Oregon Trip - Post 7 - Troutdale History

This sign was located in the park behind the yellow rail car:

It says,

"Oregon History
Troutdale

This pioneer community, gateway to the Columbia Gorge, was settled in the 1850s. Cattle herds of early pioneers were driven to the nearby Sandy River from the Dalles while the emigrants rafted their wagons down the Columbia.
First known as Sandy, the present name came from fish ponds built by the town's founder, Capt. John Harlow. By the turn of the century, railroad and river commerce made Troutdale a noisy boom town boasting 'A tavern on each corner and one in the middle.'
Here in 1894 part of Coxey's Army, 500 unemployed demonstrators, commandeered a train in and attempt to reach Washington, D.C."

Oregon Trip - Post 4 - Bronze in the Park

Okay, here's the post about the other bronze sculptures in the park.


There were beautiful, thriving flowering plants hanging from every light post in town. Every morning, a pick-up truck with a water tank in the back would slowly cruise through town and stop at every flower. Alongside the water tank, there stood a man who hosed down every plant until the water dripped out the bottom.

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This sign says, "A Century Just Blew By:"


There were quite a few signs with historical information; I'll get to some of those later, but this Trout Statue sign will be the first:

These intertwined bronze trout are the focal point of the park:



Can you read this?

It says,
"Troutdale's
'Rainbow Splendor'
by
Rip Caswell
Captain John Harlow named his farm, and later Troutdale, for the trout he raised in a dale.
'In the rook bordered fish pond where the fountain was playing...' said Ben Hur Lampman, one of Oregon's most eloquent fisherman in 'Coming of the Pond Fishes.'
Generously donated to the City of Troutdale by: Richard L. Weyhrich, Gary A. Weyhrich, Mark D. Weyhrich, Karen A. Weyhrich, Tube Specialties Company, Inc."



These cute little kids I like better than the fish, though:

"Hitchin' a Ride" by Carolyn Williams



"Amanda Jane" by Carolyn Williams

Oregon Trip - Post 2

Okay, so I lied; I am not posting the bronze statue pictures right now.

I am posting this Cigar shop photo:


Cigar store, complete with:

A cigar store Indian!

I think they must bring him in at night, because he wasn't there the first time I walked past early in the morning. I bet he weighs quite a bit, but I suppose they figure he's not too heavy for a couple of motivated thieves to throw him in the back of their pick-up truck in the middle of the night.

Oregon Trip - Post 1

I have no idea how many Oregon posts there will be, but I'll start here.

I flew into Portland and stayed in Troutdale, about 10 miles east. I stayed in a box motel: brand-name, clean, basic, suburban.
Fine, but definitely nothing exciting.

The main street tourist business district, however, was pretty cool. It's a perfect example of what Grafton is heading towards, so I found it particularly interesting.

The first thing I took an interest in was this bronze casting gallery:


I would have stopped in for myself, but because my friend, Debbie, is starting to cast some of her creations in bronze, I was excited to see that they had tours of the foundry (is that the proper name for art casting?). Unfortunately, the tours were closed for remodeling, so I had to settle for the display Gallery.
The Gallery was hard to miss with this life-sized moose sitting on the sidewalk out front:





Inside there were more life-sized creatures:











Come to find out, Debbie has already been there. She even got the tour.

I have more pictures of bronze sculptures in the city park. I'll post those next....