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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
22 Wednesday, August 16, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon OREGON TRAIL: Family connection made experience powerful Continued from page 11 amazement, respect, grati- tude and sadness swept through me. Unexpected tears welled up in my eyes as I felt a direct connec- tion to this weary, frail woman who produced the offspring who became my great-grandfather. When growing up in Portland, I had been steeped in the family history of the Scotts who came to Oregon in 1852, but not until that moment at Ann’s grave had I appreciated the bravery and the sacrifice that resulted in my being born an Oregonian. A visit to the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho on the way back home pro- vided the final stroke of real- ity garnered from my trip. The interactive exhibits in this museum include a re- enactment of riding in a cov- ered wagon, complete with the sounds, movements, and shadows of bumping along across rough prairie, while voices read passages from pioneer diaries and letters home. Two of the voices, sur- prisingly, represented Ann’s daughters, Abigail and Margaret, describing their journey to Oregon. Having walked the ruts and stood by the grave, these words provided the capstone to my journey back in time. Again, tears fell unbidden as my soul was so deeply touched. History read about is interesting and informative. History experienced is mean- ingful and moving. My trav- els to Wyoming have created a palpable link to the past and brought to life the amaz- ing migration that created the state of my birth. PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD Bronze marker with photograph of Ann Roelofson Scott, placed by Oregon California Trails Association on the occasion of the re-interment of her remains at Box Elder Springs UN-CHAINED…one dog at a time Fences for Fido is an award-winning, nonprofi t that builds fences free of charge for families who keep their dogs on chains, tethers, or in small enclosures. We also provide: • A warm, insulated dog house • Spay/neuter services To volunteer or request a fence visit our website. Anyone can confi dentially request a fence for a dog. WWW.FENCESFORFIDO.ORG Sunny weather likely for eclipse By Mark Floyd Correspondent CORVALLIS — Visitors from around the world will flock to Oregon to be first in line to see the solar eclipse on August 21, but will there be anything to see? Time will tell, experts say, but Oregon is usually delight- ful in the summer and who- ever scheduled this eclipse picked a good date. August is just about the least likely time to experience inclement weather in the Beaver state. “If you were going to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City and put down a bet on which location in the United States will have good weather for the eclipse – Oregon would be a great choice,” said Kathie Dello, deputy director of the Oregon Climate Service at Oregon State University. “The average high temperature on August 21 is 82 degrees and it just doesn’t rain very often here in August. “The biggest threat during the summer months is low- level marine stratus sneaking its way into the Valley,” Dello said. “But the chance of that is weighted more toward June than it is August. In Madras — which is on the path of totality — the biggest threat to cloudy skies in August would be an afternoon thun- dershower. But the eclipse will be over by lunch.” Scientists in Oregon and nationally will also be watch- ing the eclipse to see what happens to temperatures when the sun disappears in mid-morning — and the effect of that on the rest of the day, according to Philip Mote, director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State. “Temperatures on a sum- mer day in Oregon typically rise quickly between 9 a.m. and noon, but on August 21, the shrinking sun from 9 to 10:15 a.m. could actually make the day get cooler dur- ing that period,” Mote said. “Once the shadow of the moon starts to pass, tempera- tures will resume their rise, but the eclipse will probably end up affecting the daytime high by several degrees. “If it’s cloudy, the effects of the eclipse on the hour- by-hour temperatures will be less.” Researchers and “citizen scientists” around the country will be recording tempera- tures and sharing them with the National Aeronautics and Atmospheric Administration (NASA). To learn more, go to https://go.nasa.gov/2tBJyxH.
