Prineville/Bend

First a correction to the previous post.  The wise son has corrected the erroneous mother:

This area in central Oregon is its own unique volcanic site.  Wonderful and unique formations abound.  We started with a drive to Fort Rock which is known as tuff, volcanically created. The basalt magma was pushed up above the surroundings and the mouth eventually collapsed forming the familiar volcanic crater. The volcano’s vent was in the middle of basin, which in the past was large freshwater lake. Over time, the lakes waves etched the side of the tuff, creating the shear exterior walls and eventually eroding part of the tuff. As the lake dried up under the arid conditions of central Oregon, the circular tuff with a missing arc took on the appearance of a military fort, thus the aptly name, Fort Rock.  Climbing into it provides a closeup view of the steep walls.  Sand and dirt trapped by the walls now provide soil for plants to grow and the windblown holes in the rocks offer nest sites for birds and animals.


Moving closer to the full eclipse area, we relocated to Prineville.  There is a lot to see and do in this area but first we had to have lunch.  At Diego’s in Redmond we enjoyed delicious Mexican food served by an excellent server.  Then we drove to the High Desert Museum in Bend.  This is a very well presented nature and history museum telling the story of the local area.  We joined a tour of Journey through Time.  As the docent explained the development and history of central Oregon we looked at exhibits of artifacts from ancient to rather recent times, from pre-human, through the native peoples, to the attention brought by the Lewis and Clark expedition.

 With the discovery of gold, the area was radically changed.  Boom towns filled with Easterners and foreigners seeking their fortunes through mining or merchandizing.

An outdoor exhibit and raptor discussion featured a great horned owl.  It was explained that he was an efficient hunter who enjoyed bits of small rodents for his meals.  His eyes are part of enormous orbits in his skull and he has asymmetrical ears used for locating food.

One of the exhibits in the Journey through Time was of a Chinese store and healing establishment.  We learned that the real building is further east in John Day so we headed that way next.  The lovely drive is through vast farmland and rocky peaks.

John Day was a gold rush town that attracted Chinese men who had worked on the railroads and now joined the rush for gold. There was a nearby town where the Chinese first settled but, when Chinatown burned, the locals did not allow the Chinese to rebuild so they moved a few miles to John Day.  At  its height, the population consisted of about 1500 Chinese and 500 Caucasians.  Long Ho, a merchant, and Doc Hay, a healer were the last of the Chinese in the town.  Their home/work establishment, Kam Wah Chung (Golden Flower of Prosperity) is now part of the Oregon State Park system and is a National Historical Landmark .  Today it is open for free, small group tours.

Long and Hay earned esteemed positions within the community.  Ho died and later Hay became ill.  He moved to Portland for treatment with the intent of returning but he never did.  He died in 1948 but the building the men shared for work and home was securely locked and remained with its contents intact. It was deeded to the Oregon State Parks in 2000.  The building was reopened and was discovered to be a time capsule since the contents were totally undisturbed from when it was locked up by Hay.

The building is divided into work and living rooms.  The entrance is through Long’s general store where cans and bottle still fill the shelves.

One corner of the store contains the Chinese medicines Hay used on his patients.  The herbs and animal parts were noted for their bad smell and taste.  He was a pulseologist who would diagnose
the ailments based on the patient’s pulse then prepare the remedy from herbs, etc.

These bear paws would be finely ground into a healing powder.

This was Doc Hay's bedroom.  Note the meat cleaver on the nightstand.  Chinese were not allowed to own firearms so Hoe kept this for protection.

 Another room contains bunk beds (four persons to a bed) for those needing shelter.  The cost was five cents per night.

The kitchen is in the same room as the beds.  There was always food for guests cooking in the wok.

 

 The shrine was next to the stove.

 In addition to the general store, Long owned a car dealership, gas station, land, mines and race horses.  Long’s bedroom was built as an addition to the original building.  He frequently came in late at night after gambling, drinking and using opium.

During the process of getting the building ready for public view, workers found $23,000 worth of uncashed checks stuffed into Long's bed.    Long did not cash them because he felt the signers needed the money more than he did.

When the building was being prepared as a museum, 90 bottles of liquor were found buried under the floor.  Speculation is that it was hidden during Prohibition.
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We next went to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument where we joined another tour through time.  Murals and fossils from 60 million years ago to now show the evolution of the land and the animals.  This skull is from an animal known as the "Hell Pig".  It was about six feet tall and weighed over 3,000 pounds.

We stopped at Kimberly for local farm goods and ended our day with delicious yogurt from Yo Central.