Oregon Chapter of the
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
Minutes of Fall Council Meeting
September 18, 1999, Bonneville Lock and Dam
Fall Council Meeting, Bonneville Lock and Dam -
The Fall Council Meeting of the Oregon Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail
Heritage Foundation was called to order, in military fashion, at 1:00 p.m.
sharp in the third floor auditorium of the Bradford Island Visitor Center at
Bonneville Lock and Dam. Chapter President Keith Hay welcomed the small group
of 38 persons and then introduced Project Manager, Debby Chenoweth, who
provided an introduction and welcome. Keith next introduced our host and
chapter member, Don Dinsmore of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who provided
a quick and interesting history of the Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville
Dam project.
Keith opened the business portion of the meeting by providing a small report on
the Foundation's annual meeting in Bismarck, ND. He showed our chapter's
official charter document that was presented to him at the Bismarck meeting.
Chapter Secretary Jay Rasmussen provided a quick membership report stating
that we currently had 144 members. Keith next provided some information about
the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon (LCBO) meeting held in Pendleton,
OR on September 14th. Further information on this meeting was also provided
by chapter member Chet Orloff.
Keith next presented information about Passages 2000, a WA, OR, ID and MT
program mainly focused on tourism and economy. Don Eppenbach, John Montague
and Dwight Garrison provided additional information and comments. The general
consensus was that our chapter involvement should, at least initially, be at
the board level.
A short synopsis of the July 17th Bicentennial Symposium held in Stevenson, WA
was given by Keith Hay, including a mention of the "Lewis and Clark Beyond the
Continental Divide" project which is discussed further below.
The elections of 1999 - 2000 term Officers and Directors was held next. An
error in the September newsletter led to some confusion regarding the selection
of Directors. However, the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee was
elected unanimously. No proxy votes were submitted. The approved Officers
and Directors for the 1999 - 2000 term are:
Officers
President
Keith Hay
Vice-President
Jay Rasmussen
Secretary
Mike Carrick
Treasurer
Dick Hohnbaum
Directors
Donald Eppenbach
H. John Montague
Doug Erickson
Roger Wendlick
Larry McClure
Larry McClure requested volunteers to staff a table on October 8th & 9th
at Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego to present the Foundation's L&C
Curriculum Guide during the Teacher In-Service Workshop being held there that
weekend.
Mike Carrick . spoke about the meeting that he and Keith Hay had with Dr. Albert
Furtwangler. They approached Dr. Furtwangler about authoring a booklet on the
subject of the impact that Lewis and Clark have had on the Northwest. Dr.
Furtwangler agreed in principle pending resolution of issues with his current
publisher.
On the subject of books, Chet Orloff noted that Daniel Botkin, author of the
recent book (Passage of Discovery) about the Missouri River, is starting work
on another book, this time about the Columbia River.
We next discussed the upcoming October 10th meeting in Philomath at the Benton
County Historical Museum. A main topic of this meeting will be our Chapter's
interest in improving the Jean Baptiste Charbonneau gravesite. This work
could also be done as a tribute to Irving Anderson, who recently passed away
and who made a lifelong study of the Charbonneau family. Keith Hay mentioned
that Roy Reynolds, a local Malheur county artist was interested in painting a
mural for an interpretive display and in designing a new grave marker. Keith
also mentioned that Malheur County already has $500.00 earmarked towards such
a project. Don Eppenbach mentioned that he had been in touch with Rose Ann
Abrahmson, a member of the Shoshone tribe and that there is some Native
American interest in seeing that Jean Baptiste receives a proper burial.
Don also talked a bit about the October 19! event in Morrow County and the
Heritage Recreation Path project.
The meeting was then opened up to the floor regarding projects, ideas or
concerns of other members. Four items were discussed. The first item was a
request to check into refurbishing the highway signs along I-84 and I-30.
A second item was a suggestion to organize, in conjunction with LCBO, one or
more media events to dedicate the new interpretive signs and kiosks that will
soon be installed along the L&C trail in Oregon. A third suggestion was
to have an outing to find and cook some wappato roots, perhaps in conjunction
with a pot-luck picnic style meeting. The fourth item was a request to
research and clarify the extent of William Clark's excursion up the Willamette
River. This latter effort might include cataloging the plaques and statues
that commemorate this event as well as attempting to determine how the mouth
of the Willamette has changed over the years.
Next, Roger Wendlick gave a synopsis of the dream vacation he recently
returned from, 6 weeks, 12,500 miles, from coast to coast, following in the
footsteps of Lewis from Washington D.C. and visiting many of the archival
institutions that hold original journal, cartographic and botanic artifacts.
The tentative plans for a future chapter meeting were next discussed. This was
originally planned for January 22, 2000 in Oregon City, but another possibility
of having the meeting in conjunction with the Portland 2005 group at Lewis &
Clark College on January 29th was also mentioned. Information about this
upcoming meeting will appear in the next Chapter Newsletter.
Finally, two audio CDs, containing the sound track from the Burns / Duncan /
PBS special, were raffled off. Jennifer Rasmussen sold tickets and drew the
two winning numbers. A total of $44.00 was raised for Chapter projects.
The business meeting was adjourned at 2:34 p.m.
Following the business meeting, our host Don Dinsmore, showed an audio-visual
presentation of a trip he took along the Lewis and Clark trail with a small
group of people. This was followed by a fun, musical demonstration by Don on
his jaw harp. Members next headed for their cars and followed Don, driving
across Bonneville Dam to the Washington side for a tour of the power plant and
the fish viewing area. Then Don led us back across the dam, ending the
meeting proper. However, most members headed down to the fish hatchery area
and stopped in to see Herman, the 400 pound white sturgeon.
The weather was beautiful and the day was very fullfilling. Thanks again to
Don Dinsmore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Lock and Dam for
hosting the Oregon Chapter's 1999 Fall Council Meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Jay Rasmussen
October 4, 1999
For information on joining the National Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage
Foundation click here.
For information on joining the Oregon State Chapter
click here.