PORTLAND PLACES: Washington Park & the Oregon Zoo by Robert D. West

Washington Park & the Oregon Zoo

Washington Park is one of Portland's oldest and most distinguished parks. Within the park are a number of separate attractions, including the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, the Oregon Zoo, the World Forestry Center, the Portland Children's Museum, the Hoyt Arboretum and the Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial. The map below shows the locations of the attactions in Washington Park. This page includes links to historic photographs from the Oregon State University Library Digital Collections, the University of Oregon Library Digital Collections, the Salem Public Library's Oregon Historic Photograph Collection and Thomas Robinson's Historic Photo Archive.

The land that is now Washington Park was originally the home of the Atfalati tribes of Native Americans, who used the area for hunting and gathering and for winter villages and camps. By the early 1800s, diseaes like malaria had wiped out most of the Atfalati.

Amos Nahom King was born in 1822 and came to Oregon in 1845. In 1849, he purchased 513 acres of West Portland, strecthing from a small tannery on the current site of PGE Park west to cover the west hills from SW Jefferson Street and Canyon Road to NW Lovejoy Street and MacLeay Park. Parts of this land became the King's Heights and Arlington Heights neighborhoods. The City of Portland purchased 40.78 acres of this land from King in 1871 for $32,824, a bargain at $800 an acre, and named it simply City Park. King died in 1901 at the age of 79, having lived in Portland for 52 years and being the only remaining resident whose name appeared in the first edition of The Oregonian in 1850. The park's name was changed to Washington Park in 1909 at the recommendation of landscape architect John Charles Olmstead.

Meanwhile, Multnomah County established a poor farm and sanitarium to the west of Washington Park in 1868. Scandals in 1910 caused the poor farm moved to a new location. In 1922, Multnomah County deeded the farm's 160 acres to the City of Portland, which added the land to Washington Park. The southern part of the property became the West Hills Golf Course (now the site of the Oregon Zoo) and the northern part became the Hoyt Arboretum.

This staircase is the main entrance to Washington Park at the top of SW Park Place. It includes a plaque about Amos Nahom King placed by The Lang Syne Society of Portland in 1998. At the top is the Lewis and Clark Memorial.

Historical Photo:
Washington Park Entrance, June 29, 1947 (HistoricPhotoArchive.com)

The foundation stone for the Lewis and Clark Memorial at the entrance to the park was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 21, 1903. The 34-foot granite memorial was completed and dedicated

in 1908. On the base in bronze are the seals of the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, which were formed from the territory Lewis and Clark explored. The plaque on the monument reads:

ERECTED BY CITIZENS OF OREGON TO COMMEMORATE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF
CAPTAINS MERIWETHER LEWIS AND WILLIAM CLARK
WHO WITH THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES THOMAS JEFFERSON STARTED FROM
ST. LOUIS MAY 14, 1904 AND THROUGH MANY HARDSHIPS PENETRATED THE
VAST CONTINENTAL WILDERNESS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN AT THE MOUTH
OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND RETURNING SEPTEMBER 1806 GAVE TO
THE PIONEERS A PATHWAY AND TO THE NATION THE OREGON COUNTRY

The brick plaza around the monument has two plaques in memory of two preseident of the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition.

IN MEMORIUM

HENRY WINSLOW CORBETT

FEBRUARY 28, 1827

MARCH 31, 1903

PRESIDENT

LEWIS & CLARK CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION

1902 1903

IN MEMORIUM

HENRY WALTON GOODE

SEPTEMBER 26, 1862

MARCH 31, 1907

PRESIDENT

LEWIS & CLARK CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION

1904 1907

There is an impressive view of Mount Hood looking east from the Lewis and Clark Memorial.

The Sacajawea Memorial was unveiled July 7, 1905 at the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition. Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Scott Duniway and Eva Emery Dye were present for the unveiling. The statue was sculpted by Alice Cooper of Denver and cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company of New York from 14 tons of copper from a mine near Mt. St. Helens donated by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe. It was placed in its current location in April 1906. The plaque reads as follows:

ERECTED

BY THE WOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES

IN MEMORY OF SACAJAWEA,

THE ONLY WOMAN

IN THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION,

AND IN HONOR OF

THE PIONEER MOTHER OF OLD OREGON.

