Merciless Eden

A River of No Return Homestead, both Beautiful and Brutal, and the History of the Pioneers who Sought to Tame it.

Merciless Eden, written by Maravia and Cascade CEO Doug Tims, will enthrall river runners with tales of the Salmon River, it canyon, and characters. The book reveals the history of Campbell’s Ferry, the true story behind its most famous resident, Frances Zaunmiller, and covers the history of the surrounding wilderness lands and the battles to protect them. If you care about Idaho’s wild rivers and wilderness this is a must read. Included in the book is Jim Moore’s letter to Frances telling where his treasure is buried. It has never been found.

In the long and fascinating history of the Salmon River land on which Campbell’s Ferry sits, men and women have been lured, coaxed and persuaded to claim it and tame it. One by one, these strong, wily and dedicated souls have fallen in love with it, then lost the battle, and sometimes their minds, trying to survive it. Now comes Doug Tims, passionate river-runner and outfitter, and Phyllis Tims, retired fine arts dean and dancer, who have figured out that the best and perhaps only way to preserve Campbell’s Ferry is to reach deep into its past, to study it, learn it and understand it. And oh, what enthralling stories and secrets they uncover along the way. Here, in Merciless Eden, are those dramatic, funny and remarkable stories, some of them literally from the graves of their Campbell’s Ferry forbears.

Hank Klibanoff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation