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Sept. 2000,
Convention Report Special
Park's Bench
-- Tom Laidlaw -- Jim
Tompkins -- Don Popejoy -- Dave Welch
Wendy Welch's Feature Article
About a month before the Kansas
City Convention, I asked several people to write an article about
their experience at this year's convention. The results were
outstanding and I asked Lethene Parks if we could do a special Update
so those people that did not go to Kansas City could relate with
other members experiences. My thanks to all of the chapter members who
were willing to share the convention with us.The format for this
special edition of the Update has changed a little to accommodate the
wealth of information. The Oct./Nov. 2000 Update will be back to its
normal format. Also, in the next issue will be the chapter convention
meeting minutes by Marley Shurtleff. Thanks goes to Lethene Parks for
allowing this special issues of the Update to be done.
From The Park 's Bench
Here are my impressions of the recent OCTA convention in Kansas
City: The tours were long but excellent, with knowledgeable guides
and good tour booklets to bring home. It*s amazing to me that even in
the midst of a big city the geography that guided the route of the
trails is still so apparent. Local OCTA members staffing the
convention were very well organized and helpful. The speakers were
also excellent. I was especially impressed with John Mark Lambertson,
Director of the National Frontier Trails Center in Independence. His
talk was excellent, his workshop on historical research in the Kansas
City area was a winner, he was obviously excited about the newly
discovered (by him) ruts behind the Bingham-Waggoner estate, and the
evening at the NFTC felt truly welcoming. The hotel rooms and meeting
spaces were excellent and the food was great, but food service was
terrible (slow, not there when it was supposed to be because of
feuding cooks and waiters).
It seemed to me the book room displays were smaller than usual,
with not many new titles (of course my credit card balance suffered
less than usual because of it). The OCTA band only gets better: too
bad they are not given better billing and better spaces in which to
play. The evening presentations on "Petticoat Pioneers" and
the silent movie with the Jim Bridger character were filled to
overflowing and deserved larger rooms and scheduling at more prime
times. The BBQ dinner at the Steamboat "Arabia" museum was
okay, but the museum is a stunner and the Hawley family (who dug up
the ~Arabia") did a superb job of conveying their own excitement
about finding the steamboat.
The OCTA board meeting was a productive one. Chapter presidents are
ex-officio members of the board and OCTA president Dave Welch has made
a point of inviting them to attend. I was the only chapter president
who did attend, though several others were at the convention. I find
the board meeting a good way to stay knowledgeable about the issues
facing the national organization of which we are apart. We had an
excellent chapter meeting, with some 30 members in attendance. Several
good suggestions were made for outings and meetings for the coming
year. The national convention is tentatively slated to be in our
region in 2004, probably in Vancouver, Washington. We need to begin
planning now and several people have already volunteered to help; the
rest of you will hear from us soon about how you can help also. There
was general support for an increase in chapter dues, but because it
may require a bylaws change, action was postponed until our annual
meeting.
Finally, I came home with a lovely souvenir of the convention: the
white buffalo (stuffed, of course) table prize from the banquet.
Dick and I attended the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation's
annual convention in Dillon, Montana, immediately following the OCTA
convention. A few impressions: the tours were too long and not as well
organized as OCTA tours I have been on.
One idea worth keeping in mind
though: in areas with few rest stops, hauling the porta-potties along
with the tour on a trailer. Dayton Duncanâs speech at Camp Fortunate
was outstanding, but sitting on uncomfortable metal chairs in the hot
sun about did everyone in. The college campus in Dillon provided good
facilities, with the food service providing an efficient way to get
everyone fed and the food was pretty good too. Speeches and tour
booklets were comparable to those at OCTA conventions. There were
about 525 attendees, a few more than at OCTA this year
.
