The Fours

Corp of Discovery route

4:00 p.m., May 14 1804.  The most momentous undertaking in American exploration began at that very moment in St. Louis, Missouri.  The Corps of Discovery departed westward along the Missouri River, bound for the Pacific Ocean, charged by President Jefferson to explore and map the formerly French territory, engage in botany, zoology, geography, and establish trade with the current inhabitants.

The beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is only one notable event that has occurred during a year ending in the number 4.

Two hundred years ago this month, America's first Executive Mansion in Washington D.C. was burned by the British on August 23 1814.  On the night of September 7 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that set to song, has become our distinguished, stirring National Anthem.  I have been twice to Fort McHenry where the Star Spangled Banner flew during the battle for Baltimore, and now comprehend the pivotal victory that occurred there against all odds.

Fort McHenry, 1814

1824--I could not think of anything significant about 1824 but when I googled it, what came up was the establishment of Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River by the Hudsons Bay Company.  The lovely, Lincoln-Loggy, spiky-timbered fort has been reconstructed as a National Historic Site.  I've spent numerous happy hours here where Indians and trappers once gathered to barter for food, blankets, furs, tools and the skills of the blacksmith.

Fort Vancouver, Washington

1834--same problem as the above.  On August 1, 1834 slavery was forever abolished in the British Empire.  Should have remembered that one; my senior thesis at BYU was about the demise of black slavery.

June 27 1844, a day of historic shame for the US of A.  Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was murdered by a mob in Carthage Illnois.  Yes, that happened in a land whose Bill of Rights guarantees free exercise of religion, yet the government permitted persecution of this particular religion.  And when the Mormons fled the US to live without oppression, the government pursued them and imposed restrictions on them.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territory of those future states, opened the land to settlement, and authorized the settlers to determine: slavery or no slavery.  What a rat's nest of savagery that opened up--you've heard of "Bleeding Kansas"--the territory was flooded with single-minded devotees of one side or the other, and all hell broke loose.  7 years later America was wound tight as a spring over the slavery issue and the Civil War erupted.

The American Civil War was in its 4th year in 1864.  Grant was appointed commander of the Union Army and lots of well-known battles occurred.  Also significant, Arlington National Cemetery was established.   It occupies the grounds of Robert E. Lee's estate--well, it actually belonged to his wife, a descendant of Martha Washington.  If R.E. Lee was going to continue killing Union soldiers, then by golly, those dead were going to be buried in his own front yard.

Arlington National Cemetery

Levi Strauss got rich by selling his sturdy denim pants to California gold miners.  In 1874 his pants with copper rivets were patented.

1884--Not a banner year for major milestones.  Oh, except that Grover Cleveland was elected, a first-term president.  He's the only one who has served non-consecutive presidential terms.

The Dreyfus affair broke in 1894.  It was also the year of one of those horrendous forest fires that occurred periodically in the northern US, this one in Minnesota.  I recall that even those who jumped into ponds and creeks were consumed by the firestorm.

Something major occurred in 1894, 120 years ago, that has led to a momentous legacy in our day.   The Genealogical Society of Utah was founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  For over a century it directed the gathering of records created by people around the world, microfilmed them, protected them in a granite vault hewn out of a mountain, and then transferred them to digital format so that anyone, anywhere, anytime could peruse billions of records in their own home.  See FamilySearch.

T.R. Roosevelt was elected to the presidency in his own right in 1904.  He had become president after the assassination of McKinley in 1901.  And an event of huge consequence: the opening of the first underground portion of the NYC subway.  I recently rode the subway and love love love how one can get from one end of NY to the other in a fraction of the time it would take to drive the same route.

The War to End All Wars began on July 28 1914, and became the most ghastly war of the 20th century.  Most of a generation of young men (of various nationalities) was wiped out.

Marching to Their Deaths

On Christmas Eve 1924 my Uncle Jim came into the world.  More well-known is the adventure of George Mallory.  I recently read a book about George, whose ice-bound body was finally located on Mt. Everest in 1999.  He had never returned from his 1924 attempt at the summit.   In 1924 Joseph Stalin forged dictatorship of the Soviet Union.  Stalin's rise gives thought to one of those historic "what ifs?"   How would the world have been different if he had died in the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, or been killed in the Russian Revolution?

