Skagit River Journal of History & Folklore Free Home Page Stories & Photos The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284 Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

From the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific centennial website:http://www.ayp100.org/. See our notes below about centennial now being celebrated..

This week and month and season, we are thinking all about swans, specifically Cygnus buccinators, the trumpeter swans, who were in my thoughts constantly during my recent illness. The year revolves around them for many of us who have lived here for decades. We smile when a friend calls us and says excitedly, "I saw the first swans foraging on the south side of Cook Road." This photo is by Duke Coonrad (not Conrad, as we originally posted), whose webpage shows dozens of his terrific photos, including Skagit Valley and the swans. Some would make great gifts for the holidays. Click on the photo to see an even larger, more detailed version.

The phrase "swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song. This painting dates to 1655, by Dutch painter Reinier van Persijn.

Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae [click on the audio link for that wonderful sound]
Conservation Status
      Trumpeter Swans once nested over most of North America but disappeared rapidly due to human development and hunting practices. By the 1930s, fewer than 100 Trumpeter Swans remained south of Canada. With habitat preservation, protection from hunting, and reintroduction efforts, Trumpeter Swans have experienced a comeback, especially in the Northwest.
      They are now found in greater numbers in Washington than anywhere else in the contiguous United States. Of the over 15,000 individuals estimated in North America, more than 2,000 were counted in Skagit County during the 1999-2000 hunting season. Populations are still increasing and expanding their range to other counties in Washington, but they are not without threat. Habitat loss is still an issue, as is lead poisoning. Trumpeter Swans ingest lead shot as grit to help digest hard grains, and as few as three pellets can kill a Trumpeter Swan.
      Although lead shot is banned for hunting waterfowl in both the US and Canada, it can still be used for hunting upland birds and for trap shooting, which occurs in some of the areas where Trumpeter Swans winter. Swan die-offs from lead poisoning occur periodically. In 1992 a number of poisoned Trumpeter Swans were found, and in 1999-2000, at least 87 died.
      Since 2000, hundreds of Trumpeter Swans have died of lead poisoning in Whatcom County. The source of the lead shot is not known, but wildlife officials are trying to identify the source, so that they can remove it and prevent this from occurring in the future. Ailing Trumpeter Swans must be removed, as scavengers can also get lead poisoning from preying on poisoned swans.
When and Where to Find in Washington
      Trumpeter Swans spend the winter from November to April in the open fields and estuaries of Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Padilla Bay, Samish Bay, and Samish Flats are all areas that Trumpeter Swans frequent. Recently, this range has expanded to Grays Harbor and other areas of western Washington. They are uncommon in similar habitats in eastern Washington during winter. There are currently no Trumpeter Swans breeding in Washington, but a pair has been seen during the breeding season at the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (Spokane County) since 1994, and they may breed in coming years.

      More wonderful sites to see and hear the swans:
Snow Geese & Trumpeter Swans are Here November 1, 2009 - March 30, 2010, and Skagit/LaConner events during that period
Skagit Wildlife Area: Johnson Debay Swan Reserve, A 295-acre Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife site with sloughs, seasonal ponds, wetlands, and corn fields. and then read our Journal website about DeBay Island
Natural Moments: Bird and Wildlife Photography, Trumpeter Swans Along the Skagit River
Day hiking in Skagit County and bird-viewing

Did you work at Skagit Steel? If not, do you know their donkey engines well? If you answer yes to either, we hope you can explain the details of this persevering machine to our correspondent who asks the questions below.

Click on these thumbnails for full-sized photos
Far left: The donkey engine: click here for an even larger size with more detail. Center: The donkey label one. Right: The donkey label two.

