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Two Museums and a B & BOne day we drove into John Day (the town) to get a restaurant meal, see the sights and, best of all, stay in an actual tourist establishment with running water--hot, and of a sufficient quantity to take a shower. Gordon told us later--when we said the accommodations were okay, but we would like a fire pit and a shower--that there was a shower in the barn. We saw the shower head, but did not experiment with the water. Probably would have been bitten in the ninnies by the giant owl if we had tried it. Anyway we drove through town several times, and on out east to Prairie City, trying to call the Riverside School House B & B where Jeffi, Sheila and I had stayed last year, stopping at the Strawberry Mountains B & B where they were nice and had a vacancy but cost too much and being pretty much turned off by all the strip-mall-style motels in town. We were tired of wandering around and getting more stressed and more in need of showers by the minute when someone mentioned the Sonshine B & B right by the park and also by one of the museums we wanted to visit. When we stopped there, the delightful owner, Carolyn, told us sadly that they were full, but made several phone calls for us and eventually decided that since her semi-permanent roomer was on a trip, maybe she could rent us his room. Contacted on his cell phone, he said, fine, so we were set. "Give me a while to change the linen and clean up," she said. So we walked across the street to see the Chinese museum. The Kam Wah Chung & Co Museum is a tribute to two Chinese pioneers--Doctor Ing Hay, universally known as "Doc" Hay, and businessman Lung An.
This is another romantic tale, but only for success; not amorous love. In this case, the wives stay home in China, even as the husbands become prosperous. The stories say that Lung An was extremely charming to men and women, Chinese and Caucasian; and that Ing Hay's herbal treatments and pulse-reading diagnostic skills were eagerly sought by both Chinese and whites. After Ing and An bought it, the building and the businesses were always known by the same name, Kam Wah Chung or "Golden Flower of Prosperity." Doc Hay was the most respected healer in the area, and Lung An was a GREAT business man. For example, Kam Wah Chung was granted a liquor license in 1896; even though most Chinese were not very interested in liquor and the Kam Wah Chung opium-smoking cots served many locals as long as it was legal. (Until about 1910 when it was still legal to have it, but not to import it; and undoubtedly for a while after). Also, in 1910 there were fewer than 100 Chinese left in the county. Clearly An was looking to the future and both were very successful outside their "own" community. An also opened the first automobile dealership in Eastern Oregon (Pontiacs), but I didn't find out when. Much of what we know about the lives of Hay and An and their clients has been deduced from the herbs and artifacts left in the Kam Wah Chung building. The arid climate of the area has preserved everything for the 30 years of its lock-up and when you walk in, it's as if Doc Hay or Lung An were just around the corner, waiting to serve you. The opium bunks (also used for newly-arrived Chinese until they get established) are there; the stove, pots and utensils are ready to cook dinner; religious shrines are in each room. The store shelves are lined with soap, coffee, tea, candles, canned goods, sugar, flour, cotton and rice for white and Chinese settlers; there are firecrackers, Chinese herbs and medicines, ginseng and sandalwood fans. Doc Hay's apothecary desk still shows badger claws to be scraped; rattlesnake rattles pickled in jars (maybe the juice is good for you); and hundreds of herbal compounds--a majority of which have not even been identified. There are single-dose morphine prescriptions, rolled in paper and dipped in wax for soldiers and trappers who might get hurt far away from help; in the store there are marshmallows in a can from 1905; 95 bottles of pre-prohibition booze found in the cellar--it's a wonder. And one of the best parts is they don't want to ruin things by exposing them to bright lights, so your tour is very close to the way these folks lived. Including the metal-reinforced doors to protect residents from "high-spirited" cowboys out to shoot-up Chinatown. (PHOTO). The shop was central to the ranches and farms of the area who needed bulk supplies ordered from the east. It was the social, medical and religious center for the Chinese community in eastern Oregon. It was the place to order ready-made-clothes, it was where most people turned for medical help. Indeed, this small, unassuming building was central to almost everything going on in Grant County for 50 years. We had a great time on the tour. Then it was back to the Sonshine B & B for showers and a little conversation. One delightful aside was the fact that the house Carolyn and Carl run as a B & B was apparently built by Bob Wah (Lung An's nephew) as a small apartment complex-- a fourplex I think). So we were knee-deep in the history of the area, but the house was entirely modern and convenient. We ate that night at a nice place downtown, they had a little gift shop, I bought an Oregon trivia game. Just ask Carl or Carolyn where it it. Oh, but only if the Snaffle Bit, the best restaurant in the area, is closed; Monday and Tuesday I think. At the not-Snaffle Bit, we had a very nice steak, salad, vegetables and garlic bread meal for $10.00 each and, luckily, it was here that we were able to sample wine from the local "no sulfrites" winery, the David Hamilton Winery. We had been by their place several times in Mt. Vernon (just a ways up the road) but never caught them open. They specialize in wild-picked fruit wines and most of it is pretty sweet. They say"best served chilled." No kidding. Bea bought one of their drier ones anyway because she's allergic to sulfites and no-sulfite wine is hard to find. I can't leave this experience without mentioning the breakfast that Carolyn served us the next day. Because all seven of us staying that night were women, Carolyn made a command decision that we probably wouldn't want elk steak (stalked, shot and dressed by Carl). So we only had "girly" things: orange juice, coffee, tea; cream-cheese-stuffed French toast; rice pudding; cheese-scrambled eggs with scallions; skip-jack muffins (made with home-ground flour bran flour and raisins); most important, tasty fruit compotes - blubarb and apri-orange. Great stuff. They sell the compotes and pancake blends at trade shows, and sometimes off the web site. The other museum we visited on this trip, the Grant County Historical Museum is located just south of the town of John Day, in Canyon City, an aptly-named community that was quite a bit more lively during the gold rush days than now. This museum is chock-full of wondrous things. Curated by local historian Jayne Primrose, the museum is arranged by topic, not historical time-frame. Nevertheless, one can learn many things about the area by paying attention. The section I found most interesting was the northwest Native American display. This included a mural replica of an ancient (4,000 years old? 10,000?) rock-painting site that was destroyed in the 1960's by highway construction; stone and bone tools from the 19th century; and obsidian shards from trading sites 10,000 years before that. The museum also has, in no particular order and among many other things:
They also have preserved Joaquin Miller's cabin circa 1864 where he wrote poetry and involved himself in local politics It was a fun trip, but tiring, so we went back to our cozy Alpine home and settled in again, all clean and ready for new adventures. In and around the experiences I've already told you about, we explored the fossil beds. I'll wrap up this trip with a bit about that in the next installment. ** In Albany Oregon, we have a specialty metals company with a similar name. According to them Wah Chang means "Great Development" |
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