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Who were the first Americans?
CANNON BEACH — Ar-
chaeological work in the
Americas has caused a lot
of controversy. It seems
that the Americas may have
been settled a lot earlier
than hypothesized — a lot
earlier!
At 4 p.m. Thursday,
April 19, the Cannon
Beach History Center &
Museum welcomes Dr.
Cameron M. Smith to
discuss this very topic.
Smith is an anthropology
professor at Portland State
University and a highly
recognized scholar on
human history, archaeology
and evolution.
His talk focusing on the
new evidence and theories
about the earliest human
dispersals into the Ameri-
cas will be free and open to
the public.
Recently, a site in
California appears to push
human activity back in
the Americas to between
120,000 and 140,00 years
ago. This is more than
100,000 years before
humans were thought by
COURTESY THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Tidal channel creation at the Kilchis Preserve
Cameron M. Smith
PHOTOS COURTESY CANNON BEACH HISTORY CENTER & MUSEUM
Cameron M. Smith, Ph.D., in the field
archaeologists to be here.
This site is among a few
other recent discoveries, in-
cluding Paisley Caves, that
are rewriting the human
history of the Americas.
These new archaeological
sites raise new questions.
Smith has published
scientific works in the
American Journal of Phys-
ical Anthropology, as well
as Scientific American,
Scientific American Mind,
Discover Magazine and
Skeptical Inquirer.
The Cannon Beach
History Center & Muse-
um (1387 South Spruce
St.) is a private nonprofit
featuring seasonal historic,
textile and artistic exhibits.
Discover how Lewis and Clark got their rivers crossed
FORT CLATSOP — Lewis and
Clark National Historical
Park, Fort Clatsop, announc-
es the next In Their Footsteps
free speaker series event:
“Lewis and Clark’s Discov-
ery of the Willamette River:
Recent Findings of Their
Secondary Mission,” a talk
by Dr. Steven McClure, takes
place 1 p.m. Sunday, April
15, in the Netul River Room
of Fort Clatsop’s visitor
center.
It’s usually taught that
the Lewis and Clark Expe-
dition missed the mouth of
the Willamette River twice
when they paddled by on the
Columbia River to and from
the Pacific Ocean.
McClure will present his
findings that the expedition
actually mistook the Wil-
lamette for the Multnomah
Channel. They also traveled
right past the Willamette
on their trip upstream on
the Columbia because they
mistakenly presumed that
the Sandy River, which they
had previously found when
originally coming downriver,
was the large southern river
they had heard about from
Chinookan Indian informants
at Fort Clatsop.
Combining a close anal-
ysis of period maps and the
Lewis and Clark Expedition’s
journals, McClure will take
us up the Willamette River to
learn where Captain William
Clark’s canoe party camped
April 2, 1806.
As a board member of
Friends of Baltimore Woods,
a St. Johns neighborhood
group restoring a wildlife
corridor along the Willa-
mette, McClure has led tours
to where he has determined
Clark turned back to the
Corps of Discovery’s base
camp on the Columbia.
McClure also will share why
Clark turned back, indica-
tions that he was attempting
to reach the Willamette Falls,
and the Corps’ belief that the
Willamette reached to the
Spanish silver mines on the
Rio Grande.
For more information,
call the park at 503-861-
2471, or check out nps.gov/
COURTESY LEWIS AND CLARK NA-
TIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
The Willamette River location
where William Clark’s party
turned back April 3, 1806.
lewi, or Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park on
Facebook.
Watershed Council talks
restoring salmon habitat
MANZANITA — How do
you restore tidal channels
and wetland habitat in
floodplain areas that have
historically been diked and
disconnected?
Join Lower Nehalem
Watershed Council on
Thursday, April 12, as we
welcome Dick Vander
Schaaf, associate director
of the Coast and Marine
Conservation Program for
The Nature Conservancy,
for a presentation on the
Kilchis Estuary Resto-
ration Project. His talk
will explore the process of
restoring critical habitat for
native salmon in Tillamook
Bay.
The event, part of
the Watershed Council’s
Speakers Series, will take
place at the Pine Grove
Community House (225
Laneda Ave.) in Manzani-
ta. It is free and open to the
public.
The presentation will
start at 7:20 p.m. following
an update from Watershed
Council at 7 p.m. Feel free
to attend a regular meeting
5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Pine
Grove to learn more about
the Council’s ongoing
work. Refreshments and
snacks will be served.
The Nature Conser-
vancy purchased a former
dairy farm in 2010 on
the lower Kilchis River
intending to restore the
tidal wetland habitats that
once dominated the site.
The Conservancy utilized
hydrologic modeling to
develop restoration sce-
narios for the project and
to foresee impacts from
climate change. This pre-
sentation will step through
the planning and resto-
ration process and discuss
future work at the site. The
project also has broader
implications for wetland
restoration on agricultural
lands in Tillamook County.
New to our Speaker
Series, we’re raffling off
a gift certificate or special
item from a local business
supporter during each
event. This month we have
a $25 gift certificate from
Manzanita News & Espres-
so. Raffle tickets will be
available for a $5 donation
at the door, and the winner
will be drawn at the end of
the presentation.
Find more information
on our Facebook page
(facebook.com/lnwc1).