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October 2, 2013 WILLAMETTE FALLS FESTIVAL 15
firs and cedars, fish, water power, game birds and legend-
ary soils.
Because of this place, a new nation’s boundaries were
cemented and its institutions were tested and reformed.
The first American-style government of the Oregon Coun-
try was formed here.
The area generated power and produced powerful people
with great ideas and entrepreneurial energy. Pioneering
leaders with national reputations, such as Dr. John
McLoughlin, Henry Villard, Peter Skene Ogden, Francis
Ermatinger, Eva Emery Dye, Edwin Markham, George
Westinghouse, Edward Eastham, Abigail Scott Duniway,
Marshall Joe Meek, and many others built homes, indus-
tries, schools, churches, libraries and hospitals.
Some Willamette Falls Facts:
■ For 15,000 years, Willamette Falls hosted one of the
largest tribal gatherings in the Pacific Northwest. Tribes
and bands came to fish, socialize, and trade. Today, it is the
largest tribal Pacific lamprey gathering spot in the world.
■ When the Missoula Ice Age floods shaped this area,
they provided the unmatched fertility of the Willamette
Valley. In the 19th century it was marketed as “Eden’s
Gate.”
■ Because of settlement at the End of the Oregon Trail,
the US boundaries were secured and the Oregon Country
became American, not British, Russian, Spanish or French.
■ Oregon City was designated by Congress as the official
End of the Oregon Trail in 1978.
■ Originally named Willamette Falls, Oregon City was
the metropolis of the Pacific Northwest in the mid and late
1800s, the first non-tribal government in the western United
States, and the original capital of Oregon.
■ The industrial complex at Willamette Falls was the
birthplace of industry in the American West. The flour,
woolen, lumber and paper mills harnessed the power of the
Falls and created an industrial center that influenced world
markets and economies.
■ The Oregon City Woolen Mill exported products
throughout the world and employed 1,125 workers operat-
ing 109 looms in 1917.
■ Willamette Falls is the birthplace of hydropower in the
American West and site of the first long-distance transmis-
sion of electricity in the US, before Niagara Falls. Willamette
Falls had four to six times more hydropower than rival Low-
ell, Mass., and was often nicknamed “Niagara of the Pacific.”
Founding the Willamette Falls Festival
Part of the mission of theWillamette Falls Heritage Area
Coalition is to increase economic vitality, tourism and his-
toric preservation, as well as involve many organizations
and jurisdictions in cultural heritage activities. Out of this
goal and local opportunity grew the idea for the annual
Willamette Falls Festival, centered around river activities,
arts and heritage.
Following the huge success of last year’s first annual Wil-
lamette Falls Festival, which centered around the historic
Oregon City-West Linn Arch Bridge reopening, WFHAC
once again assembled partnerships to focus on the river.
This year’s festival theme, “Celebrating our Industrial Her-
itage,” recognizes that the industries at Willamette Falls
were a catalyst for the industrial revolution in our nation.
Giving Back to the Community
As initiated last year, the Festival will benefit efforts
by a local nonprofit organization to enhance the Willa-
mette River and its economic vitality. The 2013 recipient
is We Love Clean Rivers, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organiza-
tion dedicated to mobilizing the recreation community
to help clean high-use rivers, such as our own Willa-
mette River. Festival proceeds, after expenses, will be
donated to this cause.
■ From Page 6
The grand European tradition
of Plein Air, painting on loca-
tion in the field, is alive and
well at the Willamette Falls
Festival. Many celebrated and
talented Pacific Northwest
landscape painters will dem-
onstrate their abilities as visi-
tors marvel at art taking
shape right before their
eyes....rain or shine!
Chat with the artists while
they work, ask questions, or if
you prefer, just stand back
and observe the creative pro-
cess as it unfolds.
Artists will be stationed
throughout the festival from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. on Sunday. Locations
are marked on the Festival
map and are available online
at WillametteFallsFestival.com.
For more information, contact
Elizabeth Klein, Clackamas
County Arts Alliance Program
Manager, at 503-655-0525.
For over 10 years,
community volun-
teers have turned
out for annual
cleanups of the
Clackamas River
led by We Love
Clean Rivers.
Thanks to their efforts,
thousands of pounds of
debris have been removed from the rivers.
Beginning in 2008, local artists joined in
the community project via the RiPPLe Art
Program. Artists select materials from the
various cleanups and return to their stu-
dios to produce works of art. This year, we
invite you to visit with the artists who will
have selected materials retrieved in this
year’s Down the River Cleanup. They will
display works recently created or in pro-
cess, explaining what inspired them and
how they create imaginative and beautiful
art pieces from “river junk.”
Artists will show their work in the picnic
shelter at Clackamette Park after the
Great Willamette Cleanup on Saturday,
Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
Sunday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
More information about We Love Clean
Rivers and the RiPPLe Art Program can
be found at WeLoveCleanRivers.org. A list
of participating artists is available at
WillametteFallsFestival.com. For more
information about this event, contact
Elizabeth Klein, Clackamas County Arts
Alliance Program Manager, at 503-655-
0525.
PAINT WILLAMETTE FALLS FESTIVAL
PHOTO BY SUZI ANDERSON
Plein Air artist Leland John painting the Willamette Falls at the 2012 Willamette Falls Festival.
RiPPLe ARTIST
DEMONSTRATIONS
COURTESY OF WELOVECLEANRIVERS.ORG
RiPPLe Artist Dave Castle Wire Mesh Fish created from river debris.