Oregon Chapter LCTHF




  Oregon Chapter of the  
  Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation  

  St. Paul & Champoeg, OR  
  October 15, 2000  



A group of 32 people gathered at 10:00am at the St. Paul Historical Museum in St. Paul, OR to listen to a fascinating talk by George Brown, the new curator of the museum. Pound for pound, George Brown is as chock full of interesting historical knowledge as anyone out there, even the well-known history heavyweights.

George Brown talked for over an hour on various topics, such as Francois Rivet, Phillipe Degrie, Peter Skene Ogden, St. Paul, early Oregon history and the fur trade in general, with emphasis on French-Canadian voyagers. After the talk and a question and answer period, the group walked over to a portion of the St. Paul cemetery where Rivet and Degrie are buried. This cemetery merits having a small interpretive sign that acknowledges Rivet's burial site and his involvement with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We thank George Brown for his wonderful hospitality!

Following this little field trip, members took to their cars for a short trip to Champoeg State Park, where a catered lunch awaited us in the covered picnic facility in the Oak Grove picnic area.

After lunch, President Keith Hay began the business meeting at 12:40 pm. Following his opening remarks, we began a discussion of the bylaw changes proposed in the September 2000 issue of the Chapter Newsletter. A couple of additional changes and clarifications were discussed, namely clarifying whether ex-officio officers are voting members of the board and to note that the definition of a quorum stated in Article V, Section 2 should be brought in-line with that specified in Article III, Sections 1 and 3. Following this a vote to accept the bylaw changes and amendments passed unanimously. The resulting text is shown below and the full set of bylaws are available on the Chapter web site at www.lcarchive.org/orbylaws.html.
Article III, Section 1:
Officers of the Chapter shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary and a Treasurer who shall be elected by the membership at the annual meeting. The term of office is one year. There shall be six directors elected in the same manner for three-year terms, except that for the directors elected at the 1999 annual meeting, two directors shall serve one year, and two directors shall serve two years as designated by the president. Officers and directors shall take office on January 1 following the election. No officer or director may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. In addition, there are two Ex Officio directors who are not elected and who hold voting privileges. The first Ex Officio position is reserved for the current supervisor of Fort Clatsop National Memorial. The second Ex Officio position is reserved for the chapter's immediate past president. The officers and directors shall meet periodically to act on behalf of the chapter, to provide guidance and to propose matters for the chapter to discuss and bring to a vote. The Board of Directors shall consist of the four officers, six directors and two Ex Officio directors.

Article III, Section 3:
Board of Directors meetings must have a quorum of seven members. No quorum is required for membership meetings.

Article V, Section 2:
Special meetings may be called by the President by direction of the Board of Directors. Special meetings may be also called by the President at the written request of nine members in good standing. The membership shall be notified of such special meetings and its purpose three weeks prior to such meeting so members have an opportunity to attend or to vote by proxy. A quorum shall consist of seven voting members. Proxy votes shall not be counted towards the establishment of a quorum.
The next item on the agenda was election of officers and directors for 2001. The slate, as proposed in the September newsletter, was carried by a unanimous vote and is shown below.

2001 Slate of Officers
President Jay Rasmussen
Vice President Michael Carrick
Secretary Glen Kirkpatrick
Treasurer Dick Hohnbaum


Board Members John Montague (term: 1999-2001)
Don Eppenbach (term: 1999-2001)
Doug Erickson (term: 2000-2002)
Larry McClure (term: 2000-2002)
Roger Wendlick (term: 2001-2003)
Linda Nelson (term: 2001-2003)


Ex-Officio Immediate Past President: Keith Hay
Superintendent of Fort Clatsop: Don Striker


A discussion then ensued regarding the Secretary and Treasury positions. Since changing these positions also require changing addresses and bank accounts, the term limits imposed present somewhat of a problem in smooth continuance of Chapter functions. A number of ideas were proposed, but rather than rush into any snap decisions, it was decided to postpone this topic for future board and membership meetings.