In November 1934 my Mom's youngest brother, adorable little Bobby, died of appendicitis at age 6.  The shockwave and accompanying devastation from that event permeated the family until the death of the last person who had known Bobby.  And in 1934 Germany forged ahead on its march toward attempted world domination.

As battles raged around the planet in the 5th year of the World War and German death camps ramped up their activities, the Allies invaded Normandy on June 6 1944.  My Dad was transferred from office duty in New York's Navy Office at 90 Church St., to the spankin' new USS Missouri.  Bound for action against Japan, the ship shoehorned through the Panama Canal and arrived at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve on the way to join the Pacific fleet.  Dad dined on a hot dog for his Christmas dinner at Pearl.

USS Missouri

1954--Brown vs. Board of Education, and Rock Around the Clock, it is my birth year!

1964 is the year of American Civil Rights, with the passage of the act and MLK being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  The debut of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show was 50 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  Our whole family watched on our black and white TV.  My parents couldn't get into their music but my Grandma Ashe humored me by paying attention to the antics of the group.

The Fab Four

December 19 1974.  Provo Utah.  Our family came into being!  Inflation in America was over 12% that month, not an auspicious time to marry and create a new family.  The oil crisis sort of ended so the helter-skelter lines at the gas stations disappeared.  And Hank Aaron hit number 714.

1984 was a year of upheaval for our family.  We pulled up stakes in Idaho and came to Portland Oregon for the risky proposition of my husband working for a small start-up company.  Los Angeles staged a wildly successful summer Olympic games (sans USSR).   Four words: Bhopal India Union Carbide.  Our lovable President Reagan uttered this immortal phrase into an open mike: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever.  We begin bombing in five minutes."  

My oldest graduated from high school in 1994.  Mom passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.  Other than those events, I remember little from that year; not surprising, when you're raising 5 kids, three of them teenagers.  Wait, the Northridge Earthquake occurred that January.  We were awakened by a 5:00 a.m. phone call, which we ignored, until we heard my sister saying there had been a major quake in Southern California.  Their house was littered with broken glass, fires blazed in the streets, and they could not reach Mom and Dad to see how they had fared.

Earthquake Damage in Weldon Canyon

2004:  There wasn't much of note that happened that year until the end, when the world was horrified by the enormous Indian Ocean quake and tsunamis on Christmas Day.  Which brings me to my Dad's death that year.  I always think of him dying in 2005, not 2004.  He died on December 30 but his funeral was on January 3 2005.  While he was in the hospital after Christmas every single TV in the building was tuned into earthquake/tsunami coverage.  The death totals were first at a few hundred, then a few thousand, then 10, 20, 30, 40, 100 thousand, and up from there.  What a grim memory.

2014: Putin, Putin and more Putin.   Multiple major airline crashes.  Isis and Boko Haram.  Israel and Palestine.  And Syria:  unceasing carnage in a wonderful land full of good people.

It's a tough time all over the world.  No matter what challenges and strife go on around us, we can strive to be a little better, make our neighborhood a finer place to live, support positive causes, serve those in need, and hope for sunnier times.

The Bird-Man of Bethany Pond

a fledgling bald eagle (not my photo)

Not long ago I noticed a gray-bearded outdoorsy-looking man staked out by the north parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near Bethany Pond, about three miles from my house. He was there every time I passed and I took him for a photographer. He uses a tripod and has a camp chair to sit in when needed.

But no, he's not a photographer but a bird-watcher with a powerful scope, and his focus is a bald eagle nest containing a 115- day-old fledgling. Probably 99% of people (including me) would not know it is there, except you can't miss this wizened bird-watcher sharing his scope with others who have stopped by to see what he's looking at. He points out various interesting facts. For instance, I did not know that bald eagles don't get their white head until they are five years old.

