Explore the Lore

There's more to Oregon than can fit into any one museum. The regions and people have their own stories, some of which get overlooked in a broad, sweeping view of the state's history. These stories-of Chinese herbalists, Indian chiefs, pioneers and boatmen-find their voice in a sprinkling of offbeat, cozy heritage museums across Oregon.

Kam Wah Chung Museum
Deep in the heart of Eastern Oregon's cattle country, in the town of John Day, sits an unlikely museum. It's not about pioneers, cowboys or even the hilly area's fossil hunters. It's a Chinese time capsule, with a glimpse into the lives of Lung An and Ing "Doc" Hay, two of the town's most colorful residents.

Kam Wah Chung, meaning "land of golden opportunity," was the name of a store the men operated in a stone trading post built in 1866. Originally, it served the large population of Chinese laborers who helped build the railroad and mine for gold. But soon everyone from miles around shopped there for groceries and for Chinese herbal remedies.

Now a state heritage site and park, the store operated from 1871 through the 1940s. Twenty years after the men died, the small building was reopened in 1977. Everything was just as Lung An and Doc Hay had left it: 500 boxes of Chinese herbs stacked on the shelves, bat wings and bear paws on the counter, tins of food in the storeroom, Doc's slippers were lined up under his bed and his Chinese shirts hung from nails on the wall.

There are shrines in every room and inscriptions at each doorway. The characters painted on the door to Doc Hay's simple bedroom translate, "A humble home hopes for wealth."

The museum is open May through October, from 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m. Admission: $3, adults; $2.50, seniors; $1.50, youth 6 to 16; 5 and under, free. Ing Hay Way, John Day; 541-575-0028, or visit http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_8.php

Columbia River Maritime Museum
Long before Lewis and Clark discovered the overland route to the Pacific Ocean, explorers from England, Spain and the American colonies were sailing along Oregon's shores. It was a trader from Boston, Capt. Robert Gray, who was the first to sail into the river he named after his ship, the "Columbia Rediviva."

The date of that event, May 11, 1792, takes on great importance at this Astoria museum overlooking a broad expanse of the Columbia River. The building's address on Marine Drive is 1792, of course. And on May 11, 2002, the newly renovated museum celebrated its 40th anniversary and 20 years at the current site.

Starting from the days of the early explorers, the museum traces the river's history to the present, with the once-bustling fish canning industry just a memory. Now the focus is on river navigation and the vital rescue work of the local U.S. Coast Guard station.

In a new exhibit, an actual 44-foot motor lifeboat appears to be caught on a 30-foot wave during a raging ocean storm. Rumbling sound effects, flashing lights and even a spray of seawater place the visitor in the heart-stopping center of action.

Admission includes a tour of the lightship Columbia, now moored next to the museum. Until an automated buoy replaced the floating lighthouse, Columbia's mighty beam and foghorn marked the entrance to the river. The museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $8, adults; $7, seniors; $4, youth 6-17; 5 and under, free. 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria; 503-325-2323 or visit www.crmm.org

Applegate Trail Interpretive Center
This Sunny Valley museum might never have existed if Betty Gaustad hadn't bought a farm intersected by the Applegate Trail, an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.

When she began inquiring about the pioneer implements still strewn across her property, she learned about the 200 people who in 1846 steered their covered wagons to follow the Applegate brothers, Jesse and Lindsay.

Encouraged by her mother and assisted by her brother and daughter, Gaustad built a 5,500-square-foot museum to house the artifacts she and her neighbors had gathered. But this is no cluttered collector's closet. Gaustad hired top professionals to produce a superb introductory video and to create dramatic exhibits that depict the pioneers' arduous journey.

Gaustad acted on her belief that the Applegates hadn't received proper credit. After losing their 9-year-old sons (they were cousins) during the treacherous Columbia River stretch of the Oregon Trail, the brothers set out to find a safer route for pioneer families. Three years after their own journey West, they blazed a new trail entering the Willamette Valley from the south. The trail crossed Gaustad's farm just a few miles north of what is now the city of Grants Pass.

The museum is open daily, except for Nov. 15 to March 15, when it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $5.95, adults; $4.95, seniors and youth 13-18; 12 and under, free. 500 Sunny Valley Loop, Sunny Valley; 888-411-1846 or visit www.rogueweb.com/interpretive

Umpqua Discovery Center
Located on the Umpqua River, near Smith River and the Pacific Ocean, this museum focuses on the constant ebb and flow of the tide that sets the rhythm of life in Reedsport and other coastal tidewater towns.

Strolling through the new, award-winning exhibit, "Tidewaters and Time," visitors get a feel for a tidal sensibility that has determined the way of life here since the time of the Kuuich Indians.

Near the entrance to the exhibit, a plank house, handcrafted by members of local tribes, shelters artifacts and a storytelling diorama featuring the recorded voice of a woman speaking the nearly extinct Kuuich language. Local birds, recorded in the area, chirp in the background.

Following the history of the Lower Umpqua region, exhibits featuring video and audio recordings and artifacts tell of the fur trapping, lumber and salmon cannery industries that once flourished here. In a setting from a century ago, the Tidewater Town offers a glimpse into daily life, with peeks into the general store and milliner's, and conversations overheard at the barbershop.

The opening of the museum in 1993 was a community effort, with most of the artifacts donated by townsfolk. Some also posed for murals and recorded their personal reminiscences.

The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $5, adults; $4.50, seniors; $3, youth 6-15; 5 and under, free. 409 Riverfront Way, Reedsport; 541-271-4816 or visit www.harborside.com/~discover

The Museum at Warm Springs
In the 1960s, elders of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation began an acquisition program to collect and buy back ancestral treasures held in private collections and institutions. The museum, which opened in 1993, is the storehouse for those treasures and a place where tribal members and visitors alike can learn about the heritage of the Wasco, Warm Springs and Paiute tribes of the Central Oregon reservation.

Even the architecture pays tribute to the Native American way of life. One section takes the shape of a teepee; another, a longhouse. The lobby, with its log pillars and slate floor, brings to mind a tree-shaded river.

Visitors begin by learning the essentials of life that have been carried from generation to generation: song, story, family tradition and reverence for the earth and nature's bounty. Implements of daily life, as well as beautifully beaded garments and artfully woven baskets, help tell the story in dioramas.

Clashes with cavalry and the culture-crushing experience of boarding schools were the low points of these peoples' history. Now visitors see their pride in an autonomous tribal structure and many economic successes.

The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $6, adults; $5, seniors; $4.50, students; $3, youth 5 to 12; under 5, free. Highway 26, Warm Springs; 541-553-3331 or visit www.ctws.org/museum"