Angels Camp and the California Goldrush

I was going through a bunch of pictures on my computer today. I used to urge everyone to scan and organize old, printed photos. I finally got that chore done myself a while ago. But I have come to realize that my computer is a lot like an old shoebox full of photos tossed in. Time to get organized. I’m working on getting that chore done. While eating the elephant one bite at a time, I came across some pictures taken in the city museum of the California Gold Rush town of Angels Camp that I thought I’d share.

A short few years ago we did a California Gold Rush trip that included Old Town Sacramento, Sutter’s Fort, and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park. Part of that trip was driving down a major portion of California State Highway 49, sometimes called the “Gold Rush Highway.” You can start northeast of Sacramento in the town of Grass Valley and drive the Gold Rush Highway over 200 miles south, all the way to Oakhurst and Yosemite National Park. Along the way, you’ll pass multiple Gold Rush Towns with intriguing names like Coloma, Sonora, Jamestown, Chinese Camp, Placerville, and of course, Angels Camp.

The California Gold Rush had an initial phase that featured placer mining. Basically a technique of finding gold on the surface that had washed down over the centuries from a “lode” or major vein up higher in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Placer mining relied on a constant supply of water. Moreover, water is typically what brings the gold down the mountain. So you’ll find Gold Rush towns in conjunction with streams and creeks. Angels Camp is no different.

Today the city of Angels Camp is located at the intersection of Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, about an hour’s drive east of the Central Valley city of Stockton. Back in 1848, the water running down the mountain at that site was known as Carson’s Creek. Shortly after the discovery of gold that year, there was an estimated 4,000 would-be miners trying their luck in the area (a funny coincidence because that’s about what the population of Angels Camp is today). A man named Henry Angell, having come out to California from Rhode Island, set up a store on the banks of Carson Creek. Soon the town that grew around the store took his name.

Mark Twain stayed in Angels Camp for a while. It was there that he was inspired to write “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” That story made Twain a household name. The story becoming an American classic, it then inspired the annual jumping frog contest held each year during May at the nearby Calaveras County fairgrounds. Get a full history of Angels Camp from the Historic Hwy 49 website. 

What I enjoyed most about Angels Camp was the Angels Camp Museum, which is managed by the city. They have a great collection of wagons and carriages, mining equipment, even a period printing press. You can even try your hand at panning for gold. It is family-friendly and well worth the stop. Although I’m sure covid protocols are in place, the website reports that the museum is open. Well, you might want to wait for summer. But plan a Gold Rush themed California vacation and put Angels Camp on the itinerary.

 

Snoqualmie Falls in a time of COVID-19

Okay, for all of you who have local roots in the Puget Sound, please do not judge me too harshly for this. But after living in western Washington for cumulatively a couple of decades, I had never visited Snoqualmie Falls. No excuses, other than most of the time we lived on the west side of the sound and just never made it a destination trip. So now that we are living on the east side of Lake Washington, we finally drove up for a look-see. Unfortunately, it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and quite a few other folks decided to join us. But more about that later.

Okay, for those of you unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, Snoqualmie Falls is a 268-foot waterfall on the Snoqualmie River, between the cities of Fall River and Snoqualmie, Washington. Perhaps it is easier to visualize if I just tell you that from downtown Seattle, get on eastbound Interstate 90 and drive for about fifty minutes and you will run right into it. There is free parking, a gift shop, a nice lodge, and a 1.4-mile round trip hiking path that runs from the upper viewing area down to a lower viewing platform. Of course, the real star is the falls themselves. They are beautiful year-round, but I gather that some dedicated individuals drive up there after a few days of heavy rain to get a view of the falls on steroids.

The falls have been a spiritual site for Native Americans for thousands of years. The Snoqualmie Tribe, a subgroup of the Coastal Salish people, would gather at the falls each year for trade. (See the official website for a complete history.) Anglo-American settlers moved into the area after the middle of the nineteenth century. Soon after came industrialization. The 1870s brought logging operations. The 1880s brought a town and a railroad. The 1890s brought a hydro-electric powerplant still operating today.