This morning I watched "baby" bald eagle through the scope. He was relaxing part way down in a tree about 1/3 a mile away. Suddenly, his wings flew out and he took off. I stepped away from the scope and saw the fledgling being playfully pursued by 2 red-tailed hawks. The eagle alighted in a tree not very far away from us, near his nest.  

The bird-man told Craig that the mother eagle flies over to the St. Johns area (over the mountains) to bring back fish from the Willamette River. Presumably that's where she was this morning as we didn't see her.  

I love lots of things about this "event." First, bald eagles are alive and well. Wasn't it about 40 years ago they were nearly wiped out by pesticides? It has become close to routine to see bald eagles around our metro area. Second, they are living a short distance from my house! Third, bird-man cares enough to study them. Fourth--others take time to see and learn about these magnificent birds.

You can't see the nest in these photos, but it is barely left of center and just a little below horizontal center in this photo. The fledgling is sitting about 10 feet below the nest. Next time I stop by I'll ask bird-man how he discovered the nest in the first place. Inquiring minds seriously want to know.

Church the Way it Used to Be (pre-1980)

If you belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are older than say, 40, you may remember the good ol' days when we spent a lot more time at our church buildings than we do now.  Even if you think that's not humanly possible, it's the truth.  Read carefully, and you will appreciate our current system!

Before the miraculous "pruning of meetings" in March 1980, our meeting schedule went this way:

Sunday--Priesthood meeting about 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.  Dad attends, then returns home to pick up family for: Sunday School and Junior Sunday School, 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.  (There was no nursery so you managed your children under the age of 3 while you attempted to get 30 seconds of Sunday School instruction).  Family returns home after Sunday School to eat/sleep/eat/eat again, then returns for Sacrament Mtg @ 5:30-7 p.m.  Family returns home hungry and cross and kids get to bed too late to wake up for school the next day.

exhausted LDS family pre-1980

Never resent or complain about the 3-hour block of Sabbath meetings!

Tuesday or Wednesday--Relief Society 9:30 a.m.--11 a.m. except first week of the month was homemaking meeting where a major project was completed from 9:00--1:00 and lunch was served.  Children were watched over in the nursery staffed by me.  By myself.

Also on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon was Primary, about 3:00--4:30.  Children usually came straight from school.  As they trickled into the ward building, they were watched over by an unlucky person (me again) until Primary began.  If you've ever tried to manage 30 children between the ages of 3--11, you'll know how much "fun" I had and how much "non-quality time" they had.  My job was to keep them from being kidnapped or run over by a car while they waited for classes to begin.  They would have had a better experience locked in a padded cell until Primary time.

Mutual Improvement Association for teenagers met on one of those week nights, 7:00--8:30, for children age 12-18.

In addition to the above, there were presidency meetings, frequent socials, firesides, budget dinners, Scout auctions, and Relief Society bazaars.  I'll explain the unfamiliar and archaic of the above.

At budget dinners an inexpensive dinner was served (as in meatless soggy spaghetti--anemic iceberg lettuce salad--buttered Wonder Bread), the Bishop gave an inspirational talk, and people felt moved to commit an amount of money toward the operation of the ward.   Members now no longer pay into a ward budget; the Church supplies the money needed by local units, and bases the amount on Sacrament Meeting attendance.  Yay!

Similar to budget dinners was one I attended that was held to raise money to build the Boise Temple.  In the early 1980s the Boise Temple was announced--what a thrill!  At that time we traveled 5 hours one-way to attend the temple in Idaho Falls.  Each ward and stake was assessed a given amount of money to raise toward construction.  We were happy to give our part which was a big hunk of money we didn't have.  But then we had it.  I'm glad we sacrificed.

interior of Boise Temple

Scout auctions were held once a year to raise money for the local Boy Scouts of America program and camp fees.  People in the ward donated stuff or services, then bid for them.  We came home with some good stuff for not  a lot of money.  Flusher families willingly paid inflated prices for stuff, in the name of supporting the Scout program.  This practice was discontinued over 20 years ago, but I notice it has crept back in this year.  Our youth held an auction last month to raise money for summer camp.  It started out slow and then folks seemed to catch on that it was a money-raising affair, and bid generously and the youth came away with enough cash to pay for all their summer camp fees.