      We were just in Death Valley this week camping and came across this Donkey Engine that looks like it is still being used. With the flat head Ford V8, I would guess it is from the 30's or 40's. I checked to see if the company was still in business and found your site. Maybe someone there will know something about this piece of equipment
      It is ready to run, fuel filter and spark plugs look like new. Put in a battery and I'm 100 percent sure it would start. If I knew how it worked, I would give it a try, I would like to see the cart go up and down the mountain.
      Here are some of the pics from the Death Valley trip, we just got back yesterday. We go 3-4 times per year, but we have Jeeps and go way in where most people never go. This trip we came in from 395 out of Big Pine, CA. We camped for 5 days and explored a lot of old mines and canyons with water falls in the middle of the desert.

Click on these thumbnails for full-sized photos
Far left: Into the valley thru the mountain pass. Center: Day trip to a talc mine above the valley. Right: Rails at the site.

Click on these thumbnails for full-sized photos
Far left: Donkey with cables and rigging. Center: A second machine.. Right: Ever wonder where old teakettles go to die?.

Click on photo for an eagle close-up ("they're ready for their close-ups, Mr. DeMille").

      We hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but we learned a month ago that Skagit County has cut funds that have been allocted annually for the Bald Eagle Festival in January and February. That is why the Skagit Eagle Website (http://www.skagiteagle.org/) is no longer posted.
      We are going to step into this breech and offer a series of bald eagle stories for the people who want to visit the Skagit River anyway and do not need a festival to guide them. Here are more excellent sources for the eagles and for the area:
North Cascades Institute. They have two special class/workshops. Dec. 12 and Jan. 16, 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.: Eagles and Salmon: Northwest Icons on the Skagit with Libby Mills. Every winter, hundreds of bald eagles migrate to the Skagit River to feast on the Puget Sound's richest salmon runs. Bundle up, grab your binoculars and join Libby Mills, a renowned naturalist who has studied this natural wonder for more than 25 years. Feb. 20: Winter Wings: Birds of the Skagit and Samish Flats with Jim Alt. Join Institute naturalist Jim Alt for a field excursion designed to celebrate one of the Northwest's natural treasures. Traveling together, we'll survey the area's profound bird life, with a focus on raptors, wintering waterfowl and shorebirds, as well as the relationships that bring these various species together in this particular place.
Concrete Herald, Jason Miller's revived newspaper in Concrete, for the upriver.
Concrete Chamber of Commerce.
Can you suggest other resources or events during that regular time of the festival?

Baba Ghanouj For 6 large portions Ingredients: 2 medium small eggplants
juice from one good-sized lemon
1/2 cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
lots of fresh black pepper
1 tbs olive oil
(Optional) 1/4 cup finely-minced scallions
      Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut of stems of eggplants and prick eggplants with a fork. Put them in oven and let them roast for about 45 minutes. When they are totally soft and crumpled you know they're done. Remove and wait to cool. Scoop out insides of eggplants and mash. Add all ingredients above. Chill and drizzle more oil on top just before serving. Serve with pita triangles or bread.

Years ago, Don Kelly gave me this blurred copy of a 1930s photo of Weiser's Café in Concrete, which I understand was in the ground floor of the Mount Baker Hotel. Can any of you readers tell us anything more about the restaurant and/or the café? The hotel's new owners will likely change the name of the hotel.