We will have a fall chapter board
meeting in Vancouver, WA., at the Red Lion on Saturday, November 11,
2000. There will be a lunch in the $8 to $12 range and you must pay in
cash at the meeting. If you would like to attend, please contact
either -- 425-271-2485 or
-- 425-454-7118. More details in the
next issue of the Update. Plans
at present call for a board business in the morning and a trail
marking/mapping meeting in the afternoon for all those interested. We
still have marking to do in Oregon and the joint Applegate/Southern
Route trail marking project with the California/Nevada chapter slated
to begin next spring. (Dick & Lethene
Parks enjoy dinner & conversation with Vic & Nancy
Bolon.)
I have just received word that our chapter will
receive additional cost-share grant funds, new state-of-the-art GPS
equipment, and top-end mapping software to help complete trail marking
in eastern Oregon. Please remember, all members are welcome to attend
both the board meeting and the trail marking meeting. Lethene Parks
Submitted by Tom Laidlaw
The 18th OCTA convention in Kansas
City was very well done. The only problem was that Wednesdayâs lunch
took forever, because the hotel set up only a small table with a
one-sided line, and there was not adequate seating. I had signed up
for the Friday lunch also, but did not go because of this.
I was quite happy to be elected to
the board, and I hope to promote a speakers bureau and work on rules
for intellectual property, as well as continuing with the internet. I
feel this board appointment is quite an honor, and I hope to do it
justice.
The tours were excellent. I
especially appreciated the River Landings tour, because it gave me a
better idea how the landings moved up the river. It was also good to
see that KC is revitalizing the Westport Landing area. The Westport
Route tour was also very good, especially the swales in Harmon Park.
This tour went all the way out to the parting of the ways sign on
Route 56 in Gardner. In all my visits to Kansas City, I have always
taken the Santa Fe Trail from the Trails Center. Next time I am there
I will tr~â to retrace the Westport Route for myself. It should be
easy to do because of the hundreds of signs put up last year by KC and
the surrounding towns.
But the piece de resistance was the
Saturday BBQ at the Arabia Museum. The story of the steamship
unearthed from a farmers cornfield is true drama. All of our group who
saw it raved about it. Of course we are suckers for such stories. In
talking to many people about the trails study, I constantly hear
people say: âunbelievableâ, âI canât see how they did itâ,
etc. The Arabia story has that same fabulous quality about it. For me
the best part of the story is the family co-operation over so many
years.
Editorâs Note: Not only was Tom appointed to
the National board, he received an award for his work on OCTAâs new
on-line bookstore presented by Ross Marshall!
Submitted
by Jim Tompkins
Monday August 7th, 2:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time - Portland Airport:
At what point does one say, âitâs just a poor start,
everythingâs up from hereâ or its an ominous beginning, what else
will go wrong?â To start with, Iâve been here at the Portland
Airport for eight hours and will be here another three. My flight was
cancelled. American Airlines recalled some MD 80s. And United Airlines
is buying all open seats because of a pilots strike. If I thought
flying from Portland to KC via Dallas/Fort Worth was strange, then
Portland to KC via Phoenix is stranger. Need a ride Rose Ann? Iâll
be in KC tomorrow at 1 PM instead of today an hour ago. Guess Iâll
miss Niel Johnson dressed as Harry Truman doing a walk around
Independence Courthouse Square.
And that wasnât the first thing to
go wrong. Three days earlier my roommate, a particular Update editor
who shall go nameless, cancelled the trip. Thatâs OK. His reason had
merit. And besides, I only asked him to room with me to split the
cost. Now I have plenty of room to party late with those rut nut
babes. If everything had gone as planned Iâd be in KC now, in a nice
cool bar with my favorite alien roomie.
Tuesday August 8th, 5:30 AM Central Standard Time - Adamâs Mark
Hotel, Kansas City:
I made it to KC and after two hours sleep I find time to collect my
thoughts. Did you know that the airport shuttles close down at 1:00 AM
when the last flight is supposed to arrive? Did you know that a taxi
from the airport is $60? Do you know where my luggage is? Itâs not
in KC! This ought to be an interesting day. Can anything be worse than
the last 24 hours?
