Columbia River
We started our voyage of discovery yesterday in Portland, Oregon. A great blue heron on the dock bade us a farewell as we cruised towards the Hawthorne Bridge (shown in the first photo). We had prepared for our trip on many different levels. A suggested packing list helped us with choosing appropriate clothing. Also given were recommendations for binoculars and an informative reading list. Some of our guests may have checked the Internet for weather forecasts of eastern Washington and Oregon. We came comfortable with the knowledge we had prepared well.
Meriwether Lewis purchased supplies and packed for a journey into “terra incognito.” He had no weather forecast; he wasn’t even sure how long he would be gone. There would be no opportunity to later purchase forgotten items. The Corps of Discovery would need to be a well-managed, resourceful unit. Under the leadership of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, they proved to be just that. A part of the many tons of supplies they packed and hauled up rivers and across mountains was cargo referred to as “Indian presents.” The total cost of these presents came to $669.50. Included were: 15 dozen scissors, 4,600 needles, 48 calico ruffled shirts, 2¾ dozen lockets, 12 dozen pocket looking glasses and beads, glass trading beads. The varieties of goods brought were used as tokens of goodwill as well as a currency for trade.
This afternoon we had an opportunity to taste the wines and specialty foods of Washington and Oregon. Smoked salmon was among those foods. For the Corps of Discovery, dried salmon was an item traded for, using the currency of beads and other items chosen so carefully.
Today, as part of the shiny objects we offer as currency is a coin with the image of a young Indian woman and her infant child. Sacajawea offered her personal belt of blue beads as trade when the Captains desired to purchase a sea otter coat from the Clatsop Indians. The men had run out of their stock of glass beads by that time. The currency was accepted and the trade was made. Both currencies lay side by side in the lower photo; the beads, a beautiful token of craftsmanship and history, the coin, a fitting commemorative to a young woman for invaluable contributions to the Corps of Discovery.
We started our voyage of discovery yesterday in Portland, Oregon. A great blue heron on the dock bade us a farewell as we cruised towards the Hawthorne Bridge (shown in the first photo). We had prepared for our trip on many different levels. A suggested packing list helped us with choosing appropriate clothing. Also given were recommendations for binoculars and an informative reading list. Some of our guests may have checked the Internet for weather forecasts of eastern Washington and Oregon. We came comfortable with the knowledge we had prepared well.
Meriwether Lewis purchased supplies and packed for a journey into “terra incognito.” He had no weather forecast; he wasn’t even sure how long he would be gone. There would be no opportunity to later purchase forgotten items. The Corps of Discovery would need to be a well-managed, resourceful unit. Under the leadership of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, they proved to be just that. A part of the many tons of supplies they packed and hauled up rivers and across mountains was cargo referred to as “Indian presents.” The total cost of these presents came to $669.50. Included were: 15 dozen scissors, 4,600 needles, 48 calico ruffled shirts, 2¾ dozen lockets, 12 dozen pocket looking glasses and beads, glass trading beads. The varieties of goods brought were used as tokens of goodwill as well as a currency for trade.
This afternoon we had an opportunity to taste the wines and specialty foods of Washington and Oregon. Smoked salmon was among those foods. For the Corps of Discovery, dried salmon was an item traded for, using the currency of beads and other items chosen so carefully.
Today, as part of the shiny objects we offer as currency is a coin with the image of a young Indian woman and her infant child. Sacajawea offered her personal belt of blue beads as trade when the Captains desired to purchase a sea otter coat from the Clatsop Indians. The men had run out of their stock of glass beads by that time. The currency was accepted and the trade was made. Both currencies lay side by side in the lower photo; the beads, a beautiful token of craftsmanship and history, the coin, a fitting commemorative to a young woman for invaluable contributions to the Corps of Discovery.
