Tag Archives: Oregon

WELL SPRINGS – “MUD HOL” MIRACLE IN THE DUST OF THE COLUMBIA PLATEAU

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Emigrant Lane heading west with the Bombing Range on the right and Well Spring just ahead.
Emigrant Lane heading west with the Bombing Range on the right and Well Springs just ahead.

Travelling along at 70 mph along Interstate 84 along the Columbia River, it is easy to think Oregon’s mid-19th century pioneers just shuttled along rambling into Portland on Sandy Boulevard in no time at all.  Drive out to Well Springs and that idea disappears very quickly.  The long drive out here on the south side of the US Navy’s Boardman Bombing Range gives one the best example of what it must have been like to drive a wagon along the Oregon Trail with the end coming finally into view.

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DEADMAN PASS – OREGON TRAIL OUT OF THE BLUES

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Descent of western flank of the Blue Mountains, Oregon Trail, 1849 (Cross 1850) (OrHi 35, 575).
Descent of western flank of the Blue Mountains, Oregon Trail, 1849 (Cross 1850) (OrHi 35, 575).

Pioneers on the Oregon Trail found the crossing of the Blues to be a taxing affair, especially so late in their journey.  Some writers have declared the passage over the Blue Mountains as the last big challenge faced by the Overlanders. 

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TERRITORIAL OREGON – IN THE THRALL OF THE SALEM CLIQUE

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Shirt commemorates one of the election slogans of James K. Polk in 1844.

With the Cayuse War, the federal government finally acted in Washington, D.C., 18 August 1848, to develop an official form of government over the region of the Oregon Country transferred to American control by the Oregon Treaty of 1846 officially ending the awkward condominium shared with Great Britain since 1818.  The new territorial government ushered in new power brokers – aka the Salem Clique – to administer the political machine during the next decade. This setting the stage for a Statehood granted 14 February 1859 with war clouds gathering furiously back in the East.

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MCLOUGHLIN PROMENADE REVEALING MAGIC OF A NEW DAY

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The McLoughlin Promenade rambling atop the cliff rising above the old city-paper mill complex-Willamette Falls Legacy project.
The McLoughlin Promenade rambling atop the cliff rising above the old city-paper mill complex-Willamette Falls Legacy project.

Oregon City is packed full of history.  The first city of Oregon features two fine museums – Oregon Trail Museum and the Museum of the Oregon Territory – besides being home to the houses of two pioneers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, John McLoughlin and Forbes Barclay.  Beyond that, the dramatic power of the Willamette is on display from roadside vista points off Oregon Highway 99E and Interstate 205.  While the views are dramatic enough, that will change in the near future as the plans of the Grand Ronde Tribe come to fruition as the former industrial area reinvents itself to take advantage of the sheer magnificence of Willamette Falls.  Two other nearby sights are not as well known to those outside of Oregon City – Singer Falls and the McLoughlin Promenade.

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YELLOW STACK LINE – STEAMY HURRAH ON THE WILLAMETTE

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Yellow Stack Line's Grahamona loading at Salem.
Yellow Stack Line’s Grahamona loading at Salem.

Steamboats provided the basis of transportation for the Northwest for much of the latter part of the 19th century.  Railroads and, later, truck traffic ended the golden age of river transport.  In Oregon, the Willamette Valley was welded together for much of fifty plus years by little steamboats making their way up and down the river.  They braved high waters and with designs allowing for small drafts, they puffed along their way in periods of low water, as well.  One of the steamboat lines coming late to the game was one of the more dramatic, made so by the yellow smoke stacks sprouting off all of their boats.  This was the Yellow Stack Line.

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PROVISIONAL OREGON – GOVERNMENT ON THE HEELS OF WHEELS

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Oregon Country 1818-1846.

As school children, we bused out on field trips to Champoeg State Park to see where Oregon was “born”.  Most of us kids had little idea of the events which transpired here.  We, like our parents, also lack a fundamental knowledge of a history of the times in which the meetings and subsequent events took place.  The Provisional Government of Oregon simply did not mean much then or later. 

But Champoeg gave the Northwest got its first version of a Eurocentric government.  The United States and England decided to agree to not agree in 1818 forming a condominium of political control over the vast region.  A major problem with the agreement, no mention made of internal government.  That was not much of a problem when the only Europeans in the region were busy searching for animal pelts.  However, events took a big turn as the 1830’s became the 1840’s and American settlers began coming onto the scene.

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MONUMENTS FROM THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, FORGOTTEN PRELUDE TO EMPIRE

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USS Oregon
USS Oregon mainmast in Riverfront Park Portland

The Spanish-American war, forgotten mostly today, was a very popularly received event among the American public.  The ongoing rebellion in Cuba was recurrent front-page news. Newspapers ever eager to entice readers with lurid tales of Spanish atrocities.  Forgotten by most now, the Spanish-American War is remembered by numerous monuments spread around the country.  Like the war they memorialize, those monuments tend to be overlooked and passed by today without much notice.

Spanish-American Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery – Google Maps.
Memorial to the USS Maine in Arlington National Cemetery – Google Maps.
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PORTLAND, MEMORIES OF THE SECOND OREGON AND THE PHILIPPINES

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THE SECOND OREGON VOLUNTEERS IN THE PHILIPPINES BY WAY OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

Soldiers Monument in River View Cemetery to men of the Second Oregon Volunteer Regiment.

You can tell important seminal moments in many American cities by some memorials and parks found within the city.  Philadelphia has the Liberty Bell.  San Antonio has the Alamo.  Indianapolis has the massive Soldiers and Sailors Monument from the Civil War.  Portland has a leafy park across from the Federal Courthouse and the former Multnomah Courthouse where a statue stands proudly in the middle of the park.  At first glance, someone might think the Civil War is being remembered in some way.  But the rest of the monument has nothing to do with the Civil War.  It is a monument honoring the dead of the Second Oregon Volunteers who fought in the Spanish-American War.  Surrounding the monument, a series of marble stumps resemble artillery shells.  The battle names inscribed have nothing to do with Oregon in Cuba or Spain, but everything to do with the Philippines.

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