Trail guides now available!
Portland Forest Hikes and Hiking from Portland to the Coast now available at Powell's, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, and other major book retailers.
Author readings scheduled at Powell's (SE Hawthorne) on March 9th at 7:30 PM. Also at Annie Bloom Books in Hillsdale on March 17th at 7 PM.-
Recent Posts
- It takes a Forest. Part 2
- It takes a forest. Part 1
- What’s in a name?
- The chaos at the end of Belding Road.
- North Fork of the Salmonberry – alternative access to the Salmonberry River
- Excerpt from coming book on NW Oregon: What was Illahee?
- The river that connects us; the river that divides us.
- Tales from the Salmonberry River
- Moonshining along the Lower Columbia River.
- Kerfuffle in the St. Helens Schoolyard.
- Be careful what you ask for.
- The Grange movement – the Internet of its day.
- “Animals to Avoid”
- The Wreck of the 104
- 32 Indian and Pioneer Trails in the North Coast range – compiled by R. L. Benson
- Shoot-out at the Sophie Mozee homestead!
- How to avoid becoming a statistic in the Oregon Forests
- Hindu gems hidden in the hills above Scappoose.
- What the Indians really smoked in their peace pipes.
- My “deliverance” hike on Cronin Creek
- Close encounters with an Alder
- Kamaiakin and the Klickitat Wars of 1855-56
- Following the Golden Rule
- Timber Legacies 4: The Timber Wars
- The first big environmental battle in Oregon’s brewing timber wars.
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Setting up and maintaining the information behind this site is a huge undertaking, and any contribution that you can make to cover expenses would be most gratefully accepted. Happy Trails, Jim Thayer
Category Archives: Indian lore
What’s in a name?
The Rendezvous: Every year Peter and Pam celebrate the cold damp miserableness of Oregon’s winter. It’s the kind of sloppy coldness for which Oregonians hold an especially sodden place in their hearts. When I arrive at the rendezvous and park … Continue reading
Posted in Coastal Trails, Indian lore, Uncategorized
3 Comments
Excerpt from coming book on NW Oregon: What was Illahee?
Some of you may be aware that I am writing a book about trails between Portland and the Coast for the Oregon University Press that will probably be released in early 2016. As part of that exercise, I have been … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Lower Columbia Trails, Pioneer Lore
4 Comments
The Grange movement – the Internet of its day.
The national Grange Movement was founded in 1867, immediately after the conclusion of the Civil War, when the country’s agriculture was in dire shape. Six years later the Oregon State Grange organization was established to help rural communities work more … Continue reading
32 Indian and Pioneer Trails in the North Coast range – compiled by R. L. Benson
Although I have been collecting materials about early Oregon coastal trails and paths for many years, I was pleasantly surprised to find some original historical research compiled by Robert Benson in 1981. It included this unusual map and this uniquely … Continue reading
Shoot-out at the Sophie Mozee homestead!
Here is is an excerpt from a piece I just completed and added to the roster of trails listed under the geographic tab for the West Hills. In this “historic trail” description I try to use nuggets of contemporary opinion … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Lower Columbia Trails, Pioneer Lore, Trails
1 Comment
What the Indians really smoked in their peace pipes.
In the pioneer days tobacco was sold in pretzel-like twists weighing about an ounce, and referred to as a “carrot”. They were ubiquitous throughout the west, part of every story and included in every important meeting. At the time, everyone … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Pioneer Lore, Plant lore
14 Comments
Close encounters with an Alder
Sometimes it pays to know your trees: The view from the 6,000 foot summit of Mt. Pearkes was stupendous. Across the peak we watched a family of mountain goats pick their way down a stoney ridge. We also watched warily … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Plant lore
1 Comment
Kamaiakin and the Klickitat Wars of 1855-56
(excerpt from draft of The Last 100 Miles) Kamaiakin and the Klickitat Wars of 1855-56 One of the more interesting characters from this era was the Klickitat leader, Kamaiakun who resided with his bands in the proximity of Mt. Rainier. … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Pioneer Lore, Uncategorized
3 Comments
Following the Golden Rule
The early 1800’s were a time rife with social experimentation. Today, it’s hard to see that idealism in the faded daguerreotypes and the stern visages that stare out at us from that far edge of modernity. This was the period … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Pioneer Lore
4 Comments
The Chinook Canoe
The Chinook Canoe was a craft of extraordinary beauty and was as much their home as it was the outward expression of their graceful relationship with the life-force that sustained them, the Columbia River. These canoes came in all sizes … Continue reading
Posted in Indian lore, Uncategorized
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