Historical Photos:

Sacajawea Statue, 1905 (OSU)

Sacajawea Statue, circa 1909 (UO)

Sacajawea Statue, circa 1949 (SPL)

The Washington Park Fountain was commissioned by the city in 1891. It is also known as the Chiming Fountain for the sound made by the water flowing from the upper bronze pan into the lower one. The cast iron Renaissance-style fountain was designed and built by John Hans Staehli, who had a shop at 64 Second Street. The fountain was originally painted white and topped with a cast iron stature of a boy holding a staff that spouted water. The figure later disappeared and was last photographed in 1912. By 1960 the fountain had deteriorated to the point that the city was ready to scrap it, but local longshoreman Francis J. Murnane appealed to Mayor Terry Schrunk to save it. The park bureau restored the fountain for a total cost of $1,772.

Coming of the White Man depicts two Native Americans, one of which is Chief Multnomah, looking east toward the route by which white settlers arrived in Oregon. It was sculpted in 1904 by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, cast by the Bureau Brothers Bronze Foundry and donated by the family of David P. Thompson.

Historical Photo:

Coming of the White Man, circa 1909 (UO)

The Oregon Holocaust Memorial was conceived in 1994 and was dedicated on August 29, 2004. The memorial consists of a town square with lamp post in honor of those who survived at one end, and a curved basalt block memorial wall at the other. Scattered about the town square are small scuptures representing items that belonged to Holocaust victims, including a doll, book, candelabra, suitcase, shoe and violin. The front of the wall displays Holocaust-related quotations and the back of the wall list the names of Holocaust victims and their surviving relatives in the Pacific Northwest. On the left end of the wall is a history of the Holocaust. On the right is a rock covering a soil vault containing soil and ash from the Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.

Washington Park contains two reservoirs for Portland's drinking water. Reservoir #3 was built in 1894. It is 49 feet deep and holds 16.4 million gallons of water.

This is the gatehouse for Reservoir #3. The oval-shaped structure displays the high level of architectural detail and workmanship that even the most utlitarian buildings received back in 1894.

From the walkway around Reservoir #3 is this view of the similar Reservoir #4, also built in 1894. The water in Reservoirs #3 & #4 is between 35 and 50 degrees and arrives through a gravity-fed system primarily from Reservoir #5 at Mt. Tabor Park in Southeast Portland.

From along Sherwood Boulevard above the reservoirs there are a few spots with views of downtown Portland, including the US Bancorp Tower, and the Vista Avenue Viaduct.

There are many trails running through Washington Park. I saw this tree with its roots exposed along the Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) Trail.

International Rose Test Garden

The International Rose Test Garden was founded by Jesse A. Currey in 1917. The garden was originally located where the parking lots are now. The oldest rose in the current garden is the Grand Duchess Armstrong, planted by the Grand Duchess in 1943.

Historical Photo:

International Rose Test Garden Entrance, September 14, 1947 (HistoricPhotoArchive.com)

Today the garden consists of 4.5 acres with over 7,000 rose plantings of approximately 550 varieties. The garden is divided into a number of smaller gardens organized around themes or sponsored and maintained by particular groups. (These photos were taken in February when roses aren't in bloom.)

One of these garden is the Shakespeare Garden, dedicated by the LaBarre Shakespeare Club on April 23, 1946. The garden includes an engraving of William Shakespeare with the quotation from him: "Of all flowres methinks a rose is best."

The Frank E. Beach Memorial Fountain in the International Rose Test Garden was dedicated in 1974. Frank E. Beach was a rose enthusiast who is creditied with dubbing Portland "The Rose City." The stainless steel sculpture by Oregon artist Lee Kelly is titled Water Sculpture.

On this plaque at one of the Intenational Rose Test Garden's staircases is the poem In a Garden by Dorothy F. B. Gurney, which reads:

The kiss of the sun for pardon

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

Adjacent to the International Rose Test Garden is the Washington Park Rose Garden Amphitheater, which hosts concerts in the summer.

This view of downtown Portland and the US Bancorp Tower is from near the International Rose Test Garden's Rose Garden Store.

Portland Japanese Garden

Just up the hillside from the International Rose Test Garden is the Portland Japanese Garden. After Portland became a sister city to Sapporo, Japan in 1958, the mayour and several business leaders decided Portland should have an authentic, traditional Japanese garden. On June 4, 1962, the city council created a commission to establish the garden on land that was part of the old Washington Park Zoo and Japanese Garden Society of Oregon was formed in 1963 . Professor Takuma Tono, head of the Landscape Architecture Department of Tokyo Agricultural University and an internationally-recognized Japanese landscape architect, was commissioned to design the garden in 1963. The 5.5-acre garden opened to the public in the summer of 1967, and consists of five distinct garden styles: the Flat Garden, the Stroll Garden, the Tea Garden, the Natural Garden (then the Hillside Garden) and the Sand and Stone Garden. In 1988, His Excellency Nobuo Matsunaga, Ambassador from Japan to the United States, visited the Portland Japanese Garden and proclaimed it "the mose beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan." Ten years later, His Excellency Ambassador Kunihiko Saito said of the garden, "I believe this garden to be the most authentic Japanese garden, including those in Japan."

