To see US Presidents and their Pets, Part I, visit Presidents and Pets: A T-Boy Odyssey Into Why They Loved One Another. For Part II, see Pet Owners Who Love Their Pets: Precious Pix, which includes many photographs of owners and their pets with uplifting texts.

Our first president, General George Washington, never lived with pets in the White House – it was not completed until the administration of our second president, John Adams. President John Adams is credited with owning the first White House Presidential Pets: two mixed breed dogs, named Juno and Satan. John Adams’ tenure in the White House was short-lived (he lost reelection later that year), but many dogs and cats have served as First Pets ever since.

Abraham Lincoln and Fido

Like Barron, Rover and Spot, the name Fido has long been a popular one to name a pet dog. The birth of the name was coined by an English language newspaper, asking for help, finding a small white Greyhound with a Collar, who answers to the name of ‘Fido.‘ But the popularity of the name started in the US during Abraham Lincoln’s life in Springfield, Illinois. Five years before becoming the 16th president of the US, Lincoln was a victim to many episodes of depression and Fido helped to relieve him from the pain.

Throughout his childhood and into his presidential years, Abraham was kind to animals and always made time for his pets. Fido is taken from the Latin word “Fidus,” which means, always faithful, instilling a similar sense of loyalty. Semper Fidelis (also from “the faithful”) is the motto of every US Marine. It is an eternal and collective commitment to the success of our battles, the progress of our Nation, and the steadfast loyalty to the fellow Marines we fight alongside. Semper Fidelis was also the motto of my US Marine Corp father, Louis Boitano, who participated in D-Day: Battle of Iwo Jima and D-Day: Battle of Okinawa. I still remember his words today when I was a child: Eddie, You see a lot of guys today sitting around playing video games and talking about battles, but I doubt they‘ve experienced a ‘real’ battle.

Fido didn’t get to live in the White House. Instead, he stayed in Springfield, Illinois. Sady, both Lincoln and Fido met a similar demise, both assassinated in different venues and with different weapons. Lincoln took a bullet hole in the back of his head, by the culprit John Wilkes Booth at Ford Theater in Washington DC, and Fido took a knife deep into his gut, by a drunken culprit on a derelict porch in Springfield. Fido would become euphoric upon seeing other people, and had an excitable tradition of standing on his two back legs and embracing them with his two front legs, leaving his stomach vulnerable to attacks. But the drunken vagrant took exception to this; why should a mongrel mutt bother me when I’m in a drunken bliss? Apparently, Fido survived the initial attack and managed to run away, but was discovered months later in his deathbed below a dilapidated shack.

Thomas Jefferson, our third US President (In office 1801-1809) was the second US President to maintain a farm, after George Washington.

Dick was Jefferson’s favorite of his four mockingbirds; Bergère and Grizzle were shepherd dogs from France; two grizzly bear cubs were gifted from Captain Zebulon Pike; Caractacus was a horse named after a 1st-century British chieftain. Beginning in 1807, the president bred sheep from, Four of the most remarkable varieties. By spring 1808, there were nearly 40 sheep grazing at the president’s house.

William Henry Harrison served the shortest presidential term in history, dying 32 days after his March 4, 1841 inauguration, but still had the energy to own two pets; a cow name Sukey and a goat, whose name is still unknown. For now, let’s call him Ringo.

Franklin Pierce made history when his miniature teacup Japanese Chin dog was part of a gift exchange with Japan following the Perry Expedition.

President LBJ owned Him and Her, that is the beagles, Edgar and Freckles. Yuki was a mongrel dog, famous for “singing duets” (howling) with Johnson for White House guests.

LBJ and his Beagle

In 1964, when President Lyndon Baines Johnson lifted his pet beagle by its ears in front of reporters, he enraged animal lovers and animal rights groups around the world. Johnson, a Texan and dog lover, pulled the stunt to make the dog yelp before some visiting businessmen, according to Life magazine, and said “It does them good to let them yelp.” He claimed he didn’t think he was hurting the dog, but Humane Society spokespeople begged to differ, and Johnson caught heat from activists’ public statements and newspaper editorial pages. It was a public barking match that LBJ was not going to win. Today, the photo and the botched response stands as one of the most memorable presidential gaffes of all time.

