'Stirring' up Memories

We have lots of things that can be considered 'icons' of the Museum. Our "curb appeal" icons include the covered wagon and tipi on the lawn closest to Myra Road qualify. We often refer to our 33-mule team, Shandoney hitch, and wooden Harris combine in Exhibit Hall 3 as stars of the show, and our life-size Lewis & Clark diorama, currently on view in Headquareters as it awaits a new backdrop mural to be installed in the new Entrance building. By the way, local artist Leslie Cain has been commissioned to do the new mural.

Various things on display obviously please some folks more than others, but a perennial favorite is the Territorial Prison display in Exhibit hall 5. As you walk through the old firehouse doors and past the circa 1900 American LaFrance fire engine, you'll see an actual pair of cells and the locking mechanism used to maintain security.

Many folks ... especially kids ... seem to like to take photos of their friends and family 'in stir.' In the letters we get from participants in our school tours, boys are inclined to pick the jail as their favorite display on the grounds. Boys, of course, will be boys.

In these warm days, consider the life of a prisoner. The cells are small and were occupied by at least two men. In the days before modern plumbing, restroom facilities consisted of a chamber pot: a bucket with a removable lid. This arrangement was emptied once a day by the prisoners. One can imagine the aroma building on a day such as this.

Next to the cells is a bit of the history of the prison and includes a selection of home-made weapons designed and crafted by the prisoners ... before they were confiscated.

Building Progress Report: Two steps forward, one step back ... I was once told that a couple building a home could expect enough stress in the building process to test the vialbility of their marriage. Well, we aren't married to the contractors, but you see the point, I'm sure. The lovely wood-look being applied to the exterior of the blockhouse entry did not meet the architect's specifications. To that end, we are trying our best to keep our new building from looking so much like a new building. When you consider that we are trying to enmulate an old fort, that makes sense ... the idea of trying to make the building appear as if it's already had a long life with lots of use.

Today's fotos, from the top: Washington State Penitentiary employee Alan Walter portrayed first Warden Frank Paine in the Living History Company ... that's him by the jail cells; Walla Walla Fire Department Captain Greg Van Donge portrays Walla Walla's first professional fireman Robert Wolf in the Living History Company, standing beside the American LaFrance pumper; an employee of Jim's Glass Copany repairs some broken glass on the firehouse doors from a windstorm in November, 2007. The doors are from the old station #4 that was on Rose Street, where the parking lot behind the City Building stands; a closer-up of the wood-look/no luck situation with the entry.

Wearin' o' the Green

Visitors to the Museum this time of year get to see the grounds in much of its radiant glory. Flowers are blooming everywhere and the cool shade from the large trees in the pioneer village offers a welcome respite from the day's bright sunshine.

Much work goes into making the grounds look so good. Jim, our Buildings and Grounds Manager, gets most of the credit, but he is ably assisted by a coterie of volunteers. Today, Wednesday, is lawn-mowing day. Visitors will not likely see this operation, as it is done in the early morning hours before we open. A gent from The City of Walla Walla Parks & Recreation Department climbs aboard the large machine and makes short work of things. The Museum rents this place acreage from the city and we are part of Fort Walla Walla Park. Our rental agreement includes lawn mowing and a few other odds 'n ends.

Our relationship with the city has proven to be highly productive. As we move forward with our construction, the city has stepped up big time with support. Perhaps the most obvious item to park visitors will be the outside-access only restroom on the new building's northeast corner. Park users will have access to the facility during early morning park hours and again in the evening. During the day, folks are invited to come indoors and use the Museum's restrooms. As a side note, ladies take notice: We heard you when you told us that restroom equity regarding the number of stalls was non-productive. In the new building, the women's restroom will be larger and have more stalls than the men's room. Both will have diaper-changing stations.

Come on out and see us. Jim has installed a couple of hummingbird feeders which proven to be very popular among our feathered friends. The Italian Herb Garden (a horticultural exhibit, along with our vineyard, in support of the Saturno Italian Farmstead) is getting productive, and the place just looks grand.

Building Progress Department: as I came into work this morning, I noticed that the crew was continuing work on the log-look to the entrway blockhouse.

Today's top-to-bottom photos include our pal Elaine Johnson at work in the Italian Herb Garden, the Fry family overlooking the Saturno homestead (you can see their kids rolling down the slope ... a major kid magnet, that hill!), a city worker mowing the lawn near our tipi, a view of the Headquarters (where the special exhibit Yesterday's Fashions is currently on view) from the construction site, and the log-look work on the entry of our new Entrance building.

No Place Like Home

After a week away from the desk communing with nature on Oregon's Metolius River and later, communing with my distant family in the hospital at Eugene, Oregon, I can report that truly, there is no place like home. My sister underwent semi-emergency surgery for an intestinal disorder and is recovering nicely, thank you very much. Also while my lovely wife and I were away, a friend may have delivered her first-born ... if so, congratulations Becky! On a more somber note, a member of our extended Museum family passed away ... adieu, Linda, whose celebration of life occurs today.