The Antique Gate was a gift from the Japanese Ancestral Society. Along the steep path to the Admission Gate are etched stones naming donors to the garden. There is also a periodic shuttle from the entrance to the admission gate.

This is the Admission Gate to the Japanese Garden. Just inside the Admission Gate are two small statues, one of which is shown here.

Just past the Admission Gate is the first of several water basins that can be found throughout the garden. Traditionally, the water basins are used to rince one's hands and mouth, symbolically purifying oneself.

Here are some of the other water basins that can be found through the garden.

Also just inside the entrance is this wooden lantern. There are lanterns throughout the garden, but the others are make of stone and have a more Japanese look to them. I'm not sure if this one is in accordance with traditional Japanese garden design or not.

The Pavilion, used for events, exhibitions and garden gatherings, was built with a grant from the Commemorative Association for the Japan World Exposition in an architectural style from the Japanese Kamakura period, featuring translucent paper panels called shoji and verandas connoting the integration of house and garden.

An example of the events and exhibitions the Pavilion is used for is this collection of Japanese Hina dolls from the family of Loen and Sho Dozono. The dolls are part of the Hina Matsuri, or Doll Festival, which occurs on the third day of March, and are traditionally displayed and admired for a few weeks, providing an example to girls to be quiet, gentle, demure and restrained.

From the east side of the Pavilion, there is an impressive view of downtown Portland, with Portland's tallest building, the Wells Fargo Center, in a prominant position.

The Iyo Stone near the Pavilion is a tribute to Philip Englehart, the first president of the Japanese Garden Society of Oregon from 1963 to 1964.

The Flat Garden, or hira niwa, on the west side of the Pavilion depicts a sea of raked sand with two plantings depicting islands shaped like a saké cup and gourd-shaped bottle, which signify pleasure and a wish for the visitor's happiness.

The Strolling Pond Garden & Tea Garden

These views from near the Service Center and Garden Gift Store shows the Upper Pond in the Strolling Pond Garden and the Tea House in the Tea Garden.

The Wisteria Arbor was designed as a frame for the 5-tiered pagoda lantern shown below.

The antique 5-tiered stone pagoda lantern was given to Portland from its sister city, Sapporo, Japan. Other lanterns found throughout the garden are shown below.

In the Strolling Pond Garden, or chisen kaiyu shiki niwa, is the authentic Moon Bridge. To the north of the Moon Bridge is the Upper Pond and crane sculptures, & to the south a stream to the Lower Pond.

The Tea Garden, or roji niwa, consists of two gardens: the Inner Garden, or uchi roji, and the Outer Garden, or soto roji.

The Inner Garden surrounds the ceremonial Tea House. It is surrounded by a fence and has stepping stones leading through it.

The Tea House is called Kashin-Tei or Flower Heart House. The tea house was built in Japan by the Kajima Construction Company using wooden pegs instead of nails in a traditional Japanese construction technique, then disasembled, shipped to America and rebuilt on its present site in 1968. It was dedicated on June 1, 1968.

The Outer Garden contains waiting stations, or machiai, for Tea House guests. The Outer Garden also contains what appears to be a well.

Returning to the Strolling Pond Garden, the Zig Zag Bridge, or yatsuhashi, (shown here under renovation) takes a meandering path from the Tea Garden through iris and fern beds and over the Lower Pond.

The Lower Pond is normally home to koi and is accented by a large waterfall called Heavenly Falls, but due to wintertime renovations both are pictured dry.

The Natural Garden

The Natural Garden, or shizen shiki niwi, was originally called the Hillside Garden and has seen a couple of renovations since the Japanese Garden opened. The Natural Garden winds its way down the south hillside with ponds, waterfalls, shallow streams and tiny bridges, eventually leading to a gazebo, or azumaya.

The Sand and Stone Garden, or dry landscape garden or karesansui niwa, is the most abstract Japanese garden form, with weathered stones in a raked bed of sand representing the sea. The style was developed in the later Kamakura period (1185-1333) and is often part of Zen monasteries.

