4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 7, 2018
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History: The city of Quivira
By Finn JD John
For The Sentinel
In the late 1530s, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
of the Spanish colony of Mexico started hearing
rumors of a string of rich, gold-encrusted cities
far to the north.
Of course, no 1500s Spanish colonial adminis-
trator would ever ignore rumors of more wealthy
natives to rob and kill, so Mendoza dispatched a
scouting party to see what could be learned about
these “Seven Cities of Cibola.”
When the party returned, they hadn’t actually
seen anything of interest, but they’d heard plenty.
“I found a man born in Cibola,” the emissary,
Fray (Friar) Marcos de Niza, wrote in his report
to the governor. “He told me that Cibola was a
great city, inhabited by a great store of people ...
He says that the houses are of lime and stone ...
and that the gates and small pillars of the prin-
cipal houses are of turquoise, and all the vessels
wherein they are served, and the other ornaments
of their houses, were of gold: and the other six
cities are like unto this, whereof some are bigger.”
Well, this was most exciting, and Mendoza lost
very little time in arranging for an expedition to
fi nd and conquer these seven golden cities.
To do this, he partnered up with Francisco
Vasquez de Coronado, the governor of the “King-
dom of New Galicia” (a large patch of coastal
south-central Mexico, including modern-day
Aguascalientes and Jalisco) to outfi t an expedi-
tion. Coronado would lead it personally, and both
he and Mendoza invested a great deal of their own
money into it.
It set forth in 1540.
The expedition was not a success. On the great
plains near Kansas and Oklahoma, Coronado
found what he assumed was the “Great Lime-
stone-and-Turquoise City” of Cibola, and found
that it was in reality a collection of grass huts oc-
cupied by a population of regular, hard-working,
non-gold-having Native Americans.
But when he arrived, he soon started hearing
rumors of another city, off to the east, that was
even shinier and more golden than Cibola: The
marvelous sunset city of Quivira.
Not yet having fi gured out that the natives were
simply trying to get rid of them, Coronado set
forth in quest of this new store of plunder, follow-
ing a Native American guide he called “El Turco”
because he looked vaguely Turkish.
Later he was told that Quivira was not to the
east, but to the north, so Coronado sent most of
his army back and, with about 30 men and El Tur-
co, headed out in the general direction of Kansas.
Eventually Coronado found an Indian village
that he could call Quivira, whereupon he declared
victory and marched home, considerably poorer
in purse. And after that, Quivira started appearing
on maps.
And this is where things get interesting. Be-
cause the legends of Quivira that were fed to
Coronado indicated that it was a seaport town,
close by a great river two miles wide, full of fi sh
the size of horses.
Well, Kansas is not exactly richly endowed
with seaports; nor does such a river exist there.
But transplant Quivira to the West Coast, and it
starts to sound a lot like the Columbia River and
its sturgeon fi shery.
So as the West Coast started getting explored,
mapmakers started including Quivira on it. Gen-
erally they tended to put it right around 42 degrees
north latitude — right on or slightly north of to-
day’s Oregon-California border.
Of course, today this seems pretty ridiculous.
But those early mapmakers, working with the an-
ecdotal reports of various explorers, had no idea
how much real estate there was between Kansas
and Oregon. And there must have been some skep-
ticism on the subject of whether the dumpy little
village found by Coronado was really the Quivi-
ra. Perhaps there were two? Or perhaps Coronado
was covering up some secret knowledge that he
hoped to exploit later, without having to share it
with dozens of big-mouthed soldiers?
So Quivira lived on in dozens of maps drawn
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As late
as 1750 — just three decades before the American
revolution — it was still being included.
Sir Francis Drake, on his famous voyage
around the world that may actually have included
a stopover in an Oregon bay (“Nova Albion”), had
at least one such map in his possession, and surely
was keeping an eye out for signs of Quivira.
He never saw any, of course. The Oregon Coast
at that time was a wilderness. The closest it had to
cities were communities of itinerant Native Amer-
icans living in portable or makeshift structures.
But had it always been so? Was it possible that
the city of Quivira was, at one time, real? Did it
stand there, on the edge of a little bay just north
of Cape Blanco, thriving around the time Rome
fell? And did something then happen — perhaps
the 300-year Cascadia Subduction Zone earth-
quake and tsunami — to close off the mouth of
its bay and crush its walls into heaps of rubble
and cover them with soil, leaving only a handful
of odd-looking mounds and a string of legends to
mark what once had been? Legends, perhaps, of a
golden city trimmed with turquoise, passed back
and forth among its survivors’ descendants until
the chance came to use them to lead a gang of
rapacious steel-clad Spanish thugs astray?
This is all pure speculation, of course — more,
it’s romantic tale-spinning of the kind one usually
fi nds in pulp-fi ction magazine stories about Atlan-
tis and Lemuria. But there is a wisp of supporting
evidence for such a theory:
On Sept. 8, 1881, the Port Orford Post printed
a very curious article. “There have recently been
discovered near Floras (Lake) in this county, what
appear to be the ruins of an ancient city, built of
cut stone,” the article states. “The site of the nu-
merous buildings of the ages gone by are indicat-
ed by mounds, in and under which, by making ex-
cavations, are found masses of cut stone, bearing
quite plainly the marks of the stone cutter's chisel,
and lying as if the wall had tumbled down.
“These relics of ancient masonry were fi rst un-
earthed to view by the storm uprooting a large tree
which had grown up on one of these mound-like
elevations. Thus the blocks of sand stone were ex-
posed to view, and thus curiosity excited which
led to the prospecting of other mounds (of which
there are many) in the same locality, in all of
which the phenomena were present. Further ex-
plorations will be made with a view to throwing
more light if possible on this curious spectacle.