Tuesday August 8th, 11:00 PM Central Standard Time - Adamâs Mark
Hotel, Kansas City:
Let the party begin. I am all here. My luggage just arrived. You know
you need a life when your clothes have seen more of the world than you
have. Besides, I was getting tired of washing my only shirt. At
registration they gave us a bottle of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. It also
works on sweaty shirts. I washed it twice today. The first time I
ironed it dry, a waste of time. It was sopping wet as soon as I went
out. In Oregon we have a wind-chill factor to tell how cold it seems.
Here they have a heat index to tell how hot it seems. It was 96-90-106 today. The temperature was 96 degrees. The humidity was 90%. So it
seemed to be 106 degrees.
I went
out on an OCTA workshop today with
Eleanor Craig of KC. We went to the Santa Fe-Oregon Trail ruts at the
Red Bridge crossing of the Blue River. She showed us how she has her
blind students visualize ruts. Three of us extended a rope across a
wide swale. I was in the middle, holding the rope belt high. We closed
our eyes and started up hill. We had to sense when our left or right
was higher or lower. That was easy. When I sensed that I was lower
than the two edges we stopped. Then I was told to drop the rope. Then
I was told to grab the rope. I couldnât find it. When I opened my
eyes the rope was four feet over my head. I was impressed. (A blind
student would have their cane reach up to it.) Eleanor is doing
dramatic work with her kids and will be an education award winner at
the banquet Friday. Her motto is âMake visible what without you
would not be seen.â
While I was at the workshop other
conventioneers went on bus trips like I will on Thursday and Saturday.
There was also a ten hour board meeting. Following a three hour nap
and a clean/wet shirt, it was dinner then across the freeway to a KG
Royals/Toronto Bluejays baseball game. Thanks Tom, for filling in at
the game for the missing Update editor. See you tomorrow.
Friday August 11th, 11:00 AM Central Standard Time - Adamâs Mark
Hotel, Kansas City:
Petticoat Pioneers, a silent movie on Jim Bridger, and opportunities
to purchase trail books signed by the authors finished off the last
night. Today is speeches, talks, information and discussion with
friends. If this had been my first convention, my first trip to KC or
my first exposure to this end of the trail, I would be sitting in the
lecture hall at this time hanging on every word. Iâd be soaking up
info on where the Eastern Road ended and where the Western Road began,
where were the three frontiers, what John Sutter did on his trip to
Missouri, or why the Missouri River was important as a highway. This
afternoon we learn about the hopes and fears of the emigrants, the
impact of whiskey, Native American relationships, and grave
markings. Tonight is the big banquet.
Friday August 11th, 10:00 PM Central
Standard Time - Adam*s Mark Hotel, Kansas City:
The talks are over. The banquet is over. The awards have been
distributed. A lot of folks won some well deserved accolades and
plaques. As is fitting and usual, most awards went to local area
recipients.
I asked some NW chapter members their impressions of the
convention. Marley Shurtleff of Renton, WA. said it was
wonderful to finally get to the trails*
head. It was her first visit here. She saw wonderful country and
wonderful ruts. She wonders how so many people can live in this area
today. Wendy Welch of Steilacoom, WA. said she was asked to
write an article for the Update from the female perspective, but would
give me some remarks that wouldn*t
be in her article. She did not know until she got here the difference
between river crossings and river landings. She now knows how
steamboats brought people this far up the "Missoura," landed
them and then they had to cross rivers along the way. Bob Kabel,
national board member of the NE contingent of the NW chapter was
impressed that the board reached congenial conclusions to difficult
issues. He enjoyed meeting many new, first-time conventioneers and
hopes they come to visit more conventions.
Chuck Eccieston, our Medford, actually Jacksonville, Oregon
representative, found this trip very productive and informative. He
was looking for the route his 1852 ancestors took. Yesterday he was
shown the route the Ecclestons, Petrees, and Metzkers.
