Grant Me this Boon

Ah, grants ... without them we could not undertake nearly as much in the way of exhibits and programming as we have in recent years. Despite the popular misconception that grants represent "free money," keeping up with them is an extraordinary effort in record-keeping and tracking.

To that end, we recently received a slightly more than $52,000 grant from a federal source known as the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The first piece of understanding is that, for exhibit purposes, this is a large chunk of money for the Museum. Secondly, it does not come without 'strings,' in that we must match it with another $53,000 in funding and in-kind value and issue periodic reports as well as a final assessment.

This grant will assist in research, design, and installation of a new exhibit with the working title, Through War and Peace: American Military and the People of the Homeland Tribes. We aim to showcase the interconnectedness between the various aspects of armed forces, Euro-American settlers, and the Indian people whose traditional homeland happens to be where we call home today. We also plan to purchase several life-like mannequins and replica uniforms depicting various eras of occupation at Fort Walla Walla. Also to be installed will be items from our Indian artifact collection and Fort Walla Walla military items. Ahem ... it's going to be a L-A-R-G-E exhibit.

Taken separately, these components would yield an incomplete, possibly false story of the historic era from the days of Lewis & Clark (a military expedition) through the region's participation in World War II. The ramifications continue to this day and will likely into the foreseable future. The exhibit will be completed by April 1, 2011.

With a pair of grants from the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, we'll re-install our Lewis & Clark diorama and include a new backdrop mural by acclaimed local artist Leslie Cain. It will feature a view from across the Columbia River at the mouth of the Walla Walla River, the site of Yellept's village and and location of the 'elegant white horse' gift exchange.

Building Progress: I took a walk through and around the entire structure today. I can report that electrical outlets and plumbing fixtures will be coming along, as soon as the mudmen conclude their work ... which will be soon. I also managed a trip upstairs to the storage area that will be above the south end, restrooms, utility room, and public access study area. Being able to store useful items in a climate-controlled area close to exhibits will be a great step-saver for the Collections & Exhibits folks.

Today's photos, from the top: the stairwell into our upstairs storage area, a mudman working on the restrooms exterior, the Grand Hall as it appears from the west entrance (the 'back door'), and our Lewis & Clark diorama as it appeared in the now-departed Exhibit Hall 1.

It's YOUR Heritage, Too!

As darn near everyone in the world of not-for-profit enterprises [Fort Walla Walla Museum is a 501 (c) 3] will tell you, playing 'give-away' is mighty hard to do. We have a duty to be of public service and, out here on Myra Road in the beautiful Walla Walla Valley, we take that seriously.

Everyone should be able to connect with their heritage and for us that means folks who've lived here 'forever' (our Indian friends), those whose forebearers took up residence in the Frenchtown area during the 1820s (retirees from Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla and their Indian and Metis families), scions of the earliest pioneer families, and those who arrived yesterday on their own migratory passages. If you live here, the heritage belongs to you.

Cost should not be the determinant in making the connection. We offer free family passes to a wide variety of social service agencies including BMAC, Children's Home Society, Lillian Rice Center, Christian Aid Society, YWCA, and others. We also partner with area schools to provide free admission for families whose economic challenges may preclude a Museum visit. Beyond that, we've offered our most recent book, Soldiers, Pioneers and Indian People, to schools and libraries throughout the region without cost to them.

We also contribute to some worthy causes. We get asked periodically to assist various entities' fundraisers. When appropriate, we're happy to comply. We had the opportunity to meet the winners of a "Walla Walla Get-Away" yesterday when they brought their free passes to the Museum. The passes were part of a package that included lodging, dinner, and a pair of winery tastings. As they are still traveling (and fairly far from home), I'll forego providing their point of origin, lest the criminal element of their home turf find those empty homes an easy mark.

They are having a wonderful time, especially enjoying the warm weather currently underway. It feels good to invite people to our hometown and see them enjoy it so well. Tourism is a key component of the local economy and the Museum's visitors, according to a variety of statistics, contribute about $2.5 million annually. That's just another way we work to 'preserve and share the heritage of the Walla Walla region.'

Building progress: After being away for a few days, I can see progress has been made. The main entries (front and back) have been boarded up, primarily to cut the dust for the mudders completing drywall work. The wood aspect of the log-look entry is also complete. Yesterday I noticed a workman installing frames around the six bathroom windows ... the windows will supply welcome light to both the men's & women's restrooms. Note: we heard our female advisors loud and clear~ their are four stalls in the womens, as opposed to just two in the men's. Perhaps equality means an equal time waiting for an unoccupied space.

Today's photos include the visiting gropup as they mug for the camera in our Ewe Guessed It: Woolen Goods from the Walla Walla Region special exhibit on display through September 7 and the blockhouse entry. The young lady is a French girl I met at the Farmer's Mrket last Saturday. She enjoyed playing with our 'demo' Jacobs Ladder toy that she's holding, as well as the cup 'n ball game we keep on hand for kids just like her. She and her family were nice folks, visiting their American family ... made me wish I knew more French beyond 'bon jour!'