Inspecting Carol: Synopsis & Characters       Mix together a struggling theater company, a tired production of A Christmas Carol, a really bad actor and a visiting inspector from the National Endowment for the Arts and you end up with Inspecting Carol, the off-the-wall holiday farce. Everything that could possibly go wrong does as a fictitious theater company struggles to mount their annual production of the holiday classic.
      Bad theater has never been this much fun before. Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Company created Inspecting Carol as an antidote to the endless parade of annual productions of A Christmas Carol. As it I developed, the piece also grew into a satiric look at government funding for the arts and how it affects the organizations that receive it.
      The insanity begins when the company members of a small regional theater mistake a neophyte (and very bad) actor as an inspector from the National Endowment for the Arts. In order to hold onto their funding, the company does everything possible to keep this person happy, including casting him in their production of A Christmas Carol and letting him rewrite large sections of the story.
      When the real inspector shows up, the company is forced to perform what can charitably be called the worst production ever of the Dickens classic. The ghosts of Christmas past, present and future forget their lines, Bob Cratchit throws out his back trying to carry Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley gets tangled in his chains, Mrs. Cratchit becomes a vampy sex kitten, Scrooge begins to speak his lines in Spanish to protest U.S. policy in Central America and the stage manager is stricken with an uncontrollable fit of the giggles . . . all before things really begin to go wrong. [Here are a few of the people in the play:
Character Descriptions: Zorah Bloch: Founding director of The Soapbox Playhouse. In her 40s. Extremely self concerned. Dramatic "over the top". Blames everything on her Lithuanian ancestry. Very set in her ways. Artistically challenged. Husband recently passed away. She is willing to do anything . . . to save her theatre.
Sidney Carlton : Founding member of the company. In his 60s. Kind but somewhat addled. Good natured. Been there done that. Tad oblivious.
Dorothy Tree Hapgood: Sidney's wife. A founding member of the company. In her 60s, English and unable to loose her accent. Must have proper English accent. Americanized English transplant. Tries to have the last word on accents. A bit eccentric. Kind and mothering.
Larry Vauxhall : Founding member of the company. In his 40s. Tough, intellectually vain. Child of the '60s, still looking for a turn-on. Artist desperate to be free. Clashes with Zora on almost everything. Recently went through a divorce and lost everything.

      I came across some information on the Fairhaven and Southern Ry. that I don't think any of us knew about. First time I have heard of it however. It was contained in a lengthy article on the new railroad in the July 4, 1889 edition of The Oregonian [Portland] newspaper.
      As you know, a lot of railroads used tag lines to help identify themselves. The Northern Pacific was known as "The Route of the Great Big Baked Potato", the Western Pacific was known as "The Feather River Route", the Idaho & Washington Northern was "The Pend Oreille River Route", etc. Well it seems that the Fairhaven & Southern Ry. was known in it's early years as "The Blue Streak Line" and a light blue colored streak, or band, was the trade mark of both the railway and the city of Fairhaven.
      This light blue mark was carried on the letterheads of the railway and the Fairhaven Land Co., the hotel, railroad and steamboat letter heads, bills of lading, shipping blanks, etc. had a band of light blue of about ½ inch width printed at their head. On the equipment, the tenders, locomotives themselves, freight and flat cars and cabooses all carried a streak of light blue on their sides. As do the company's freight and passenger steamers operated between Fairhaven and all Sound points.
      The "streak" was painted in proper proportions to width on whatever it was applied to, being about a foot wide on passenger and freight cars. The idea being that, as their trains were passing by they would appear as a "blue streak" to the observer.
      It was also proposed to apply this streak to the elegant new hotel that was being built in Fairhaven in mid-1889 and that the employees of the company would sport blue hat bands to further carry on the theme.
      Now knowing this, if you look closely at the photo you have of Fairhaven & Southern locomotive No. 2 you can see this light blue band extending across the middle of the locomotive's tender and possibly also across the cab below the window.
      Anyway, this was all news to me and I thought it a novel way to promote the new railroad and distinguish it and it's equipment from others and wanted to share it with you. It probably worked well on captive equipment like the passenger train but lost it's effect once the freight trains started accepting inbound shipments in cars from other lines, thus "breaking up" the continuous blue streak from locomotive to caboose.

