Howard E. Buswell was born on April 22, 1894, on his family's farm near Ferndale, Washington.  In 1906, the Buswell family moved to land near Marietta, Washington on Bellingham Bay.  There, except for a short period during and right after World War I, Howard Buswell lived out the remainder of his life.

Buswell's early education was acquired at various elementary and high schools in Ferndale, Marietta, and Bellingham, Washington.  During World War I he served in the United States Navy, and on discharge he continued for a short time at sea in the merchant navy.  He then worked briefly in the insurance industry with the Metropolitan Life Company.

Two years at the State College of Washington, now Washington State University, in the early 1920's were followed by a year at the Bellingham Normal School, now Western Washington University.  After obtaining his teaching certificate at the Normal School, he began teaching elementary school in Cosmopolis, Washington in Grays Harbor County.  Poor health, however, cut short his career in education and he was forced to retire.

For the remaining forty or so years of his life, he lived on the family farm, raising chickens and processing cider in association with his brother, Ray.  It was during these years that he began his research into local history, undertaking many "projects", as he called them.  These "projects" took him to libraries, museums, and court houses across the country, and led to the voluminous correspondence with archivists and librarians in many of the major repositories in the United States and several in Canada as well.  He intended to write a local history book on Marietta and the nearby Lummi Reservation, however, he was still gathering materials at the time of his death in 1965 and his book was never completed.