Emily:

I was just visiting Yosemite with my brother-in-law from Ireland. Although the views from everywhere are stunning, wilst stopping at one of these striking vistas, he mentioned the beauty of the Col R Gorge and in particular the photo we took of our family from Crown Point about 5 years ago. This bodes the point that the CRGorge is one of the prettiiest places on earth and remembered by everyone we take there.

ps: Emily....welcome back to oregon. I listened to your reports from the 4 corners of the earth and really enjoy your new show.

Cam Fajer

Corbett Elementary School, where I'm doing my student teaching, is located in the Gorge, and has adopted the Gorge as their school-wide, cross-curriculum theme for the year. They have already taken 3 field trips in the Gorge this year, and have been considering possibly trying to go to the exhibition you're discussing at the Art Museum.

Traveling there from Portland once a week has already heightened and deepened my attachment to the Gorge, and I've wished I could create the time in my morning to stop every day & make a series of photographs taken from the same place at the same time of day. (After I start going out there every day, it would have to become a once-a-week series!)

You mentioned we could send you our photos of the Gorge. None of mine are digital, but a friend who visited us from Mexico, Viviana, left us copies of all the digital images she took in Oregon on her trip, so here is one of hers.

My great grandfather was Samuel Lancaster, who designed the Columbia River Scenic Highway. He was so in love with the Gorge that he wanted to build a road that emphasized the terrain and the vistas that we experience today. Lancaster's view of the gorge possessed the conflicting ideals of his time: a providential gift to be revered and protected; and yet the road paved the way for further defilement of the greater NW and indigenous lifestyles.

Peter McMinn

Good Morning,
As an artist I felt a need to create on canvas the feel and beauty of the Columbia Gorge. I painted 7 large canvas' of the Gorge as it was 100 years ago. I used small black and white photos for the paintings that are colorful, 3'x4' interceptions of what is now lost to all of us.
I had a show in Portland a year ago of the paintings.
I could send photo's of them to you if you like.
Nancy Weinberg,
Salem Oregon

http://mem...mem_jqYK::
Here is a link to a c.1906 panoramic photo of the Middle Cascades of the Columbia from the Library of Congress "American Memory" Collection. It is searchable and has many early PNW images. http://mem...index.html

I've been cautious about working seriously, i.e. with the 8"x10", in the gorge, because people like Terry and Stu Levy have done so much of it.

But here's one image of how it feels now to me, an American Indian who used to be a photographer.

Hi Terry and Emily!

Joe Cantrell

I tremendously enjoyed today's Think Out Loud show on photography in the Columbia Gorge. My thanks to the hosts and curators, especially for allowing the long, uninterrupted comments from Sy (spelling?), the Native American who pointed out western technology's simultaneous power to both alter and preserve the landscape.

In my own photography, I seek a balance between the natural world and humankind's technology. I am drawn to the Columbia Gorge as a natural transportation artery, a place where grain, coal, lumber, and people all move efficiently thanks to natural, water-level passage through the Cascade Range. To me, these two photographs, taken on a trip last month, capture a beauty in both the natural and the technological. What do you think?

Scott Lothes
Corvallis, Oregon
http://www.scottlothes.com

What's with the censorship of comments here?

I'm not sure what you're talking about. We haven't touched a single comment.

Find more information on Carleton Watkins's time in Oregon on the Oregon Historical Society's OREGON HISTORY PROJECT pages. Images of his work, as well of those of Lily White, Sarah Hall Ladd, Joseph Buchtel, the Kiser Brothers, and the Oregon Camera Club (all part of the PAM exhibit), are accompanied by short bios and information about the OHS exhibit. http://ohs.../index.cfm This is a new page, so be sure to refresh your browser if you've visited the OHP before!

Thank you for today's program. I enjoyed the call from Cy who gave a thoughtful perspective as a decendent of the Cascade Indian Tribe. I appreciated his mention of Chuck William's book, Bridge of the Gods, Mountains of Fire. Although I didn't recognize the caller's voice, we must be related because Chuck is my cousin as well. My son just used Chuck's book in a presentation for his 11th grade cultural studies class. His teacher told me the class was unusually quiet and attentive while listening to his presentation, and ended up asking many questions afterward. I will send her a link to the exhibit. What a great field trip for students to learn about the rich and diverse history of this national treasure, documented through the lens of those early photographers. Here is our Aunt Virginia, sister of Kalliah and daughter of Chief Tumalth, taken by Edward Curtis in 1910.

Hello. Always enjoy finding another long lost cousin. It was my son, Si, that you enjoyed listening to this morning. Unfortunately, I did not catch the program today but am proud that he was able to give such a thoughtful perspective of his ancestry.

As a child, Chuck's book, Bride of the Gods, Mountains of Fire, was always one of Si's favorites, as he poured over the pictures of Aunt Virginia and Grandma Kaliah. Our copy has been loved to death. I grew up only hearing the stories of our family so was thrilled to have them recorded for others to enjoy and appreciate. As a former schoolteacher, I have also used the book extensively in teaching NW history.

Would love to share more with you. I have a wonderful close up of Aunt Virginia taken by Edward Curtis that I downloaded from the Library of Congress' website. Let's talk!

Julie, can you tell us who your parents are and how we're related? Many of us heard the program today and appreciated what Si said. We have much information, photos, history, and a detailed family tree, but we don't know where you and your family fit in. We would love to learn more. v

Val,my mother is Shirley (Miller) Amos, grandmother Mary (Reynolds) Miller, and great-grandmother Abbie Esterbrook, daughter of Kalliah and niece of Aunt Virginia. Chuck Miller (different Miller) is decended from a half sister of Abbie. Would love to connect and see the photos and detailed family tree. It would help connect some dots. Julie