The Fairhaven & Southern railroad on the first day of through service from Fairhaven to old Sedro on the northern shore of the Skagit River, on Christmas Eve, 1889. This was the beginning of Sedro as a frontier magnet. The boom only lasted 2 years until the Financial Panic of 1893 leveled many boom towns just as dot.com businesses were leveled in the late 1990s. But what a fantastic ride it was. This is F&S Engine #2, manufactured in Schenectady, New York. Cost: $18,461.30, f.o.b. We assume that the lokey was manufactured by Schenectady Locomotive Works, which merged with other companies to become American Locomotive Co. in 1901

      Dear Abby: I wish you could find the space in your column to reprint a letter my husband wrote after Memorial Day. It was printed in our local paper. I'm sure our armed services veterans would appreciate it.
— Helen Manier, Sedro Woolley, WA.
Dear Helen: I am pleased to print your husband's eloquent and timely letter. Its message isn't just for veterans - it's for everyone.

They Died So You Can Vote
By David Manier       For many years my emotions have been moved by Memorial Day remembrances and ceremonies. This year was emotional as always, but I was struck by the thought that those who made the supreme sacrifice are being let down by many in this country.
      There is a thin line between a government of the people, for the people and by the people, and a governing body that prohibits the governed any means to improve their quality of life. That thin line is the right by free and honest elections to select the persons who govern and represent the citizens. The right to enact or disallow many social or economic changes. That thin line is the right to vote.
      The right to vote is extended to selecting the officers of your labor union, religious group, social or fraternal organization. Labor unions and religious freedom are not allowed in a police state or dictatorship.
      Hundreds of thousands of armed forces members have died to preserve our government and our right to vote. The citizens of this country who are eligible to vote — but do not — commit a grave disservice to those who died in wars defending the United States. Their deaths should not have been in vain.

Dear readers: If you haven't already registered to vote, now is the time to do it. Get moving. Forward march!

Swans landing, courtesy of Duke Conrad

Peggy Doyle, Cygnus partner, at the entrance to the gallery

Full Moon Names and Their Meanings Full Corn Moon — September — This full moon's name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon.
Full Harvest Moon — October — This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.
Full Beaver Moon — November — This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.

      Kelly Beatty, editor of Night Sky magazine and executive editor of Sky and Telescope, tells Robert Siegel that a blue moon actually refers to the phenomenon of having four full moons in a season, which ordinarily has three.
      Beatty also acknowledged that his magazine had a hand in giving the misconception credence. Sky and Telescope magazine recently put out a press release explaining its role in perpetuating the myth. It read, in part: "Our 1946 writer, amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett (1886-1955), made an incorrect assumption about how the term had been used in the Maine Farmers' Almanac, where it consistently referred to the third full moon in a three-month season containing four. (By this definition there is no blue moon in May or June 2007, and the next one happens in May 2008.)

Swan display, courtesy of A. Fredrickson

Robert Sund, 1965, courtesy of this beautifully biography in Poet's House Trust, a terrific resource.

Robert Sund and the Ish rivers       As we wait for our friends, the swans, we remember again the poem that makes our hearts sing, the one by the late Robert Sund, who died in Anacortes in 2001. He was like the swans in many ways, for his grace and his poems and his beautiful music on autoharp.       One of his lifelines, a vein that circulated the blood that his body, brain and heart needed the most, was the image of the Snow Goose and Trumpeter swan, subjects of several of his poems and meditations. Centuries ago, these swans and their Tundra brother-species were ubiquitous all over the river valleys of the United States. But the approach of concrete and toxic things have narrowed the feeding and breeding grounds to the point that the Skagit River Valley is the last place where they can be seen in great profusion, dancing vertically, chatting over the tops of cat-tails, and scatting as if Dexter Gordon were playing his saxophone or Chet Baker his trumpet in the center of their snow-white circle, once in November and then back in January through March for one more curtain call. Ish River Like breath, like mist rising from a hillside. Duwamish, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Samish, Skokomish, Skykomish . . . all the ish rivers. I live in Ish River country between two mountain ranges where many rivers run down to an inland sea.     — Robert Sund

Listening to: Everybody loves my baby but my baby don't love nobody but me nobody but me Yes, everybody wants my baby but my baby don't want nobody but me that's plain to see! Skat is where it's at, Jack. From "Everybody loves my baby," as performed by the Boswell Sisters, 1932 , lyrics by Spencer Williams. Doris Day warbles a fine version, too.

