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I was fortunate to live and work in Alaska for over 16 years where I was involved in history and historic preservation. I researched Wrangell history and wrote about the local history for newspapers and magazines.  To date, I have published three books related to Wrangell history. I’ve recently published my third book about the Wrangell Garnet Ledge history I spent almost 40 years researching a group of women who owned a garnet mine at the mouth of the Stikine River.   

After moving back to Oregon to be near my elderly mother, I became involved in local Oregon history when I lived in Pendleton and Weston in Eastern Oregon.  I researched and maintained a large website on Umatilla County at one point. I also helped get the Frazier Farmstead Museum in Milton-Freewater online. What a wonderful museum it is!  I continue to have strong connections to Weston. It is a great little community and I’ve created a suite of websites for the community. A short stint in Coos Bay, and then back to The Dalles where I got back into more Oregon history at the Fort Dalles Museum and Anderson Homestead. That is a large museum campus that is a great look back at local and state history.

Let’s face it, if it has to do with history you’re going to find me involved in some way.

I’ve recently been blessed to move back to Alaska!  I love it here and have missed it so much. designsbytrisha.com is my gateway to the creative work that I do as well as a way to share my historical research. Posting my historical information online has generated a lot of information and leads for my research on the garnet mine women.  It’s been fun to meet descendants of the women and the people who were involved in some way.