Long before Amazon's online bookstore became a retail giant, most Americans got their books from small shops and independent sellers like Gene Baade. Baade knows a thing or two about those days gone by. Since 1988, he has been selling books out of his own home, with a catalog he designed himself. Baade has since put the catalog online, called Books on the West, but his inventory remains in his home, where he can usually be found with his nose in a volume.
A book lover turned collector
"I've always loved books. I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and was a reader from the beginning. I was encouraged to do that," Baade said. "When my wife and family and I moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1986, I began to frequent certain used bookstores. Portland was great with used bookstores, some of the obvious ones and some of the less-well-known ones. I started to do a lot of buying for private collections, and eventually I decided that I needed to begin selling in order to support my habit, so to speak."
Most of the books Baade collected from used-book stores around the Pacific Northwest focused on a special interest of his: Western Americana. "My specialty is Western Americana and Canadiana, even though I have a much broader inventory," Baade explained.
His enchantment with sensationalized tales of American history started early on. "I was always interested in the Old West. I was interested in my state and the former territory ...from early on. During high school on the school bus, I would read Louis L'amour novels," he said.
Through his collecting, he made connections with other genre enthusiasts and began a humble mailing list. Within just a few years, his small, homegrown shop was reaching readers across the country.
"I was able to acquire a significant mailing list of Western Americana collectors and libraries and so forth from an acquaintance in Texas," he said.
A different kind of collection
Almost every book in Baade's 4,000-piece collection is unique. "Because my business field is Western Americana used and rare, I don't carry a stock of multiple copies of virtually anything. Most of my material is one of a kind," he explained.
While his store definitely won't have the hottest celebrity memoir or summer rom-com, he's noticed that trends still ebb and flow in the world of Western Americana literature. When popular Western history magazine True West releases a special on a topic like Jesse James or Billy the Kid, Baade sees a spike in interest in those topics as well.
This summer, books related to the new Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon have been flying off the shelves. "[Books] about the Osage in Oklahoma and how they were cheated out of their oil allotments in the 1920s [are popular], and that particular title is very popular," Baade said. "I only have two or three copies of that in the first edition. I usually only handle material in the first edition rather than reprints."
Baade's favorite books aren't always the most popular. The most unique thing in his collection right now is an old collection of maps. "I have an 1887 atlas of the state of Kansas. Very few copies are available on the internet. It's a wonderful, huge atlas," he said.
He still acquires most of his books from used-book stores and antique sales. Now, over 40 years since he started collecting, Baade says he's mastered the art of knowing a good book when he sees it. "It's kind of a sixth sense in many ways," he said. "Other booksellers would say that. You see something, and you think there's something special that maybe you want to look at more closely. You're looking for things that appear to be nice. It's kind of an undefined thing."
LGBTQ+ people in history
One thing that keeps Baade coming back to the thrill of Western Americana is the mystery attached to the genre. "There are a lot of undiscovered identities in the history of the frontier, and it's only when somebody brings attention to that [that they are recognized]," he said.
For example, many LGBTQ+ people lived on the American frontier, where they explored gender and sexual identities. These topics are not often taught in basic history courses. "Unless you read about it yourself, you won't know about those histories, but that's what makes it exciting, uncovering the mysteries," Baade said.
He recently discovered the history of a Gay mountain man in Wyoming. "I was just contacted by a friend the other day about the book he was looking at. It was about a mountain man who was born and raised in England, who came to America in the 1830s and '40s for the fur trade. He was a trapper," Baade explained. "I did not know that apparently there was an alternative rendezvous for the fur trade that was usually held around Greenwood, Wyoming. That rendezvous was more geared toward people of his sexual orientation. That was a complete surprise to me."
A Sasquatch scholar
Western Americana isn't the only topic that interests Baade. He is also a semi-well-known Bigfoot scholar. "I am a researcher in Sasquatch and Bigfoot material. I specialize in that material," he said.
Not only does he collect material about the elusive cryptid, but he has also published several of his own findings. "I have done some writing and publishing in that field as well," he explained. "[My research was] pertaining to footprints that were discovered in northern Wisconsin, where I lived. I also did various interviews in northern Wisconsin even in the 1970s. I published a bibliography for one of the most important books in the field, which was published in Yakima in 1966. I am the author of the bibliography of that — it's called Roger Patterson's Snowman Book — and I have written articles for various online journals as well as for the Book Club of Washington."
As a theologist and semiretired pastor, Baade has a long answer for anyone who asks point-blank if he believes in Bigfoot: "I don't believe the word 'belief' quite fits it," he began. Due to evidence, some of which he has documented, Baade has concluded the creature must be real. "If you want to just assume the old layman's answer, yes I do," he said.
Baade's entire collection can be found online. "If people want to look ...at my inventory... over 4,000 [titles] online in various fields, if they're interested in something, [they can] contact me directly," he said. "I'm always happy to meet people. I'm not really open for general browsing, but I am open for contact. I do believe strongly in good customer service."
Baade can be reached at [email protected]. His website is https://www.booksonthewest.com