What did I get out of the banquet? Violet Kimball gave me a copy of
her new Oregon Trail Teenagers book. And I grabbed several handfuls of
prairie grass to bring back home to my wife.
|
Federal Penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth
|
Missouri River at Leavenworth Landing |
Walking down the Oregon Trail Swale at the fort landing. This is
what a real swale looks like. |
The 1774 cannon"Voyageur" gift from the French
Governmnet for the Bicentennial |
Submitted by Don
Popejoy
A couple years ago, Jim Tompkins called to tell me that a large
branch from the Abernethy Elm had fallen off the old historic tree. He
wanted to know if I wanted some of it and of course I did. At the NW
chapter outing in the spring of 1998 in Oregon City, Jim showed the
group the famous Elm. Wayne Burck of Albany, Ore. was in attendance
and was intrigued with the idea of making some wood carvings out of
the old Elm branch. When Eva Allen sent out a request to all the
chapters for raffle items for the convention, Wayne came up with the
idea to make a special OCTA sign from the base of the branch. I gave
Wayne a large piece to use and his wonderful talent created the
artwork you see winner George Hesse of San Jose, CA holding. George
won the Abernethy artwork with a bid of $85 during the silent auction.
Feature Article:
By
Wendy Welch
I was asked to write a woman*s
view on the Kansas City convention in diary from. I thought it would
be fun to include observations of other northwest women who were
there. I didn*t get quotes
from all, but interspersed in italics are the ones who did say I could
quote them.
Sunday, August 6, 2000:
We did a reverse crossing of the Oregon Trail starting at the real
end, Steilacoom. It was a matter of hours in the big silver bird to
reach the great Salt Lake and get an overview of what has happened
there in the last 150 years. Our introduction to "Missoura"
was the happy face of Bob Hamilton, red suspenders and all, who got us
to the AdanYs Mark Hotel. It was hot and humid and we were very glad
for air conditioning. That climate could have been a factor in the
decision of some to head west. Kansas City is very green with lots of
trees, just on the eastern edge of the "great treeless
plain." It was fun to see so many OCTA friends in the hotel lobby
that first night.
"It*s always great
to get back with OCTA family friends." Trudy Ackerman Monday,
August 7th,2000:
We were on the 7 AM River Landing tour. We learned how different
the "Missoura" River is now from what it was when the
emigrants saw it. It was wider, less deep and had many more bends than
it does now. The Corps of Engineers is responsible for some of the
changes and the ever present floods have made changes too. The old
saying "the Missouri River is too muddy to drink and to thin to
plow" is apropos.
Our tour guide, Colleen Eccieston, described the Missouri River as
it flows now as "one big ditch" and not the wide Missouri of
pioneer days. "The River Landings tour showed me again what a
large role geography plays in the routes people take when heading
west. Seems like there is a lot of up-hill. I*m glad to be riding up all
those hills in a comfortable, air-conditioned bus rather than walking
up them in a long dress and 25 pounds of petticoats!" Lethene
Parks
Many emigrants came to the Kansas City area by steamboat from the
east, hence the need for river landings. The landings had to be where
there was a limestone shelf for the steamboats that was near an
outfitting town. It also had to be where the trail west was accessible
and the river crossings were minimized. "At the Clark*s Point bluff above the
juncture of the Caw (Kansas) and Missouri rivers, 1 appreciated the
spectacular view. Even with all the industrial building you can get a
real feel for the area." Carol Buss
The Missouri border was the last place for emigrants to get
outfitted. To the west was Indian Territory (after the Indian Removal
Act of 1830) and whites could not have commercial establishments.
There are still swales to be seen and we saw some near Fort Osage.