It is finally high summer in the Walla Walla Valley and the wheat harvest is in full swing. A small field across the road from the Museum was harvested in my absence, but given the prospects for development of that area, I thought last year might have been the last for urban wheat fields in my neighborhood. Nice to know that progress waited a little while for me to catch my breath.

Clear and sunny skies with cool nights makes the grapes perfect when it comes time to harvest them. I shall have to check on the progress of the Museum's own vineyard when I get caught up here. We grow a varietal known variously as 'Black Prince' or 'Cinseault.' I'm told that the name depends on whether you are a Francophile or an Anglophile, but the name may date to the days when the two European rivals disliked almost everything about each other. Whichever way, they are a delicious black, seeded grape suitable for either wine or the table. A local winery, Morrison Lane, sells a bottle of Cinseault (not our grapes) at its downtown tasting room at 4th and Main Streets. I may not write for Wine Spectator, but I highly recommend it.

In the meantime, progress continued on our construction project. Insulation has been put in place and interior plywood is now covering much of the framework. The drywall process began yesterday, too, as well as the first aspect of the 'log look' for the entryway blockhouse. I'll remind you that this is a community project and your help is greatly appreciated. We are still actively fund-raising on this project and seek support for such things as the orientation theater, children's hands-on stations, and other "naming opportunities." Call us at (509) 525-7703 if you'd like to participate as we carry the past into the future!

Today's photos, from the bottom up, include last year's wheat harvest across the road as one overlooks our vineyard, a sample of our grapes, a couple of shots showing the building of the log-look corner of the blockhouse, and a bit of the drywall.

Crossroads of America

In a Walla Walla history class I occasionally teach at Walla Walla Community College, I refer to regional Indian people gathering in the area where The Dalles, Oregon is today. Because it was a major trading point for Coastal, Great Basin, Plains and Columbia Basin tribes, I've referred to it as 'mall of America' to help get the point across: ... people came from all over to "buy, sell, swap, or trade" for those things they couldn't readily get closer to home.

Later history proved to be much the same, in that pioneers from all over the country wound up here rather than elsewhere. We seemed to attract a fair amount of immigration from all around the globe, too, as testified to by our local Italian heritage (three cheers for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion!), Die Russecke (Germans from Russia), and many others up to and including the present.

We seem to be carrying on that tradition at the Museum ... in just the past week, we've received travelers from Belgium, England, France, Austria, Germany, Australia, and Egypt as well as visitors from California, Idaho, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, New York, Indiana, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and, of course, Washington. Not bad for a week: seven countries and 23 states!

Each year we set ourselves an unofficial goal of receiving visitors from all 50 states. At this writing, we have only Mississippi left to record. That's sort of odd, in that in recent years chalking up visitation fro the relatively low population states from the distant northeast (Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island) has been the hardest. This year, the 'final four' were North Dakota, Kansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi. We also manage to record guests from 30 countries on average every year ... last year we set a record at 42.

If you pay attention to economics, these are important statistics. Visitors to the commmunity spend an average of $206 per person (according to Tourism Walla Walla's "black box" surveys). That's a lot of income into our region, which gets passed along about eight times before taxes make it disappear. Think of all that sales tax supporting streets, police, fire departments and more!

Construction progress: Yale Glass, under the supervision of general contractor Op & Seibold, installed glass in the back door and its adjacent windows. It looks pretty cool! Also, the final surface of the parking lot was laid and rolled.

Today's photos include, from the top: Operations Assistant Anne signs a beam in the new Entrance, inslide looking out at the new back door, a tour group from Walla Walla Community College learns about the blacksmith shop; and a Columbia River cruise tour bus delivers passengers to the Museum. I've also included a little video showing the parking lot work, below.

Smooth as a New Parking Lot!

We're doing land office business today! I'm not at all sure where that expression comes from or why it means that business is booming, but that's where we are today. It's kind of unusual for a Monday, but perhaps today's slightly cooler temperatures are encouraging people to venture forth. Whatever the reason, we're glad they chose us for visiting.

We work hard at reaching the public ... with a mission that demands that we engage in "...sharing the heritage..." it's our duty to bring artifacts (and their stories) and people together. How we do that is quite varied. First, our newsletter is sent either electronically or via 'snail mail' to our members. We also send out lots of news releases to various entities, including print, radio, and television. We try to reach travelers through our rack cards that appear in regional hotels/motels and B&Bs. We make appearances at community events like Farmers Market and the recent '4th of July in the Park.' We create posters that get distributed throughout the area. We take ads out in a variety of places. And for many folks, we keep up our web site and reach more folks with this blog.

Through it all, the one thing that reaches more people, at least in terms of where our visitors tell us they heard about the Museum is 'word of mouth.' I can testify that many of the people I meet at the Farmers Market tell me they have friends or relatives coming to town soon and they will likely bring those folks out to see the neighborhood treasure house. Many of our phone calls are folks asking us about our times of operation or rates of admission (10 am - 5 pm daily, April through October; $7/adults, $6/seniors (62+) and students, $3/ children 6-12, and FREE to members and kids under 6) because "my Dad's in town" or "my husband's family is visiting."

