Cascade Geographic Society's 
SPRING 2001 Tours

IMPORTANT NOTE: Participants must be prepared to begin on time and bring the following: sack lunch (if complimentary lunch is not included in the fee) & snacks; $10 for museum admissions or tour fees, if needed; extra money in case of emergencies; proper dress and shoes to fit the weather conditions & season; & camera & film -- optional.]

Please note regarding payment for classes: make out one check to the Cascade Geographic Society. Please call (503) 622-4798 (Michael P. Jones) or (503) 658-6233 (Nita Kreuzer) for information or registration.

There are two categories of tours, Yearly and Seasonal.  The first category (Yearly) are those tours which are offered on a fairly consistent basis and will likely be offered again next year. The second category (Seasonal) are those that are offered just this Spring. 


YEARLY  TOURS
To be announced

SEASONAL TOURS
 please note -- tours now cost to attend the first price is for members, the second price is for non-members

Mt Hood's Oregon Trail & The Western Migration (April 3)
Lewis & Clark: Sauvie Island & Wapato Valley (April 4)
Portland Mansions: History, Folklore, & Architecture (April 10)
Native American Storytelling, Potlatching, & Art (April 11)
"Lady Washington" Discovery Voyage (May 5) 
Shanghai Tunnels of Old Portland (May 12) 
Oregon Trail Migration Settlement & Graveyards (May 13)

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Mt Hood's Oregon Trail & The Western Migration 
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: April 7 (Sat.) 10-5:30 p.m. -- Stage Stop Road Interpretative Center, 24525 E. Welches Road, Welches, Oregon.

The Oregon Trail that traversed over Mt. Hood was an essential "link" in the western migration route for those Eden-seeking "overlanders" coming to the Northwest, and served as an alternative to the raft passage down the Columbia River. However, this mountain was the most treacherous area in all of the 2,000-plus miles of this difficult emigrant path, and claimed many lives. 

Known as the "Barlow Trail" after Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, who charged the travelers a fee to pass over this rugged landscape, this was no road in any sense of the word, but a dangerous path that had been utilized by Native Americans for over 10,000 years. At "Big Laurel Hill", which was the single worst spot on this route, travelers were forced to lower their wagons down steep cliffs with rawhide ropes, all the while praying that these frayed "lifelines" would not break and cast their fate on the mercy of the rocks below. 

Today, over 150 years later, you will follow in the wake of these pioneers and stand in their "footprints" as you study the incredible history of this trail first hand. A focus will be on the rich multi-cultural history, which dates back to over ten thousand years of Native American use prior to the coming of the first whites, as well as the role of other cultures. 

Participants will visit nearly-forgotten grave sites, stream "fords", places where the original wheel ruts and swales have left their mark upon the natural landscape, and many other special historical places. This class will enhance how you teach the Oregon Trail in your classroom, and will provide a wealth of information to re-energize your curriculum and study units. Appropriate for elementary and secondary curriculums.

Lewis & Clark-- Native American Trail of Discovery: 
Sauvie Island & Wapato Valley
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: April 8 (Sun.) 10-5:30 p.m. -- meet in the parking lot on Sauvie Island below the Sauvie Island Bridge.

During the years 1804 and 1805, the "Corps of Discovery", lead by Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, explored the Columbia River during the years 1804 and 1805. They followed the long-established trails and canoe routes of Native Americans, studying and mapping the natural environment, recording in their journals the indigenous people they encountered, as well as the wildlife and natural resources. 

Along this "Great River of the West", the expedition found itself in Wapato Valley (which ranged from the mouth of the Sandy River to Wapato Island (known today as Sauvie), and beyond to the Coast Range. These areas represent a land that had been utilized by indigenous people for over 10,000-plus years. This heritage of both the native people and Lewis and Clark will be explored as you follow in their footsteps and in the wake of their canoes, as you study these diverse histories through a number of special site visits, while you glean information to take back to the classroom to incorporate into curriculums and special units.

Portland Mansions & Other Historic Landmarks:
History, Folklore, & Architecture
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: April 14 (Sat.), 10-5:30 p.m. --- meet in the parking lot outside the old cinemas (soon to be Home Depot) at Mall 205, located at S.E. 102nd & Washington Streets, Portland, OR.

The mansions of Portland are so diverse and unique in their individual architectural styles that, together and individually, they represent a unique and fascinating history of settlement in this "City of Roses". Each of these houses of grandeur have their own stories to tell, some becoming part of the oral histories of their neighborhoods, while others became immersed in the folklore of the city itself. Participants will explore these architectural wonders and learn about the people who not only built them, but those who have lived there and, in later years, took these once gracious structures from their Victorian charm to the shame brought on by bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, and other vice.

In this class you will learn about this exciting history about some very unique places like Pittock Mansion, the Palmer House, General Hooker's House, the Lion & the Rose House, the Tudor House, the Portland White House, the Clinkerbrick House, the MacMaster House, and other special homes and historical landmarks. View them first-hand inside and out, gather their histories, and learn about their stories and the special neighborhoods they occupy.

Native American Storytelling, Pot latching, & Art:
Heritage Traditions & Culture
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: April 15 (Sun.) 10-5:30 p.m. -- Stage Stop Road Interpretative Center, 24525 E. Welches Road, Welches, Oregon.

