From the editor’s desk: A park expands
Published 8:00 am Monday, September 25, 2023
Observer reporter Brandon Cline’s careful monitoring of Pacific County land transactions results in a Page 1 story in this week’s edition. Two decades after it set out to, the National Park Service has expanded the boundaries of one of the West Coast’s most significant historical sites.
The Middle Village-Station Camp unit of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park has consisted of a narrow arc of land along U.S. Highway 101 in the former salmon cannery village of McGowan. Few of the thousands of motorists who hurry by each day stop to contemplate the deep meaning of the place, but protecting it has long been a national priority.
Now, with the outright purchase of some land and acquisition of a conservation easement on more than 200 additional acres, there will be a substantial buffer around the site, preserving some sense of how the shoreline once appeared. The purchase also establishes a contiguous corridor of public land between Middle Village and Fort Columbia State Park directly to its west.
Although the site tells an essential part of the Lewis and Clark story, its greater importance lies in its far deeper history as an important location in the thousands of years of Chinook Indian civilization. It is a shoreline of profound meaning, a place steeped in memories of honor and betrayal for surviving members of the tribe.
As your editor, my experiences of the place mostly start with my daughter Elizabeth’s birth in 1997 and the next few years when we often stopped to play in the old unofficial park site, an alder-shaded green space guarded by a giant chainsaw carving of a white explorer. It may only be nostalgia, but I have to admit to having more affection for that version of the site, which seemed especially inviting. But I also was deeply honored to be on hand a decade later when Ray Gardner — then chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation — and a few others reconsecrated the place with sacred cedar boughs.
No immediate changes are contemplated in the newly expanded park unit, but I hope future years see the tribe’s modern presence woven into it. It would be good to imagine the spirits of their ancient ancestors celebrating with them, and even better to think of young people being imbued with an understanding of this site that stands at the intersection of history, a home known to the Chinook as Qiyawaqilxam.
For some of our earlier coverage, see:
At the Chinook Observer we believe that understanding our past is a vital part of designing our future. Pursuing this mission is impossible without your support. Thank you!