The Poetry Stone south of the Pavilion is inscribed with a haiku reading:

Here, miles from Japan,

I stand as if warmed by the

spring sunshine of home.

Rose Garden Children's Park

The Rose Garden Children's Park playground down Sherwood Boulevard from the International Rose Test Garden was a joint project between the Rotary Club of Portland and Portland Parks & Recreation. It was dedicated in May 1995.

These animal topiaries at the Rose Garden Children's Park were donated in September 2008 and are maintained by the Portland Garden Club Horticulture Group VII with Portland Parks & Recreation.

The Elephant House picnic shelter near the Rose Garden Children's Park was the original home of Rosy, the first elephant to live in Oregon. It is the only surviving structure from the Oregon Zoo's previous location. Rosy came to Portland from Thailand in 1953 and her arrival helped generate support for the construction of the current zoo, which opened in 1959. Since then, more endangered Asian elephants have been born at the Oregon Zoo than at any other zoo in North America.

Washington Park & Zoo Railway Station

Near the International Rose Test Garden and the Portland Japanese Garden at the top of a 44-step staricase is this station on the 30-inch gauge Washington Park & Zoo Railway's 1.5-mile Washington Park extension, which opened in 1960. The extension was surveyed by the Southern Pacific Railroad, constructed with the help of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway and the Portland Terminal Railroad Company and used ballast donated by the school children of Prineville, Oregon and transported by the Union Pacific Railroad at no charge. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, trains stop here to allow zoo visitiors to also visit the gardens. Tickets and zoo admission can be purchased here to enter the zoo from here via the train.

Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo traces its origins back to Portland pharmacist Dr. Richard E. Knight, who in the 1880s acquired, among other exotic animals, a male Brown Bear named Brownie and a female Grizzly Bear named Grace, which he kept in a vacant lot at the corner of Morrison and Third, next to his drug store. In 1887, Knight donated his collection of animals to the city, and the first zoo was established in Washington Park (then called simply City Park), near where the reservoirs are now. In 1925, the zoo moved to higher ground in Washington Park, to where the Japanese Garden is now. In 1951, the Portland City Club recommended building a new zoo and the city council placed a $3.85-million bond issue on the ballot for a new zoo on the 40-acre site of the West Hills Golf Course. The bond measure passed in 1954 and the current zoo opened in 1959 as the Portland Zoological Gardens. The zoo was renamed the Washington Park Zoo in 1976, and was renamed to the current name, Oregon Zoo, in 1998.

The 30-inch gauge Portland Zoo Railway began operation June 9, 1958 with the first train, the Zooliner. The Oregon steam locomotive was delivered June 19, 1959 and began operating the next day. The Zooliner and the Oregon were used at the Oregon Centennial Expostion in 1959, and a "Circus Train" was used at the zoo at that time. The "Circus Train" has since been rebuilt as the Oregon Express. In 1961 the railroad was issued its own postal cancellation stamp, which it still retains as the last operating U.S. railroad with its own cancellation to continuously offer mail service. The railroad was renamed the Washington Park & Zoo Railway in 1978.

Steam locomotive #1, the Oregon, is shown here under steam decorated for ZooLights on December 8, 2009.

Here are a few more pictures of ZooLights, when the zoo is decorated with Christmas lights for the holiday season. The first ZooLights was in 1988.

This operational Magnetic Flagman, or "Wig-Wag" (for the movement made by the banner as it swings back and forth) Model 3 lower-quadrant crossing signal, made by the Magnetic Signal Company of Los Angeles, California between 1910 and 1949, protects a zoo service road. It was almost certainly originally located at a public railroad corssing somewhere else and moved to the zoo later. It is stenciled "CM 733.7," a milepost which would seem to place it on the Southern Pacific Railroad somewhere in Oregon, though I'm not sure where. I would guess Dallas or McMinnville. The banner has an odd paint scheme of a red cross, instead of a narrower black one, and no border.

Sometimes zoo volunteers can be found around the grounds with animals from the Wild Life Live! program like Apollo the American Kestrel Falcon shown here.

Another animal from the Wild Life Live! program is Sundance the Red-Tailed Hawk.

Great Northwest Exhibit

Here are some Mountain Goats in the Cascade Crest part of the Great Northwest Exhibit. Cascade Crest opened on September 19, 1998.

