WALLACE W HANSEN

Native Plants of the Northwest

Native Plant Nursery & Gardens

2158 Bower Ct S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301 E-Mail: Wallace W Hansen
PHONE (503)581-2638 FAX(503)581-9957

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Information about Wallace W Hansen Northwest Native Plant Nursery & Gardens: Business Information (Ordering, etc.)

Updated August 29, 2003

Wallace Hansen Celebrates Lewis and Clark's Bicentennial

Botanical Discoveries of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Sitka Alder (Alnus sinuata)

Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho, September 20, 1805

Originally collected by Lewis and Clark, the whereabouts of the Expedition's specimens for Sitka Alder (Alnus sinuata) are not known. The two specimens we do have were taken by two of the six other men who followed the Expedition's trail in the following years. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's website, speaking of these men, says:

Their descriptions [of the plants] had an invigorating effect on the publishing of new plants collected in the West. But there is another side to the plant story. The trees, shrubs and wildflowers seen by the expedition were a source of great beauty and wonder. That beauty inspired some of the richest and most eloquent prose found in their journals ... to which the information on this site would most certainly attest.

At right we see specimens of the Sitka Alder collected by two of these botanical adventurers.

Today, you can plant a Sitka Alder in your own landscape. See purchase information for this and other Northwest Native plants documented by the Corps of Discovery during the Lewis and Clark Expedition in our online catalog.

Collected by J.G. Jack in Clearwater County, Idaho, September 1918

Collected by J.H. Sandberg in Latah County, Idaho on June 20, 1892

At this time in 1806:

An awesome sight:

I ascended to the high country, and from an eminence I had a view of the plains for a great distance. From this eminence I had a view of a greater number of buffalo than I had ever seen before at one time. I must have seen near 20,000 of those animals feeding on this plain. I have observed that in the country between the nations which are at war with each other, the greatest numbers of wild animals are to be found.

Captain Clark, 29 August 1806

Have you ever seen a live buffalo? Though there were once large herds of these animals roaming the plains, there are few now to be seen outside of zoos and other protected (and fenced) areas. The propinquity of humans to allow their self-indulgence to rule their good sense almost wiped out the entire population of bison. Buffalo robes were large and warm. No thought was given to the idea of preservation. The only rule was to get as many as possible and hang the consequences. I was given a great gift yesterday as I drove down through the Willamette Valley. I came upon a small farm and in the pasture there was a buffalo grazing. Fair took my breath away. I had to stop and observe for it was such a surprising sight. Imagine Clark's view of 20,000 buffalo "feeding on this plain." Awesome.

The next day Captain Clark's adventures with Original People continues:

I saw several men on horseback which with the help of a spyglass I found to be Indians on the high hill to the N.E. We landed on the S.W. side, and I sent out two men to a village of barking squirrels to kill some of those animals.

Immediately after landing, about 20 Indians were discovered on an eminence a little above us on the opposite side. One of those men I took to be a Frenchman from his having a blanket Capote and a handkerchief around his head. Immediately after, 80 or 90 Indian men-all armed with fusees and bows and arrows-came out of a wood on the opposite bank, about a quarter of a mile below us. They fired off their guns as a salute. We returned the salute with two rounds.

We were at a loss to determine of what nation those Indians were. From their hostile appearance, we were apprehensive they were Tetons, but from the country through which they roved we were willing to believe them either the Yanktons, Poncas, or Mahas, either of which nations are well disposed toward the white people. I determined to find out who they were without running any risk of the party and Indians, and therefore took three Frenchmen who could speak the Maha, Pawnee, and some Sioux, and in a small canoe I went over to a sand bar which extended sufficiently near the opposite shore to converse. Immediately after I set out, three young men set out from the opposite side and swam next me on the sand bar. I directed the men to speak to them in the Pawnee and Maha languages first, neither of which they could understand. I then directed the man who could speak a few words of Sioux to inquire what nation or tribe they belong to. They informed me that they were Tetons and their chief was the Black Buffalo. This chief I knew very well to be the one we had seen with his band at Teton river, which band had attempted to detain us in the fall of 1804 as we ascended this river, and with whom we were near coming to blows.

I told those Indians that they had been deaf to our counsels, and ill-treated us as we ascended this river two years past, that they had abused all the whites who had visited them since. I believed them to be bad people and should not suffer them to cross to the side on which the party lay, and directed them to return with their band to their camp; that if any of them came near our camp we should kill them certainly. I left them on the bar and returned to the party and examined the arms, &c. Those Indians, seeing some corn in the canoe, requested some of it, which I refused, being determined to have nothing to do with those people.