“We shall visit and personally inspect these al-
leged 'ruins' at no distant day, when we hope to be
able to give a detailed description of the ‘town’
and its immediate surrounding,” the article con-
cludes.
But historian Bill Wallace has found no sign
of a follow-up to this story. It just seems to dis-
appear.
Was it a mistake? A rumor started by a trouble-
maker? Most likely, it is something like that.
But there is always the possibility — a remote
and unlikely possibility, but a possibility nonethe-
less — that the broken bones of a lost civilization
lie buried beneath the loam and sod between Port
Orford and Bandon, waiting even yet to be redis-
covered.
Dr. Fuhrman: Can fi ber help prevent breast cancer?
By Joel Furhman, MD
Breast cancer - two words that
strike fear in every woman. The
good news is women can help lessen
their risk. One important defense is to consume a high fi ber diet.
A 2011 meta-analysis of 10 scientifi c studies found that higher
fi ber intake is associated with lower risk of breast cancer. In 2012,
another meta-analysis of 16 studies came to the same conclusion. In
the Nurses’ Health Study, higher fi ber intake during childhood and
adolescence was linked to a decrease in the risk of breast cancer in
adulthood.
Given that animal products, refi ned grains, sugars and oils con-
tain little or no fi ber, fi ber intake is a marker for greater intake of
natural plant foods, many of which are known to have a variety
of anti-cancer phytochemicals. Some breast cancer protective sub-
stances that have already been discovered include isothiocyanates
from cruciferous vegetables4, organosulfur compounds from on-
ions and garlic, aromatase inhibitors from mushrooms, fl avonoids
from berries, lignans from fl ax, chia and sesame seeds, and inositol
pentakisphosphate (an angiogenesis inhibitor) from beans.
High-fi ber foods help to slow emptying of the stomach and ab-
sorption of sugars, which decreases the after-meal elevation in glu-
cose. This is meaningful because elevated glucose levels lead to
elevated insulin levels, which can send pro-cancer growth signals
For The Sentinel
C ottage G rove
S entinel
throughout the body, for example via insulin-like growth factor 1
(IGF-1). As such, high dietary glycemic index and glycemic load
(characteristic of refi ned grains and processed foods) are associated
with an increase in breast cancer risk. Accordingly, a study on Ko-
rean women found that higher white rice intake was associated with
higher breast cancer risk.
Increased exposure to estrogen is known to increase breast cancer
risk. A woman may be exposed to estrogen via her ovaries’ own
production, estrogen production by excess fat tissue, or environ-
mental sources such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (like BPA,
a chemical added to many consumer products). Fiber can reduce
circulating estrogen levels, thereby reducing breast cancer risk,
because it helps to remove excess estrogen from the body via the
digestive tract. Fiber binds up estrogen in the digestive tract, accel-
erates its removal, and prevents it from being reabsorbed into the
body.
In addition, soluble fi ber (as shown in studies using prunes and
fl axseed) seems to alter estrogen metabolism so that a less danger-
ous form of estrogen is produced, whereas insoluble fi ber (wheat
bran) did not have the same effect. For this reason, beans, oats, chia
seeds and fl axseeds may provide some extra protection due to their
high soluble fi ber content.
Although most people probably just associate whole grains with
fi ber, beans contain more fi ber than whole grains, and vegetables
and fruits (and some seeds) contain comparable amounts – here are
a few examples:
1 cup cooked quinoa – 5 grams fi ber
1 cup cooked brown rice – 4 grams fi ber
1 cup cooked kidney beans – 11 grams fi ber
1 cup cooked broccoli – 6 grams fi ber
1 cup blueberries – 4 grams fi ber
1 tablespoon chia seeds – 6 grams fi ber
Fiber, by defi nition, is resistant to digestion in the human small
intestine. This means that during the digestive process, fi ber arrives
at the large intestine still intact. Fiber takes up space in the stomach
but does not provide absorbable calories, and it also slows the emp-
tying of the stomach. These properties of fi ber make meals more
satiating, slow the rise in blood glucose after eating and promote
weight loss. In the colon, fi ber adds bulk and accelerates movement,
factors that are benefi cial for colon health. Soluble fi ber (primarily
from legumes and oats) is effective at removing cholesterol via the
digestive tract, resulting in lower blood cholesterol levels. Some
types of fi ber are fermented by intestinal bacteria. The fermenta-
tion products, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) such as butyrate and
propionate, have anti-cancer effects in the colon and also serve as
energy sources for colonic cells. These SCFA are also thought to
contribute to promoting insulin sensitivity and a healthy weight.
Fermentable fi ber also acts as a prebiotic in the colon, promoting
the growth of benefi cial bacteria. Fiber intake is associated with a
multitude of health benefi ts, including healthy blood pressure levels
and reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
Yes, fi ber itself has some breast cancer-protective properties, like
limiting glycemic effects of foods and assisting in estrogen remov-
al, but we get optimal protection when we focus on foods that are
both rich in fi ber and rich in micronutrients and phytochemicals.
For more information, visit DrFuhrman.com.
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IN BRIEF MARCH 7-MARCH 19
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Art Space at The Crafty Mercantile (Open Studio) at 517 East
Main Street on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (donation) For
more inforomation call (541) 514-0704.
The East Lane County Commissioner Candidiate Forum will
be held on March 19 at the Pleasant Hill Community Center.
Four of the six candidates running in the May 15 election will
be attending.
Bohemia Elementary and Cottage Grove High School have
community garden spaces open. The rate for one year is $15.
Contact South Lane School District for more information.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help will host a St. Patrick's Day din-
ner from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on March 18. Tickets are $12 for
adults and $25 for families.
Do you have an event, class or workshop coming up?
Email cmay@cgsentinel.com with the details to be featured
here.
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