Spring 2015, Volume 5
Welcome back Lunch Boxers! I know it’s been over five months since you last heard from me, much longer than I had anticipated back in November 2014. But, as always, life got in the way of my plans but now here I am in mid-April in good health and back on the road. Before I get to the journaling a few housekeeping items:
- Thank you to those of you who have registered on the blog to get the automatic notice when an update is posted. I’m amazed and grateful that over 350 people from around the world are following my travels (don’t really know how your all found the blog, but am very thankful for your interest!) I am still developing my rather rustic blogging skills and am having an on-going issue with formatting. The margins are mysteriously changing from my WordPress draft to the published blog so often I have to go back and forth three or four times before the published blog is in the right format. I think this may mean that you get multiple notifications for the same chapter – sorry, but until I get this figured out, it’s going to happen. For example, there were 25 revisions of this post before I got a format that worked for me. This silver lining to all this is that I think I have figured it our for future posts so the mess should get better! If you get a series of notifications just delete all except the most recent.
- I will continue to send out the email notification to the original group but encourage you to “follow” the blog to get the automatic notices. As I see people register to follow I will drop your name from the email notification.
- Several readers have asked me to continue the detailed highway descriptions so that they can follow along with me on their own maps. I’ll start each section with a chronological road itinerary.
- Because each volume can grow to a number of chapters, people who have found the blog in the middle of a journey are a bit confused about what is going on. My solution is start each chapter with the same brief introduction to the journey so that the context of the chapter within the volume is more easily understood. Hope that helps! I will include an overview of the proposed path of the trip so if you know of some cool place along the way that you think I should stop and see, please send me a comment. Comments are always appreciated!
And, off we go on the Spring 2015 trip out west!
Volume Overview: I always lay out a proposed route for each journey before leaving my home base in Billings, Montana. Part of the fun is the months of research and planning prior to departure! This spring’s trip is a bit abbreviated, but the plan is to dash west from Billings to Portland, Oregon, for some business; head down the west side of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to Yosemite National Park in California; cross the mountains heading east to Reno/Sparks, Nevada; trek through the northern deserts of Nevada up to Twin Falls, Idaho; explore the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming; and then head back to Billings through Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyoming. Let’s get rolling!
Billings, MT to Portland, OR (I-90 to Bozeman, MT; US 191 south to West Yellowstone, MT; US 20 to Idaho Falls, ID; I-15 to Pocatello, ID; I-86/I-84 to Portland) I am not really exploring on the way to Portland, I have to get there quickly because I have finally sold my rental property (after five years in a depressed real estate market) and need to get there for the closing. I did stop on the way down US-20 between West Yellowstone and Idaho Falls to take this picture of the Grand Teton Mountains from the west side. It’s rare to see the Grand Tetons from this side as the vast majority of pictures are taken on the east side of the mountains from the Jackson Hole valley. (Yes, that’s the infamous southern Idaho sagebrush and desert grasses in the foreground… that pretty much will be the view all the way to the Oregon border!)
Portland, OR to Silverton, OR (US 99E from Oregon City to Woodburn, Hwy 214 to Silverton)
Finally, with real estate papers signed and filed, the real journey can begin. The first part of the trip is exploring the east side of the Willamette River Valley in Oregon. First, a bit of geography. The Willamette Valley runs for about 150 miles north from Eugene to Portland. Ranging from 20-50 miles wide, early settlers labelled it the “Garden of Eden: and joked that if you spit out an apple seed and turned around once, it would already grow into a tree”. Rich soil, plenty of water, and a year-long temperate climate meant that nearly any crop would grow. The fertile lack soil was the true “gold” that most of the travelers along the Oregon Trail were looking for. The valley actually ends just south of Portland where it narrows as the river cuts a narrow gorge through a low range of hills before entering the city of Portland and meeting the Columbia River. A series of falls marked the dividing point and the first settlers in Oregon established a presence at the foot of the falls in the town of Oregon City. Dr. John Mcloughlin established a land claim on the east side of the river at the foot of the falls in 1829 and it quickly became a key supply depot for settlers arriving in the Oregon Territory. A provisional legislature for the Oregon Country met in 1843 and once admitted as a territory to the United States, Oregon City served as the capital from 1845-1852. The first protestant church west of the Rockies (a Methodist church) as founded in 1844 and the first newspaper in Oregon was established in 1846. The capital soon moved to Salem and the business center to Portland, but the position at the foot of the falls ensured the survival of Oregon City. Mills capitalizing on the natural power source quickly crowded both sides of the river and locks were built to allow boats around the falls. Today this is not one of the great scenic wonders of Oregon, but the importance to the development of the area lingers. Both view of the falls are looking south up the river. The cataracts extend for nearly half a mile but only the south end is visible from the viewpoint.
