Author Archives: Jim

About Jim

Love to spend time getting lost in the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest with Zoe, my Siberian Husky.

Salmonberry Trail Agency gains traction at Feb 5th meeting.

STIA makes progress: After a bit of a slow start at the December 11th meeting, the Salmonberry Trail Inter-governmental Agency (STIA) hit the ground running at their February 5th meeting. Two issues dominated the discussion: The question of how land … Continue reading

Posted in Salmonberry Trails, Trails, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Metro: Stop banning dogs from our regional parks!

In 1995 and again in 2006 Metro proposed two bond measures to acquire land for future parks. Portlanders enthusiastically supported these acquisitions. Unbeknownst to most of us, the Metro Council then took the unusual step to ban all dogs from … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Columbia Trails, Misc Trails & Trips, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency hesitates at first meeting.

Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency stalls at first meeting. Over the last year and a half the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the Oregon  of Parks and Recreation Department (OPTD) have been laying the groundwork to establish an interagency task … Continue reading

Posted in Salmonberry Trails, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

What’s up with building the Salmonberry Trail?

It’s been several months since I have posted any significant new additions to this site. The reason for my absence? I was totally engrossed in completing the manuscript for my next book, “Trails and Tails – Exploring Oregon’s North Coast … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Columbia Trails, Salmonberry Trails, Trails, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Excerpt from coming book on NW Oregon: What was Illahee?

Some of you may be aware that I am writing a book about trails between Portland and the Coast for the Oregon University Press that will probably be released in early 2016. As part of that exercise, I have been … Continue reading

Posted in Indian lore, Lower Columbia Trails, Pioneer Lore | 4 Comments

The river that connects us; the river that divides us.

My fascination with history derives from the fact that in immersing myself in the accounts of long gone days, I am occasionally confronted with perspectives and insights that literally twist our world around. Today the landscape near the confluence of … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Columbia Trails, Railroads, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Tales from the Salmonberry River

Tales from the Salmonberry River There is a 21-mile long canyon that cuts through the heart of the Oregon Coast Range from Washington County to Nehalem Bay. It is a wild and violent place where brutal storms, fresh off the … Continue reading

Posted in Coastal Trails, Railroads, Salmonberry Trails | 2 Comments

Moonshining along the Lower Columbia River.

Usually the banks of the Nehalem river are the very picture of pastoral peace and quiet, especially down on the old Warren Smith Farm near Pittsburg. In particular, the chickens sauntering around their pen in the small clearing along the … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Columbia Trails, Misc Trails & Trips, Moonshine Trails and Tales, Pioneer Lore, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Kerfuffle in the St. Helens Schoolyard.

When Judge McBride became the St. Helens schoolmaster in 1866, the school was a  low-slung log cabin located alongside a swamp which, according to the pupils, “was prolific of green slime, mosquitoes and ague”. At the time, St.Helens had only … Continue reading

Posted in Animal lore, Lower Columbia Trails, Pioneer Lore, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Be careful what you ask for.

In the mid- 1800’s when the settlements on the lower Columbia River and in the Nehalem Valley were just beginning to proliferate, it was the practice to bring in a preacher to officiate at local marriages – and thus the … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Columbia Trails, Pioneer Lore, Uncategorized | 1 Comment