Several others swam across, one of which understood Pawnee, and as our Pawnee interpreter was a very good one, we had it in our power to inform what we wished. I told this man to inform his nation that we had not forgotten their treatment to us as we passed up this river, &c., that they had treated all the white people who had visited them very badly - robbed them of their goods, and had wounded one man whom I had seen. We viewed them as bad people and no more traders would be suffered to come to them, and whenever the white people wished to visit the nations above, they would come sufficiently strong to whip any villainous party who dared to oppose them, and words to the same purpose.

I also told them that I was informed that a part of all their bands were going to war against the Mandans, &c., and that they would be well whipped, as the Mandans and Minnetarees, &c., had a plenty of guns, powder and ball, and we had given them a cannon to defend themselves. And directed them to return from the sand bar and inform their chiefs what we had said to them, and to keep away from the river or we should kill every one of them, &c., &c. Those fellows requested to be allowed to come across and make comrades which we positively refused, and I directed them to return immediately, which they did; and after they had informed the chiefs, &c., as I suppose, what we had said to them, they all set out on their return to their camps back of a high hill. Seven of them halted on the top of the hill and blackguarded us, told us to come across and they would kill us all, &c., of which we took no notice. We all this time were extremely anxious for the arrival of the two Fieldses and Shannon, whom we had left behind, and were somewhat concerned as to their safety. To our great joy, those men hove in sight at 6 P.M.

Captain Clark, 30 August 1806

After Captain Clark's plain speaking to the visitors, we can believe the party was concerned about the missing Fieldses. Fortunately the men regained the party without mishap.

Current events:

Exhibit: End of Our Voyage Exhibit
The Lewis and Clark Expedition in Washington State Trade, Recreation, and Agricultural Center (TRAC)
Pasco , WA

August 8- September 25, 2003
For More Information:
(509) 543-2999

Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon (www.lcbo.net)

May 23 - September 15, 2003:

The Lewis & Clark Explorer Train

Traveling from Portland to Astoria, via the water level Columbia River rail route.  Contact: Oregon Department of Transportation, download fact sheet (PDF file).

Field Trip: The Overland Trail and Camp Out
Tri-Cities to Lewiston, WA
Washington State Chapter, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation

September 21-22, 2003

For More Information:
(360) 736-6106

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

Location: 1726 Washington Street, Oregon City, OR 97045

(503) 657-9336 (503) 557-8590

End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center Website staff@endoftheoregontrail.org

Description: The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was built in 1995 on the former Donation Land Claim of the first elected governor of the Oregon Country, George Abernethy. A merchant and miller by trade, Abernethy had a vested interest in the continued growth of Oregon City, so he permitted newly arrived emigrants to park their wagons, graze their oxen, and set up camp on a meadow behind his house. That meadow came to be called Abernethy Green, and for many of the early Oregon Trail emigrants, it truly was the Trail's end. 

Directions and/or Additional Information: The End the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is easy to find, as the geology and patterns of settlement within the Willamette Valley have dictated the routes of major roads from Indian footpaths to modern highways. The simplest way to reach the Interpretive Center is to take Interstate 205 to Exit 10, which is signed for Park Place, Molalla, and State Route 213, the Trail's End Highway. Once off the Interstate, turn right at the first stoplight. The Interpretive Center is about half a mile down the road. You literally can't miss "the Big Wagons" on your left at 1726 Washington Street.

Alternative approaches are via State Routes 213, 99-E, and 43. The Interpretive Center is just off the end of SR 213 -- turn left at the last light before the Interstate. Taking 99-E or 43 gives you the option of cutting over to Washington Street on the surface streets if you're familiar with Oregon City, but it's easier to take northbound I-205 to Exit 10 from both roads. 

Here's a handy tip for those arriving on 99-E: the entrance ramp from 99-E is a continuous lane that becomes the exit ramp for SR 213, so you are spared from having to merge with the through traffic on the Interstate.

Back Issues:

To see back issues of Wallace Hansen Celebrates Lewis and Clark, click on this link to jump to the index. 

Commemorative Painting by Heidi Hansen:

The illustrated map below was created by renowned botanical artist Heidi D. Hansen especially for this website. Done in ink and watercolors, Heidi shows many of the plants Captain Lewis documented overlaid atop a map showing a portion of the journey. (Click on image for large view). All the plants pictured are available from Wally Hansen! See our Spring Sale site and our online catalog for more information.

Good luck and happy gardening!

Wally

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