We learned how intertwined the stories of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition, the Santa Fe Trail and the Pony Express routes are with
the Oregon and California trails in this area. That night we were
treated to a truly awesome thunder, lightening and rain display. We
were having dinner in the Courthouse Exchange Restaurant in
Independence when the power went out so we enjoyed a candlelight
dinner. "We went out to dinner on Monday night driving through
buckets of rain. We stopped at a drive through but continued on
because if we had opened the car window the car would have been
flooded by the rain. All of the time the lightning flashed and thunder
crashed. Several times we said how glad we were to be in a Honda and
not a covered wagon!" Barbara Kabel "Witnessed a grand
display of lightning this evening. Booming thunder announced the
sudden appearance of long crystal cracks which then melted back into
the blue black darkness. For a long time the sky had no rest from the
fierce flashes of light and soon came a great heavy wash of rain which
lasted for some time. Nature in all her wonder surely gave us a fine
performance." Adrienne Dietrich
Tuesday, August 8th, 2000:The OCTA board met all day. they wrestled with such issues as
membership, preservation and business procedures. They discussed the
need for strong chapters, discussed the endowment funds, budget, and
grant and reimbursement policies. The new board members were announced
subject to approval at the general meeting on Wednesday. The two women
candidates were not elected making the composition of the board now
two women and ten men. We have to do something about that! The editors
for the NFP and OJ were chosen. The COED issue was discussed in detail
and WET map discussions continue. I was impressed at how seriously
board members take their job and how well prepared they were on all
the issues. Of course, the president did a great job. (Lethene Parks, Wendy Welch, Joyce Bolerjack, Carol
Buss, and Sarah Hampton.)
This was a tour day for most and on the California Road a
conventioneer commented on the Wakarusa Crossing. "Experienced an
enjoyable walk along a partially shaded path to the crossing. As we
came around a bend, there before us lay a pebbled, shallow stream
sheltered along one side by a very deep, large ledge of water smoothed
stone. It is a most lovely and unusual configuration to behold. To the
right of the ledge a deep cut down the bank has been carved out by
many travelers who took their hopes and dreams westward."
Adrienne Dietrich Wednesday ,August 9th, 2000:
The morning started with the general membership meeting that was
mostly about preservation issues, the need to increase membership and
the importance of strong chapters. We were invited to the Casper
Convention that will be Aug. 13-18, 2001. It sounds like it will be a
good one. There were then two keynote speakers. The first was by Mark
Kelly who talked about the circumstances that brought about the
mountain man*s demise. He
noted that most of them fared very well with their careers. He used
phrases I liked about how the mountain men "peeled the bark from
the money tree" and "the great fog of white men who rolled
to the west" and how the religious extremists of the day were the
"soul savers and culture crushers." The second speaker was
Craig Crease who talked about the various trails in the area. He said
"geography and politics dictated circumstances." After lunch
I went to an archeology workshop about the dig at the sight of a
former warehouse on the KC (Town of Kansas) waterfront in the 1850*s. After that was the NW
chapter meeting. We really do have a great chapter. We then headed for
the buses again for the ride to Independence to see the National
Frontiers Trails Center and OCTA headquarters office.
Thursday, August 10th, 2000:
Today we were on the Westport Route Tour. We learned about the Big
Blue, Little Blue and the Platte (not to be confused with the those in
Nebraska) and how they run north/south and were big obstacles to the
start of the journey. We heard about the early French influence in
Kansas City and had Indian history brought home to us at the Shawnee
Methodist Mission. We saw swales at Harmon Park and also witnessed the
amazing phenomena of cicadas. A fascinating stop late in the day was
where the various emigrant trails merged and then separated to form
the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails. It is a spot that should
be commemorated with more than a modest stone marker.
"The morning was cool as we moved up over the bluffs away from
Wayne*s Landing to the
square at Independence. We were anxious to begin our westward journey
toward the Pacific on this Santa Fe road. Provisions from Dave*s Deli had been loaded into our
large wheeled vehicle, not unlike a palace car, capable of carrying
many. On the road, we held to the ridges, often so narrow that
scarcely two wagons abreast could pass a dwelling on each side. It was
cooler on the top; mosquitoes stirred from the grass by our walking
were unable to inflict their misery in the breeze. The day grew warmer
and more humid as we stopped for a short shady rest at the lavish
house built by Rice Tremonti in 1644. Regaining the road we saw that
the line of wheeled vehicles stretched out ahead and behind as far as
we could see. We snaked our vehicle between ridges that divided the
waters of the Missouri, the Little Blue and the Big Blue. Swales were
easily seen up and down from the crossings of the river. At one of the
cool springs that issue from between the layers of ever present
limestone we stopped to noon. Traveling further west we frequently
closed our eyes in order to see the treeless plains beyond the ridges.