On the day we visited it was light overcast with no rain. A great weather day for January in Seattle. But do bring a rain jacket even if there is no rain forecast. The falls create their own mist. We arrived about 11 am, kind of late for us early risers, but still, we made it just as the parking lot was filling up. By 12:30, people were trawling for parking spaces. The view from the upper area where the Salish Lodge and the gift shop are located is great, so if you are not in the best of shape, there is no need to see the falls from the lower viewing area. There is a lower parking lot now open, so look for that on the map if you like. The hike down to the lower viewing platform is only a 0.7-mile walk. But it is a little steep and you’ll need your breath climbing the 250 feet back up to the upper parking lot.

We are still working with COVID-19 restrictions and I was happy to see that although viewing the falls is an outdoor activity, a vast majority of people were wearing their masks and doing their best to stay socially distanced. That social distancing was easily accomplished up top and on the trail down. But as you get to the bottom, the trail narrows to a boardwalk that goes past the old 1911 powerplant building and out to a viewing platform. Unfortunately, when we got down there, it was busy. A crowd that could stay distanced in the upper viewing area could not on the sidewalk-width of the boardwalk. Folks were patient and queued up nose-to-back along the boardwalk waiting for their turn to go out onto the viewing platform. But that’s not the point.

Everyone was cooperating and waiting their turn. That was great. But there was no guide or park ranger (this is not a state or national park) to keep people distanced. And hardly anyone would have seen this situation as dangerous while we are fighting a pandemic. We decided it was not worth it and left the line after about a minute when we realized that it could very well be a “super spreader.” I am writing that tongue-in-cheek, but it is true. Sheila and I both have had the “Rona” virus as some of my students call it. Trust me. You do not want it. And we didn’t want to get it again.

Enjoy the pictures and videos. Stop by and see Snoqualmie Falls when you are driving from Spokane to Seattle. It is worth the stop. Look at the Falls and think of a much longer history that you are seeing. And double-down on those protocols: mask, wash hands, stay distanced. The only way to get through the pandemic is with a little dose of discipline and good judgment.

The California State Railroad Museum

Memories from a pre-covid trip...

Last year I was teaching high school in California and we were sent home to conduct “distance learning” on March 13^th and my old school is still at home trying to teach and learn via the Internet. That’s getting close to a whole year. Now, this post is not about the merits of distance learning or whether students should be in the classroom during a surge in the pandemic. When I decided to share some pictures of the California State Railroad Museum I was reminded that people in professions other than hospitality and travel are having a hard time during this crisis as well. There are a good number of museum workers at home too.

What I’m saying is that there is definitely a crisis for those working in museums and historic sites. Last summer there was an article in Forbes that said that the pandemic could close up to a third of all museums in the United States. Permanently. I was struck by this statistic when I checked in on the California State Railroad Museum’s website and found out that they had been closed completely since November 2020.

I hope that with the increasing availability of vaccines and through our own mitigation efforts, we will be able to travel to historic sites and museums once again. In the meantime, let me share some pictures from a pre-COVID-19 trip to Sacramento when we were able to walk through the museum and look at some trains up close and personal.

The California State Railroad Museum is in Old Town Sacramento, just north of where Interstate 5 and 80 intersect. It’s the historic waterfront of the Sacramento River. We did a blog post about our visit to Old Town Sacramento back before the pandemic. One of the main attractions is of course the railroad museum, but there are many shops, restaurants, and other attractions for non-train enthusiasts (is there such a thing?). In the summer months, you will also find historical reenactors encamped in the state park.

Since Sacramento was the western terminus for the First Transcontinental Railroad, the museum devotes an enjoyable and educational exhibit to this feat of engineering (that would be building a railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains in the 1860s.) I especially enjoyed the exhibit on the heyday of passenger travel. If I did not make it clear, this museum is full of trains. So you will get to not only see the trains but also climb on them and go inside them. Another exhibit I liked was the homage to toy trains and the vast collection they have on display.