Richard M Nixon and Checkers

Before Richard M Nixon was vice president, he was hounded by the human press, when he accepted a pet dog named Checkers. Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses. His place was in doubt on the Republican ticket as vice president with General Dwight David Eisenhower, who was on a quest to become our 34th US President. So, Nixon flew to Los Angeles and delivered a half-hour television address, known as Checkers speech, in which he defended himself and attacked his opponents. During his speech he stated that he intended to keep one gift, regardless of the outcome: a black-and-white Cocker-Spaniel that his children had named Checkers.

Donald J Trump and Malice

Former president Donald Trump never had a pet while in the White House. And all the animals in the world now pray, that he’ll never have a chance again. Many pet owners were riled up, when the former president would refer to the human species of women as dogs, horsefaces, pussies and pigs. It seemed to imply that animals and the human species of women were inferior to him. And the more they thought about it; shouldn’t it be the other way around.

And how his human cultists would laugh, when he’d do crude pantomimes, mocking members of the human species due to their mental and physical disabilities, stuttering, and because some are below average height. Something that no animal would ever do. Animals are known to help other animals when they’re hurt and distressed. And, often times, when they are abandoned, regardless of whatever species they are, they adopt each other, making it a wonderful large family of love and acceptance. Animals also defend us from perpetrators. I remember that was something that a few US politicans had sworn an oath to do. But how can all the animals throughout our Republic ever defend us from a powerful army of a human monarchy?

President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan

And hail to the Commanders and Chiefs, Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer, and Ronald Reagan, a rancher, who were once adversaries. Eventually they forged a friendship, but not certain if it was because of their pets.

Lieutenant James Earl Carter Jr., USN: Georgia Governor and Our 39th American President

I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference. – President Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. He was often labeled a dove and a pansy by the right-wing media and politicians, but they never seemed to notice that he was a graduate from the US Naval Academy in 1946. He spent a number of months in the design and development of nuclear propulsion plants for naval vessels. Starting in March of 1953, Lieutenant Carter was preparing to become the engineering officer for the USS Seawolf, one of the first submarines to operate on atomic power. 

However, when his father died in July 1953, Carter resigned from the Navy and returned to Plains, Georgia to manage his parent’s interests. When he saw the condition of their family farm, he realized his family was hopelessly in debt. Jimmy moved his wife, the former Rosalynn Smith, a noted author and humanitarian, and their three young kids, settling into a shack on a dirt road, where the area was almost entirely populated by impoverished African-American families. Through this, Jimmy and Rosalynn saw first-hand how tragic racism really is. They were stunned that African-Americans, many who had protected our nation in the Second World War, were forced to live in such deporable conditions.

Later, the USS Jimmy Carter, the third and final Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines in the United States Navy, is named in his honor due to his courage in defending the values our nation.

President Carter was fond of pets and also of children. When he was in the neighborhood, he would secretly teach Chrisitan Sunday School to kids. But why did he do it in secret? Once again, Jimmy had remembered the US Constitution, where there was a thing about a separation of church and state, and that our nation does not have a national religion. Jimmy looked at the theocracies of Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia and saw that our Founding Fathers were right. There was never a theocracy in world history that was fair to all of its citizens. Later, when our Nation issued a ban of all Muslims entering the US, including American citizens, Jimmy tried to warn us that some politicians were trying to redefine our Republic as a theocracy.

Nonetheless, President Carter marched on, continuing to teach Christian Sunday School in secrecy. But once again, why in secret? Jimmy realized that this would be offensive to our US citizens who might believe in Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and so many more that it’s made the US a rich tapestry of different cultures. Imagine our Republic without beans, maize, pizza, chili pepper, Wiener Schnitzel, sushi, and pumpkin pie and the Mexican Turkey Hen for Thanksgiving. And, most importanly, pet food from England for our animals to survive.

President Jimmy Carter: Born October 1, 1924, reached his 100th birthday on October 1 ,2024, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the son of a Depression-era farmer to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy –

America really does love you. Some of us were just too busy to tell you.