LDS Scouting compliments the priesthood--I love Scouting!

Relief Society bazaars were discontinued about the time I joined the Church 1972.  Apparently the sisters needed money but I don't know what for.  Women used to talk about the bazaars but I never personally attended one.  Methinks that purple glass grapes were popular items for sale at the bazaars.  You know, the ones you see at Deseret Industries for 25 cents.

faithful Relief Society leaders back in the day

Meetings: Stake and Ward meetings were much more frequent  back in the day.  If you worked in a teaching organization such as Primary--Young Women--Relief Society--Sunday School, you had monthly (yes, monthly!) inservice meetings to learn how to be better teachers.  That was pared down to quarterly later, and organizations eventually combined their inservice meetings to minimize multiple people having to prepare a quarterly lesson.  Inservice was done away with a decade back.  As were prayer meetings that were held before sacrament meeting.

General Conference lasted 3 days instead of the current two, until the early 70s, and Stake Conferences were held quarterly rather than semi-annually as now.  If your stake was as spread out as our Mt. Whitney/Ridgecrest California Stake was, members from the far reaches travelled 3 or 4 hours to attend Stake meetings.  One-way.

Not covered above are important practices such as Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching, which we still faithfully perform today.  Most of us live in more compact wards now so travel is minimized;   there is no longer a physical barrier to completing our Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching!  There was a time (outside of Utah) that members traveled for hours every month to meet with their assigned families.

Ahhh, those were the days.

NOTE: Someone reminded me that I neglected to mention Seminary!   Outside of Utah, Seminary (religious instruction for high-schoolers) was held from 6:00-7:00 a.m. on school days.  That meant a lot of parents were getting out of bed at 5:30 a.m. to drive their teenagers to the ward building.  I'm sure those lucky enough to be close to a ward building praised the Lord daily for that sweet blessing.

Mt. Hood, Magnificent and Deadly

Mt. Hood. A glorious shining sentinel, Mt. Hood is the tallest peak in Oregon, reaching 11,249 feet. The Cascade chain of volcanos snakes from British Columbia on the north to northern California on the south. Mt. Hood is about halfway along the chain. Mt. Lassen and Mt. St. Helens are the only two that have erupted in recent memory, although Mt. Hood routinely puts out steam and produces clusters of tiny earthquakes.

Back in the day, Mt. Hood was a formidable obstacle to early-19th century pioneers who intended to make Oregon City or the Willamette Valley their home. Sliced with deep canyons and pitted glaciers, and strewn with enormous boulders in fields of slippery scree, no way could wooden wagons forge over its flanks and remain in one piece. Pioneers were forced to stop at The Dalles to build rafts to for a precarious journey down the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to their new settlements. That is, until Mr. Sam Barlow built a rough road across its southern flank in 1846. And then the rush to Western Oregon began.

Now, thousands of climbers strive for Mt. Hood's summit every year. The typical climb involves departing from Timberline Lodge (6000 feet) around midnight and reaching the summit no later than 10 a.m., before softening snow begins releasing entrapped rotten rock. Plenty of climbers have been injured by rock hurtling downslope. Other dangers involve avalanches and mountain-generated storms that can swoop down on climbers in an instant.

This map shows the glaciers on Hood. Most have receded dramatically the past few decades, but they still carry the danger of crevasses that have contributed to climbing accidents and deaths.

When you look at Mt. Hood from a distance, you might think of it as a serene, friendly mountain and a great place for a rigorous but do-able hike to the summit. The photo below shows that not to be the case. A climber is faced with obstacles, one of which is the bergshrund, a large crevasse climbers must cross before reaching the summit (shown a bit lower than center of this photo).  

Accidents occur every climbing season, and frequently someone dies on Mt. Hood. Some of those are never found. The list below shows the fatalities that have occurred in recent memory. Another one occurred this morning (May 13) when a Catholic priest from New Jersey stood on the summit, not realizing he was standing on a cornice (a large pileup of snow that clings to a ridge and is suspended over thin air). He went right through it 1000 feet down, landing on Elliot Glacier. I guess you could say he was one of the lucky ones--his body was retrieved. Many are encased in ice somewhere on the slopes.

