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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2020)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, NOvEmbER 21, 2020 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production manager CARL EARL Systems manager WRITER’S NOTEBOOK November marks a local triumph O ne of America’s great adventures superintendent, writes: “Of all the experi- ences that you can find here at the far end attained its goal this month when of the Lewis and Clark trail, I think that Lewis and Clark’s canoes came standing on the north shore of the Colum- down the Columbia River, arriving at a bia, in a driving rain, helps you understand fateful location on what is now Washing- ton’s southern boundary. the challenges faced by the Corps From Nov. 10 to Nov. 15, 1805, of Discovery in November 1805. the explorers struggled to over- “That south wind bites deep come one of the expedition’s most into well-dressed modern peo- ple. For the Corps, in clothing that perilous obstacles, a river head- land they named Point Distress and was quickly rotting away in the which we know as Point Ellice, the extreme weather, this was a try- ing time. Standing along that shore, Astoria Bridge’s northern terminus. STEVE it is hard to imagine a more dis- History has touched our region FORRESTER mal time in the Corps’ story. They many times, but never with such were cold, wet and miserable and meaning as the anniversary we all MATT not at all equipped to deal with the should recall each November. The WINTERS challenges.” explorers’ four months at the mouth For some five years, a group of the Columbia River were largely of us went to the suspected site of ignored until about 16 years ago. Dismal Nitch at this time. Led by On the advent of the bicenten- nial of President Thomas Jeffer- local historian Jim Sayce, we read son’s commissioning this trans- from the Lewis and Clark journals. continental research trek, local In truth, there are two suspected historian Rex Ziak set out to do jus- Dismal Nitch sites — one identi- fied by Ziak and another identified tice to the expedition’s time at the by Sayce. Each avidly defends his own mouth. Ziak’s work — published in The theory, but in truth Pacific County’s entire Astorian and the Chinook Observer and Columbia shoreline is a zone of national in his book “In Full View” — caught the importance. The precise location of any attention of Congressmen Norm Dicks and one site pales in comparison to the enor- Brian Baird, who led a drive to add Wash- mous drama of the expedition’s struggles ington sites to what became the Lewis and and eventual triumph. Clark National Historical Park. The Corps of Discovery’s adventures The rest of us nonhistorians learned on the north shore of the Columbia were about Dismal Nitch — a location on far more dramatic than what happened at the Washington shore, east of the Asto- ria Bridge. That was where a terrifying Fort Clatsop. Burpee reflects: “What I find storm system threatened the explorers and most interesting in this part of the journals trapped them on an exposed riverbank for is that William Clark’s words point to the endless sodden days. Nearly out of food fact that they truly were in a different land. and with their clothing in shreds, they On Nov. 11, 1805 after two unsuccess- ful attempts to continue in their canoes were helped by Chinook traders who nav- igated the roiling river with ease, deliver- through the rough swells on the river, he ing a cargo of salmon for sale and some was amazed at the ability of five Indians degree of hope. who very successfully navigated the river Reflecting on how we may identify in a small canoe. He wrote, ‘Those Indi- ans are Certainly the best Canoe navi- with the explorers, Jon Burpee, the park’s Alex Pajunas/The Astorian Although they’re taking a break this year because of the pandemic, a local group has established a tradition of marking the anniversary of Lewis and Clark’s arrival in the Columbia River estuary. In this photo from 2014, Steve Forrester, of The Astorian, points up toward Cliff Point while reading aloud from the journal of Capt. William Clark to Matt Winters, of the Chinook Observer, left, and Scott Tucker, then-superintendent of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. gaters I ever Saw.’” It remains a subject of ongoing shame in our region — and deserves to be one for the nation — that the Chinook and Clatsop people continue to lack formal federal recognition as a living tribe or tribes. They did not move on or die out in the aftermath of white colonization, but endure today as many families scattered throughout the lower Columbia communi- ties and the wider world. Lewis and Clark simply could not have succeeded without Indian help. Dayton Duncan, who was Ken Burns’ co-author of his Lewis and Clark produc- tion, captured a raw deal when he spoke at Fort Clatsop during the bicentennial of the Corps’ arrival here. Duncan noted that when Lewis and Clark’s men and Sacagawea emerged from the Rockies starving, it was the Nez Perce who saved them with nourishment. “And how did we thank them?” asked Duncan. The Chinook might note that at least the Nez Perce have a 770,000-acre res- ervation of their own and all the other advantages that come with official fed- eral status. Writing in the New Yorker earlier this month, Philip Deloria noted a grim