The California State Railroad Museum is a first-class, fun place to visit. Very kid-friendly. It rates a place on my “places I’d go to again” list. While it is currently closed for the pandemic (which has hit California especially hard over the holidays), you can still enjoy the museum online. Visit their website and maybe like their Facebook page, which is full of great pictures. You can still support museums with a cash donation or buy something from the museum store if they are available online (which the railroad museum is). 

Just remember that hard times don’t last. And if we never had it rough, we wouldn’t know when we had it good. But for now, enjoy some pictures of trains.

Book Review: To Wake The Giant

Book R&R: "To Wake The Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor" by Jeff Shaara

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a Jeff Shaara fan. I have read every book he has written, as soon as they become available. When I heard that he was going to revisit World War II and specifically Pearl Harbor, it went straight to the top of the reading pile. Besides, with the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII upon us, the subject is very appropriate.

"To Wake the Giant" begins approximately one year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In the usual Jeff Shaara formula, he tells the story of the event by following major historical characters who played a role in decision making and examples of "regular people" who were greatly affected by the event. In the case of "Wake the Giant," Shaara provides the perspective of the United States' chief negotiator with Japan, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, and a new enlistee to the U.S. Navy named Tommy Biggs, who gets assigned to the USS Arizona.

Of course, we hear the voices of other characters who are part of the multitude that made or were affected by this pivotal event in World history. Secretary of State Hull, of course, meets with President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Stimson among others that include Japanese Ambassador Nomura. These meetings let the reader know what the American government knew leading up to the war. Dialog between Yamamoto, his staff and other admirals, show us the planning for the attack. And in Hawaii, we see the preparations for war through the viewpoint of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and his staff. Finally, Tommy Biggs and his shipmates show us what life was like for a battleship sailor in the weeks before the war and the horrific battle on December 7, 1941.

"To Wake the Giant" is a page-turner. I was never bored or distracted. Like all Shaara novels, the book is well researched and very readable. To me, this author writes the epitome of factual historical fiction, which as I've said many times is a great way to learn details of an event. And if you're not careful, you might even become a fan of history. So put this book on your summer reading list.

Midway: A battle, a book, and two movies

I miss the old movies from the 60s and early 70s. My dad loved them, we'd watch them together and I actually learned a lot of military history from watching those Saturday reruns (some of that history I admit had to be corrected). One of those was the 1976 movie Midway with Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda. This was on our list of classic war movies, so I bought a copy on DVD for my dad a few years ago. When the new version of Midway came out in 2019 with Woody Harrelson as Admiral Nimitz, I had to see how it compared, so I added a copy of that version to my collection.

Which version is better you ask? Tough question. Right off the top, I’ll tell you I liked the older version better. But for the life of my I couldn’t figure out why. Is it because the Charlton Heston version used real aircraft and historical footage? (the onboard carrier scenes were filmed on the USS Lexington.) Maybe the computer-generated battle scenes in the 2019 version were a turnoff. That and a bit of overacting? Maybe? Just a little? Amazon customers couldn’t help. Both movies are well received with thousands of reviews. Well, maybe we should ask which one was more historically accurate. And that’s where the book comes in.

I admit that I am not nearly as familiar with WWII naval history as I am with the land-based battles. I did not know a great deal about the Battle of Midway. When I don’t know about something, I can’t just take Wikipedia’s word for it. I have to go find a book. No disrespect to Wikipedia, it’s a great resource for background information. I just have to have a book. I chose “The Battle of Midway” by Craig L. Symonds. The book was really good. I’m not the only one who thinks so, it has 4.7 stars on 590 reviews. The book begins with Admiral Chester Nimitz taking over as CincPac in the days following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We’re given all of the background we need that leads us up to the battle, including the Battle of the Coral Sea, the breaking of Japanese codes, and the Doolittle Raid. The book then provides a blow by blow telling of the Battle of Midway that occurred just six months after Pearl Harbor. I enjoyed reading it.