This is Pete the Black Bear, seen from Black Bear Ridge on the Cascade Canyon Trail. Pete was found as an orphaned cub in Petersburg, Alaska in January 1991 and spent 16 years at Wildlife Images near Grants Pass. Pete arrived at the Oregon Zoo in March 2007 and was part of Black Bear Ridge ridge when it opened on March 10, 2007. Pete was euthanised on November 18, 2009 (just 8 days after these photos were taken) due to arthritis & advanced age. He was the last of 3 black bears at the zoo, after 20 year old male Homer was euthanized on June 24 and 22 year old female Gerry was euthanized on July 22.

Bobcats are also part of the Black Bear Ridge exhibit. Brother and sister Kajika and Kasa were born in 2000 and came from the Maryland Zoo.

Eagle Canyon opened on May 29, 2004 with Athena, a female Bald Eagle with weak flying ability. Jack, a male Bald Eagle, arrived in October 2007, after being found severly injured on the Lummi Indian Reservation in northwest Washington. He is missing his right eye & has an injured right wing so he cannot sustain flight.

Here are Salmon, Steelhead and Sturgeon in the Cascade Stream and Pond Exhibit, which opened on July 1, 1982.

Here are Western Pond Turtles in the Cascade Stream and Pond Exhibit.

Here are Baby Western Pond Turtles in the Conservation Station, part of a breeding and recovery program for the engangered species.

Below are some other animas in the Cascade Stream and Pond Exhibit.

Pacific Tree Frogs

Northwestern Garter Snake

Ringtails sleeping

Ducks

Barred Owl

Here is one of Portland's two female cougars, Chinook or Takini, sleeping in the Cougar Crossing Exhibit, which opened on August 5, 2006.

The Trillium Creek Family Farm opened on July 10, 2004. The farm is run by high school student volunteers.

Below are some of the animals raised at the Trillium Creek Family Farm.

Dexter Cow

Rabbit

Guinea Hogs

Pygora Goats

Chickens

Pacific Shores Exhibit

The Steller Cove Exhibit opened on July 15, 2000. It is named after German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746) who accompanied a Russian expedition to Alaska in 1741 and became the first European to set foot on the Alaskan coast. Steller described many animals that now bear his name, including the Steller Sea Lion. Below are some of the animals in the Steller Cove Exhibit.

Steller Sea Lion

Sea Otter

The Portland Zoo first had penguins in 1957, but in the early years many of them contracted and succumbed to a lung disease. The enclosed penguin area was built in 1976 and become home to 13 endangered Humboldt penguins and a breeding program was soon started. In 1980 the first Humboldt Penguin egg hatched at the zoo, a female named Zimmie. The Penguinarium was remodeled in 1984 to better resemble the warm Peruvian coastline that is the native habitat of the Humboldt Penguin, receiving a Significant Achievement Award from the American Zoo & Aquarium Association. Today over 35 endangered Humboldt Penguins live in the Penguinarium.

A flock of Inca Terns also live in the Penguinarium.

Here are the skeletons of an Emperor Penguin and a Golden Eagle. The Emporer Penguin weighed about 70 pounds, while the Golden Eagle weighed 5.3 pounds.

The Cats of the Amur Region Exhibit includes Amur Tigers, also called Siberian Tigers, and an Amur Leopard. Russia's Amur Region is in the Russian Far East and is named for the Amur River, which forms the border between Russia and China. Portland's Russian sister city Khabarovsk is in this region, and Amur Tigers sometimes walk into the town.

Amur Tiger siblings Mikhail & Nicole were born on October 31, 1998 and came to the zoo on September 12, 2000 from the John Ball Zooligical Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kia the Amur Leopard is 13 years old. She came to the zoo in June 2007, from Pennsylvania's Erie Zoo.

Shown sleeping here is one of Portland's two Polar Bears, brother and sister Conrad and Tasul, who were born on December 1, 1984 at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia South Carolina. They came to the Oregon Zoo on January 1, 1986 and the Polar Bear exhibit opened in September 1986.

The Oregon Zoo also has two female Malaysian Sun Bears named Vivian and Jody.

Primates & Fragile Forests Exhibits

The Primate Exhibit is one of the original exhibits from when the current zoo was built in 1959. It was renovated in 1980-1981. The Primate Building is currently undergoing a muti-phase renovation into the Fragile Forests complex, which includes other animals in addition to primates. A Red Ape Reserve is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2010.

Chimpanzees

Mandrills

The Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit opened on September 29, 2001. Below are some of the animals in the exhibit.

