Pioneer cemeteries of Oregon's history #1

 Little Fox here.  I have been trying to keep busy this winter and I have decided to research a little bit of Oregon's history.

Today I am at Champoeg State Park.  In the 1840s the question of the area known as Oregon was a disputed area.  The United States and the United Kingdom both wanted to lay claim to the Oregon area.  In 1843 one hundred and two representatives voted whether to join the United States and/or United Kingdom and the vote was 50 to 52 in favor of joining the United States.  It took a couple of years for the territory to be established but by 1848 the Oregon Territory was established.

The next stop on our trip is to the Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland.  It's a pioneer cemetery.  In Oregon, a pioneer cemetery must have at least one person buried before 1909.  Clearly I need to be careful around these monuments. 

Lone Fir is the first cemetery in Portland.  

We will start at block 14.  

Block 14 is an area where patients from the nearby Oregon Hospital for the Insane (yes, that was the real name).  They also buried over  800 Chinese men at block 14 and from 1928 to 1940 they disinterred many of them and sent the bodies back to China.  However, research has shown that there are still bodies buried at block 14.  In the future, a memorial garden is to be planted at block 14 to honor the patients and Chinese who are/were buried there.

Crawford Dobbins is Lone Firs first resident. Crawford died when the steamship Gazelle exploded killing many aboard. Colburn Barrell owned the Gazelle and the land where  Dobbins and others from the explosion are buried here and hence Mt. Crawford cemetery was established until Barrell's wife suggested Lone Fir as the name.  

Let's see who else we can meet. 

Staycation with Grinnell

 Hiya Gang,

Little Fox here.  My pal Grinnell and I have decided to take a much needed daycation.  

Today, we are heading to a little taco shop for three tacos.  We got fish tacos, barbacoa (beef) and carnitas (pork).  

Due to Covid we had to eat in the car (indoor dining is not allowed).  You can see it's raining cats and foxes today so we don't mind eating indoors.  The hardest part is splitting the tacos evenly.  Why didn't we just get 6?

This taco restaurant is pretty good and in fact in 2008 presidential nominee Barack Obama had lunch here.

Three tacos between two stuffies isn't enough food.  We decided to get some cinamon rolls at a local store.  We haven't had anything from this brand before but with a bear on the cover what can go wrong?

Apparently the Bimbo Bakery is dominating the packaged pastry business at this store.

Where to next? 

Stuffy Class with Grinell!

Little Fox here.   This weeks Stuffy Class is with my pal Grinnell.  

As you can see Grinnell is a little shy but he's a friendly chap. 

Grinnell was named after Grinnell Glacier at Glacier National Park in Montana. 

He travels with me in the car with me on my adventures but  he doesn't really like to partake in the adventures (hiking, wine tasting, beach walking etc.) with me.   

That's Okay.  You might wonder what he does while waiting for me to finish my adventures?  Great question.  A little background.  Grinnell is a master picnicer.  Yes, that is a real thing.  He has a BA degree in Picnic Science from San Bernardino Valley College, Big Bear Campus.  Take it away Grinnell. I'm going to finish my dinner. 

------

Hello everyone.  I'm Grinnell and as LF mentioned I pretty much live in the car.  Besides winning a prize in Sandy's Art Deco Contest (hey Sandy when are we going to do another one)?????  I am an avid traveler (I always go with the humans and LF on trips) and while they are out doing hiking etc. I am happily picnicing.

Today's class involves how to have a good picnic. 

Step 1:  Get a plate and set up your picnic.  I have two hard boiled eggs (us Lions need their protein), a nice turkey sandwich, some gorgonzola crackers (from Trader Joe's) and apple. Every good picnic pro knows to have a balanced lunch.

Homemade hummus to enjoy on the crackers and the thin sliced apple. 

I don't know who came up with the idea of cheese and apples but they go very well together.  Maybe, I can research that combination of foods for an advanced degree is Picnic Science?

This lion likes to stay hydrated (just water in here.....nothing more).  I had a whole semester on reusable picnic wear.

Now. a first class picnic doesn't come together on the seat of ones pants.  It involves research.  Location, location, location.  First, I chose a nice park to visit.