Which movie was more historically accurate? First, ignore the storyline in the first movie involving Heston’s fictional character and his son. Then I would say with the broad-brush strokes they are both historically accurate. But I have to admit that when it comes to details and character portrayals, the 2019 Woody Harrelson version beats out the 1976 version. For example, Joe Rochefort, the officer in charge of breaking one of the Japanese codes that were so instrumental in the American victory was portrayed in the 1976 movie as eccentric and unconventional. That is not a true description of this brilliant officer, and he was more accurately depicted in the 2019 movie. As it turns out, the 2019 movie did a much better job of showing the real men who played integral parts in the battle. McClusky really did damage his lungs with a faulty air tank, and Admiral Yamaguchi did, in fact, choose to go down with the Hiryū. As it turns out, it seemed like the 2019 movie of Midway was based on Symonds’ book.

I know I haven’t helped you choose just one of these. But hey, while you are socially distancing yourself you’ve got time to enjoy all three. My recommendation, as always, is to read the book first. 😉

Write it down: Your Covid-19 Journal

Image from the Library of Congress

First: An Update on Our Coronavirus Staycation.

There are occasions when you find you have some time on your hands. Then you realize how long it has been since you did certain things. Like, write in your blog. Everyone has the pandemic on their mind so I might as well tell you my story so far.

This January I started a new teaching job with an alternative education high school that partners with a nonprofit organization that provides flight instruction to the students. More about that later, but in summary, I teach high school level history, math, and aviation science (which is basically private pilot ground school). Since February we’ve been telling our students about the approaching pandemic and personal precautions to take. We stopped our ritual of shaking hands with each student every morning and opted instead for fist and elbow bumps. At the end of my unit on the First World War, I taught a class on the 1918 Flu Pandemic that included showing the American Experience documentary. New info for most; I can honestly say I had their attention on that one.

On Friday, March 13^th we were off for the end of the quarter when my principal contacted me and said there would be no students the following week and that we would come in and figure out how we were going to teach online for the next couple of weeks. Before the weekend was over, I was told that teachers would be required to stay home as well. Now we are planning lessons to be provided online and provide work to be assigned through Google Classroom. We haven’t implemented yet, because now we must figure out how to get a computer and Internet access to every student. Except for trips to the grocery store and taking Elvis the corgi for a walk, we’ve been staying home since the 13^th. More to follow.

Write Down Your Story.

I don’t know if being well versed in history is good or bad. Because now we’re wondering just how bad this pandemic is really going to be or the economic situation that will follow. And we have some events in our history that we can use as a cautionary tale. Sheila and I both agreed that we thought we’d never live to see a cataclysmic event like the 1918 Influenza Pandemic or the Great Depression. Now I’m wondering if I might see something similar to both. Then I realized that we have seen some major things in our lifetime. Two I can think of are the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11. We got past those and others. They are now in our memory, in some cases like it happened yesterday, and as if it were ancient history to younger generations.

I can tell you one thing. As a reader, researcher, and writer of history, I thank the people who recorded their experiences during challenging times. Like the University of Virginia history professor Herbert Braun says, “We do not write alone.” For me, it means that writers of history need your help. Future generations will want to know the personal, emotional toll that this event had on you and your friends and family. Even more basic is what was it like in your local area? What did you do to stay safe and sane?

Please, write your stories down. Keep a journal. Record a video. Get the kids involved too. If they are young, they can draw pictures. No detail is too mundane. Don’t lose your thoughts to social media. Keep copies of what you post in your own files. Some day they are going to be gold to your descendants. And to someone like me.

P.S. If you need a good book recommendation, a few years ago I read “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Greatest Pandemic in History” by John M. Barry. It stuck with me and a good read considering our current times.

Our Oregon Field Trip: Fort Clatsop

Map image from NPS

There's a number of reasons to visit Astoria, Oregon. Beautiful scenery, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, maybe go on a Goonies hunt. But for me, a big Lewis and Clark groupie, there are three historic sites to see when you go there. The first is the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Cape Disappointment State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia River. There is also the Lewis & Clark Salt Cairn Historic Monument in nearby Seaside, Oregon. And the third location is, of course, Fort Clatsop just outside of Astoria and part of the Lewis & Clark National Historic Park.