Arrau Turtle	Pacu Fish	Fish
Burmese Python	Snake	Snake

The South American Forest exhibit opened in August 2006. Ocelots Alice and Ralph were born in Sao Paulo, Brazil zoos in 1993, moved to the Phoenix Zoo in 1996 where they had three cubs, and came to the Oregon Zoo on April 12, 2006. Their son Rio was born September 14, 2006.

Inland Pigs of Asia

The Visayan Warty Pig Exhibit opened in the spring of 2006.

The Babirusa Pig Exhibit opened in May 2007. Their tusks are compared to a helmet.

Asian Elephant Exhibit

The Oregon Zoo is home to seven Asian Elephants, including Packy, who was born in Portland in 1962 and was the first elephant born in America in 44 years, and young Samudra, who was born August 23, 2008 and is the first of a third generation of elephants descended from Portland's first elephant Rosy, and the first third-generation captive elephant born in North America.The elephant exhibit was last renovated in 1993. The elephants have access to a total of 50,670 square feet. This far exceeds the minimum of 1,800 square feet per elephant required by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This area is the back sand yard. Over 25,000 square feet with an 80,000 gallon swimming pool. There is also an 8,500 square foot front sand yard.

Here is one of the elephants in one of six indoor rooms, wich have a total of over 15,000 square feet. This is the only room of the six that is viewable by the public.

Here is the jaw of a 56-year-old Asian Elephant and of a 6-year-old African Elephant compated to that of an adult human. Elephants have four teeth are in thier jaws at any given time; one tooth on each side of the upper and lower jaws. When a tooth wears out, the tooth plates break up and the pieces of tooth fall out or are pushed out by the next tooth coming in. Elephants have a total of six sets of teeth. When a wild elephant wears out its last set, it starves to death. Elephants in captivity can be fed a soft diet to extend their lives somewhat.

The Lilah Callen Holden Elephant Museum was designed by John Storrs and opened in December 1985. Lilah Callen Holden was an elephant supporter since Packy's birth in 1962 and believed the Portland's zoo should have a elephant museum. After her death in 1983, her family donated over $100,000 to make the museum a reality.

The American Mastodont (Mammut americanus) was a pre-historic mammal that looked similar to a modern elephant but was slightly smaller and bulkier. Like the woolly mammoth and modern elephants, Mastodonts belong to the order called Proboscidea (named for their most prominent organ, the proboscis, or trunk) but belong to the scientific family called Mammutidae, instead of the elephant family. Mastodonts first came to North America from Siberia about 3.5 million years ago and became extinct about 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. Mastodonts could be found from the Yukon to Nova Scotia in the north, and from Mexico to Florida in the south. They lived in conifer forests much like those in the Pacific Northwest where they ate twigs and leaves. This skeleton of an American Mastodont, on indefinite loan from the Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum of Natural History, was found near Churches Corner in Hillsdale County, Michigan and is believed to be at least 7,000 years old. Mastodont fossils like this have been found in Oregon, including in the Portland area.

This is a rib bone from a partial mastadont skeleton found a few miles south of Portland in Tualatin, Oregon.

Followers of Buddhism come from around the world to attend the annual Tooth Ceremony in the mountain city of Kandy in Sri Lanka, where a tooth believed to be from the Buddah is paraded through town in a procession containing many richly costumed elephants, illustrated by this miniature. At night, the costumes are lighted by small bulbs.

Wooden elephant saddles called howdahs, like this one from Surin Province, Thailand, are still used in Southeast Asia.

Below are some of the other artifacts in the Lilah Callen Holden Elephant Museum.

Elephant Tusk

Elephant Carving

Tricycle ridden by circus elephant

Africa Exhibit

The Predetors of the Serengeti Exhibit opened on September 12, 2009.

Two-year-old Cheetahs Scooter & Suseli arrived on August 20, 2009 from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. Scooter died December 27, 2009.

African Wild Dogs Wally, Widdle & Wooster, who arrived in September 2009, are seen here sleeping in a pile.

There hadn't been lions at the Oregon Zoo since 1998 until three young African Lions, all under two years of age, arrived in September 2009. Male lion Zawadi Mungu came from San Diego Wild Animal Park and females Kya and Neka came from the Racine Wisconsin Zoo and the Virginia Zoo resepctively.

Below are some of the other animals in the Predators of the Serengeti exhibit.

Hornbill

Agama Lizard

Python

The Africa Savanna exhibit opened April 29, 1989. Its more than 4 acres includes the AfriCafe, Kalahari Banquet Room and Howard Vollum Aviary shown here.

Here are some of the birds in the Howard Vollum Aviary.

Below are some of the other animals in the Africa Savanna exhibit.