The defining image of you that many of us will always remember, is when you’re smiling and wearing you work clothes, holding a hammer and pounding nails, building a home for forgotten Americans who need shelter and unconditional love.

Ronald Wilson Reagan: Governor of California and then the 40th president of the United States

President Reagan was a man who also loved his pets. But even more so, he loved Reaganomics, which meant economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending.

Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the U.S. economy having seen a significant reduction of inflation, the unemployment rate having fallen, and the United States having entered its then, longest peacetime expansion. At the same time, the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending, despite cuts to domestic spending.

As the right-wing Republicans, whose logo is an elephant, were hard on Carter, the left-wing Democrats, whose logo is a donkey, were hard on Reagan, too, due to his harsh cuts to domestic spending. America’s poor and homeless felt abandoned. Even more so with the cut backs on children’s free lunch programs for they really did need to eat in order to survive and be attentive in our nation’s classrooms to learn how to read and write. If you’re someone who never inherited a large amount of money, education is often the only way to succeed financially in life without being a criminal.

Today, Ronald Reagan is often regarded as one of our greatest presidents; but for the poor, the forgotten, ethnic minorities and the U.S. citizens who were condemned to death by a new pandemic called AIDS, he is regarded as something less.

But, on a personal note, I will always admire him, back when he was caught in the illegal Iran-Contra Affair; for he did something that our later despicable, cult messiah would never do. He sat in the Oval Office and looked at America’s cameras directly into their lenses and said: I made a mistake.

Yes, President Reagan loved his pets. In particular his dog, Lucky, a female Bouvier des Flandres, who was given to first lady Nancy Reagan by the 1985 March of Dimes poster child, Kristen Ellis. The dog was named after Mrs. Reagan’s mother, Edith Luckett Davis. Lucky was moved from the White House to Rancho del Cielo during the 1985 Thanksgiving holiday, because she was getting too big for the White House.

The Reagans went dogless in the White House for a while, but Nancy was known to be clairvoyant and didn’t want the First Family to end up like a later president would, a later president who would compare his own stature to her husband, President Ronald Reagan. So, their next new puppy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was named after Rex Scouten, the White House chief usher.

One of Rex’s first official duties was to throw the power switch to light the national Christmas tree in 1985

Because Rex planned to leave his luxurious doghouse at the White House at the end of President Reagan’s second term, he was presented with a new doghouse that was a mini-replica of the White House. Lining the inside was a piece of familiar carpet from Camp David.

Frequently Asked Questions

The animals whose abuse is most often reported are dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Undercover investigations have revealed that animal abuse abounds in the factory farm industry. But because of the weak protections afforded to livestock under state cruelty laws, only the most shocking cases are reported, and few are ever prosecuted. Data on domestic violence and child abuse cases reveal that a staggering number of animals are targeted by those who abuse their children or spouses. There are approximately 70 million pet dogs and 74.1 million pet cats in the U.S. where 20 men and women are assaulted per minute (an average of around 10 million a year). In one survey, 71 % of domestic violence victims reported that their abuser also targeted pets. In one study of families under investigation for suspected child abuse, researchers found that pet abuse had occurred in 88 % of the families under supervision for physical abuse of their children.

What is the most common animal cruelty?

Neglect is the most common type of animal cruelty. Hoarding is a severe form of neglect in which the owner accumulates an excessive number of pets, is unable to provide even minimal care.

Is kicking a dog or cat abuse?

Animal cruelty involves inflicting harm, injuring, or killing an animal. The cruelty can be intentional, such as kicking, burning, stabbing, beating, or shooting; or it can involve neglect, such as depriving an animal of water, shelter, food, and necessary medical treatment.

Can a dog be emotionally abused?

Yes, dogs can experience emotional scars as a result of traumatic events, abuse, neglect, or the loss of a significant person or companion animal in their life.

Are you hitting the animal and causing it pain?

If yes, it’s probably abuse, because hitting an animal doesn’t teach it anything in a way it can understand – it just teaches the animal to be afraid of you and the circumstances in which it’s being hit. A gentle tap to get an animal’s attention is one thing – and that should be tailored to the animal’s capability, so for example a kitten might require a literal finger tap on the flank, while a horse might need a nudge with your heel – but if you’re doing anything that makes the animal yelp or otherwise indicate PAIN, you’ve got it wrong.

