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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Back in the Old Days...

Oregon is a relative young state. Our town, Port Orford, is the oldest township on the coast, founded in 1859 or so, as a fort, a military outpost to protect the lumber that was being cut and shipped to Eureka and San Francisco. Port Orford Cedar became a cash crop for young pioneers with money and resources to set up lumber operations.

Oregon Trail, wagons bringing young families to the  West, followed the Lewis and Clark expedition notes, settling down in places that promised riches and sustainability.  The Lewis and Clark expedition got in trouble for months up at the mouth of the Columbia, in present Astoria.  Pacific storms forced them to set up a more permanent settlement until they could resume their exploratory travels.

Oregon has these two sides, a stunning summer/fall weather and an incessantly wet winter/spring that can chill the bones. People who visit us in the summer, wonder why the place is still lightly inhabited.  We tell them that most people are chased off by the first winter storms.

Here, on the shores of the Great Pacific, my grandchild and her friend rode horses on the beaches for just an hour or so, stopping just long enough for photographs. The next day, they had to rest, as  aches and pains connected them to the pioneers whose mode of transportation was horses.

If you come to Oregon, you get this sense of history as you recreate on our rivers, beaches, back roads.

31 comments:

Amanda Summer said...

i've never been to oregon but i've always heard it's a magnificent place, and through your eyes it comes alive.

very few things more romantic than riding a horse on a beach like that....

Everyday Goddess said...

someday i'd like to visit those shores, but not in winter/spring I guess.

Brian Miller said...

i have run the triangel between portland, bend and alexandria...a snow storm dogged my heals the whole way out of bend...but it is beautiful country...

Rob-bear said...

Riding horses on a beach? How much better does it get than that?

As to you wet weather, winter and spring, how does that compare to temperatures of -30° and six feet of snowbanks?

decomondo said...

A very vivid description of getting the sense of history!

Unknown said...

A beautiful photo from a beautiful state.

Ann Best said...

My father was born in Union and grew up in LaGrande, Oregon. I was 12 when we went to see his parents; I have a black and white photo of me and my sister with them. I vaguely remember the house and the pump at the back of the house for pumping water, and have some interesting stories my father wrote, especially of the cold winters you mention here. Cold and snow. I have cousins in Portland, but was married when my parents and siblings went there. I was ticked that I didn't get to go!

Thanks for this backward look at history; I am always fascinated by such. Having grown up in the west in pioneer country, I can see the landscape. Very nice photograph as all of your photographs are!
Ann

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

Love the photos. And fell in love with the state last summer when we were there. Such dramatic, breathtaking scenery.

rjerdee said...

What a gorgeous photograph with horses and great stones in silhouette! Such a wild and windy place...my kind of place! So much fun that we both posted horses today!

xxx said...

What a wonderful way to spend an hour.
I often think about going horse riding but those aches and pains have not left my memory and it does put me off as I don't recover as quickly as I once did :)

Amy said...

My husband and I just returned home (Redding CA) from a trip up to Portland and home via the Oregon coast. We spent two nights in Oregon, the first at a very nice campground south of Newport and the second at Cape Blanco. That rock in your photo looks very much like the one we walked to below the campground at Cape Blanco just south of the lighthouse - I believe it's called "monkey face?" What an incredible place! We absolutely loved Port Orford and the area around it the most - and, I must add, there was wind aplenty but not a cloud in the sky nor fog. Thank you for bringing up such a great memory - I'm going to post some of my photos taken there in the next few days!

Marguerite said...

Looks like such fun! I used to ride horses in my younger days, but never on a beach. Oregon sounds like a great place to visit in summer.

Hilary said...

What a beautiful photo. It sounds like the perfect way and place to spend some time.

Arkansas Patti said...

Oregon has always been on my bucket list. Love the history and the beauty of the place.
Especially liked the shot of horses on the beach.

Nancy said...

I have a silver sugar bowl that came over the Oregon Trail with my husband's family. His mother is third generation Oregonian, anyway, it's all dented and beautiful. I often think of the women who must have held it and polished it just as I do.

cheshire wife said...

Good to know that history still teaches us something!

RNSANE said...

Well, Rosaria, I thought I was going to be in Menlo Park or one of those Peninsula towns seeing your daughter perform tonight but, apparently, they were there on the 21st. I had tonight written in my datebook. I don't know if their schedule changed from the initial time that I wrote it down or whether I noted it wrong. I was disappointed, though.

It's been so long since I've visited coastal Oregon...just brief Astoria stops on cruises in the past few years.

NitWit1 said...

I love the history as well as photos. My state claims to have "four " distinct seasons, but we have many who leave in November for S. TX and don't return until April. We call them snowbirds.

Truthfully, everywhere has advantages and disadvantages. Paradise does not exist to my knowledge.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Very interesting to learn more about Oregon. Thank you.

Maggie May said...

Lovely photo and I love to hear tales of settlers in America.
I guess you must like the climate!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Rachel Cotterill said...

The big North American conference for computational linguistics (my PhD subject) is coming to Oregon next summer - so if I'm lucky, I may get to see it for myself :) Meanwhile, thank you for sharing your perspectives.

Unspoken said...

Oregon is indeed a state that has a taste of history in it.

Pseudo said...

My son was watching a documentary the other day (Fuel TV) on skaters and skate parks in Oregon.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful view from the Oregon shores.

Donna said...

Oregon is on my list of placesp that I hope to see someday. My daughter wants to live there! We all love to ride...so much fun!

yaya said...

Never been to Oregon, but would love to visit someday. Even in winter! Beautiful pics. How fun for the Grandkiddos to ride there.

Cheryl Cato said...

It is a beautiful photograph. Of course, I love the horses & riders and the sea! I once rode horseback for 5 days up the Nez Pierce Trace through Yellowstone towards Canada. We camped out each night and stretched our weary bones. I can identify!

Jo said...

Rosaria, that looks so beautiful. Oregon reminds me very much of British Columbia. We have long, hot, dry summers and wet, dreary winters.

Unknown said...

You live in a part of America I've always wanted to visit and I thank you for sharing.

karen said...

I recently watched something on the Travel Chanel about this areea, and thought of you! Your blog has so much to offer, and it's taking me a bit of time to go back and catch up on everything! Love the "real food" blog, too..

Man of Roma said...

I tried to live on the sea shore, in our temperate, mild Mediterranean climate, for 8 months, but I was defeated by the humidity. I wonder if you people out there have a super body or what.