Pete the Black Rhinoceros.

Hippopotamus

Damara Zebras

Weaver Birds	DeBrazza's Monkey
Akeem the Reticulated Giraffe.	Naked Mole Rats

These African Pygmy Goats are kept in the African Goat Kraal.

The 1.3-acre Africa Rain Forest exhibit was completed in 1991.

These African birds including Sacred Ibis and White Spoonbills are part of the Africa Rain Forest exhibit.

Below are some of the other animals in the Africa Rain Forest exhibit.

African Slender-Snouted Crocodile

Awonriwon

Lungfish

The Africa Rain Forest exhibit also includes a large exhibit of Fruit Bats.

Lorikeet Landing

Lorikeet Landing opened in 1999 and contains a variety of lories and lorikeets. Visitors can purchase small cups of nectar to attract and feed the friendly birds.

Insect Zoo

The Insect Zoo features a variety of insects, both living examples and preserved dead specimens.

Beetles

Tropical Butterflies and Moths

Forest Insects of the Pacific Northwest

Emperor Scorpion

Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantula

Chilean Rose-Haired Tarantula

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Sonoran Centipedes

Giant African Millipede

Les AuCoin Plaza

In the parking lot shared by the zoo and the other attractions in the southwest corner of Washington Park is Les AuCoin Plaza, named for Oregon politician Walter Leslie "Les" AuCoin, who served two terms in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1971 to 1975 representing the 4th District and holding the position of Majority Leader in his second term, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1993 as the first Democrat to represent Oregon's 1st District since its creation in 1882.

Beneath Les AuCoin Plaza and accessible by elevators is the Washington Park MAX light rail station, the only underground station on the MAX system and at 260 feet underground is the deepest underground transit station in North America. MAX trains access the station through the twin bores of the 3-mile Robertson Tunnel, named after William D. Robertson, Jr., who was President of the TriMet Board of Directors when he died in 1997 while the

light rail line was under construction. On the surface is a section of tunnel core from the Robertson Tunnel, accompanied by a variety of facts about the construction of the tunnel. The Robertson Tunnel was bored through 15.6-million-year-old basalt rock deposited by lava flowing from fissures near Pendleton to the Pacific Ocean. Geologists drilled 102 test holes to collect 20,000 feet of core samples. The 21'-3"-diameter twin tunnels were excavated

between 1994 and 1996. A tunnel boring maching drilled two miles from the east end, wearing out 341 400-pound cutting discs. Crews averaging 16 and up to 32 miners per shift excavated from the west end for one mile using explosives, around the clock six days a week for over two years for a total of 481,216 person-hours. The miners were an average of 37 years old and earned about $21 per hour. They wore out 1,481 pairs of rubber boots and

drank 54,962 cups of coffee. 420,405 cubic yards of rock, enough to fill a 19-story building the size of a football field, was removed during the excavation. 126,100 cubic yards of concrete was used to line the tunnels. The temperature in the tunnels averages 53 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

World Forestry Center Discovery Musuem

The World Forestry Center was formed in 1964 as the Western Forestry Center in the aftermath of the August 17, 1964 fire that destroyed the Forestry Building in Northwest Portland that was originally built for the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition. The Western Forestry Center museum was designed by Oregon architect John Storrs and opened on June 5, 1971. The name changed to the World Forestry Center in 1986.

This locomotive is a 42-ton 2-truck Shay built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio on May 3, 1909. Shay locomotives are named after their inventer Ephraim Shay (1839-1916) who built a log tramway in Michgan in 1873, but found that horses weren't strong enough to control the logs on hills. His wooden rails were too weak to support a conventional locomotive, so he mounted a steam engine on a flat car and used gears to transfer the power to the wheels. Shay convinced the Lima Machine Works of Lima, Ohio to build locomotives based on his design, which he soon patented. The Lima Machine Works became the Lima Locomotive Works, building over 2,700 Shays of various sizes between 1880 and 1945 (by which time heavy-duty log trucks were replacing logging railroads) and becoming one of the major steam locomotive builders in the United States.

Shay locomotives use vertical steam cylinders with gears to deliver equal torque directly to all the wheels on both sides of the engine at the same time. The axles are mounted in pairs called trucks that pivot independently to follow the curve of the track. This design makes them very powerful but very slow and well suited to the poorly constructed tracks with sharp curves and steep grades found on logging railroads. This 1909 42-ton standard-gauge Shay is a mid-sized Shay. It has a 42-inch diameter horizontal fire tube boiler rated for 125 pounds of pressure and three 10-inch diameter cylinders with 12-inch stroke that deliver power through a 2.05 gear ratio to the 29.5-inch wheels. It has an empty weight of 67,100 pounds and carried 1,560 gallons of water and 1.5 cords of wood for fuel.

