RonnieAdventure #0283 - Lewis & Clark Park (Washington) to Home

Lewis and Clark State Park (Washington) would be a really nice place to camp for a few days; unfortunately, we needed to change our plans and return to Las Vegas by a faster route. We did, however, have time to walk around the park and noted a number of unfamiliar plants. The Park Ranger was kind enough to write down the names of all the plants for us, but I lost the notes on the way home, so I'll just include a few plant pictures from the park.

Waitsburg (population 1,217) is a small city in Walla Walla County and is the only city in the State of Washington that still operates under its original territorial charter.

On the evening of October 16, 1805 Lewis and Clark arrived at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers and found hundreds of Indian camped there because it was the height of the annual salmon run. The native people gathered to welcome the explorers and Clark recorded that "...a Chief came from their Camp...at the head of about 200 men Singing and beeting on their drums...keeping time to the musik they formed a half circle around us and Sung for Some time." Clark recorded that the Native people considered them to be friendly because Sacagawea's presence signaled "...our friendly intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter."

There are Lewis and Clark displays throughout the 284-acre park and there is a Sacagawea Interpretive Center that features exhibits about her and her contribution to the Corps of Discovery.

Looking Toward The Pacific Ocean

Looking Up The Snake River

Looking Up The Columbia River

I found out that if you want a tour of the Manhattan Project B Reactor at the Hanford site in Richland, Washington, the museum is not where it is located on the State map and you can not just show up for a tour. Thanks to GPS we were finally able to locate the actual visitor center (not shown on the State map) and watched a movie about the project, since we did not have advanced reservations for a tour. 

When we entered Oregon at Hermiston, we were greeted by two very large tin men. With such large watchmen looking over the city, we decided that this would be a safe place to camp for the night.

Arriving back in Pendleton, we decided that this would be a good time to tour the Pendleton Woolen Mills. It was really an interesting tour and when we saw all of the looms working we thought of Suzanne working on her loom. Of course, the tour ended in the gift shop!

The Tamastslikt Cultural Institute is a 45,000 square foot building located on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and it is the only Native American museum located along the Oregon Trail. The mission of the Institute is "to preserve and perpetuate the diverse cultures and histories of the indigenous people now known as the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes" and "To educate people about our cultures, histories, and contemporary lives." Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the museum.

La Grande (population 13,082) is the county seat of Union County, Oregon. The city is located along the Oregon Trail and was first settled in 1861 by the Brown family. As other settlers moved into the area the community was known as Brownsville, but there was already a town named Brownsville in Linn County, so in order to establish a post office the name was changed to La Grand in 1863. The entire downtown commercial district is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is located five miles east of Baker City, Oregon. The center contains numerous exhibits, hands-on displays, living history demonstrations, interpretive programs, hiking trails, and historic structures. It is possible to hike up Flagstaff Hill (part of the Oregon Trail) from State Route 86, then join a loop trail that leads to the visitor center. Or, for those that would prefer not to suffer some of the same hardships at the early pioneers, there is also a serpentine paved road to the top of the hill.

Rattlesnake Springs (Exit 335 from Interstate 84) was a major stop on the Oregon Trail. Unfortunately, when the automobile road system was developed across western Unite States, most of the roads followed the historic trails used by the pioneers and the original trails were paved over. Rattlesnake Springs is now a rest stop along Interstate 84. The campground that historically was filled with covered wagons has been converted into is an automobile  parking lot and there is a historic marker located over the springs.