Are you withholding food, water or other necessities for more than the duration of a short training session?

If yes, then it’s more like neglect (and is abuse). Although an animal can understand “I didn’t get a treat for what I just did” they are not capable of understanding “I did a bad thing so I don’t deserve my meal.” If the dog doesn’t sit when you ask it to do so, it doesn’t get a treat right then, it should still be fed its normal meal at the normal time.

Are you isolating a social animal away from you or the rest of its social group for more than the duration of a short training session?

Withdrawing attention briefly in order to negatively reinforce a behavior is one thing – turning away from a dog that’s jumping up, for example, until he puts all four feet on the floor. But throwing that same dog into a crate in a back bedroom because he’s jumped up at you, and leaving him there, is again running into the neglect side of things.

How to Heal the Emotional Scars of an Abused Dog

To help an emotionally abused dog, you should first seek veterinary care. It is important to rule out any underlying physical issues and to get a thorough health evaluation. Then slowly and gradually expose the dog to new experiences, people, and other animals in a controlled and positive environment. Encourage the dog’s good behavior with treats, praise, and affection. Avoid using punishment or force-based training methods. Provide a stable and predictable routine: Regular meals, exercise, and plenty of rest can help establish a sense of security and stability. A veterinary behaviorist can help create a tailored behavior modification plan and provide support during the recovery process. Healing takes time and patience. It is important to remain consistent in your approach and to never give up on the dog. Offer the dog plenty of affection, love, and positive reinforcement. Show the dog that they are safe and loved. Remember, healing from emotional abuse is a slow process, but with patience, love, and the right support, many dogs can make a full recovery.

Do dogs get traumatized when you hit them?

Yes, dogs can get traumatized when they are physically punished, such as being hit or kicked. Physical punishment can cause fear, anxiety, and aggression in dogs and can result in long-lasting emotional scars. It can also damage the bond between a pet and its owner and can lead to trust issues. Using physical punishment is not an effective or humane way to train or discipline dogs. Instead, positive reinforcement training techniques, such as rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring undesired behaviors, are more effective and do not cause emotional harm. If you are struggling with training or behavior issues, it is best to consult with a professional dog behaviorist for guidance.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 6.5 million members and supporters. PETA exposes animals suffering in laboratories, in the food industry, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry.

Advocating For Animals | Nonprofit For Animals

List of Animal Welfare Nonprofits in Los Angeles | Deep Sweep

We have a moral obligation to report any felon who is abusing an animal, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, wealth and political domination. Feel free to contact Traveling Boy directly **@tr*******.com and we’ll do everything in our power to bring the felon to justice.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.– Mark Twain

Happiness is a warm puppy. – Charles M. Schulz

Animal Trivia

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee; let’s see how well you do with these 25 Question Trivia Game about Animals

To play the 25 Question Trivia Game about Animals, see below:

First Animal Trivia Set

Are Pigs smart enough to play video games? Name the most intelligent animal in the world? Do Elephants never forget? Is the Grandview rattlesnake the most venomous snake on earth? In The Beatle song, Martha My Dear, is “Bungalow Bill’s Mother,” a code name for “Martha?”

No one will see your answers, except for you.

Second Animal Trivia Set

Is the Giant Rat  invisible when seen in infrared cameras? Is it true that we call a group of Kangaroos a “Kangaroo Court?” Did Winston Churchill say something alarming, which caused Richard Burton to throw his MBE back into Queen Elizabeth, Number Two’s face? How much wood does a woodpecker chuck wood per second? Did the Scottish poet, Robert Byrne, write the poem, “Howl?”

And remember, no one will see your answers, except for you.

Third Animal Trivia Set

Do horses sleep while standing up? How can you tell if your pet dog is dreaming. Can camels go without water for over a month? Panda Bear’s sleep the longest of all animal species. Is the Yakima Yellow Tail the most poisonous critter on earth?