The worst accident ever was in 1986 when seven high school students and two of their teachers were caught in a 3-day storm on the mountain. Searchers risked their lives big-time to rescue them. They probed up and down the mountain in a gale-force whiteout to find the bodies. Two of the students lived; the rest froze to death.

The most dramatic accident was in 2002 when 3 separate climbing parties went sliding down the mountain and plunged at high speed into the bergshrund. Three were killed. The rescue helicopter lost its lift and it too plunged down the mountain (video below).

Other fatalities have involved a man who tried to snowboard down from the summit, a woman who looked over the edge of the summit and fell off, the Polish amateur climber who died on a quest to plant his country's flag on the summit, and the three men who climbed Hood in bitter December weather while training for an Everest climb. One was found dead in a snow cave and the other two have not been found.

This video shows the 2002 accident that killed three men who fell into the bergshrund, and then the dramatic helicopter accident (sorry, it's annoyingly overly dramatic) (and if it doesn't play google it on youtube):

List of fatalities 1959-2013 (from The Oregonian):

NOTE: I have not included the multitude of skiing and snowboarding fatalities that have occurred at the ski resorts.

February 2018: climber stranded in storm on upper slopes of Hood. Six others rescued.

August 15, 2017: Two hikers fell 150 off PCT (Emma Place / Emily Lang, both 19).

May 7, 2017: Climber fell near Hogsback (John Thorton Jenkins).

June 4, 2015: Climber fell on Mazama Chutes route (Ward Maxwell).

August 12 2014: A hiker was swept away when the Sandy River bridge gave way on the Ramona Falls Trail, during a flash flood (Brent A. Ludwig).

August 11, 2013 - Sebastian Kinasiewicz, 32, died while trying to summit the mountain alone when he plunged over a thousand feet at Cooper Spur.  He was a novice climber visiting the mountain while on a break from drone training in Oregon.

August 3, 2013: An ice tunnel collapsed on Collin Backowski.

June 30, 2013 - Kinley Adams, 59, of Salem, was found dead 8,400 feet up the mountain, a week after he attempted the summit. He was described as an experienced climber who had climbed many mountains.

June 14, 2012 - Mark Cartier, 56, an experienced and well-known local climber who'd climbed Mt. Hood a hundred times before, suffered a fatal fall near Crater Rock while descending the mountain.

February 6, 2012 - Jared Townsley, 32, of Tigard was found dead below Crater Rock after what was believed to have been a fall in icy conditions.

June 16, 2010: Canadian fell 700 feet on Coe Glacier (Robert Dale Wiebe).

December 2009 - Reid Glacier: Luke T. Gullberg, 26, of Des Moines, Washington is found dead at the 9,000-feet level of Mt. Hood after a fall on the Reid Headwall. The bodies of Gullberg's two climbing  partners,  Katie Nolan and Anthony Vietti, were found the next summer.

January 2009 - Hogsback: Brooke Colvin, 31, is killed after being struck by falling ice in the area below the Pearly Gates and knocked several hundred feet down the mountain. She was climbing with her husband, 33-year-old Thad Stavn.

July 28, 2008 - Cooper Spur: Gary Lee, 55, is descending from the summit on the Cooper Spur route when he's struck by a falling rock. His body is located 1,000 feet below, just above the Elliot Glacier. Climbing w/ son.

December 2006: Cooper Spur: Kelly James, Brian Hall, and Jerry Cooke attempt to scale the difficult north side of the mountain and perish in a storm. James' body is later found in a snow cave near the summit. Hall and Cooke's bodies are not found.

June 2005: Climber fell 2000 feet at Cooper Spur (Todd R. Englehardt).

November 2004 - Sandy Glacier: Kenny D. Kasselder, 37, dies after falling into a crevasse about 30 feet deep on the Sandy Glacier on the west side.