Fort Clatsop was the winter encampment of the Lewis & Clark expedition from December 1805 to March 1806. The Corps of Discovery, as the expedition was called, first sighted the Pacific Ocean from Cape Disappointment. However, the explorers thought they would have better weather on the Oregon side of the river. It was here that they built a small fort. The National Park Service has built a replica fort on the site. The members of the expedition hiked from this location to the beach in today's city of Seaside to obtain salt from sea water. Today, if you are feeling adventurous, you can hike the same trail from Fort Clatsop to the monument in Seaside.

When you visit, come early in the day as this is a popular destination. There is a nice little museum and gift shop in the visitor's center. Bring a jacket, even in the summer. Because Astoria gets on average 86 inches of rain a year, even in June we had a light drizzle in the morning. Also, it is a short walk from the visitor's center to the fort. At the fort you will find docents in period costume to answer questions and give short presentations throughout the day.

The history of the Lewis & Clark expedition is well known and readily available, so I won't duplicate that here. But before you make a pilgrimage, you might want to bone up a little bit. I would of course recommend reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose for a thorough and enjoyable background. And check out the Oregon Encyclopedia, a project of the Oregon Historical Society, for some related articles and historical records online. 

The Whalers Cabin at Point Lobos

Welcome to Monterey Bay!

We tried retirement, it just didn't stick. In reality, I just took the summer and fall off. That was long enough to get me back to work. Since January, Sheila and I have been living on Monterey Bay in the central California coast. I'm back to teaching alt ed high school, currently at a county juvenile hall. When you mention this area, most people probably think of beautiful views of a rocky coastline, Big Sur, or Cannery Row. But there is no doubt that there is a lot of history here in the Monterey - Salinas area too, especially compared to the rest of California. I wanted to share with you a hidden gem where you can get both scenic beauty and a little dose of history: Whalers Cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

Point Lobos SNR is just a short ten mile drive south on Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Traveling south on Hwy 1, about a mile or two outside of Carmel you will make a right turn into the reserve. It costs ten dollars per car to get in, but totally worth it. Come early (the reserve opens to vehicles at 8 am), because this can be a popular place. I know I said it is a hidden gem, but that doesn't mean that the locals don't know about it. The ranger at the main gate can give you a map and directions, but it is a short drive to the parking lot at Whalers Cove. From there, you take a short walk back up the road to the Whalers Cabin museum that you drove by on your way in.

Take a break from the scenery and check out the long history of Point Lobos. The area has been occupied by non-native Americans since the 1850s. Until 1879, this spot was one of seven whaling stations along the California coast. Portuguese immigrants started shore-based whaling at this location. Crews would row out of the calmness of the small cove and past the breaking waves to hunt the grey whales that migrate up and down the California coast. You can still spot these giants as they pass by on their way south from Alaska to their breeding and calving lagoons in Baja during December through January. Or you might spot them as they return to their feeding grounds in the north, passing Monterey Bay from March through May. Of course there is more to the history of this particular spot. A community of Asian fishermen hunted abalone and canned the product here. There was a granite quarry here. The cove was used as the shipping point for a nearby coal mine. And troops trained here for specific missions during World War II. See artifacts and pictures of each of these periods in the small museum located in the Whalers Cabin.

Luckily, Point Lobos was never developed as any kind of residential property. Ownership eventually passed to the state of California, and the site was made into an ecological reserve in 1973. That also includes 775 acres of underwater reserve, the first designated in the United States. That's good for us normal folks because the real treat here is the views of plants and animals and rocky California coast. On the day that we went, we saw sea lions, an otter, and plenty of birds. The best way to see it all is to walk. Hiking trails honeycomb the shoreline around the point. There are three main parking areas, so you'd never have to walk more than a mile from your car. Or you can leave the car where it is and walk the whole point and probably not log more than five miles.

When you vacation to Monterey, take the opportunity to visit Point Lobos. It is very accessible and worth the time to stop. If I haven't sold you on visiting, then take a look at the Whalers Cove Live Stream, or take a virtual hike with Google street view. When you do come, bring a light jacket or sweatshirt as the coast here gets a marine layer at times that can be a bit chilly, especially if you just left the warmer interior.

