Aha! Artifact Discovered in 1850 Stagecoach

It was just our kind of “aha moment.” For the last two weeks, a conservator from Georgetown, Maine, has been working on the Museum’s historic stagecoach, meticulously restoring stability to the wood structure and its interior textiles and leather. Jonathan Taggart, an expert in this highly specialized field, was inside the circa 1850 coach when something caught his eye.

“I noticed a corner of white paper down behind the back right seat, where a person would have been facing forward – a choice seat,” said Taggart. “The horsehair was coming out of the padding where it has dried up and shrunken, and there was this beautiful printed package.”

Dr. F.W. Diemer’s Swan Root Dyspepsia Treatment – a “two-day sample… fully guaranteed,” unopened, presumably fell or perhaps was jostled from the pocket of a passenger about one-and-half centuries ago, and it lay there, until this week.

It’s no wonder that a passenger would have brought along such a remedy.

“Riding in that thing would have given you dyspepsia,” said Taggart. “It couldn’t have been a comfortable ride. It was supposed to be for six people. They would have been crammed in like sardines with no legroom for hours going ka-boing, ka-boig, not going down nice, smooth pavement with rubber tires – these ‘tires’ are steel.”

The Museum’s DeMoss Family Concord Stagecoach, one of the Museum’s most significant artifacts, plays a key role in telling the story of the settlement of the High Desert frontier. Every year, thousands of visitors and school children learn about the region’s history as they pause beside the stagecoach and chat with its driver, portrayed by the Museum's Living History volunteers.

The stagecoach was once owned by Henry James “Hank” Monk, whose escapades have made it possibly the most famous Western American stagecoach. Monk ran great quantities of gold before railroad times, as well as passengers such as Horace Greeley, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, Prince Alexander of Russia (to a Bill Cody buffalo hunt), and President Rutherford B. Hayes.

We can only wonder if perhaps it was one of these figures who, upon experiencing stomach upset as the stage rumbled over boulder-laden trails, fumbled around unsuccessfully for the medicine. So stop by the Museum, and let this remarkable artifact spark your imagination.

Sustainable Northwest Champion Speaks

Economic issues frequently are not considered directly related to economic and social benefits, but that is clear in the achievements of J. Martin Goebel, president of Sustainable Northwest, who talks about his award-winning work at 6 p.m. this Thursday at the Museum.

Goebel’s passion for the last 25 years has been enabling people to change how they work with one another as well as how they work with the environment.

“It has taken some time and a lot of work by a lot of individuals, but many people now have an appreciation for how the health of communities is directly linked to the health of the environment, how the fate of our economic and social systems rests on the integrity of natural systems, and how enormous economic opportunity – including stability and equity for people – can result from working together to solve our biggest environmental challenges,” said Goebel.

For example, in Lakeview, Ore., Goebel helped to organize and facilitate a long-term management plan for 495,000 acres of the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Through the Lake County Resources Initiative, the community has embraced job creation and environmental conservation with a small-diameter log mill run by The Collins Companies and a biomass energy plant.

Sustainable Northwest of Portland brings people, ideas, and innovation together so that nature, local economies, and rural communities can thrive. “When the conditions are right in a community, it is amazing what a few courageous innovators can do with a small amount of resources,” says Goebel. “The key is creating the conditions that enable open and honest dialogue.”

The High Desert Museum chose Goebel for the 2010 Earle A. Chiles Award, recognizing his achievements in helping communities to restore and maintain ecological health, balance diverse interests, and promote economic opportunities in our region.

J. Martin Goebel, Sustainable Northwest, June 16, 6 pm
$3. Museum Members, free. RSVP: 541-382-4754 ext. 241

New Story: Live at the 1904 Ranch & Mill

Bend's growth, the economy, and how technology is changing our lives are all popular topics, but if you step back into the year 1904, you'll find High Desert folks were grappling with the same things. It's a central theme to a new story unfolding at the Museum’s re-created 1904 ranch and sawmill.

The Miller family – new Living History characters – are portrayed live along with their guests throughout the summer. The area is changing dramatically. Bend’s population has surpassed 400, up from 21 people in 1900. Freighters, stockmen, buckaroos, sheep herders, timber cruisers, gamblers and transients of all kinds have descended upon the boomtown. Timber industry tycoon Alexander Drake is spearheading the area’s development, and a railroad line is expected to reach Central Oregon soon.

New technology – the telephone, automobile and electricity – is arriving. Topics on the national scene include the women’s suffrage movement, President Theodore Roosevelt, and whether plans for the Panama Canal would position America as a maritime, and potentially imperial, power.

A century ago, the residents of Central Oregon were not that different from today. They lived through a period of rapid growth and felt torn between appreciating modern conveniences and concern that their lifestyles were becoming obsolete. People tried to balance optimism for the future with nostalgia for simpler times.

Despite the changes, the Millers are continuing to ranch. The family recently joined other homesteaders to buy a used sawmill from the U.S. Army. Now they can mill timber for barns, sheds, worker bunkhouses and other projects instead of buying lumber from distant mills.

So, stop by our ranch and sawmill from 11 am to 4 pm and chat with the Millers and others from the year 1904 as you help with watering the garden, washing the laundry, cross-cut sawing and working at the mill!

Vote to Name Our Baby Porcupine!

What's your favorite name for our new baby porcupine: Nettles, Tumbleweed or Newberry? You can vote for the name by dropping a donation in ballot boxes set up here for each one. The name that receives the highest amount wins, and will be announced on July 9. All proceeds will support the nonprofit Museum’s porcupine family and our wildlife education program.

Visitors can meet the prickly baby here at 2 pm most Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 2 pm, and learn all about it from our wildlife experts. (If the baby is feeling shy, however, the appearance may be canceled. Thanks for understanding.)

The three names in the contest were selected by the Museum from scores submitted by preschoolers through eighth-graders in Central Oregon. The student whose submitted name wins will receive a special visit with the baby porcupine and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum’s wildlife areas.

The Museum asked local school children to name our newest animal, because the Museum is first and foremost an educational center, said Museum President Janeanne A. Upp.

The newborn weighed about a pound at birth in April. Baby porcupines are born with all of their teeth, their eyes open, walking, and with all 30,000 of their quills. The porcupine has not grown enough for Museum wildlife specialists to see whether it is male or female.

The new baby porcupine, like its parents, cannot survive in the wild. The mother, Honeysuckle, was born at an educational facility, and never learned survival skills such as how to find water, food, and shelter away from predators. In the wild, porcupines stay with their mothers for up to a year, and learn such skills. The father porcupine, Thistle, came to the Museum from a wildlife rehabilitation facility in 2004. His injuries prevent him from surviving in the wild.

This is the third consecutive year that Honeysuckle gave birth here. Last year, her baby was named Q’will in a public naming contest.