WHAT’S PAST IS THE PROLOGUE – MAGIC REVEALS

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“HISTORY – an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.” 

Ambrose Bierce from The Devil’s Dictionary

“To remain ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain a child.  For what is the worth of a human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” 

Cicero from Orator

“What’s past is the Prologue”

William Shakespeare

Welcome to my blog

Lake Bled with Bled Castle across the Lake – same picture as on the first Lonely Planet volume on Slovenia

Blogs tend to focus on specific subjects. My focus tends to encompass my own learning as I make my way about in the World. Living in Portland, Oregon, there tends to be a quite a few stories regarding the Pacific Northwest. Show what you know?

My years have allowed me to visit many places around the world. Travel can push you to learning a lot about that world. The ‘learning’ doesn’t end with the travel. One story leads to another and so it is here on this site. There is a wide array of topics already covered. Easiest way to navigate through the topics is to use the sitemap here. I hope you find some of the entries as entertaining as I did in writing (and maybe visiting). Good journeys.

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DEVILS HOLE – SURVIVAL IN A DESERT CAVE

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Looking into the south end of Devils Hole, a collapsed cavern roof, home to one of the rarest vertebrate species in the world – the Devils Hole pupfish.

At the southeastern base of Deacon Peak, a crevasse in the rocks reveals the water-filled opening of a cave. Divers have descended to over 400 feet yet still have not discovered the cavern’s bottom. The water temperatures at the surface register a constant 92° F. Just below the water surface on the south end of the cave opening lying about one foot underneath is a rock shelf. The shelf measures 11.5 by 16.6 feet with the pool above measuring 11.5 by 42 feet. Welcome to the world of the Devils Hole pupfish – Cyprinodon diabolis.

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PUPFISH – TRIAL BY FIRE FOR THE RAREST OF FISH

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Formerly thought extinct, the Shoshone Pupfish are alive and well within the refuge pond in Shoshone, California.
Formerly thought extinct, the Shoshone Pupfish are alive and well within the refuge pond in Shoshone, California.

What to do in Las Vegas when the sensory impact of the Strip begins to wane? Glitz and glamor are all on conspicuous display as fountains dance in the face of ever disappointing water stores behind nearby Hoover Dam. Visiting cities in the American Southwest can be a jarring experience in water terms – golf courses and man-made party boat lakes speckle the seemingly never-ending urban sprawl.

Away from the lights, noise and costs of the Strip exist a plethora of outdoor activities – Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Red Rocks, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston but a few options. Today’s post concentrates on some of the unique species of life to be found in the various oasis springs found 1-2 hours west of Vegas among the desert basin area of the Amargosa Valley. In some of these springs, various species of pupfish live, their only home in the world. These fish include some of the rarest found today. The fish, like other animals and plants found around the oases, are survivors. One has to, in order to survive the climate and environment in which they call “home”.

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MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – SWALLOW MAGIC AND MYTHS

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Candles light memories at the back of the Serra Chapel.
Candles light memories at the back of the Serra Chapel.

Catholic priests ventured out into California to create missions in the 18th century from their Spanish bases in the Bajio of Mexico. Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of the best-known examples. Priests accompanied soldier-explorers who themselves were trying to duplicate the earlier exploits of Cortés, the brothers Pizzaro and many others. Fame and even more importantly, riches of untold amounts tempted them to push into the desert unknowns. But even as temporal gains pushed the main efforts, the spiritual mission remained an important sub context – natives to convert and to control.

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EWING YOUNG – WHISKEY, CATTLE EQUAL A NEW STATE

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Oregon White Oak marks the grave of Ewing Young in the Chehalem Valley.
Oregon White Oak marks the grave of Ewing Young in the Chehalem Valley.

Ewing Young lived a life of adventure. A major figure in the fur trade in the Far Southwest both as a trapper, but mainly as a leader. He migrated to the Oregon Country in 1834, where Young amassed a land claim of some 50 square miles. In his life, he figured big, but it was his early death at the age of 41 in the winter of 1841 for which he is best remembered. Dying without known heirs, local settlers came together to figure out how to settle his estate. That process is considered a germinal moment in the eventual founding of a local government in the divided Oregon.

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MONASTIC SPIRIT IN OREGON – CATHOLIC RIGOR IN THE BEAVER STATE

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Bell tower rises above the monastery chapel atop Mount Angel.
Bell tower rises above the monastery chapel atop Mount Angel.

