McGowan, February 12, 2012

     We’ve been watching the ever-so-slowly-changing landscape near St. Mary’s church at McGowan for a good many years now – maybe since the beginning of this millennium.  Early on there were signs concerning the site’s importance to the Lewis and Clark story.  Then, plans were made to develop a park.
     But, almost before it began, all work stopped when archeologists found “abundant physical evidence to support the importance of the site as a Chinook trade village.”  Duh!  It seems to me that such a ‘discovery’ should have been a no-brainer.  Surely, those in charge knew well before the first plan was put to paper that the Chinooks had lived there long before Lewis and Clark’s arrival.  Local history is full of references to an early village there.  Even I, in my book K is for Kidnapping the County Seat, wrote:
     In 1850, a surveyor named Washington Hall settled in the midst of a Chinook Indian village located on the north side of the Columbia River near Point Ellice just across from Astoria.  He took out a Donation Land Claim encompassing the tribal lands and called his town Chinookville.  As a money-making venture, Hall fenced off the stream running through the old village site, allowing the residents fresh water only if they purchased land or a supply of whiskey from him.
     I guess I just don’t “get” why a spot where Lewis and Clark’s expedition spent two weeks merits an Act of Congress and the appropriation of millions dollars while the Chinooks, whose fishing village had probably been there for centuries, can’t even get federal recognition for their tribe.  Once again, history is all about us.  Nevertheless, my hat is off to all of the folks who have been working on this project for so many years.  Their vision, both ahead and back, is obviously far clearer than mine, to say nothing of their perseverance and patience.
     Now it appears there is forward movement once again on the park project.  In the intervening years, the original plans – which included relocating the highway – have been readjusted, presumably to protect “Middle Village” which is what the Chinook site is now being called.  The highway is staying where it is and it looks as though an attempt is being made to create the illusion of a driftwood littered shoreline along its northern edge.
     The other day, as we drove toward Astoria, the sand from those fake dunes was blowing over the highway toward the riprap along the river.  And it wasn’t even stormy out – just a bit breezy.  ‘No Trespassing’ signs appeared on the driftwood later that afternoon and we assumed that it wasn’t just the sand that had been disappearing.
     Yesterday we noticed the sturdy-looking trestle that has been erected on the site. Maybe the foundation for an eventual viewing platform?  Watching the progress almost-but-not-quite makes me want to journey more frequently from Oysterville to McGowan… er… Station Camp?  Chinookville?  Middle Village?