Dispatch from Florence, Oregon Text, photographs and web design by Erik Gauger
My camping stove just blew up, and it’s spraying fire all over the campsite. I’ve hauled Jane back down to the Central Oregon Coast…And I’m supposed to be cooking her a Native Oregon meal.
This is not the first time. With shovels and permits and low tide, we’ve scoured the coast. Each time, we try harder, we face further disappointment. But giving up is not an option.
In the early summer of 2006, my brother and I found an old Native American hunting site in Oregon’s desert, and we asked ourselves questions about the people who might have made the stone tools we found there. When those answers proved missing in bookstores and libraries, I realized I needed to unfold Oregon’s native prehistory myself.
It makes sense to start everything here on the Oregon coast – since the first Americans came to the hemisphere along these very shores. It could be said that the Northwest coast is the one American place from which this hemisphere’s natives came.
Kalaloch, Washington The Barnacles of Kalaloch This narrative explores the role of that ancient animal, the barnacle in the tidepool waters of Kalaloch beach on the Olympic Peninsula.
Neah Bay, Washington The Artist and the Whale Hunter forever shrouded in a thick fog and a light drizzle, as if from a plane you could never know it was there.
Portland, Oregon Bluegrass in Cascadia An adventure through Portland and its rapidly changing view of itself and the outside world.
Cental Coast, Oregon Umpqua Dunes Genesis Part III of the Oregon Testament. My attempts to learn about Oregon's native prehistory begins with an explosion, and some success. We discuss the origins of Native Americans in Oregon, and why the coast is the perfect place to begin this project.
Coastal Ranges, Oregon Foraging Nehalem Valley Part IV of the Oregon Testament. Glowing Mushrooms, deer-meat, stone and a Portland underworld creating a world based on old ways.
Support the Mission
Donate via Paypal Donations help defray the cost of large format film and other website expenses. Help keep Notes from the Road alive.