Catholicism came to the Oregon Country as shown in an earlier post, in 1838 in response to the presence of Methodist missionaries who arrived four years prior and to a plea from local Hudson’s Bay Company employees allowed by the company to retire in Oregon with their Native American wives. The idea of monastic establishments – and here I will focus on Catholic monasteries – eventually followed though that was not well into the second half of the 19th century.

A quick aside, while most of the monastic communities are covered, there are the odd one or two missed – the small monastery just east of Eugene for several of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. Also, one setting covered – the Grotto in northeast Portland – does include a monastery for men of the Servite Order, though since the order is a mendicant order – one who serves among the world as opposed to contemplative orders which try to isolate themselves – I am not sure of how much time those men housed here stay at home as opposed to using it more of a base to range out from.

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MISSION SAN GABRIEL ARCÁNGEL – TRANSFORMING THE WORLD OF CALIFORNIA

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Edward Deakin's romantic view of the Mission San Gabriel with Mount San Antonio behind - about 1898.
Edward Deakin’s romantic view of the Mission San Gabriel with Mount San Antonio behind – about 1898.

Catholic priests ventured out into California to create missions in the 18th century from their Spanish bases in the Bajio of Mexico. Priests accompanied soldier-explorers who themselves were trying to duplicate the earlier exploits of Cortés, the brothers Pizzaro and many others. Fame and even more importantly, riches of untold amounts tempted them to push into the desert unknowns. But even as temporal gains pushed the main efforts, the spiritual mission remained an important sub context – natives to convert and to control. Here is an example at the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.

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CRANBERRIES – A LITTLE MAGIC FROM THE LEFT COAST

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Immature berries ripen under the summer skies on the Long Beach Peninsula.
Immature berries ripen under the summer skies on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Cranberries have slowly pushed onto the food and drink stage beyond the Thanksgiving dinner table. The little edible berries probably will not replace other berry cousins like blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, huckleberries or even currants anytime soon as mouthwatering magic anytime soon. That said, the cranberry industry has helped pushed the tart treats beyond the side helpings next to the late November turkey dinners, where the little berries gain much of their fame from.

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YAMHILL LOCKS – ALWAYS A LITTLE LATE TO THE GAME

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The walls of the Yamhill Locks remain; the dam is gone while the river still flows.
The walls of the Yamhill Locks remain; the dam is gone while the river still flows.

Three federally funded lock systems developed in Oregon with only the one at Willamette Falls remaining in some sort of functional capacity today. Cascade Canal and Lock -1878-1896 – submerged by Bonneville Dam; Dalles-Celilo Canal – 1905-1915 – lies under water from The Dalles Lock and Dam since 1956. Yamhill Locks closed in 1954. Gates and dam removed leaving the lock walls in place. The move to build the lock took over forty years. By the time of completion, time moved on, and the lock served little purpose for most of its fifty some year lifespan. 

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OREGON GENERALS AND THE GREAT WAR

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Oregon WW1 generals - Charles Martin as Oregon Governor left and Ulysses S. McAlexander as a brigadier general.
Oregon WW1 generals – Charles Martin as Oregon Governor left and Ulysses S. McAlexander as a brigadier general.

Two of the men who made the rank of major general in the U.S. Army during the period of World War One had strong Oregon ties. After the war, both would retire to Oregon and eventually die there. They were very similar in many ways, though history remembers each a bit differently. Here are the Oregon generals.

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FIGHTING MCCOOKS – TWO TRIBES OF OHIO IN THE CIVIL WAR

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McCook family temple at Spring Grove.
McCook family temple at Spring Grove – here is the Tribe of Dan.

The Fighting McCooks account for three more actual generals and one brevet general. The McCooks hailed from eastern Ohio – Daniel raising his family in Carrollton while John grew his in Steubenville. Buried here Spring Grove is Daniel’s family – John’s family lies, for the most part, at Union Cemetery in Steubenville.

John, as a physician, volunteered his services to the Union army. He was joined by another brother George, a surgeon – joined also by his son. Daniel volunteered to serve as a paymaster. Nine of his sons joined the cause – the “Tribe of Dan”. Three would die in combat. John and his five sons – the “Tribe of John” – all survived.

The Fighting McCooks put more men from the McCook family into the Federal armed servics during the Civil War than any other family in the nation.

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