This locomotive was shipped around Cape Horn to dealer Hofius Steel & Equipment Company in Seattle, Washington and sold to the Gig Harbor Timber Company of Gig Harbor, Washington as their #1. In 1913 it was sold to the Stimson Lumber Company and was used first at Belfair, Washington and then at Gaston, Oregon. While at Stimson it was converted to burn oil and was given the name "Peggy." In 1933, Peggy was trapped in the Tillamook Forest during a forest fire and all her wood was burned off, but she was rebuilt and returned to service. By the time she was retired in 1950, Peggy had hauled an estimated one-billion feet of logs.

The Stimson Lumber Company donated Peggy to the City of Portland in 1950 she was put on display outside the Forestry Building in Northwest Portland. She was damaged in the 1964 fire that destroyed the Forestry Building, and was moved to Oaks Amusement Park in Southeast Portland for storage. From 1969 to 1971, the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society rebuilt her cab and sills and in 1972 she was moved by truck against traffic up Highway 26 and placed on display behind Cheatham Hall at the new Forestry Center. She remained there in the weather for 30 years, slowly deteriorating. In 2003, the Theodore and Joanne Lilley Foundation donated the funds to restore Peggy and place her under a shelter in a prominant location, just as she is today.

Behind Peggy is a pair of Disconnect Log Cars. They are each basically a railroad truck with a coupler at each end, allowing them to be coupled together when empty. When carrying logs, they are separated only by their load with no frame between them, hence the "disconnect" name. The logs they carry were a gift from the Stimson Lumber Company.

This marker in honor of David Douglas was placed by the David Douglas Society of Western North America on December 7, 1992. David Douglas (1799-1834) was a Scottish-born botanist sent to Fort Vancouver by the Royal Horticulture Society to collect plant and seed specimens from Western North America for European gardens from 1825 to 1833. The Douglas Fir Tree is named after him.

One of the other building on the World Forestry Center campus is Harry A. Merlo Hall, pictured here.

Portland Children's Museum

This building was built by volunteers in one day in 1957 as a new home for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which remained here unitl moving to its new location in SE Portland in 1992. The Portland Children's Museum moved here in 2001 from its former home on Lair Hill, where it had been since 1950.

Hoyt Arboretum

Beginning in 1911, Superintendent of Portland Parks Samuel L. Mische promoted the idea of an arboretum in Portland, and by 1913 he was acquiring seeds from E.H. Wilson in China through the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. In 1928, the northern 145 acres of the land acquired from Multnomah County in 1922 was established as the Hoyt Arboretum, named for Multnomah County Commissioner Ralph Warren Hoyt. John W. Duncan was commissioned to design a plan for the arboretum, which he completed in 1930, calling for 501 species grouped taxonomically, with room for further addition.The land had been decimated by a forest fire in 1889, and since then a dense forest of young alders, maples, hemlocks, Douglas firs and western red cedars had grown. The land was cleared by Works Progress Administration crews, leaving some of the native trees in place. New trees were planted according to the Duncan Plan in 1931; some of the earliest plantings were the Coast Redwoods along the Redwood Trail, which are now over 150 feet tall. Most of the original plating was done by 1938, and by 1944 all 40 of the plant families on the Duncan Plan were represented. Since then, the arboretum has grown to include thousands of plantings from about 1,000 different species.

Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial

The Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial within the Hoyt Arboretum was conceived by five veterans and the parents of a Marine killed in Vietnam after they returned from the dedication of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. in 1982. They were joined by other veterans and volunteers as they chose the site and design and raised money for its construction. The Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial was dedicated in 1987. The memorial begins at the circular Garden of Solace, which is dedicated to the 57,000 Oregonians who served in Vietnam from 1959 to 1976. A spiral path up a steady, gentle slope circles around the Garden of Solace. Spaced along the path are six granite walls incsribed with the names of Oregonians who were killed or listed as missing in Vietnam, as well as mentions of various events that occured in Oregon during the time period of each wall. At the last wall at the top of the trail there is a view of the overall memorial. From there, the trail leads beyond the memorial to connect with the Wildwood Trail, which meanders through the Hoyt Arboretum for 3 miles before leading to Forest Park to the north and serving as part of Portland's 40 Mile Loop trail network.