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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 Try the whalebone soup with a side of tight boot corns Matt Winters A “Bill of Fare” from about 1879 advertises these en- ticing main courses: • Umbrella with Rain Water Sauce • Tree Toads, Fried and Stuffed with White Mice • Stewed Cat, Boston Style • Spiders’ Toes, Breaded • Humming Birds, Stuffed with Old Shoes • Buzzards’ Eyebrows, Larded • Fried Buffalo Robes (very tough) Peter Williams, Ireland-born proprietor of the Palace Saloon, had a hearty 19th century sense of humor, steeped in western folklore. His obituary in the Morning Ore- gonian of July 29, 1880, noted he “was a genial, impulsive and gener- ous-hearted man.” Williams’ saloon at the corner of First Avenue and Stark Street near the Portland wa- terfront was feet away from what is now the Homeless Veterans Cen- ter — appropriately enough, since he served during the Civil War as a sergeant in the 1st Washington Ter- ritory Infantry. Folded many times and obvi- ously carried around for years in someone’s wallet, this novelty ad- vertising item initially attracted my attention because it refers to Olym- pia oysters, the little native shell¿ sh that played such a big role in the earliest settlements around Willapa Bay and south Puget Sound. But this worn document also is a rare tangible link to the Paci¿ c 1orth- west’s obscure role in the war be- tween the states. F Findagrave.com Peter Williams’ grave is in Port- land’s Mount Calvary Cemetery. It indicates the Washington Ter- ritory Civil War-era soldier was 45 when he died, although U.S. Census records show he was 41. in fact nearly all of them. They are in a state of actual destitution and want, which is the more aggravated by the extreme severity of the win- ter.’” The captain sought after-the- fact permission to feed settlers and Indians near the fort. T NW Civil War rom the tremendous www.his- torylink.org encyclopedia of Washington history, we learn that at the outbreak of the war, the white population of “the entire territo- ry, which until 1863 included all of present-day Idaho and part of Western Montana, was just over 11,500.” Busy chasing rumors of gold, there wasn’t a À ood of volun- teers when the ¿ rst territorial mili- tia was activated in May 1861. An early historian observed, “The blare of trumpet, and soul-stir- ring throb of drum, that sounded so continually in the ears of people in the Eastern States, hardly penetrat- ed to their quiet homes, and when they did it hardly seemed probable that any patriotic response on their part, if made, could be of any ben- e¿ t.” Only 361 Washington people stepped up to join several coun- ty-based militias, including the Puget Sound Rangers, while few- er still joined the territorial unit. Eventually, of the 1st infantry’s 10 This worn document also is a rare tangible link to the Pacifi c Northwest’s obscure role in the war between the states. companies, only one was actually made up of territory citizens. Peter Williams, like most mem- bers, enlisted at the Army fort on Alcatraz Island, California, off San Francisco in early 1862. Initially in Company A, Williams sailed for Fort Vancouver on April 30, 1862. From there, he served in Walla Wal- la, and later as a member of compa- nies E and H, in what is now Idaho at Camps Lapwai and Boise. Although some other Califor- nians serving in Idaho participated in one of the West’s most horren- dous war crimes, the massacre of Shoshone Indians at Boa Ogoi in the state’s far southeast corner, the 1st Washington Territory Infantry was an easier-going out¿ t. They helped feed settlers and some In- dians, while also ¿ ghting outlaws. Of an estimated 800 to 1,500 infan- trymen who served over the course of the war, 12 died of disease, and 10 from accidents and other causes, including one murder. According to History of Wash- ington: The Rise and Progress of an American State by Clinton Snowden, “During the winter of 1864-65, which was very severe, many immigrants were overtak- en on the trail by the early snow- storms, and would have starved but for the aid furnished from Fort Boise and other military posts. On Dec. 20, Capt. Seidenstriker wrote to Gen. Alvord from Fort Boise that ‘A large number of emigrants are living around this vicinity, and a great many of them have families Why is FERC taking the word of the applicant that everything can be ¿ xed by mitigation and by other means? The Skipanon Peninsula is