We also appreciate that unofficial cadre of ambassadors who help spread the good word by telling all theiur friends and family about the great time they had at Fort Walla Walla Museum. That amounts to a lot of people ... we are within three states (Kansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi) of receiving visitors from 50 states; last year we had a record 42 countries represented by our visiotrs. When people have a good time her, they often tell others. It never hurts to be from an excellent, friendly community, either.

Construction update: Last Friday the crew got our parking lot paved. Fresh blacktop looks pretty neat before anyone's driven on it and even before the lines are painted. Today's photos include (top to bottom) the smoothing of the black top; the first blacktop spread; John, Bunmee and their daughter Thaireen from Wales with their Walla Walla friend; Christina, baby Angel, Katherine & Kamika from Georgia; and Marc-Thomas & Urte with son Nicholas from Germany.

Here's something about blacktop, also known as asphalt, you may not know if you're much younger than me ... the term "tarmac," often heard when a person lands at an airport ... sometimes those greatly happy to be at the place will literally kiss the tarmac ... comes from an older expression, "tar macadam." John McAdam, a Scottish engineer/road builder, developed a process in 1816 now known as 'macadamization,' using crushed rock on a bed of larger rock to create a smooth surface and raised in the center for water run-off. It was the first major change in road construction since the days of the Roman Empire. In later years, an application of tar was used to bind it all together, thus tar macadam ... it was shortened to tarmac and is now used as a reference to any large, paved surface.

Sign Here, Please

Construction continues at a torrid pace, even in the torrid weather. We now have the final layer of roof application (we used to call them 'shingles'), siding is up in many places, frames are around the exterior windows, duct work is being fitted, electrical and plumbing are trying to keep from bumping into one another.

It's cool, to be sure. One of the features that will not be readily observable when all is completed is that the women's restroom is both larger than the men's and has more stalls. We heard you loud and clear on that front! Another interesting feature is a concrete 'pit,' perhaps 12 feet long by 3 feet wide. Several years ago while digging a utility trench in the area behind the Saturno Farmstead in our pioneer settlement, we came across and unearthed a handful of tombstones. As it turned out, we had found the 'midden pile' of an early-19th century re-alignment of the Fort's cemetery ... the stones we found were those that had been replaced with new, more uniform markers. As the unearthed stones represent a variety of sizes and shapes, the parts needing to be below the surface also vary. In order for a new display to showcase these items, they will be 'planted' according to the necessary depth, so all will appear to be 'even' at the surface.

In the recent past, we've enjoyed taking some of our many volunteers and supporters for a brief tour of the interior as it works itself into recognizable shape. We are just kids at heart, I do believe, in that signing the studs is way too much fun. Once the buidling is finished, these pearls will remain hidden for perhaps a hundred years, when some future Museum operation decides the building is in need of replacement. We get to have a mark on the future!

From the top: today's pictures show Sonja Biggs' signature, volunteer Jacque Brock signing an upright, the frame around a west-facing window, an elevated electrician, and a view of the siding and new roof covering south of the blockhouse. Stop by if you'd like an opportunity to see things up close and personal, but be prepared: as this is a construction site, there is a fair amount of noise and dust.

Building a Better Museum

There's a wonderful line in the movie Dances With Wolves, wherein
'Timmons,' the decidedly foul muleskinner, comes across the remains of a woman apparently killed by a war party. All we see is part of a skeleton and the feathers of an arrow. Timmons remarks, "I bet somebody back east is saying, 'Now why don't she write?!'" If you're wondering where I haven't written all this week, well, I was too busy for words ... literally!

Progress on the new Entrance building is apparent. As we are trying to go as 'green' as possible with the construction, you may notice that the new siding is Hardiplank ... fire resistant as well as great insulating value. As you can see in the photos, we are going with a fairly narrow style of siding, in keeping with that used 'back in the day.'

You can also see the beginnings of tarpaper on the roof ... that means there is a layer of strand board, a layer of insulating material, more strand board, the tarpaper, and eventually the shingles. Ain't nothin' gettin' through that roof ... nor will heat escape in winter. Should keep things from heating up too much in summer, as well.

No good photo of it, but the parking lot is rolled smooth as glass and ready for paving ... that will be an interesting improvement, parking right by the entrance! I made up for that lack by including the guy with the best hard hat. Who knew there were design elements in the world of helmet decorations?

The Museum will be open this weekend, though I'll be at the Farmer's Market on Saturday and James, our Director, (with volunteers Rod & Lois) will be at 4th of July in the Park (Pioneer Park) that same day. Don will be on the grounds making sure all runs smoothly this weekend, including Sunday's great Living History program featuring Shady Lawn Antiques proprietors Dave & Jill Emigh as pioneeer brewmasters John & Catherine Stahl.

Stop by and say hello!