Connections to History
Yesterday we cruised down the Willamette River and started our exploration of river and history. The city of Portland is connected, east and west side, by numerous bridges. The one pictured above, St. John’s Bridge, is my favorite. There is a grassy park at eastern base of the bridge. The name of the park “Cathedral” is taken from the gothic cathedral arches of the bridge. William Clark came upstream and explored the Willamette, almost to this same point.
Like the bridges spanning and connecting Portland, we are using the Columbia River as a bridge, a connection to the history of the Corps of Discovery. As we navigate eastward, the river presents to us a Janus face, a bridge connecting us to history as well as an open gateway to discovery.
From the vantage point of the Sea Bird we viewed mule deer and rocky mountain bighorn sheep, two animals first described by Meriwether Lewis. Later in the morning our historian, Jerry Igo, led an informative presentation and discussion. He highlighted the players involved in Jefferson’s grand expedition, their goals and objectives, and the preparations necessary for such a complex production.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed a short walk at Hat Rock State Park (second photo), named for a unique basaltic feature noted by William Clark in his journal nearly 198 years ago to this day. On our walks we saw black-billed magpies, sagebrush and antelope brush, again, animals and plants first described to western science in the pages of Lewis’ journal.
Still later, we enjoyed a wine and food tasting in our lounge, featuring fine gourmet food products of Oregon and Washington.
In the evening we continued our navigation north and then east, as we turned on to the Snake River. The Columbia led us to a new gateway, the Snake River and tonight we will proceed on, looking for more connections to history and opportunities for discovery.
