We run on introductions.

This is the part of the website where most outfits would put a form or a telephone number. We don't do that. It's not that we're hiding — it's that the work only works when somebody who knows both parties puts them in touch. We've tried it the other way and it never fits right.

If you think you've got a book

Or a grandmother with a good memory, or a cousin who never shuts up about the old place — wonderful. The gentle way to reach us is to mention the project to a neighbor, a church member, a feed-store regular, or anybody you know who's already connected to one of the families we've visited. Word gets to us. It always does, around here.

If you're within a mile or two of the grange hall, you can also leave a note in the shoebox by the coat hooks marked for the book. A keeper empties it whenever one of us is by. Don't put anything in there you'd hate to lose for a week.

If you're family of somebody in the ledger

If a page on the Ledger is about your folks and you'd like it taken down, changed, or added to, we'll do that as soon as word reaches us. No arguments, no forms. If you'd like the original scans sent back and deleted from our files, we'll do that too — Jody keeps the key to the file cabinet and she doesn't mind opening it.

If you're from away

We get the occasional note from researchers, students, and folks who've moved off but still have roots in the bottoms. We're glad to hear from you, but we're slow, and the families come first. If you can find a relation still living on the river, start there — not with us. Cousins count double; old classmates of the Halverson girls count triple.

Right now

The sorting table is full up. We're finishing the Sorrel Mill photographs and a long oral history from the Turner place that we promised for Vol. XV. Anything that isn't already in the shoebox will likely wait for the next volume. That's just the shape of a year here — summer listens, winter writes.

What we'll never do

• Publish a person's full name, or the name of their land, without their blessing.
• Share a borrowed book with anyone outside the project.
• Sell anything, charge anything, or ask you for money.
• Put anybody on a mailing list. We don't have a mailing list.
• Post any of this on the open socials. We're not on them.

Thank you for reading this far.
— the Bottom Book folks