As noted above: No one will see your answers, except for you. And all winners, not suckers and losers, like Trump said about courageous Americans who join the military to defend our way of life, will be awarded prices. And this will be on an honor system; so good luck with that, too! — The T-Boy Staff

The post US Presidents and their Pets: Part III appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The Empress of the North is now owned by the Majestic America Line and continues to make voyages along the Columbia River as well as trips from Seattle, Washington to Juneau, Alaska. But my memories of this historic riverboat voyage; a voyage to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Meriwether Lewis and William Clark expedition into the nation’s new Louisiana Purchase, still color my thoughts today. Readers note: it is a commemoration, not a celebration – due to the fact that many Native American Tribal People; the people whose lives were the most deeply effected by the expedition, saw little to celebrate; well aware it was the beginning of a genocide that has still barely ended today.

With that said, below is what I learned from what is still my favorite river cruise; a river cruise that speaks of both yesterday and today.

Sacagawea of the Shoshone

Her name was Sacagawea (Su-keg-u-wee- u), but few people know her by that name. In the massive eight-volume text, the ‘Original Journals of Lewis and Clark,’ William Clark spelled the heroic Lemhi Shoshone woman’s name seven different ways, but never once Sacajawea (Sa-ka- ju- wee- a). Meriwether Lewis kept it simple, referring to the 14-year-old mother as either the ‘Injun’ woman or ‘squar.’ I found this to be an interesting piece of trivia. Of course, I like history. I also like river cruising on authentic sternwheelers, breathtaking scenery, luxurious accommodations and world-class regional cuisine.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition – 1805 

JUST THE FACTS

In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead an expedition across the continent to find the fabled Northwest Passage, which would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, creating a trade route to America’s east. Between October 1805 and May 1806, Lewis and Clark led a courageous team of 33 men – and later, one very heroic woman on the expedition.

Seeing an authentic sternwheeler today on the banks of the Columbia River outside of Portland, Oregon, is a surprise akin to witnessing an Alaskan fishing boat meandering down the Mississippi River. But my eyes had not deceived me. The Empress of the North was one of only two overnight sternwheelers built to cruise American’s western waterways in more than 90 years. Then, owned and operated by American West Steamboat Company, the designers blended the timeless elegance of the 1800’s paddle wheelers with state-of-the-art technology and all the modern amenities one would enjoy on a larger luxury ship. The three-story high paddlewheel fully propels the vessel at a leisurely cruise pace of up to 10 knots. Another surprise was having what appeared to be all 84 staff members, clad in Mississippi steamboat attire, in front of the boat greeting guests as they arrived. With a capacity of 235 guests, that’s a one-to-three ratio of staff to guests. It occurred to me that that was 51 more staff persons than on the entire Lewis and Clark expedition. What could I say besides, let the luxury commence!

Paths of the Explorers

On the Paths of the Explorers one experiences the Lewis and Clark’s trailblazing exploration – quite literally walking where they walked and seeing what they saw over 200 years after their historic journey. In the seven-day adventure, the riverboat cruise meanders nearly 1,000 miles round-trip from Portland. The waterways were the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers. Not only do you cruise through history, but you also experience the breathtaking natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and its numerous attractions.

Lewis and Clark arrived at the Mandan-Hidatsa villages and built Fort Mandan to spend the winter of 1804–05, they hired the French-Canadian trapper, Toussaint Charbonneau as their interpreter. By his side was Sacagawea. Like the spelling and pronunciation of her name, the narrative of her early life is still a bit cloudy: born in 1788, the daughter of a Shoshone chief, Sacagawea’s name roughly translates to “boat puller” or “bird woman.” Around the age of 12, she was captured by members of the Hidatsa Tribal Nation, then sold to Charbonneau (some say won in a card game) who made her one of his wives. Even though she was pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was also chosen to accompany them on their mission with the belief that her knowledge of the Shoshone language and terrain would help them later in their journey. As the expedition continued, she pointed out accessible areas to travel, camas roots to eat, and when a boat capsized, she saved many important documents and supplies. She also served as a symbol of peace. When the expedition encountered what could be unfriendly native tribes, her presence as woman with a young child illustrated that the group was not a war party. Without her, the Lewis and Clark expedition most likely would have failed.