made of dredge spoils from the low- er Columbia and Skipanon rivers. Exploratory drilling has been done to try and ¿ nd bedrock. There was no bedrock found at the depth of 350 feet. How can a huge gas terminal be built on this kind of terrain? Oregon L1G seems to have all the answers you want to hear. Your DEIS is full of holes and won’t hold water. This isn’t the ¿ rst DEIS I have read. Your other EIS for L1G proj- ects are sorely lacking, too. In the communities where these enterpris- es are proposed, the citizens say that FERC is a rubber stamp agency for energy companies. Show us that FERC does not stand for Forget Environmental Re- strictions Commission. Do not give Oregon L1G the green light. Ex- porting L1G would exploit our communities and our state, and have huge environmental impacts. This is also true for the Jordan Cove L1G project in Coos Bay. LORI DURHEIM Astoria but that doesn’t make it a world- class port. There is no incentive to off-load or onload any cargo here but timber and ¿ sh. We do not have a high-usage track spur, nor do we have an expressway running nearby. The idea that we will become a freight and transportation hub is de- lusional. Enlarging the airport to ac- commodate 747s is, once again, de- lusional. We don’t generate enough traf¿ c to keep a small carrier pro¿ t- able, so what is all this arm-waving about? I don’t think it’s about making As- toria a commercial center. I think it’s about lique¿ ed natural gas (L1G). Admittedly, it’s a bit more obtuse and grandiose, but it’s still about a pipeline to the coast with a degasi¿ - cation plant to make it shippable to Asia. Our efforts to put an end to this The aftermath hanks to genealogical research, (www.tinyurl.com/pll8v5q), we know Peter Williams served as a hospital steward during his service in Idaho. Thus, he probably wasn’t out chasing stage robbers and hos- tile Snake Indians with fellow 1st infantry soldiers. By 1870, the U.S. Census lists him living in Portland, serving as a clerk to the medical di- rector of the Department of Colum- bia Quartermaster. By 1872, city directories ¿ nd Williams ensconced in his career as saloonkeeper. He and his wife, Joanna Dempsey, had a daughter, Carrie, in 1869. Who knows — maybe they have descendants still living in our region. Williams died at age 41 from the impacts of alcoholism, per- haps a victim of H. & H.W. Cath- erwood’s Liquors he served at Portland’s Palace and Welcome saloons. Distillers of “Brunswick Club,” “Catherwood’s A. A. A.,” “Mountain Dew,” “Old Special,” “Red Tape,” “Three Feathers” and “Upper Ten,” the ¿ rm may have been annoyed to see Williams de- scribe its products as Castor Oil and Soft Water. I’m happy Peter Williams’ hu- mor survived, giving us a chance to remember him. —M.S.W. Matt Winters is editor and pub- lisher of the Chinook Observer and Coast River Business Journal. Open forum FERC: Say no O pen letter to the Federal En- ergy Regulatory Commission (FERC): The many regulatory requirements for permitting Oregon L1G’s termi- nal and pipeline are stated in your Draft Environmental Impact State- ment (DEIS). Their proposal clearly violates part, if not all of the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Golden Eagle Protection Act, Mag- nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Marine Mam- mal Protection Act, Marine Protec- tion, Research and Sanctuaries Act, the 1ational Historic Preservation Act, and most importantly, the Coast- al Zone Management Act (CZMA). Blowing bubbles H ow big can a soap bubble get? Depends on the soap and the amount of wind it takes to sustain it, right? The other salient factor is that it’s still a bubble and you won’t have anything tangible left after it pops. Astoria may be at the mouth of one of the great rivers of the world, foolishness have been successful to date, but each new approach is trou- blesome. So, while they’re making pretty bubbles and making us think they are real, we must remind ourselves that though Clatsop County has al- ready rejected L1G, when we con- sider the huge pro¿ ts that accom- pany such an enterprise, we must expect victories to be temporary, but in the end worthy of the effort. We will have preserved a unique place in an increasingly unremark- able landscape. We must and we will prevail. In the end, it will come down to votes and though we may not have the money, we do have the votes and that surely is enough. JACK GUYOT Astoria STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873