August 2004: A backpacker was swept away while crossing the Sandy River on west slope of Mt. Hood (Sarah Bishop). Her 60-pound pack was securely strapped on; it is recommended that when crossing a river that pack straps be left loose.

May 13, 2004: Climber fell off summit's north side when a snow cornice collapsed, plunged 700 feet  (Rev. Robert J. Cornier).

March 6, 2003 - South Side: Fred Frauens, 49, leaves Timberline Lodge on a solo snowshoe hike up the south slope. He is last seen at 9,500 feet.

May 30, 2002 - South Side: Three groups of climbers -- nine people in all -- fall into a crevasse on the south slope. Rick Read, 48, and Bill Ward, 49, both of Forest Grove, and John Biggs, 62, of Windsor, Calif., die from the fall.

May 24, 2002 - Cooper Spur: Snowboarder Juancarlos Munoz, 30, attempts to snowboard from the summit but dies after falling 2,500 feet onto Eliot Glacier. Munoz, an Argentine, was living in Government Camp and working at Timberline Lodge.

September 2001: Karoly Janos Orsi, 26, a Hungarian exchange student, disappears on a solo day hike.

August 2001: Evan Clark, 15, of Hinsdale, Ill., dies after a chunk of ice crushes him near the Cloud Cap hiking area.

June 4, 2000 - Summit: Diana B. Kornet, 29, of Portland, who had reached the summit, slips as she looks over the mountain's northeast side and falls more than 2,500 feet to her death.

May 23, 1999 - Cooper Spur: Carey Cardon, 31, and Tena Cardon, 29, of Hillsboro, who reached the summit, die shortly after starting their descent, falling together about 1,500 feet along the northeast face. One of them slips and pulls the other as they descend the Cooper Spur route.

May 31, 1998 - West Crater Rim: Tom McGlinn, a 39-year-old climbing with a Mazamas climbing class, is buried and killed when snow and rock give way on the mountain's west side near Illumination Rock.

September 6, 1997 - Cooper Spur: Mark Fraas, 40, dies after falling 1,500 feet while climbing the Cooper Spur route on the northeast face.

September 1995 - Cathedral Ridge: Ken Budlong, 45, of Portland disappears on a solo climb via the Cathedral Ridge route in Hood River County.

July 1994 - Cooper Spur: Four climbers roped together fall 700 feet down the Cooper Spur route, stopping at the lip of a crevasse on Eliot Glacier. Ole Groupe, 16, of Pendleton and Jerry Milton, 51, of McMinnville die in the fall. The other climbers are rescued by helicopter.

July 18, 1991: John Pospisil III, 14, dies when he and his 12-year-old brother, Luke, lose control during an intentional slide and fall into a canyon while descending during a family outing. Luke Pospisil survives.

June 1990: The body of George W. Ott, 76, of Corvallis, is recovered from the face of Mount Hood after he dies of hypothermia. Ott's widow, Marian, says she did not expect her husband, who had terminal cancer, to return from the trip he had chosen to make by himself.

July 11, 1987 - South Side: Arthur Andersen Jr., 59, of Sherwood, dies when he and two other men fall into the Bergschrund crevasse.

May 13, 1986 - South Side: Seven students and two adults from Oregon Episcopal School freeze to death after being trapped in a whiteout while ascending. Killed are Tasha Amy, 15; Alison Litzenberger, 15; Richard Header,16; Erik Sandvik, 15; Susan Elizabeth McClave, 17; Patrick Francis Mcginness, 15; Erin O'Leary, 15; the Rev. Dr. Thomas Goman, 41, and Marion Horwell, 40.

June 20, 1982 - Leuthold Couloir: While in Leuthold Couloir a large avalanche came down from above and caught one rope team of three climbers. One climber was killed by the crushing action of this type of avalanche.

June 21, 1981 - Cooper Spur: Five people in a group of climbers die in a fall from Cooper Spur while descending. Killed on Mount Hood are Jim Darby, 35, Newberg; Garth Westcott, 35, Bend; Larry Young, 30, Corvallis; George Anderson, 36, Boring; and Leah Lorenson, 39, Vancouver.

