Mitzi's Memorial Trip:
10 Oct 03 to 16 Oct 03.

We stayed with Lotus's cousin, Iris Newhouse, in Portland, Oregon. Her son, Will (6'2") and his wife, Cheryl, made us a wonderful gourmet quality Chocolate Bar about 14 long by 10 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick with Oregon hazel nuts inside, as well as hazel nut truffles.  He is noted for cheesecakes as a specialty.

Richard George, a cousin of Lotus on her mother's side and his family visited also.  His daughter and our granddaughter Aliana seemed immediately compatible and played together.

We visited Rosemary Cartozian, a long time friend of Lotus, in her condominium about 10 stories up.  She and Lotus exchanged many remembrances.

Iris's older son, Dan (6'4"), has recently changed jobs to the opticals
department for gunsights at the new Sportsman's Warehouse in Portland.  He also is into amateur mining and has sights on a platinum/gold/silver strike.  He ran a couple of kiln melting of test samples with encouraging results.

Dan introduced me to a book by Potter, M.F.  "Oregon's Golden Years" 4th Printing in 1982, Caxton Printers Ltd., Caldwell Idaho, which had a lot of early history of Oregon.  Gold was found in Oregon before California (first west of the Rockies) about 25 August 1845.  Members of the Lost Wagon Train found the yellow pebbles in a small stream.  But they didn't recognize it as gold.  Gold discoveries in Oregon were announced in the winter of 1861-62. Another interesting item was about Charlie Parkhurst who cast the first vote by a woman in the USA in 1868.  She was a one-eyed famous early-day stage driver, and a rough tobacco-chewing character.  Her sex was not discovered until she died in 1878.

Portland was first called Stump Town.  The first frame house built
in Portland was built by Capt. Nathaniel Crosby, the great grandfather of Bing Crosby!  The first marriage in Portland was in that frame house.