Sacagawea made a miraculous discovery of her own during the trip west. When the expedition encountered a group of Shoshone Indians, she realized that its leader was actually her brother, Cameahwait. It was through her that the expedition was able to buy horses from the Shoshone to cross the Rocky Mountains. Despite the reunion with her native family, Sacagawea remained with the explorers for the entire trip west. It should be noted that after completing the long, miraculous 4500 miles journey by foot, canoe, and horse – all while carrying the little Jean Baptiste baby on her back – she was not to be denied witnessing the Pacific Ocean with her very own eyes.

Reading the Lewis and Clark journal and seeing locations from their expedition is one thing, but to see it through the eyes of a historian makes it an even richer experience. Throughout the journey our ship historian read from the Lewis and Clark journal while simultaneously pointing out the actual locations in their expedition. Expanding on certain segments provided a context that helped us understand the organizational and human drama of the expedition.

The Lewis and Clark journal indicated their group of explorers grew tired of eating the abundant salmon that swam in the pristine waters below them. At the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, where the group paused in 1805 and 1806, the Nez Percé  (Nimiipuu, meaning “we, the people”) introduced them to the eating of dogs. Lewis and his men loved the flavor and began trading goods for live canines. Clark, however, found this to be repellent, and made sure his own beloved pet dog was always within his sight. This also included sleeping closely to Sacagawea and child to curtail savage beatings by Charbonneau. Lewis had solicited the help of Clark due to his abilities as a draftsman and frontiersman, which were stronger than his own. To give the lieutenant equal footing, Clark made him a co-commanding captain of the Expedition, which sadly was never recognized or compensated by the U.S. government. Lewis and Clark were both slaveholders, and Clark brought with him his slave, a man named York, who enjoyed amusing the tribal nations – their first encounter with an African-American.

Our guide explained to the passengers, there was a long period where Lewis made no entries in the journal, based on the belief that he suffered from bipolar disorder, a deep depression that had haunted him since his youth. Upon his return from the expedition, Lewis was hailed as one the most famous people in the U.S. But could never escape his bouts with depression. Twenty-five years later he committed suicide; a suicide that still remains a mystery today. President Jefferson, himself, refused to believe it.

After the expedition, Sacagawea traveled with Charbonneau along with her (now) two infant children to the Missouri Fur Company trading post near present-day Bismark, North Dakota. She longed to return to her own Shoshone people, but her dream was never realized due to her death of a typhus (putrid fever) at the age of 25. The trading post administer commented that “She was the kindest woman I ever met.”

William Clark became the leading federal official in the West, with the duty to protect U.S. interests on territory contested by both Britain and Spain.” Clark was riddled with the contradictions of that era; urging the U.S. government to treat American-Indian Tribal Nations fairly, but also brokered forced relocation of tens of thousands of innocent people. Clark died in 1838 at the age of 68 in the St. Louis home of his firstborn son, Meriwether Lewis Clark.

Coach Tour Highlights

Each morning a luxurious motor coach waits outside the vessel to take guests to the day’s attractions. One of the stops is Multnomah Falls, a spectacular 620-foot-high waterfall, the second highest continuously flowing waterfall in America. The group is given plenty of time for photo ops and a 30-minute roundtrip hike to the top of the falls.

For the engineer in the group, there is the Bonneville Dam Visitor Center, where one learns about the workings of the massive turbine generators behind this imposing hydroelectric power source. At the fish ladders, glass-viewing areas display migrating salmon in season.

An excursion to Walla Walla features tours of the Fort Walla Walla Museum and a local winery. The Whitman Mission commemorates the missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman’s role in establishing the Oregon Trail in 1846, ultimately leading the territory to become part of the U.S., in reaction to the British presence and earlier claim to the land. The Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu was established near the Walla Walla River, the tribal land of the Cayuse Nation. The missionaries’ brand of strict Calvinist evangelicalism and ignorance of acculturation was far too harsh and abrupt for the Cayuse people to bear. In over a ten-year period, only two tribal members were converted to the Whitmans’ understating of what is Christianity.