Book R & R: “Hodges’ Scout”

This book review and recommendation is on “Hodges’ Scout, A Lost Patrol of the French and Indian War” by Len Travers.

I’m currently teaching history at a court school (juvenile hall) and my students by and large think that if something didn’t happen in their lifetime, then it either just doesn’t matter, or in their words it’s “hella boring.” I try to get them to tune in to history (as an entry point) by just finding stories that are interesting, exciting, adventurous, or a story that demonstrates a person’s courage and fortitude. This is one of those stories.

I got turned on to the French and Indian War way back in high school when one Saturday afternoon my dad and I watched “Northwest Passage” starring Spencer Tracy. That was followed by reading the book by Kenneth Roberts. Then I read “Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper, and the movie with Daniel Day Lewis is still one of my favorites of all time. Fiction got me excited about the subject, so from there I moved on to books about the war in general, and a couple of books about Rogers Rangers: “White Devil” by Stephen Brumwell and “War on the Run” by John Ross. Reading “Hodges’ Scout” is a natural progression and if you also enjoy the movies and books I just mentioned, then you should read this book.

Here's the setup. You know Fort William Henry, from “Last of the Mohicans?” Well this event took place in September of 1756, while colonial troops were building that fort. While under construction, company sized patrols of around 50 men would venture out to look for signs of approaching French or Indian forces. One of these patrols, led by Captain Joseph Hodges, met the enemy and was wiped out. Only three men initially made it back to the fort. While Hodges and a number of his men were killed and mutilated, a number of the company were taken prisoner. A few escaped, some were sold to the French by their Indian captors and then sent home in a prisoner exchange, and many were held until the end of the war. And finally one soldier decided to join his captors and eventually paid the price for it.

The title, synopsis, and cover art for “Hodges’ Scout” grabbed me right away. I enjoyed the author’s voice in the telling of this story. It is very readable; the details are there but this book does not sound academic. What impressed me most is the detailed research that Len Travers (a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) has conducted to tell this story. Through official records and period correspondence, Travers has pieced together what happened to the majority of the 48 colonial militia soldiers that departed the fort with Hodges. His section titled “dissecting disaster,” where he supposes scenarios of what happened during the fight the wiped out Hodges’ company is excellent. You don’t have to have a background in the French and Indian War to enjoy this book. Professor Travers fills you in on the strategy of the war and why the fort was being constructed, how soldiers were recruited, and the events at the conclusion of the war. Read this book, I think you’ll enjoy it.

One more thing. In the front matter of the book, the author includes a bible quote:

And some there be, which have no memorial; who are perished, as though they had never been; and are become as though they had never been born…

Ecclesiasticus 44:9

This quote really spoke to me, especially now as we remember the 75^th anniversary of D-day. This is what we need to keep from happening. Our memorial to the unknown soldier is to remember what they have done.

D-day plus 75 years and other stories to be heard.

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that even if you are not a fan of history, but you participate in social media, or certainly if you watch the evening news, you know that it is the 75^th anniversary of the WWII Allied invasion of France. Over the past eight years we’ve had a number of significant anniversaries of our country’s military history. They include the 150^th anniversary events that took place during the American civil war, the 100^th anniversary of WWI battles, and now the 75^th anniversary of World War II and the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing. I appreciate these benchmark anniversaries because like James Holzauer’s winning streak bringing new fans to Jeopardy, the buzz about the anniversary of a significant historical event will make more people take note and hopefully learn about these great trials and triumphs of our past. The difference between the 75^th anniversary of the Normandy invasion and the other wars mentioned is that we still have a lot of regular people who can tell us what it was like.

Surviving veterans and eyewitnesses to the Second World War are in their nineties. I heard on ABC News the other night that over 300 World War II veterans pass away every day. And the thought occurred to me that we aren’t considering how many non-veterans we are losing who can tell us what it was like on the home front during the war years. Of course I love my military history, but one of the most fascinating and educational places I’ve visited is the Rosie the Riveter and WWII on the Home Front National Historical Park. There is a lot to learn from those who stayed home, worked, and sacrificed to win the war.