June 6, 1981 - Cooper Spur: David H. Turple, 51, of Portland and Bill Pilkenton, 17, of Newberg die in a fall from Cooper Spur to Eliot Glacier.

April 26, 1975 - White River Canyon: A Mazamas mountaineering class attempted to cross White River Canyon and some were caught in an avalanche. One died.

June 20, 1959 - South Side: A group of Explorer Scouts were caught in a wet snow avalanche above the bergshrund and carried into it. One died

Build It, and They Will Come!

sections of the Waterhouse Trail pass through green space between backyards of homes (trail seen in upper right)

That phrase, "build it, and they will come" around here usually refers to new roadways, and people use it to justify why a new route should not be built, because we all know that new roads fuel urban sprawl.  In a delightfully positive way, that phrase today refers to a magnificent conglomeration of walking / biking trails that have been and continue to be developed right here in Washington County Oregon.  And if you build a new walking / cycling trail around here, people will come.  In droves!

new bridge over Bronson Creek; it's actually 3x as long as it looks because it bends to the right

The section nearest our house opened a few weeks ago.  I was delighted to see a spankin' new 200-foot long bridge now crossing Bronson Creek.  When my children were small, we sometimes explored that area.  Even in summer we got wet, muddy feet.  The other night at dusk I could hear the trill of red-wing blackbirds as I leaned over the bridge rail.  A great blue heron, some mallards, and a flock of Canada geese flew overhead.

This trail is heavily used.  I passed strolling families, lovey couples, dudes wearing headphones, and runners and cyclists passed me.  These photos are not the greatest because I was out exploring at sunset.

several small playgrounds are integrated into the trail system

a large community garden uses space underneath the power lines

the trail skirts the Avamere care home

two photos of the pedestrian crossing over West Union Road; pedestrians push a button to activate a flashing light, stopping cars--yay!**  love this feature--no more death-wish-dashing across high-speed roads!

in this photo I'm standing at the junction of  the main trail (north-south), and this one above that heads west; when you head west, you formerly had to walk on narrow West Union Road to pass the Mad Greek Deli--so dangerous; now the trail goes behind the Mad Greek and crosses 185th (with a stoplight) to Bethany Pond

another bridge across an unnamed creek

the trail-builders cut through this huge berm behind Bethany Meadows apartments, to extend the trail north to meet the Pirate Park trail; once you hit Pirate Park you can continue to North Bethany, or you can go east to the Multnomah County line, or west to Sunset Hwy

**I had an amusing experience pertaining to these lighted pedestrian crossings.  The feasibility of installing more of these crossings was discussed at a county meeting I attended.  The majority of our 5 County Commissioners are all for facilitating non-motorized transportation across the county.  But one is most definitely not on board.  His comment (paraphrased here), "We can't have these crossings popping up all over--they slow down traffic!"   You should have heard the clapping and the "yeahs!!!" that ensued from the public in attendance.  He is under the mistaken impression that improving transportation means "moving cars,"  when it actually means, "moving people."

NOT Your Grandma's Genealogy!

Genealogy is now spoken of in broader terms: Family History.  The old brochures and booklets and paper charts have fallen by the wayside straight into the recycle bin.  Microfilm and those dusty clunky readers are still sometimes necessary, but I research constantly and haven't used one in quite a while.   The key to success now are the fantastic family history websites.  FamilySearch.org, EllisIslandrecords.org, Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, findagrave.com, and tons of other sites are so full of information that you could spend 40-hour weeks for years without running out of sources to search.

We have gone from THIS:

AND THIS:

AND THIS:

TO THIS:

www.familysearch.org

AND THIS:

the Family Tree feature on www.familysearch.org

AND THIS:

www.ancestry.com

AND THIS

www.findagrave.com

And hundreds of other research websites.  On these sites I can peruse my ancestor's birth/ marriage/ burial records from their Greek Catholic parishes in a remote mountainous corner of northeastern Slovakia. Or I can compare possible family tree connections with potential relatives previously unknown to me.  I can view my grandparents' immigration manifest on www.ellisislandrecords.org (my Baba arrived in the US with $17 in her pocket!).   I can view gravestones of family members who are buried thousands of miles away in cemeteries I'll never get to.  All this without leaving home.