comparison. Reviewing a new book on the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother, Deloria made a point about what many have called America’s “original sin of slavery.” In essence, Deloria says that the genocide of Native Americans ranks in that same category. In this time of Black Lives Matter, our continent’s original inhabitants are right in asserting that they, too, richly deserve long overdue acknowledgment of full cit- izenship and human rights in a nation that aspires to offer equal protection to all. Broader awareness of the Lewis and Clark story ebbs and flows in our national consciousness. But it is a saga containing an enduring array of object lessons about where America was then and is now. We can usefully remem- ber the ways in which Native American people welcomed a party of bedraggled foreigners. Courage and basic human decency are always worthy of celebration. Steve Forrester, the former editor and publisher of The Astorian, is the president and CEO of EO media Group. matt Win- ters is editor of the Chinook Observer. bROAdER AWARENESS OF THE LEWIS ANd CLARK STORy EbbS ANd FLOWS IN OuR NATIONAL CONSCIOuSNESS. buT IT IS A SAGA CONTAINING AN ENduRING ARRAy OF ObJECT LESSONS AbOuT WHERE AmERICA WAS THEN ANd IS NOW. WE CAN uSEFuLLy REmEmbER THE WAyS IN WHICH NATIvE AmERICAN PEOPLE WELCOmEd A PARTy OF bEdRAGGLEd FOREIGNERS. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A climate resolution L ong after COVID-19 has ceased to dominate our lives, a much greater threat will still be with us: The climate crisis. With this in mind, I went before the Clatsop County commission in January to propose that the commission pass a reso- lution acknowledging climate change and the economic impact it’s already having on the North Coast. I also proposed that the resolution out- line the beginning of our county’s plan to help lessen the impact of the climate crisis, be it the planting of trees or the replacement of diesel vehicles with fuel efficient or electric ones. Since January, there has been no indi- cation that the commission is considering such a resolution. The key is for Commissioners Kath- leen Sullivan, Sarah Nebeker and Pamela Wev to take advantage of their progres- sive majority to bring a climate resolution to a vote before January, when new com- missioners supported by #TimberUnity take office. Do you agree? Tell them so. ROGER DORBAND Astoria Strong measures O ur Seattle friends are working from home, and have been in Germany to visit their aging mothers. While in the small town of Auerbach, Bavaria, our friend tested positive for the coronavirus without any symptoms what- soever. On Nov. 15, he was released from his two-week quarantine and is free to return to Seattle as soon as he can arrange flights for the family. Germany is a densely populated coun- try with 83 million people in an area about the size of the states of Oregon and Wash- ington combined. Social and health ser- vices are universal and generous. The leader of the Federal Republic of Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, is not asserting that the country has turned the corner on the pandemic. Rather, to stem the rampaging coronavirus infec- LETTERS WELCOME Letters should be exclusive to The Astorian. Letters should be fewer than 250 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. You will be contacted to confirm authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, grammar and factual accuracy. Only two letters per writer are allowed each month. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and should refer to the head- line and date the letter was pub- lished. Discourse should be civil. Send via email to editor@ dailyastorian.com, online at bit. ly/astorianletters, in person at 949 Exchange St. in Astoria or mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR., 97103. tions, the German federal government’s regulations trump all state and local efforts to halt the spread of the virus. Quarantine violations can bring fines of up to 25,000 euros; infecting another per- son can bring criminal charges. ERHARD GROSS Astoria Lean in ... potholes A s a recently returned native to this beautiful community, a few potholes that have recently gotten worse just don’t make sense to me. Newly painted historical and other buildings, brightly colored like one would find at a circus; the old Odd Fellows Building — rebuilt after the fire, but still grand in stature and dignity — got painted purple. It is painful to see. And then that movie rental venue decided it could drum up more business if it looked like a pumpkin, I guess? I wish it well at its new locale, but am so so sad at its appearance. It reminds me of the carni- val atmosphere of many coastal towns that rely on tourist schlock to keep afloat. Another bump in the road since my childhood: Turning the Astoria Column into a year-round Christmas tree, turning red, green, blue … to make sure we don’t miss its beauty? Hmmm? The fishermen and loggers of yesteryear believed in hard work, not cheap gizmos and gadgets. Of course I’m thrilled to find the Lib- erty Theatre and John Jacob Astor Hotel as they were (at least from the outside), and Peter Pan. Thank you, Astoria, for keeping them safe and beautiful. I hope this doesn’t read like a negative diatribe from a pessimistic naysayer, but rather positive possibilities for the future. DAVID TENNANT Astoria