And what about veterans and civilians from other countries? When it comes to meeting folks from our “Greatest Generation,” I’m lucky to be a baby boomer. When I was in my twenties most WWII veterans were in their sixties, so I have met a few in my time. Moreover, having been stationed in Germany for three years, I met a few German veterans and civilians who experienced the tragedy of war first hand. My landlord’s father (I called him “Opa Willie”) fought on the Russian front, but deserted at the end of the war so that he could surrender to American forces. Good thing he did. I dated a German woman for a while whose father was a POW held by the Russians. They did not repatriate him for eleven years. And I met that girl’s apartment manager, who was married at age 19 and only spent three weeks with her husband before he went off to fight in the war. He never returned and remained missing in action. She never remarried.

As an aside, do you think that Germany has learned from its history? I think so. When I visited the concentration camp at Dachau, I saw school children arrive on a bus for a field trip. That is just one example of how the Germans don’t hide from their past. This week, Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked the Allies for “liberating Germany from the Nazis.” I’m sorry, but I just can’t see the United States being that forthright, especially when you read reports that say that only about forty percent (40%) of Americans can correctly answer the history questions on the citizenship exam.

I regret that I didn’t start a serious study of history until after my years in the army. I believe my conversations with the veterans I had met would have taken a different turn. Like many young people, I had different priorities. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wish I could go back and take the opportunity to conduct an in-depth oral history interview with all of these people I’ve met over the years. Of course, there are members of this great generation still with us. And it is not too late to hear their stories and it is never too late to learn our history, so that we don’t have to repeat it.

End of the Oregon Trail

There is a nice garden display and
plenty of outdoor seating for a picnic.

Our visit to the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitor Information Center in Oregon City, Oregon.

I never played the Oregon Trail computer game when I was a kid. But I've been fascinated by the Oregon Trail most of my life. Some day I'm going to devote a vacation to traveling the the modern day route and visit all of the sites and museums along the way. But while we are here in Oregon, I can at least say that I visited the end of the trail.

The early history of the state of Oregon can be generalized in decades. The fur trappers were here in the 1810s to 1820s, setting up forts and trading posts. The missionaries arrived and created their stations in the 1830s. From 1840 was the time of the settlers and farmers. Thousands of them arrived by the Oregon trail that ran from the area around Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon Territory. It is estimated that over 50,000 emigrants traveled the trail until 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was completed.

What tools would you take with
you on the trail?

Oregon City is just up the Willamette River from the Columbia, at the base of Willamette Falls. This community literally was the end of the trail, where people could rest, resupply, and find out more information on available land before they headed south to homestead in the Willamette Valley, a prime agricultural area. In fact, Oregon City was at one time the territorial capital of Oregon, that is, before it was moved to ever growing Portland and the junction of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Now Oregon City is at the edge of the Portland metro area.

At the end of your tour, find out
how travelers fared in Oregon.

The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitor Information Center is first and foremost a museum with three sections. The first section concerns preparing to take the trail. This includes a theater presentation with an outstanding docent and a well done film. The second section presents displays concerning the difficulty of the trail. In this section you are introduced to actual travelers on the trail and here their voices through the diaries and letters they left behind. The third section is a recreation of a general store at the end of the trail. You are able to sit and view a PowerPoint on a big screen that tells you about the travelers you learned about in the second section and how they fared in Oregon.

"You have died of dysentery"
on the Oregon Trail.

As every "museum aficionado" knows, a great museum has a great gift shop. At the End of the Oregon Trail gift shop they have a very good selection of books, T-shirts, plush animals as well as snacks and drinks. It does double duty as a visitor information center for other attractions in the city. The folks who worked there were super nice and informative. Okay, I have to admit that we really cleaned out the gift shop. I bought three books, a t-shirt, and a little stuffed bison to sit on my bookshelf.

My very own office bison!