Then I suggest planning some other activities to do  in the area.  I found a local ice cream shop nearby.  Back in the day it was a drive in but now the drive in part has been replaced with picnic tables.  

What should I have?  Sundae?  A couple of scoops of homemade ice cream in a bowl?  Should I get both? 

Perhaps this monkey with an ice cream cone can help me decide?  Looks like he wants me to get a burger and an ice cream.  

In the 80s, the owner of Alf's saw an ad in a newspaper for a monkey (the kind that runs the organ grinder).  So she did the logical thing....she bought it.  Tore out 1/2 of her restaurant to make a monkey cage and she takes the current monkey (named Elvis, not the original one from the 80s) back home every night.

Elvis wasn't there at the time I visited......apparently he had left the building. :)

Students.  To sum out a picnic needs lots of things.  Location, Good Food, Reusable beverage container, and an ancillary activity to complete after eating.  PS - I decided on the ice cream bowl.  Two scoops (roommates were paying).  One scoop was Raspberry Ribbon.  The other scoop, Cherry Cheesecake.

I hope you have enjoyed my Stuffy Class.  

-Your pal Grinnell. 

A surprise for Grinnel.

Hiya Gang,
Little Fox here.  I am hanging out with the rabbits today as they try to curb their boredom.  They decided to make some homemade blueberry muffins.  As you can see one of the muffins is gone (better talk to Drunk Fox) but the leader of our rabbits (Grey Rabbit) is ready to dish up some muffins.

It's been a busy day.  Some of the other stuffies and I are deciding on what to do next.  Should we watch a movie?  Go to the park? Cook a fancy dinner?  The Easter Bunny is here, Wolfy, Grinnel, and Hedgehog (who is going through an identity crisis by thinking he is the Easter Bunny) and I were still deciding when a package arrived for Grinnel.

Grinnel is very excited but he's wondering who this package is from.  Grinnel doesn't get a lot of mail (or any mail for that matter) so this is exciting.

Little Fox, Easter Bunny and I noticed the package was from Sandy. 

What could it be?   Of course I could read the customs declaration but let's open this up.

Looks like we will need scissors. 

Wolfy is on it. 

Side note:  There was a lot of tape in this package.  Sandy packaged this well for travel to the US.  We had a hard time opening the box but us stuffies are a persistent bunch and conquered.

Grinnel looks super excited about his card.  It mentioned that he did a great job in the Art Deco contest and that he won the prize.

Little Bear decided to join the group. You can see he has his winter jacket on.  It's almost April, time to change your wardrobe Little Bear. 

Let's check out these snacks.    First, there is a candy bar called "Eat More".  It's a Canadian Bar (according to Wikipedia) and it's very popular in Canada.  Interestingly, a candy bar called "Eat More" sounds like something that should come the USA. It does have toffee, peanuts and chocolate (yum).

Next up is the famed All Dressed Chips.  These are hard to get in the USA as they only produce them once in a while.  In the USA they are labeled as "Canada's Favorite Flavor" and whenever the roommates go to Canada they always get them.  According to Wikipedia they were developed in Quebec in 1978 and were a hit from the beginning.  There is another company that makes a similar chip called "The Whole Shabang" but it's only made for the prison market. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chips-so-good-you-ll-have-go-jail-get-them-n648241

One prisoner described them this way: “The Whole Shabangs are a ray of sunlight in the very cloudy and drab existence that is prison,”

Other items in the gift bag are "Cheezies" made with Real Canadian Cheddar.  They are described as corn snacks but Grinnel doesn't mind because he loves Cheetos. Wikipedia says that these chips were developed by accident, well whatever the case it they look really good. 

Wolfy is holding a Coffee Crisp bar.   Coffee Crisp is a Canadian Candy Bar that is only sold in Canada and Australia.  There was an online petition to sell Coffee Crisp in the and it was  briefly sold it in the US but discontinued it in 2009.  Wikipedia states that "Canadian expatriates have long lamented the bar's relative unavailability outside Canada."  After tasting it, us stuffies can see why Canadian expats want it sold everywhere.

Thank you Sandy for the awesome gift box and thank you Canadian and US post office for getting it here in record time (8 days).