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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, NOvEmbER 21, 2020
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation manager
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Production manager
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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
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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