Buffalo Chip Tent-ground

Carrie Thompson Cole, 1924; photo courtesy of Paul Enge

      You'll be pleased to know that YES, we do have a Lady of the Night making an appearance in the Ghost Walk — Patti McLucas is playing the part of Carrie Thompson Cole! And thanks to your reference — and great info online — about Fred Cole, he will also be joining the cast of characters this year. Don Payne has agreed to play Fred. The spirit of Chuck Dwelley is also joining us this year, in the form of new Concrete Herald editor Jason Miller. It should be a really great time — starting this Saturday night!

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A birthday party on the steps of the mansion in about 1905, probably for Minkler children and their playmates. Click on the photo for a version of what the mansion looks like today. Photo courtesy of the Meyers family collection.

Reader John Ruthford, who gained fame for reproducing the lantern show slides of the 1914 Sedro-Woolley Bank Robbery, found this wonderful photo of the Union Hotel in Edison, circa the year it was built: 1887. He explained that he obtained the original at Hewitt's Trading Post years ago, across the Minkler Highway from the old Oasis Tavern, where my mother often said, our car was known to pull in of its own accord once a week, after my dad headed home from his day shift at the greenhouse at Northern State Hospital.       As we know from our Journal transcription of the 1906 Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, Tom Cain, the saloon owner, built the Union back when Edison was a very important entry point to the mainland of Skagit County, back when Dan Dingwall and the Blanchard brothers and others were clearing Bow Hill of trees for a hungry San Francisco and Seattle market.       John is also convinced that the two people in the wagon are Prairie-area brother and sister Edward J. and Nel Canavan, whom he also identified from the Journal . Folks from that region then followed the old path and wagon tracks that John Warner's wagon made on trips back and forth from Prairie to Samish Island for shopping and freight, rather than heading south or Sedro, still just a small dot on the map.

      An eruption of the earth occurred a short time ago on the south fork of the Nooksack river, just across the hills north of Hamilton. A terrific jar of the earth was felt at midnight by the the residents of that locality who thought it was an earthquake shock.
      Investigation has since disclosed the fact that a small mountain had risen in the bed of the river. The mound is conical in shape, about 100 feet high and 1,900 feet across the base. the odors of gas and sulphur are said to be quite perceptible in the vicinity of the upheaval.
      The river has been swerved around about half a mile outside of its regular channel. It is said that a geologist from Seattle has been examining this peculiar freak of nature, and claims that the eruption was due to the formation of gas from the millions of tons of coal which lie beneath the surface in this part of the country.

Mount Baker Active The Evening Times, Washington, D.C., April 7, 1900
Mount Baker, 1900 The Supposedly Dead Volcano Has an Eruption.
Upheaval in Cascade Range
New York Times, April 7, 1900
Asserted that Mount Baker, 110 Miles from Seattle, Is in Eruption
      Returning trappers and miners from the vicinity of Mount Baker, 110 miles from here in the Cascade Range, report a tremendous upheaval of earth and rocks ten miles west of the snow-capped peak, March 27. The report bears every evidence of accuracy and reliability.
      H.C. Banning and D.P. Simons, the latter a well-known mining man, of this city, visited the scene of the eruption. They declare it a genuine eruption, with evidences the Mount Baker is likely to burst out anew as a volcano. Great fissures were opened in the earth, and in the valley of the Nooksack, a big mountain stream, a huge mound of earth, seventy feet high and a quarter of a mile long, was raised across the valley. The stream was dammed and rose to a considerable height, forming a lake before breaking through. The earth trembled and there was a rumbling noise lasting several minutes. There is great excitement among the ranchers of the district.

Sherm and Jimmie Benson's Roadhouse restaurant, tavern and garage, in Rockport on the bluff above today"s Howard Miller Steelhead Park, just east of the old terminus of the Seattle & Northern Railroad.