The  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has for over 100 years been the leader in collecting and storing family history sources.  They have over 2 million rolls of microfilm containing data from around the globe.  About 5 years ago they began digitizing all those rolls, and as soon as each one of those is indexed it is posted on a free site: www.familysearch.org.  Every month millions of newly digitized records are added.  It's a marvelous miracle, thanks to the blessing of technological advances.

Here are just a couple of examples of personal miracles I have experienced because of the technology we now use:

1.  A few years ago a young man in Slovakia whose ancestors came from my Grandparents' villages contacted me via Facebook to compare information and relationships.  I was able to share with him (through Ancestry and FamilySearch) the boatload of info I've accumulated over 40 years of work, and he has been able to dig up new un-microfilmed family information in the Slovak archives to share with me via email.

2. I had long ago found the 3 children of my great-grandmother's brother, Matt Sullivan.  But a few months ago I was doing a computer search on a different Matt Sullivan in my family, and the name of the first Matt came up in the search results about 8 times, showing him as the father of 4 more children, all of whom died very young.  Yes, he actually has 7 children; those other 4 would not have been found without the search tools on that website.

Much more could be said.  You get the idea.  If you have not thought about looking for family, or if you have become discouraged in the past by inaccessibility of records, now is the time to dig in!

The Treasure Under My Bed

my 1975 notes from Genealogy 101

We are wrapping up a remodel of our master bedroom and bathroom.  Shoved underneath our bed are a few boxes of stuff that have no other place in the house, and yesterday it was time to deal with those.  One box labeled Genealogy is full of photographs, old letters (including some from my Mom, Grandma, Dad, and other special relatives), and even the notes from a genealogy class I took in winter semester (Jan-April 1975) during my junior year at BYU.   Yeah.  Why did I keep those notes from 39 years ago??

various brochures and instruction sheets 

That class was taught by Norman Edgar Wright, a professional genealogist who had a gift for teaching.  I loved him, and remember very well him using his own ancestors as examples of how to locate information on deceased people.  His great or great-great-grandmother, Kindness Ann Drain, sticks with me as does the surname Badger.  Maybe Kindness Ann Drain's maiden name was Badger.  Or something.  Prof. Wright's wife's surname was Welsh: Bevan.  Wright explained this Welsh patronymic that evolved into Bevan by repeating ap Evan, ap Evan, apEvan, a-pevan, Bevan.

Wright laid out the principles of genealogical research in a logical way, and set me on the course of becoming a serious researcher.  He took the class on a couple of field trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake, so we could immerse ourselves and learn how to use it.  All of this supplemented the research training I received in classes as a history major.

Some of the pearls of research wisdom contained in these class notes:

• Work from the known to the unknown (Surprise! I've assisted people determined to go directly to the unknown without building a foundation on the known)
• Begin with family and home sources ( "Smart" people try to skip this step too)
• Document your research in the form of a research calendar (The biggest failing of budding researchers)
• Keep careful record of findings (Another common failing)
• Keep careful record of sources you have eliminated (Fail)
• Learn the card catalog of the FHL (No longer necessary)
• Use every available record: vital, church, cemetery, census, probate, court, military, emigration, obituaries, land, etc.
• Shrewdly evaluate primary and secondary sources (This becomes natural with experience)

Listed as research sources in my notes were the following that were "must-check" in 1975:

TIB (temple index bureau), began 1921
CRA (Church Records Archives), began 1942
CFI (computer file index), began 1969

No researcher today would even know what those are, because it's 2014 and we don't do family history like your grandmother did her genealogy!

more "how-to" brochures and handouts

To answer the burning question, Why did I keep those notes from 39 years ago??   At first, because they provided useful guidance; then it became sentimental thing.  Those notes brought back rich memories of a marvelous time in my life.  It is time to send them to recycle heaven though.  They are now immortalized on this blog.

Tomorrow: Not Your Grandma's Genealogy