Outlaws on the Big River - Paperback

by Joe Schwab (Author)

Outlaws on the Big River is a true account of the experiences of the Author as he worked the Columbia River as a Wildlife Enforcement Officer for the Oregon State Police. The danger, tedium and humor encountered while matching wits with determined fish poachers and law breakers makes for some interesting reading and insight into a field of Law Enforcement the public knows little about. Accounts date from early 1970s thru the 90s and even after the Author's retirement in 1994. The Columbia River stretches from the border of Canada to the Pacific Ocean. It becomes the Border of Oregon and Washington upriver from McNary Dam and is jointly managed by both States. It also includes a Tribal Fishery area above Bonneville Dam, a non tribal Commercial Fishery below Bonneville Dam and Sport Fishing along it's entire length. Wildlife Officers on both sides are thinly spread and must have a keen working knwledge of the river and it's myriad of fish runs in order to situate themselves efficiently. This book covers a small portion of one man's experiences. Multiplied by twenty or 30 officers over the same time stretch and the problems become clear.

Author Biography

I was born in 1941 and raised in the Willamette Valley in the town of Mt. Angel. I attended 14 years of schooling there and entered the U.S. Air Force in 1962. I was married that same year and spent 8 years in the military with assignments in California, Minnesota, Okinawa and North Dakota. 2 sons and one daughter were all born while in the Air Force. 1969 I was honorably discharged and came back to Oregon and was employed by Oregon State Police. After three years of Patrol I was assigned to Fish and Wildlife Enforcement and soon began my career on the Columbia River enforcing Commercial Fishing laws and Sport Fishing regulations. The job took me from 4 years on the lower river to The Dalles for 9 years working the treaty fishery and then back to Portland for 9 years where I finished up my career and retired in 1994. We then purchased a fishing lodge in Clam Gulch, Alaska, operated it for 6 years and moved back to Oregon. I returned to Oregon State Police as a seasonal contract Officer and totally retired in the spring of 2009. My wife and I live in sight of the Columbia River in Columbia City, Oregon, less than one mile from the old office where I began my career 37 years ago.