This was the "before" interior shot of the Train Wreck in the middle of the gutting before Nick and his crew transformed the ugly duckling into, well, a swan. We will post the "after" shot on Tuesday.

      For armchair historians interested in the earliest exploration of inland Washington waters, these texts bring Northwest maritime history to life. Beginning in 1786 and continuing through 1792, The Early Exploration . . . includes transcriptions of the journals and logs of our first explorers. This text follows the journey of John Meares in 1786, four expeditions by the Spanish including José Maria Narvaez, Manuel Quimper, Francisco de Eliza, and Alcala Galiano/Cayetano Valdéz and culminates with George Vancouver's detailed exploration of our inland waters in 1792.
      With Vancouver . . . continues the saga with the journals of Vancouver's men including Peter Puget, Joseph Baker, and more. These present a view of shipboard life as well as detail on additional exploration.
      These fascinating reads include the first European descriptions of Puget Sound country and the people who lived here. They also record the events and history surrounding the naming of many prominent locations in the area by Vancouver including Puget Sound, Whidbey and Vashon Islands, Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet, Mounts Rainier and Baker, etc.
      Readers will also be fascinated by the numerous Spanish names including the Haro Strait, Port Angeles, Padilla Bay, Sucia, Matia and Patos Islands as well as many more that did not stand the test of time.

For the full brochure of the LaConner Turkeys, click Pages 2-3 & Pages 4-6

By Elliott Wilson       LA CONNER — First the town had too many turkeys. Now there may not be enough to go around. Adoption offers flooded in following a Town Council decision earlier this month to reduce La Conner's feral domestic turkey flock. Residents have complained about the birds' pooping, flower chomping and rooftop roosting, but the turkeys, which are protected by the town code, are also a major tourist draw.
      "I lost sleep, personally, thinking about the ramification of removing the turkeys entirely," Mayor Ramon Hayes said Tuesday. Some contemplated killing the birds, with two councilmen advocating eliminating the whole flock earlier this month. But with word out that the flock 20 or so turkeys would be culled to seven, officials agreed Tuesday that relocation was the better option.
      Where the birds will go and when they will leave town was left undecided Tuesday, with the council agreeing that the mayor and his administration could choose what is best for the birds. One potential location, La Conner Code Enforcement Officer Bill Stokes said, is the Precious Life Animal Sanctuary in Sequim. He said the nonprofit organization has offered a one-acre netted enclosure for the birds.
      The sanctuary's Web site boasts of "views of the Straits of Juan De Fuca," and some suggested Tuesday that it might be a nice "turkey retirement home."

Courtesy of Wendy's website

Lawrence Whitmore is especially proud of his 1916 "Jack Benny" Maxwell auto in the Whoop-n-Holler Museum.

Journal for Aug. 16-22 Recorded Aug. 19, 2009     Chapter Two (See below for Aug. 9-15, 2009, the beginning, Recorded Aug. 9, 2009)

Bickleton, Washington, Whitmores, Bluebirds, Whoop-n-Holler Museum

Oregon's 150th Birthday Sept. 17-20 The Dalles and Hood River

Ada Ruth and Lawrence Whitmore inside the country school that they saved, complete with bell, potbelly stove, racked-wooden seats and a hug for teacher. Click to see a larger version and see how pretty Ada Ruth and Lawrence really are

The Whitmores lead another parade, this time with bluebird houses. On this day they were preparing some of the up to 500 such houses that they provide to be nailed to fences and that soon become home to the Western bluebird.

• 1931 Essex, from Fred Newell in nearby Dot (that's right, just a dot on the map). Traded him a 1940 flatbed pickup that cost $250. Bought in 1957, 8,424 original miles, now about 9,000, flower vase on the dash
  
• 1921 Ford Model-T. Tom and Nellie Whitmore (Lawrence's parents) bought it new at the Bickelton Garage Ford dealer for about $600.
  