Continuing south on HWY 99E one of the more unique chapters in the settlement of Oregon unfolds. During the 1800’s there were multiple attempts through the Eastern United States to establish “utopian” communities based upon communal efforts and cooperative endeavors. Most ended in disarray. In 1856 Wilhelm Kiel lead a group of German families west and established the Aurora Colony on the south banks of the Pudding River about 20 miles south of Oregon City. During the next 21 years the colony grew to more than 600 members who maintained a communal lifestyle and German traditions. The colony became well-known for its music, food, furniture and arts and crafts and was a welcome stop on the journey through the Willamette Valley. The colony was held together by the benevolent (but autocratic leadership) of Dr. Kiel, who, as he aged, facilitated the beginning of the transfer of the colony holdings to the individual families. His sudden death in 1877 accelerated this process and through a peaceful led by the preeminent pioneer Oregon judge Dr. Matthew Deady, the colony dissolved in 1883. Many of the German families stayed in the area and the little town slumbered on, soon eclipsed by the towns of Canby on the north and Woodburn to the south. A number of the original buildings of the colony remain intact, and today the town of approximately 1,000 people is experiencing a revival as a center of antique shops and small restaurants. The central Aurora area was established as the first historical district in Oregon and the simple architecture reflects life in the colony. As always, pictures speak louder than words so here is Aurora!
First is the original General Store built by Dr. Kiel in 1874, second is the William Fry house, also built in 1874.
The Aurora Colony Museum on the left is currently housed in the 1862 Ox Barn (which had been remolded into living quarters in later years). To the right is the Jacob Miley House, built in 1865.
The Southern Pacific Train Depot was built in 1882, the Aurora State Bank was originally constructed in Portland for the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905 before being dismantled and rebuilt in Aurora.
1899 saw the construction of the Will House, built by the owners of the first store opened after the dissolving of the colony structure (Will Brothers Bazaar) and in 1908 they built a house next door for their mother Triphena, who was one of the first seamstresses in the original colony.
The families continued to prosper after the legal dissolution of the colony and began to build houses to reflect their wealth. The Zimmerman House, built in 1883, is distinguished by the huge black walnut tree in the front yard. The tree was planted in 1884 by Mr. Zimmerman, who as a carpenter, probably planted it intending to use the valuable wood in later years. Next door is the Kraus House, built in 1900 by another carpenter. Both the Zimmerman and the Kraus couples were part of the original party that emigrated over the Oregon Trail in 1856.
Leaving Aurora and heading south the path takes a left off of HWY 99E onto HEY 214 towards Silverton. This is vintage Willamette Valley country, lush farmland framed by the foothills of the Cascade Mountains to the east and threatening rain clouds above. This pictures shows off another aspect of the German heritage in the area – hops. Hops are large vines and you can see the poles set for this season. Growing hops for the production of beer is a major crop in this part of the valley.
While the Aurora colonists were primarily Protestant, the heritage of German Catholics is also prominent in the region. Just about 10 miles southeast of Aurora is the little town of Mt. Angel, site of a historical Benedictine Monastery, a magnificent historical cathedral and one of Oregon’s (and site of a couple of episodes from my younger days!) best fall events, Oktoberfest!!! Dominating the town from a small hill east of the central area is St. Mary’s Cathedral built in the early 1900’s. A more “plebian” structure which dominates the small downtown is the May Pole, decorated with symbols of the various trades practiced in Mt. Angel. The May Pole is a common feature of towns in southern Germany, where many of the original settlers emigrated from.
The small four-block town center is mostly pubs, shops, etc. catering to tourists and done in a kitschy Bavarian style.
Definitely a fun little place to stop by in October (along with thousands of your “closest friends” – Oktoberfest is a big deal!)
Next up: Back to nature in the Cascade foothills…
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