Dave Knows Portland

Archives for March 2011

Jonathan Bloom talks about American Wasteland at Powell’s (10-March-2011)

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Writer Jonathan Bloom is in Portland today to promote his new book: American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do about It).

American Wasteland chronicles how we waste food from farm to fork and examines the impact of our squandering. With an upbeat tone, the book offers suggestions on how we—as a nation and as individuals—can trim our waste. A word of warning: It’s a book that forces you to reconsider your approach to food. Because once you’re looking for food waste, it’s hard to miss.

He will be appearing tonight at Powell’s on Hawthorne (3723 SE Hawthorne) at 7:30pm to discuss and sign copies of his book.

Jonathan blogs about the same topic at Wasted Food. A few years ago he blogged about a visit to Portland’s Reed College, home to an infamous, and arguably virtuous, scrounging culture.

Hat tip Katy at The Non-consumer Advocate

March 10, 1957: Celilo Falls Submerged

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Celilo FallsFor thousands of years Celilo Falls, a string of water falls on the Columbia, were a bountiful fishing ground for the Native Americans who clustered their communities around them, and an impressive sight.

The riverbed of the Columbia narrowed to a mere forty feet across, and the river dropped over eighty feet within a half mile. Not a fun situation for boats, but a great situation for fishermen who erected scaffold perches over strategic spots and benefited from the multitude of disoriented salmon, lamprey, and sturgeon.

The nine mile stretch of Celilo Falls lies about twelve miles east of where The Dalles is now, but you can’t see it any more (unless you have the right sonar equipment). In the 1950s the Army Corp of Engineers began building The Dalles Dam, to generate electricity and make that stretch of the river navigable. On March 10, 1957 the dam held back the water and the falls disappeared in the rising water.

7th Planet Picture Show: Fortress (10-March-2011)

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FortressInspired by MST3K, the 7th Planet Picture Show, takes place every Thursday at 7pm at the Mount Tabor Theater (4811 SE Hawthorne).

The film for Thursday, March 10, 2011 is the 1992 futuristic prison movie, Fortress!

Elements of Orwellian science-fiction and old-fashioned prison dramas are combined in this futuristic action film, as an unjustly imprisoned couple attempts to escape from a high-tech jail known as The Fortress. The Fortress is the tool of a repressive government, an imposing, computerized hell, featuring lasers for cell bars, robot guards, computerized brainwashing, and the like. Still, some things never change, including the presence of an evil warden, who harasses the pretty wife while her husband frantically searches for a way out. The special effects and design work are effective, particularly in comparison to the film’s modest budget, but the story will undoubtedly seem disappointingly predictable to many viewers. Nevertheless, the film’s blend of competent (if unoriginal) action and technology proved enough of a draw to make the film a financial success internationally, though it received little notice in the United States.

Show is free, but there’s an entirely optional suggested donation of $5. There’s a bar too, so you must be 21 and over to attend!

March 9, 1847: First Post Office West of the Rockies Opens in Astoria

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Update: @ChrisHarley on Twitter pointed to this nifty video visualizing US expansion through post offices by Derek Watkins, which makes it unclear whether Astoria, Oregon City, or Salem served as home to the first post office west of the Rockies. Oregon City shows up first in the lookup tool hosted by the US Post Office: March 29, 1847. The same tool shows Salem’s post office established on November 8, 1849. But Salem Online History suggests Salem’s was established in 1846, though no day and month is specified. Meanwhile Earliest Oregon Postoffices as Recorded at Washington (by Lewis A. McArthur in the Oregon Historical Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 1 – March 1940), which used as its source Book 19 of “a series of volumes in the office of the Division of Postmasters’ Appointments at the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C.”, shows the establishment dates as follows:

  1. Astoria: March 9, 1847, with John M. Shively first postmaster
  2. Oregon City: March 29, 1847, with David Hill postmaster
  3. Salem: November 8, 1849, with John B. McClane postmaster

Plaque commemorating Astoria post office

 

Astoria's First Post OfficeThe first U.S. Post Office west of the Rocky Mountains opened in Astoria, Oregon on March 9, 1847.

But more interesting than the post office building (pictured), is the man who served as the first postmaster.

Oregon pioneer John Shively had settled in Astoria in 1844 but was kicked out by the Hudson’s Bay Company after a property boundary dispute. In 1847 he was living in Washington D.C. when he was appointed postmaster of the new Astoria post office by the U.S. Postmaster General.

Somewhat of a flighty fellow, he served in that capacity only until 1849, when the draw of newly discovered gold in California became too strong. In 1850 he returned to Astoria, assuming he could reclaim his job (he lost all his gold rush earnings in a shipwreck), but another fellow had taken the job in his absence. Shively did okay though, he got jobs as county surveyor and road commissioner, and after chasing a southern Oregon gold rush he returned once again to Astoria a relatively wealthy man.

Read more about John Shively’s shenanigan-filled life at the Oregon Encyclopedia.