Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Nifty Tidbits:
Originally ran in the June 20, 2001
edition of the Illinois Valley News
by Chuck Rigby
Many animals are usually visible or
evident along the trail. Chipmunks, squir-
rels, deer, moles, and lots of birds. There
is also a great variety of trees, shrubs, and
wildflowers which are more noticeable
on the sections that have more moisture.
One of the unique flowers is Inside-Out
Flower. It gets this name because when the
petals open, they open all the way back
against the stem. The stem seems to be
going into the top of the flower instead
of the base. This allows the stamens and
the pistil to be exposed more than regular
flowers. Its scientific name is Vancouve-
ria hexandra and is in the same family as
the Oregon grape, the Barberry Family.
“Vancouveria” is to honor George Van-
couver, born June 22, 1757 in Kings Lynn,
England. He made an important voyage to
the NW coast of North America in 1792,
and his name as well as those of his crew
members are found on many sites in the
Northwest. “Hexandra”, the species name,
refers to the anthers on the ends of the six
stamens where the pollen is produced for
the flower to reproduce.
Another unique flower on the No-
Name Trail is the wild ginger. The leaf
is heart shaped and it grows low to the
ground on vines or rhizomes, that allow it
to spread. The most common species is the
Creeping or British Columbia Wild Gin-
ger, with a dark solid green leaf. However
the Sierra wild ginger is occasionally seen.
Its leaves are covered with faint white
circles and a lighter shade of green back-
ground. The marble wild ginger is usually
found in serpentine areas. All of these wild
gingers have a purple to brown triangular
flower that is usually hidden under the
leaves and a slight ginger flavor in the
roots which was used as seasoning by the
early settlers.
The scientific name of the Sierra wild
ginger is Asarum hartwegii. “Asarum”
is the old Greek name for this group of
plants and “hartwegil” was given to honor
Karl Hartweg, a German botanist. Karl
Theodore Hartweg, born June 18, 1812 in
Germany, was sent by the British Horticul-
tural Society to collect plants in the New
World. He spent seven years in Central
and South America and in 1846-1847
came to California. Hartweg never made it
to Oregon but was in the northern Sierras
and Monterey area and is noted for intro-
ducing Redwood, Monterey Cypress, and
Chinquapin into cultivation in Europe.
The No-Name Trail is best taken
slowly with careful observation of the
various plants available. Even stopping
once in awhile to smell the roses, wild
ones that is, and letting the birds get back
to their normal life, will allow people to
appreciate what is there.
g
One of my favorite places in the Il-
linois Valley is called No-Name Trail at
the Oregon Caves National Monument. It
begins at the lower parking lot and drops
down to the level of Cave Creek. I always
hate to go down because in the back of
my mind is the necessary uphill struggle
later to get back to the parking lot. After
the trail crosses the bridge on Cave Creek
it gradually climbs and rounds the point
where one can see down into No-Name
Creek. I was never able to determine how
this name originated. The trail never goes
down to No-Name Creek but stays uphill,
possibly because of major scouring that
was done by the creek during the flood
winter of 1964. When the trail leaves No-
Name it is mostly level until it gets back
to the upper parking lot.
Page A-5
Oregon FBI tech segment: Building a digital defense against travel scams
Welcome to the Oregon FBI’s
Tech segment. Today: Building a
digital defense against travel scams.
It seems as though everyone
is desperate to escape this
summer… to go anywhere other
than your basement office or the
neighborhood park. And, finally,
with lockdowns lifting, we are
getting the chance to travel.
Beware though – scammers
are not going to let such a good
opportunity go to waste. Your desire
to get out drives their desire to cash
out at your expense.
Here are some tips from
our friends at the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC):
• Watch out for offers of a
“free” vacation that require you to
pay fees or taxes to get it.
• Pay attention to the details.
You get offered a stay at a “five-
star” resort or a cruise on a “luxury”
ship… but the contact won’t give
you more specific details? It’s a red
flag if you can’t get the name and
address of the hotel or details about
the cruise company.
• Just say no if the travel offer
requires you to pay by wire transfer,
gift card, or cryptocurrency.
Scammers know that once you pay
in one of these ways, it is almost
impossible for you to get your
money back. Always pay by credit
card.
• Don’t allow someone to
pressure you into making a quick
decision about a “great deal.”
Scammers use social engineering
techniques – playing on your fear
of missing out – to rush you to act
without thinking.
• Watch for premium vacation
properties advertised for super
cheap prices. Below-market rent
can be a sign of a scam. Do some
extra research to confirm the deal is
legit before jumping in.
• Get a copy of the
cancellation and refund policies
before you pay. If you can’t get
those details, walk away.
• Do your own research. Look
up travel companies, hotels, rentals,
and agents with the words “scam,”
“review,” or “complaint.”
• Check the address of the
property to make sure it really
exists. If the property is located in a
resort, call the front desk to confirm
their location and other details on
the contract.
If you are the victim of any
online fraud, you should also report
the incident to the FBI’s Internet
Crime Complaint Center at www.
ic3.gov or call your FBI local
office.
Today in History: The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday,
July 21, the 202nd day of 2021.
There are 163 days left in the
year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On July 21, 1944,
American forces landed on
Guam during World War II,
capturing it from the Japanese
some three weeks later.
On this date:
In 1861, during the
Civil War, the first Battle of
Bull Run was fought at Manas-
sas, Virginia, resulting in a
Confederate victory.
In 1925, the so-called
“Monkey Trial” ended in Day-
ton, Tennessee, with John T.
Scopes found guilty of violating
state law for teaching Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution. (The
conviction was later overturned
on a technicality.)
