Cherry Blossom Time

It’s supposed to be cherry blossom time in our nation’s capital. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift to the US of 3020 cherry trees which were planted around Washington’s tidal basin. First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees at a modest ceremony [...]

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Floras Lake State Natural Area Will Stay That Way!

State Parks Director Tim Wood effectively ended the feckless attempt by Curry County Commissioner George Rhodes to open Floras Lake SNA– one of Oregon’s state park gems–to private development. In a letter to Rhodes and other county commissioners dated September 23, Wood states flatly that  “the value of this property to the state park system [...]

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The Strange Case of the Curry County Commissioners Wanting to Acquire Floras Lake State Natural Area: Part 2

In Part 1 (posted July 14) Stan laid out the terrain as we understand it regarding the Curry County Commission’s eyeing Floras Lake State Natural Area (FLNA) for private development. Here’s the next chapter: At the July 20th Oregon Recreation and Parks Department (ORPD) Commission meeting in Bandon, lots of concerned folks showed up, voicing [...]

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The Strange Case of the Curry County Commissioners Wanting to Acquire Floras Lake State Natural Area

Oregon has many state parks of outstanding natural beauty. But the great string of coastal  parks has always been the jeweled necklace, the backbone, the historical centerpiece of the state parks system. The wave pounded headlands, silver strands of beaches, sandy coves, sand spits, sea stacked vistas— our coastline equals any. But one element is [...]

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A Visit to Lincoln City: Part 1, Getting There

Last week we took a trip north to Lincoln City. Just 200 miles, with only three large towns along the way, we managed to take ten hours getting there. We don’t screech to a halt at every roadside tourist attraction though there are plenty. Instead, our weakness is the natural places—parks and waysides. And there [...]

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Out on Otter Point

On the 25 mile stretch of US 101 between Gold Beach and Port Orford there are five state parks: tiny Geisel State Historic Site, silver shining Ophir Beach, the jumble of Sisters Rocks, brand new Arizona Beach, and the landmark Humbug Mountain. But just north of Gold Beach, there is not the familiar blue, green [...]

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Salinas, Part 5—Twilight of the Gods

At all three, Salinas Puebloans had to deal with the ecclesiastical demands on their time and souls, and civil demands for annual payments of goods, including corn, salt and cloth. Both “kings” expected labor. And while at first allowing the kiva rituals to continue, by the mid-1600s the priests had outlawed them. But, at least [...]

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Salinas, Part 4—Quarai

Of the three pueblo missions in the Salinas Monument, Quarai’s sheltered location up a narrow canyon complete with spring and cottonwoods is undoubtedly the most felicitous. With their neighbors at Tajique and Chilili just north, Quarains worked joint fields of corn. Across the valley, less than fifteen miles east, were numerous dry lakes, a vital [...]

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Salinas, Part 3—Gran Quivera/Las Humanas

Gran Quivera/Las Humanas (the original Spanish name) is the farthest south of the three units that make up Salinas Monument.  President Taft designated Gran Quivera a National Monument in 1909. The people of Las Humanas were different from their Quarai and Abó neighbors. They painted or tattooed the upper half of their faces, like the [...]

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Salinas, Part 2—Abó

The first time we visited Abó was in the early 1980s. Back then it was a state monument, its ruins partially restored by the Museum of New Mexico in the 1930s. Manning the visitor welcome center, a miniature adobe room heated by a potbellied stove, was a local Hispanic man who, once Abó was added [...]

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