In the heat of the late day after a dusty approach we were happy to
reach the campground called Lone Elm. We unloaded in order to examine
the ground. The ghosts from unmarked graves and the long gone Elm
beckoned us to stay." Pat Fletcher
"At Minor Park we crossed the steeply banked Big Blue and then
walked up a long, steadily rising slope which, by its nature, made
water sloshed wagons hard to pull uphill for that extended distance.
The traces are quite broad in several places where the multitudes of
the past steadfastly drove their oxen and heavy wagons to the
west." Adrienne Dietrich
In the spirit of the trail, one conventioneer noted "The
family is loading the wagon. I hope my bean pot gets put near the grub
box. I have heard rumors that as we closer to the mountains, it takes
more than two to three hours to cook a pot of beans. I hope this not
true otherwise the family will go to bed hungry or eat hard
beans." DeAnne Wilson Tonight we had a great culinary experience
in downtown Kansas City. We had to fight the urge to break out in our
tours as we passed familiar sites. We did, however, make the
obligatory stop at Clark*s
Point. Our table at the Savory Grill was next to one that was the
favorite of Harry Truman. Our waiter, with 40+ years of experience,
gave us a glimpse of the old Kansas City scene. To finish off the
evening we visited the nearby Phoenix to enjoy some jazz.
That night there was a presentation that another conventioneer
chose to comment on. "The programs and presentations were
enjoyable and enlightening. However, I felt more emphasis should have
been given to the woman*s
role in the overland journey. The program entitled "Petticoat
Pioneers" presented by two local school teachers was outstanding.
They depicted the woman*s
role in the western movement. Not only did they dress the part and had
assembled many artifacts of the era, but they involved the audience in
role playing to the delight of all. I am only sorry that the small
crowded room devoted to their presentation didn*t allow for a wider audience. I
would hope future conventions would give more consideration to the
significant role that women played on the emigrant trails." Nancy
Bolon
Editor*s Note: Wendy*s article provides a wealth of
visions and insights into the convention that we don*t usually hear or read about.
Due to the articles length and the fact that I didn*t want to cut any of it out,
the conclusion will be in the Oct/Nov issue of the Update.
Submitted by Dave
Welch
The Kansas City Convention provided a great opportunity to gain a
better understanding of the complex history of central Missouri. And
once again, my own family history is entangled with the local history.
John Welch arrived in central Missouri from North Carolina in 1816,
long before the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, Independence or
Westport. John died in 1828 in Liberty, but by that time the Santa Fe
Trail was active and the frontier began to shift to the Kansas City
area. John*s large
survivii family was active in northwestern Missouri until their
departure to Oregon iri 1847. As a result of their earlier presence, I
could continue with the spirits of my ancestors (a beer or two helps
this process) when visiting the river landings, Fort Osage, Westport,
the sites of Chouteau*s
trading posts and Fort Leavenworth. Did my ancestors ever visit Clark*s Point? I went there three
times, probably more than either Clark or Lewis (or John Welch).
However, the most memorable place that we visited was just
southwest of Gardner, KS where the Independence and Westport Routes
come together and almost simultaneously the Santa Fe Trail departs to
the southwest while the Oregon and California Trails go west then
northwest. The imagined scene of camps, livestock, dust and the
anticipation of traders and emigrants was enough to bring goose bumps
to this tourist. It is truly an historic location and only a roadside
monument commemorates the site. Within a few miles to the east the
sprawl of greater Kansas City approaches. Will this site, now
farmland, become just another housing development? It seems that more
should be done. |