In 1954, the Geneva
Conference concluded with
accords dividing Vietnam into
northern and southern entities.
In 1969, Apollo 11
astronauts Neil Armstrong and
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blasted
off from the moon aboard
the ascent stage of the lunar
module for docking with the
command module.
In 1972, the Irish Re-
publican Army carried out 22
bombings in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, killing nine people and
injuring 130 in what became
known as “Bloody Friday.”
In 1980, draft registra-
tion began in the United States
for 19- and 20-year-old men.
In 1999, Navy divers
found and recovered the bod-
ies of John F. Kennedy Jr., his
wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law,
Lauren Bessette (bih-SEHT’),
in the wreckage of Kennedy’s
plane in the Atlantic Ocean off
Martha’s Vineyard.
In 2000, Special Coun-
sel John C. Danforth concluded
“with 100 percent certainty”
that the federal government was
innocent of wrongdoing in the
siege that killed 80 members of
the Branch Davidian compound
near Waco, Texas, in 1993.
In 2009, prosecutors
in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
dropped a disorderly conduct
charge against prominent Black
scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.,
who was arrested by a white of-
ficer at his home near Harvard
University after a report of a
break-in.
In 2011, the 30-year-
old space shuttle program
ended as Atlantis landed at
Cape Canaveral, Florida, after
the 135th shuttle flight.
In 2008, former
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic (RA’-doh-van KA’-ra-
jich), one of the world’s top war
crimes fugitives, was arrested
in a Belgrade suburb by Ser-
bian security forces. (He was
sentenced by a U.N. court in
2019 to life imprisonment after
being convicted of genocide,
crimes against humanity and
war crimes.)
In 2015, after a nearly
decade-long steroids prosecu-
tion, former baseball star Barry
Bonds emerged victorious
when federal prosecutors
dropped what was left of their
criminal case against the career
home runs leader.
Ten years ago: The
30-year-old space shuttle pro-
gram ended as Atlantis landed
at Cape Canaveral, Florida,
after the 135th shuttle flight.
Eurozone leaders agreed to a
sweeping deal that would grant
Greece a massive new bailout
and radically reshape the cur-
rency union’s rescue fund.
Five years ago: Don-
ald Trump accepted the GOP
presidential nomination with
a speech in which he pledged
to cheering Republicans and
still-skeptical voters that as
president, he would restore
the safety they feared they
were losing, strictly curb im-
migration and save the nation
from what he said was Hillary
Clinton’s record of “death,
destruction, terrorism and
weakness.” The NBA moved
the 2017 All-Star Game out of
Charlotte because of its objec-
tions to a North Carolina law
that limited anti-discrimination
protections for lesbian, gay and
transgender people.
One year ago: Min-
nesota lawmakers approved
a police accountability pack-
age including a ban on neck
restraints like the one used on
H&R Block
210 W. Lister St.
Cave Junction
592-3667
Ted Crocker, LTC
Bob Litak, LTC
Licensed Tax Consultants B14914
George Floyd before his death
in Minneapolis. (Gov. Tim
Walz signed the bill two days
later.) After months of resist-
ing wearing a mask in public,
President Donald Trump told
reporters that he was “getting
used to” wearing one; as Trump
returned from a three-month hi-
atus from daily virus briefings,
he warned that the coronavirus
would get worse in the United
States before it got better. The
Republican speaker of the Ohio
House, Larry Householder, and
four associates were arrested
in a $60 million federal bribery
case connected to a taxpayer-
funded bailout of Ohio’s two
nuclear power plants. (House-
holder, who has proclaimed
his innocence, was expelled
from the Ohio House by fellow
lawmakers in June 2021.) Jazz
singer and actor Annie Ross
died at her New York home,
four days before her 90th
birthday.
Today’s Birthdays:
Movie director Norman Jewi-
son is 95. Actor Leigh Lawson
is 78. Singer Yusuf Islam (also
known as Cat Stevens) is 73.
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is 73.
Actor Jamey Sheridan is 70.
Rock singer-musician Eric Ba-
zilian (The Hooters) is 68. Co-
median Jon Lovitz is 64. Actor
Lance Guest is 61. Actor Matt
Mulhern is 61. Comedian Greg
Behrendt is 58. Soccer player
Brandi Chastain is 53. Rock
singer Emerson Hart is 52.
Rock-soul singer Michael Fitz-
patrick (Fitz and the Tantrums)
is 51. Actor Alysia Reiner is 51.
Country singer Paul Brandt is
49. Christian rock musician Ko-
rey Cooper (Skillet) is 49. Actor
Ali Landry is 48. Actor-come-
dian Steve Byrne is 47. Rock
musician Tato Melgar (Lukas
Nelson & Promise of the Real)
is 44. Actor Justin Bartha is
43. Actor Josh Hartnett is
43. Contemporary Christian
singer Brandon Heath is 43.
Actor Sprague Grayden is 43.
Reggae singer Damian Marley
is 43. Country singer Brad
Mates (Emerson Drive) is 43.
Former MLB All-Star pitcher
CC Sabathia (suh-BATH’-ee-
uh) is 41. Singer Blake Lewis
(“American Idol”) is 40. Latin
singer Romeo Santos is 40.
Rock musician Johan Carlsson
(Carolina Liar) is 37. Actor
Vanessa Lengies (LEHN’-jeez)
is 36. Actor Betty Gilpin is 35.
Actor Rory Culkin is 32. Actor
Jamie Waylett (“Harry Potter”
films) is 32. Figure skater Ra-
chael Flatt is 29.