This class blends Native American storytelling and art with the tradition of potlatching in the Northwest. The participants will be surrounded by artwork and carvings depicting myths and legends, as well as visit natural areas where some of the oral histories of indigenous people were born. 

Participants will learn about the art of storytelling, how to gather and develop stories, understand the role of art in oral tradition, and experience storytelling sessions held in a special building that depicts a Northwest plank lodge. They will also learn about the First People's culture of giving and how this affected the status of an individual in the tribe. This is an ideal way to develop new ideas to expand one's classroom activities, develop special study units, and enhance curriculums for inter-disciplinary study.

"Lady Washington" Discovery Voyage:
Heritage Explorations of the Northwest Coast
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: May 5 (Sat.), 10-5:30 p.m. --- PLEASE CALL FOR MEETING PLACE!

Captain Robert Gray's vessel, the "Lady Washington", has returned to the Northwest Coast for a unique and special voyage-of-a-lifetime for educators. This "hands-on" class will allow you to help sail a replica of this explorer's sailing vessel. You will step back into the days of the square-riggers while you explore the rich multi-cultural maritime history of the Pacific Coast, which highlights the contributions of indigenous people, Euro-American explorers and fur traders, and the race to claim the Old Oregon Country as part of England, Spain, Russia, or America.

The class provides educators with a very special opportunity to "man the sails", while studying the historic navigation, technology, and maritime architecture of those who came to the rugged Pacific frontier to trade with the Indians for sea otter pelts and other furs, to map the often treacherous coastal landscape, to search out the fabled Northwest Passage, and to claim this wilderness forever for far-off so-called civilized governments.

Learn about the fascinating heritage for the development of resources for the classroom, as well as field trip opportunities, as you sail Grays Harbor and the Chehalis River. A strong focus will be on gathering information and ideas for cross-curriculum educational projects. So, if you want to know what it was it like during the days of "iron men and wooden ships", take this class and find out!

Shanghai Tunnels of Old Portland:
Exploring A Hidden & Infamous Waterfront History
 Date, Time, & Meeting Place: May 12 (Sat.), 10-5:30 p.m. --- meet in the parking lot outside the old cinemas at Mall 205, located at S.E. 102nd & Washington Streets, Portland, OR.
"Portland Underground" has an infamous history that has survived the passage of time and the progress of change. Solidly-constructed tunnels, fashioned out of stone and brick and built during the time buildings were constructed, still "snake" their presence beneath the streets of Old Portland, and represent an important and shocking piece of the history of the West Coast shanghai trade that earned the "City of Roses" the dubious reputation of being "the worst port in the world". 

This class reveals a hidden, and little-known, but very intriguing history of maritime trade in "human cargo" through a series of explorations of this "Underground" that is made up of silent cells, trap doors, and catacombs that link darkened basements and historic landmarks with the past that has not yet found its way into the history books. This class allows you to explore the remnants of a little-told history of human rights violations at its absolute worst. 

From the 1850's to as late as the 1940's, unsuspecting victims learned first hand about the "darkness and shadows" of this river town that hid its corruption well. Individuals who frequented places of vice, such as saloons, gambling parlors, opium dens, and other establishments of lesser reputations, would be given "knock-out drops" or find themselves dropped through trapdoors into basements, where they were held hostage in make-shift cells, until, finally, they were taken through tunnels out to the wharfs and sold to sea captains bound for the Orient. So many were sold for "blood money" that Portland became the "Shanghai Capital of the World". Participants will venture into the remnants of the "Underground" that have survived, along with their oral history, and experience a unique piece of the past. You'll never view the history of Portland and the West Coast the same as you explore this "skullduggerry" that also included bootlegging, white slavery, and opium smuggling. An ideal way to enrich your curriculums and study units in this course that takes you into "Underground".

Oregon Trail Migration Settlement & Graveyards of Mt. Hood's Eastern Flank
Date, Time, & Meeting Place: May 13 (Sun.) 10-5:30 p.m. -- Stage Stop Road Interpretative Center, 24525 E. Welches Road, Welches, Oregon.

The infamous Oregon Trail segment over Mt. Hood -- known as the "Barlow Trail" -- became famous as well as infamous amongst travelers migrating to the Willamette Valley. The trail follows a dangerous scenic route from the Columbia River through settlements such as Dufur, Tygh Valley, and Wamic, and then traverses the terrain to Smock Prairie and up the mountain's rugged eastern landscape to White River, Devil's Half Acre, and Barlow Pass. Utilized by Native Americans for its first ten thousand years, over 150 years ago it became the first toll road over the Cascade Mountain Range.

This class will guide its participants on a special interpretative excursion over this historic wilderness path, guiding them to a former tollgate, campsites, little-known routes, cabin sites, solitary graves and cemeteries, in addition to an old frontier hotel, pioneer schoolhouse, an octagon barn, and much more. This is an opportunity to travel to some little-known sections of the Oregon Trail from the comfort of your car, while learning about the terrible ordeal that thousands of emigrants had to endure in order to reach the Willamette Valley. This is an ideal way to learn about history firsthand, while acquiring many new ideas for your classroom, whether elementary or secondary.