Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 27/The Columbia River Historical Expedition

by Frederic George Young

THE COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORICAL EXPEDITION

THE ACHIEVEMENT AND ITS PROMISE

By F. G. Young

The Columbia River Historical Expedition carried out its schedule with finest eclat. Its program included occasions with illuminating and instructive interpretative drives at historic crossroads and gateways from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria via the Great Northern lines. The personnel of the expedition comprised five French and thirty-eight American high school students, winners in the oratorical contests held in connection with the study of the "French Pioneers in America," and a group of some two hundred other persons interested in making such a historical pilgrimage. Specialists in regional history presented the papers at the different dedicatory occasions.

These expeditions, "The Upper Missouri" last year and the "Columbia River" this year, mean that the Muse of history has been espoused by the Great Northern Railway Company. The carrying out of these with such consummate success involved months of intelligent planning and effective preliminary achievements in the creation of stage settings in the shape of appropriate monuments erected at points of salient interest.

With the development of these historical activities this railway corporation is establishing a new feature in American railway transportation service. Only the high-minded directorates of other companies probably will have the discernment to follow suit in kindred undertakings. The idea is, that in addition to the ultra conditions of safety, comfort and luxury associated with American transcontinental rail travel, the route should be studded with expressive historical memorials to kindle the imaginations of the wayfarers to delightful visualizations of the historical backgrounds in in these frontier regions. As automatic train control in a way crowns the mechanical and engineering equipment, so this new feature goes the physical improvement one better in systematically exploiting the realm of history for the delectation of railway travel patrons. This scheme in its appeal to the imponderables is somewhat in a class with the cooperative pact recently effected by the Great Northern for the securing its Scobey-Opheim branch.

The monumental memorials at Bonners Ferry, Wishram, Astoria and Seaside, dedicated this year, along with those at Verendrye, Meriwether and Summit, dedicated last year, will indirectly have their influence even on the freight tonnage passing over the line, as communities enlightened as to their historical backgrounds will get insight and inspiration that will make them better producers and consumers.

While the enduring bronze tablets and imposing columns with their impressive emblematic historical representations, will stand as appealing sentinels, daily reminding the dwellers at these sites of a heroic and romantic past, the enthusiastic receptions given the Columbia River Expedition at the larger cities, like Great Falls, Spokane, Portland and Astoria, may kindle an influence with even more vital results through the prestige thus given regional history. Clio had never had such a train of votaries before. New charms of hers may have been unveiled to the eyes of the populace and more ardent worship inspired for the future

For those who participated in these expeditions the experience was that of witnessing a grand pageant in which the stage was the railway's great stretch of country, past which the special train carried them during the week of presentation. The permanent objective of all this constructive and interpretative effort in monument erection and dedication is, of course, that of bringing every ticket holder for a Great Northern trip under a similar spell, making his passage as amid an edifying and delighting pageantry, the monuments functioning as "open sesames" revealing to the mind's eye of the wide awake and intelligent the great dramas enacted on these scenes by the Verendryes, Lewis and Clark, David Thompson, Astor's men and the great hosts of fur traders, missionaries, pioneers and commonwealth builders.

Under such fostering auspices, "See America First" will come into its own. But even more may be claimed. Transcontinental railway travel through such memorials and other means, kindling historical mindedness, will be indispensable schooling for attaining broad gauged citizenship. Such visual education would give the American voter his bearings in many of the great issues he has to decide.

The innovating genius and actual director of it all was Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern. His staff, down to those in humblest roles, were most loyally co-operative in their efforts in the carrying out of the project.

THE "TRAIL TO RAIL" CELEBRATION AT EUGENE

The completion by the Southern Pacific of its "Cascade Line," giving the Klamath Falls region direct rail connection with the rest of Oregon, was appropriately celebrated August 18, 19 and 20, at Eugene. The pageant, "Klatawa," and the pioneer and industrial parades were the main features and were organized and carried out in a way that exhibited a wonderfully fine spirit of community cooperation. "Klatawa", written by Professor W. F. G. Thacher of the University of Oregon, was most effectively presented-the cast including probably a thousand participants-and brought out most instructively and impressively how improvement in the means of transportation was a controlling factor in the making of Oregon.