The Whitman’s eventually forgot about the Cayuse conversions and turned all of their attention to the scores of wagon trains of European-American settlers pouring into the area for free land – with never a thought of payment to the Cayuse – leading to further tensions. As in the Columbian Exchange, 50 to 60% of the Cayuse population were decimated in 1847 from European diseases in which they had no immunity. In Hawai’i it was 90%, the Marquesa Islands 98%. The western hemisphere’s pandemics which resulted from the Columbian Exchange was a horrific and almost an unimaginable period in our past; a past that many of today’s historians still prefer not to mention.

Meales was the name of the plague that ravaged the Cayuse Tribal Nation. Cayuse chieftain Tiloukaikt suspected that Whitman (a medical doctor) was intentionally overlooking sick Cayuse children in favor of sick white children. Half of the Cayuse tribe died in the epidemic, yet most of the white children recovered. On November 29, Cayuse tribal member members, led by Tiloukaikt, burnt down the mission, and killed fourteen white settlers, including Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. Tiloukaikt and four other Cayuse voluntarily surrendered and were hanged for what is known as the Whitman massacre.

The death of the Whitmans sent a shock wave across the U.S. and prompted Congress to make Oregon a U.S. territory, but for the Cayuse it was the beginning of tragic ending as their people slowly disappeared from the globe. The Whitmans initially became popular symbols of Christian martyrdom due to inaccurate and oversimplified accounts of their complex relations with the Cayuse tribe. But, today, as history sheds new light on the peculiarities of their mission, they are no longer shrouded with endearments as white settlers and thoughtful evangelists saving the ‘Redman Savage,’ and many Whitman statues and monuments have been justifiably removed or torn down.

For the lovers of history and thrill seekers alike, there is a small boat excursion into Idaho’s Hells Canyon National Recreation Area’s Snake River of Hells Canyon – the deepest canyon in North America. The boats slow down to a snail’s pace allow viewing of ancient Native-American petroglyphs, wildlife and unique landscape formations. The Shoshone people living along the river used a hand sign to identify themselves by the movement of a snake. But it really meant to disappear as one.

Later, a stop at the Nez Percé Interpretive Center gives one a perspective on the tribe’s fascinating history and culture. Nez Percé, of course, translates to ‘Pierced Nose’ in French.

A stop at Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Monument offers a great opportunity to view an active volcano, where you’ll see the continual geological process and the landscape’s evolution since the 1980 eruption. At the nearby Observatory and Interpretive Center, one may look directly into the crater with its steaming dome, and witness firsthand the destructive power and damage caused by this volcanic blast. Views of the mountains and the crater may vary due to weather and volcano conditions.

The journey goes full circle for a tour of Fort Clatsop, just outside of Astoria, where the Lewis and Clark expedition made camp during the bleak winter of 1805-06. Named for the neighboring Clatsop Tribe, the Pacific NW weather proved to be unbearable, and the expedition bailed for home earlier than expected. As a native Seattleite, I know a little bit about that weather. The original fort fell into disrepair in 1955, and a replica was built on the original site, following Clark’s own sketches. There is a Visitor Center with two theaters, an exhibit hall and interpretive programs.

Back on Board the Empress of the North

For those seeking a luxurious cruise experience, the Empress more than fits the bill. The vessel features two lounges, live showboat entertainment and the usual Welcome Aboard Cocktail Reception and Dinner Party with the Captain. Gracefully appointed staterooms feature spacious bathrooms, televisions with VCRs or DVD players. All staterooms offer sweeping river views, and most have private verandahs.

Northwest Regional Cuisine

If you’ve been disappointed in the past that your meals were not thematically consistent with your cruise destination, you will be pleasantly surprised by the cuisine on this vessel. The bounty of the Pacific Northwest is well on display in meals from the Empress’ kitchen. The chef uses fresh vegetables and fruits, locally raised meats and Pacific fish and seafood. Menus include everything from Dungeness Crab Cakes Benedict, herb rubbed Ellensburg lamb, and Tillamook cheddar cheese soup to smoked salmon, grilled halibut and scallops.

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