• 1916 Maxwell. But no Rochester in the driver's seat or Jack perched in the back. Bought from Fred Lillienthal of Zillah (Yakima Valley wine country), mileage 30,176.
  

1952 Chrysler Imperial. "From Aunt Hazel Whitmore, she bought new in Eugene. They had a ranch at Mohawk Valley in Oregon. I inherited. 64,000 miles, large hemi engine."

• 1937 Hudson Terraplane. I had heard about this model so many times that when it was standing in front of me its massive steel and chrome hood took my breath away; I never saw one in person before. Kathryn Reader bought it when she was Kathryn Radcliff, teaching at Alderdale school decades ago. She taught two generations there. 44, 368 miles, two gear shifts, one on the floor, one on the steering wheel. A hauling box in the trunk pulls out when needed.
  
• Edsels. Lawrence answered my question about them by noting that he had four altogether. One in the museum was bought at Muggli Ford in Grandview for $200 and has 88,669 miles on the speedometer. "The owner told me that I had to buy all of them that he had — nobody wanted 'em; I got them all for less than a thousand dollars."
  
• 1930 Chevrolet, the first car Lawrence bought, in the early '50s, for $40 from Jay Eshelman in Sunnyside.
  
• 1914 Ford Model-T, first car that grandpa Tom Whitmore bought. He went into the big town of Bickelton and ordered one at the garage. When eight or nine, enough to fill a rail car, were bought in that part of the county, they were shipped by rail from Portland to Roosevelt. Although it was in a few parts, it was fascinating to see the chassis and how it was constructed on Henry's assembly line. I could also see where the gas tank was under the seat. If you have any old timers in your family who had a Tee, ask them about why drivers often backed up a slope in reverse. And then there were the assorted Studebaker trucks and cars, some 70-plus years old; and the hearse on top of sleigh runners. People died during deep winter sometimes. And the old Bickleton fire truck. The rows go on an on. Erik asked why they are so close together, within inches in some cases. Lawrence let out a laugh and answered that he finally did that because parents refused to follow the instructions and let their kids open the doors and climb inside the cars.
  

One of the special entrees at the Glass Onion restaurant

The 1856 Surgeon's quarters at Fort Dalles, now the Museum

      The Oregon of Feb. 14, 1859, was a vast wilderness, slowly taking on a patchwork of farms and small settlements. Pioneers coming west from more settled parts of the continent formed a government that embodied their aspirations and ambitions for the new land they would call home. It reflected that they had experienced before embarking on the arduous physical and emotional journey across a continent rife with peril and lacking pity.
      As early as the 1840s, pioneers were seen along the Columbia River with the first wagon, driven by Dr. Robert Newell, making its way across the plains to the river in 1840. In 1843, the first large wagon train came through carrying more than 800 people to the area. That fall, transportation routes began to appear throughout the territory, and Oregon was well on its way to becoming a state.

Click on the photo to see a much larger version of the horseshoe collection from Thompson & Fargher Farriers, with a caption for each one

• Sat. Sept 19. 8 a.m. The Annual Run/Walk across The Dalles Dam. This 8k run/walk crosses the Columbia River and affords a rare opportunity to see the river from a unique vantage point. As many people in the Dalles who were teenagers by 1957 recall and will tell you, runners might be startled to hear the ghosts of Indian fisherman who were shoved aside that year from their spectacular fishing perches above nearby Celilo Falls, one of the saddest spectacles of the history of government-Indian relations.
  
• Same Day. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Family day at the Museum: Demonstrations of pioneer life including spinning, farm animals, blacksmithing. Historic military re-enactors, and tours of Fort Dalles Museum and the Anderson Homestead, Old time music, wagon rides and fun for the whole family.
  
