We screwed up with water. We screwed up with lands, and we're looking for ways out and we're saying, Oh, these people lived here a long time. Maybe they knew something."
As we concluded our talk with him, Rich encouraged us to write attentively and carefully about history and indigenous issues. Good writing, he told us, is essential to understanding and illuminating other people’s perspectives. Rich’s advice has carried us forward as we continue thinking and writing about the complicated legacies of the West.
By Sam Allen