Trivia Time!

 

* We here in the Pacific Northwest do love our often-immense Douglas Fir trees. Did you know that this tree was named for David Douglas, born in Scone, Scotland, in 1799? This famous botanist arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River in April 1825 and during the next two years he traveled up the Columbia, Snake and Okanogan rivers, some 4000 miles. Why? He was noting, comparing, gathering and preparing specimens for shipments back to London. In July 1834 he was on the island of Hawaii, planning to walk the 100 miles to Hilo. He met his death on July 12th by falling into a rock-walled pit, built to trap wild bulls. Unfortunately there was also in the pit an angry bull. There is a small monument on the spot but today it is rather inaccessible.

* Did your ancestors come from Alsace-Lorraine? Where is this, Germany or France? Alsace-Lorraine is a region in the northeastern part of France, located on the border with Germany. The small area covers only about 12,000 square miles of territory. Switzerland lies to the south and Luxembourg to the north. For hundreds of years, the inhabitants of this territory have been part German and part French. The area has seen wars of conquest many times beginning about 300A.D. Both France and Germany sparred over ownership of the area but after World War II the region became part of France.

* Ever been to a podunk  town? A common implication of Podunk is that it's a place so dreary and remote that it's not even worth situating on a map. One of the most famous people to refer to Podunk was Mark Twain, who in 1869 wrote that a certain fact was known even "in Podunk, wherever that may be." Would you guess that there was a town originally known as Podunk in Washington? Yepper, tiz so. On the Lewis River, sixteen miles north of Vancouver is the bitsy town of LaCenter. John Pollock claimed a homestead there in 1865 and folks have lived there ever since. Early on, the only access to the town was via the river for there were no roads. Do you know anybody from Podunk? (There are also towns by that name in Connecticut, Michigan, Vermont, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New York. Now you're ready for Jeopardy!)

David Douglas Visited (What Is Now) Stevens County

David Douglas was born in 1799 in Scotland and died in 1834 in Hawaii. In between he traveled all over Canada and the Pacific Northwest; our majestic Douglas Fir tree, with its unique feathery cones, was named for him.

In author Jack Nisbet's book about David Douglas, The Collector, he described a "Stevens County" travel:

"Early the third morning, as the men crested the divide between the Colville and Spokane drainages, the woods opened up to offer 'one of the most sublime views that could possibly be, of rugged mountains, deep valleys, and mountain rills' The switch from mixed coniferous forest to the drier, more open habitats of bunchgrass and Ponderosa Pine appealed to Douglas. The trail wound down to the Spokane River (near present-day Tum Tum) then followed grassy benches upstream to its confluence with the Little Spokane. There, in the summer of 1810, Jaco Finlay, working as an emissary of David Thompson, had constructed the fur post known as Spokane House. ..... On the pleasant spring day that Douglas rode into Spokane House, the 58-year-old Finlay received his guest with a meal of camas, bitterrott, and cakes of black tree lichen....." 

There is your spotlight on Eastern Washington history for today. Hope you enjoyed it!