Keith next provided some further details about the Christmas Party on December 16, 2000 at Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Keith stated that the Red Lion will cater a Roast Turkey dinner with all the fixings for $14.00 per person and that he hoped to have a separate table containing more traditional foods. RSVPs will be required as seating will be limited. Keith also mentioned that the Red Lion will be reserving a block of rooms at $49.00 / night for this event. Further details on the Christmas Party will be forthcoming.

Keith next reviewed various Chapter projects and efforts. A request was made for member input into the Chapter web site and Newsletter. He also requested names of those members who might be interested in being added to a Chapter Resource List of available speakers and their topic of interest. These volunteers may be requested to speak if the Chapter is called upon to provide speakers for school or community groups. Two attendees, Mike Carrick and Tom Jones quickly requested to be on this list.

Keith requested further submissions of Chapter logo designs. Selection of a logo will affect plans for producing a Chapter badge. Anita Walker, the only member to submit a design (featuring the eulachon), and who has waited very patiently for a decision by the Chapter, presented some modified designs, incorporating the eulachon within an outline of the State of Oregon, that could be used for badges as well. The Chapter logo discussion spawned a small discussion about Chapter stationary and the consensus was that only a small amount of stationary should be printed, but that an electronic template be provided so that officers and directors could print their own letterhead as needed.

The business meeting was temporarily interrupted at this point to allow a short presentation by Michael Niss, Park Ranger at Champoeg State Park. Mike presented an interesting summary of the history of Champoeg and followed his talk with a Q&A session. We are grateful to Mike for enlightening us all!

The business meeting recommenced with Keith finishing up the summary of Chapter projects. Keith requested help for the Tourist Guide project. He noted that the Lecture Series project is on hold as it is not tenable at this time. The Education Committee is considering organizing an essay contest. Keith next thanked Glen Kirkpatrick for organizing this meeting and noted that Glen will be stepping down as Program Chair. Keith asked for volunteers for the Program Chair position. New director, Linda Nelson, stated that she would be willing to co-chair this position with another volunteer. Keith stressed that joint meetings with other state chapters is an admirable goal.

Next, Ted Kaye, gave an update on LCBO (Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon) progress. He mentioned that the list of 75 Oregon Bicentennial projects, now submitted to the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council, are also posted on the LCBO web site at www.lcbo.net/projects.html. Ted also showed a mock-up of a new pamphlet, "Lewis and Clark on the Columbia River" that is being prepared by LCBO for presentation at the Columbia Conference (October 25-27, 2000 in The Dalles, OR).

Keith Hay then told about the National Foundation's request of all trail state Chapters to inventory all Lewis and Clark campsites and other points of interest within their states. It should then be determined which sites reside on private land and the attitudes of those land owners to the upcoming bicentennial. This is a tall order and volunteers to help with this project should contact Jay Rasmussen.

The next item discussed was a page a day calendar being assembled by an artist who approached Mike Carrick at the Annual Meeting in Dillon. The artist is requesting chapters to provide information on the relevance of daily Lewis and Clark events as they passed through, or stayed, in each of the trail states. No action was taken, but it was noted that Lewis and Clark College, in conjunction with the Oregonian, is considering producing a "200 Years Ago Today" column for syndication that might help the calendar effort.

Keith next summarized the previous Lewis and Clark 2005, Inc. meeting in Portland and read their Vision Statement. Roger Wendlick then addressed the final item of the business meeting, mentioning about Lewis and Clark College's recent acquisition of the secret journal copy which Elliot Coues hired Mary Anderson to create. Tours of the library, including this one-of-a-kind item are available on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Contact Doug Erickson at the Watzek Library of Lewis and Clark College to make an appointment or for further information. The business meeting was adjourned around 2:00 pm.

Following the business meeting, a number of members drove back to St. Paul and gathered on the St. Paul Rodeo Grounds to experience firing blackpowder rifles. Mike Carrick, Glen Kirkpatrick and Roger Wendlick all had replica Harpers Ferry U.S. Model 1803 rifles available for shooting. Members learned about the workings of a flintlock rifle and took turns firing wads.


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For information on joining the Oregon State Chapter click here.


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Posted: October 21, 2000
Updated: October 30, 2000

Send Questions, Comments and Corrections to Jay Rasmussen