So the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitors Center gets an A++ and five star rating. If you are traveling to Portland on vacation, please add this site to your list of must sees. If you have kids, then move it higher on the list. ;-)

The Mussel Slough Tragedy

Last year I was teaching at a high school in the Central Valley of California. As you know from reading this blog, I like to find the local history in the places we live and visit. Earlier this summer I told you about the spot in the San Joaquin Valley where Murrieta was killed. Continuing with the wild west history of California, I tracked down the location of the shootout at Mussel Slough.

About five miles to the northwest of Hanford, California, in Kings County you will find California Historical Landmark #245, that is titled Location of the Famous Mussel Slough Tragedy. It's located on a country road almost indistinguishable from all of the other farm roads in the San Joaquin Valley. Don't drive too fast or you'll miss it. I believe I drove by it at least four times before I finally recognized it for what it was. The text on the monument reads: 

Here on May 11, 1880, during a dispute over land titles between settlers and railroad, a fight broke out in which seven men - two deputy U.S. marshals and five ranchers lost their lives. The legal struggle over titles was finally settled by a compromise. Location: 5833 14th Ave, between Everett and Elder Aves, 1.5 miles SE of Hardwick.

It seems like a short description (in error) for what happened here. Especially since there are no original structures left, or even a tree that witnessed the event. Here's a summary of what happened.

In the nineteenth century the area was called the mussel slough region due to a slough off of the Kings River that backed into Tulare Lake. The lake and the slough are no longer present due to modern agriculture. The Southern Pacific Railroad was granted odd numbered lots of a square mile each as an incentive to build a line through the Central Valley of California. The line through this area was completed in 1872. Settlers had come into the area and homesteaded the even numbered lots and began to create improvements such as buildings, fencing, and irrigation ditches. This included hand-dug canals to bring water from the Kings River, more than two miles away for some.

In the meantime, the railroad put out brochures to sell the land they controlled. Farmers would be able to settle on the land for a few years, then gain title when a price was fixed. Brochures from the railroad advertised prices at $2.50 per acre and up. Of course the purchasers assumed that they were getting their land at that bargain price, and set about improving the land. When it came time to complete the transaction, the railroad insisted on valuing the land with improvements, inflating their asking price to twenty dollars an acre. After the railroad filed suit against settlers and won, the price inflated again up to $35 an acre. There was also an element of rancher versus farmer in that some cattlemen who had the wherewithal were stepping front of the farmers to purchase the improved land. 

With the stage now set, on May 11, 1880 a meeting of settlers was being held when false rumors where spread that U.S. marshals were conducting evictions. The settlers grabbed their guns and went to intercept them. The truth was that a railroad appraiser, two potential buyers from the cattlemen's side, and a U.S. marshal along for protection, were driving around in a carriage looking at properties. The two belligerent parties met at the site of the monument, the homestead of one Henry Brewer. While the marshal and a leader of the group of farmers stepped off to talk about resolving the situation peacefully, the bad blood between the farmers and the two from the cattlemen's side spilled over. No one knows who shot first or even what was said to start it. But in the end, the two cowboys and five farmers were dead.

No marshals were killed despite what the marker says. Five farmers were convicted of interfering with a marshal in the performance of his duties, each spending eight months in jail and paid a $300 fine. Although there was a high level of animosity toward the railroads, the people could not get the government to change the policy of providing land grants to railroads. In the end, the railroads reduced their asking price a token amount and most of the settlers stayed on their land and paid the asking price. At the time of the incident, the dead and wounded were brought to the shade of a large oak tree on the property that was referred to as the "Tragedy Oak." It blew down in the 1990s. A piece of the tree is reportedly put on display in front of a local elementary school. Ultimately the fight was lost to history, with the exception of some local interest and fans of old west history.

The Mussel Slough Tragedy took on a bit of mythology over the years and like so many wild west gunfights there are multiple versions of what actually happened. The three that I consulted, each with a little bit different take, are the Wikipedia article on the incident, "Garden in the Sun: A History of the San Joaquin Valley 1772-1939" by William Seacrest, and "Hanford" (Images of America Series by Arcadia Publishing by Robin Roberts.