We have a new exhibit about to open (this Friday) featuring primarily woolen goods from our part of the world. Wool, of course, comes from sheep and I thought to illustrate the media release I wrote with some photos. I included a few sheep photos from our collection and another featuring one of our stellar volunteers, Adele Ganguet, standing beside one the sheep wagons in the Museum's collection. Adele's family were sheep people, so it was a fitting shot.

Sheep wagons are pretty cool. Whether one wants to assign the title of 'first RV' to them, conestogas, or some earlier incarnation ... how far back might 'gypsy' wagons go? ... they are along the evolutionary trail to our modern mobile homes and recreational vehicles.

Sometimes solitary, sometimes a couple or a pair of folks, often Basque sheepmen in the 'old days, the sheep wagon was a true 'home on the range' for its inhabitants. Besides the flock, a sheepman's company might have been no more than the horse pulling the wagon and his faithful (yet working) dog.

A little stove on which to cook and to keep warm in cool weather, a place to store food and extra clothes, a set of utensils, some tools of the trade, and a bed. Not a lot, but perhaps that was the point ... not everyone fares well when removed from the human flock.

In the Museum's 'Jo-So' sheep wagon ... named for the Jussaud family, one of whose descendants, 'Jo' Winn, sits on our Board Directors ... one can spot a small guitar. I was reminded of cowboys riding night herd singing their 'cow lullabyes' to their charges. perhaps sheepmen were inclined to perch on a nearby rock in order to strum and sing for their flocks by night, too. Maybe a little music helps keep the dark at bay through the long, lonely hours.

The new exhibit, entitled Ewe Guessed It: Woolen Goods of the Walla Walla Region, looks to be worth seeing as Collections Manager Laura and her volunteers are moving beyond the staging phase into installation this morning. Though largely a textile exhibit, there will be several items never before displayed by the Museum and a number of items distinctly not apparel. Come on out and see it ... it will run from August 14 through September 7.

Building Progress: The drywall is almost entirely in place and my early morning visit to the site showed me the 'mud men' at work. I noticed a fully wired electrical socket and work continues on the log-look of the blockhouse entry.

Today's photos include Adelle by a sheep wagon; the interior of the 'J0-So' sheep wagon; a 'mudder' plying his trade; and a pair of images of the blockhouse entry. Sheep were once almost as plentiful as the grass around here. At some point in the future, the future, the Museum will explore that heritage in more depth in a gallery entitled Where Sheep May Safely Graze. Enjoy!

Down in the Village

There's always something worthwhile to see in Fort Walla Walla Museum's pioneer settlement. For many years, we've used a pair of props for 'curb appeal' ... trying to snag those drivers passing by on Myra Road and lure them into to a Museum visit. Apparently it works; our statistics show that signage and related items are key reasons visitors cite as the reason for their being here. The props ... meaning that they are not artifacts ... are our covered wagon and our tepee.

Regional Indian people made use of local building materials before the arrival of the horse in the 1730s. At that time, annual trips across the mountains to the buffalo country of what is now Montana began to take place; the original tule mat lodges were replaced with buffalo skin tepees. After the destruction of the great buffalo herds, canvas replaced animal hides. The Columbia Plateau-style tepee consists of 19 22-to-25-foot poles and a heavy mass of canvas. Traditionally, tepees were erected by a band’s women, who worked with each other to get a community’s portable housing put up in short order. Tepees were generally considered the property of the homemakers. Getting the poles nested in the right sequence is no easy task; it takes quite a bit of experience to get things just right. Doing it alone is extremely difficult. I tried this once upon a time at a Columbus Quincentenary event in 1992 on the Crow Indian Reservation ... the tribal elders found our efforts to be hilarious.

The Museum acquired the tepee from Old West Tipis of Lapwai, Idaho several years ago. According to company owners Dr. Steve Evans and his wife Connie, a full-blood Nez Perce Tribal member, Plateau-style teepees differ from their Plains cousins in several ways. The doorways are not oval, but a kind of upside down ‘U’ with no closure pins at the bottom. The vent flaps are typically shorter and the backs tend to be steeper. You can learn more from Old West Tipi’s website, www.oldwesttipis.com/

The tepee’s poles are assembled in an open nest-like pattern, then the canvas is draped over the frame. Tie-downs and final touches that ensure a realistic portrayal complete the job.

More next time about the 'prairie schooner.'

Building progress: The new version of the log-look entry is progressing. In an effort to keep the new building from looking too much like a new building, the architect has included several ideas to make things look as though the structure has been in place for many a year, much akin to an old military post. For instance, on the back side, a pair of window frams are in place, though no windows will admit light into the interior. Imagine a fort having a building in place but the commander has a new use for the structure ... the windows might be removed, though the frames left in place and the hole boarded up. Another notion is to give the log-look ends of the entry blockhouse a 'nock' on the ends, much like a log cabin would have looked (see the Ransom Clark Cabin in the village).

Today's pics, from the top: two images of Jim and Carol Kirk (Carol's an enolled member of the Confederated Umatilla Tribes) help direct the Museum's crew in erecting the tepee earlier this season; three images of the blockhouse entry.