• Sun. Sept. 20. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Columbia Gorge Discovery Center along the Riverfront Trail, 5000 Discovery Drive. The public is invited to visit the wagon train, talk with the wagon master, pet the horses and learn about pioneer life from Sept. 17-20 but on this day you can enjoy a BBQ lunch served by the wagon train's chuckwagon.
  
• Don't miss the Old St. Peter's Landmark Church in The Dalles. It has the steepest steeple of any church I have seen and the sun shining through the stained class windows and the pipe organ will kick-start anyone's heart.
  

Bedroom Suite at the Hood River Hotel

Peter Jacobin's Yellowstone Bar and home, apparently on Water Street in Hamilton, which is now appropriately under water. We are seeking any photos from the early days of Hamilton, especially of the buildings and people on the streets that have flooded over the years.

Puget Sound Mail Journal for Aug. 9-15 Recorded Aug. 9, 2009    the beginning

From the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific centennial website:http://www.ayp100.org/. See our notes below.

Paul Dorpat found this photo of the Mount Vernon waterfront, circa 1910-20 period. The photographer stood on the old bridge to West Mount Vernon, looking south, and you can see the original revetment and buildings that then fronted on Main Street. Can you help us identify the buildings or nail down the year this photo may have taken? For the new Washington Then & Now book, Jean Sherrard took a photo showing what the waterfront looks like now. That could possibly become a Then photo, itself, if the proposed waterfront development plan comes to fruition. Click on this photo for a much larger panoramic version of the photo. The book is now available in bookstores everywhere or it can be ordered at your favorite store or online. See our Journal review.

The Vikings had their way in 1909, pillaging and ransacking and dressing awful fierce. Visit the Nordic Heritage Museum while you are in Seattle as they welcome A-Y-P-E visitors with special exhibits through Sept. 6.

I'm taking the time for a number of things That weren't important yesterday And I still go "Fixing a Hole"

      The best things from an artistic point of view are the Olympic mountains, the Cascades, Mount Rainier and the two beautiful lakes. These are things that cannot be matched anywhere else in the country. If the landscaping at the exposition has made the most of the natural beauties at hand then it may be considered a success.
— John C. Olmsted, Seattle P-I, May 29, 1909

      Contrary to his stepfather, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., who designed the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, John C. Olmsted chose to use bright flowering perennials to contrast with rugged native northwest vegetation, writing in a letter to his wife [on April 12, 1907]: "I want to raise a lot of bright flowering perennial plants for the exhibition because they bloom, many of them, much later than shrubs. They will give brilliancy of detail to the plantations. I place very little dependence on ordinary shade trees; nursery sizes being too small to be effective and big ones being too costly for the limited funds available." (From the extensive bundle of handouts available at the exhibit.)

See this Journal Timeline website of local, state, national, international events for years of the pioneer period. Did you enjoy this story? Remember, as with all our features, this story is a draft and will evolve as we discover more information and photos. This process continues until we eventually compile a book about Northwest history. Can you help? Remember; we welcome correction & criticism. Please report any broken links or files that do not open and we will send you the correct link. With more than 550 features, we depend on your report. Thank you. Read about how you can order CDs that include our photo features from the first five years of our Subscribers Edition. Perfect for gifts. You can click the donation button to contribute to the rising costs of this site. You can also subscribe to our optional Subscribers-Paid Journal magazine online, which has entered its ninth year with exclusive stories, in-depth research and photos that are shared with our subscribers first. You can go here to read the preview edition to see examples of our in-depth research or read how and why to subscribe. You can read the history websites about our prime sponsors Would you like information about how to join them in advertising? Our newest sponsor: Cygnus Gallery, 109 Commercial St., half-block uphill from Main Street, LaConner. Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 5 p.m., featuring new monthly shows with many artists, many local. Across the street from Maple Hall, 1886 Bank Building and Marcus Anderson's 1969 historic cabin. Their website will be up in early 2010. Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 88 years. Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 88 years. Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley. Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first or make this your destination on your visit or vacation. Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence? We may be able to assist. Email us for details.

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