Mike and June invited us to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the Grand Ronde Tribe restoration. I had to learn what restoration is. Congress "terminated" the tribe in 1957, effectively dropping all tribal treaty rights because there was no tribal government. A group of dedicated Indians of the tribe worked until 1983 and testified before another Congress to have their sovereignty restored.

There were prayers, speeches, music, and a video showing the members that worked for the restoration. We enjoyed a very nice buffalo dinner with June's brother, sisters and mother and several hundred other Indians.

There was an hour and a half before the Crystal Gale performance and I really didn't want to hang around for the concert so Mike, Tim and I went back to work on the computer. Tim was to load a new program but it wasn't compatible with Mike's Hewlett Packard which is pretty neat. I showed Mike some basic stuff about DreamWeaver so he could put up his own articles. He worked on two articles for his National Park series. We were up until after midnight.

I earlier decided to visit a tannery in Clackamas, a suburb of Portland A tannery - a place where dead animal skins have the blood and stiffness removed not a place where the human body is colored brown.

Angelo was at work so we got a tour of his tannery. He has hundreds of hides - elk, deer, buffalo, skunk, beaver, and other small mammals - in various stages of preparation. There were four vats, probably 4 feet by 4 feet by 3 feet deep, in which raw hides were soaking, the second step in the tanning process.

There were stacks of hides that needed scraping, which has to be done before the soaking. He had several packages of hides just delivered to be marked and entered in his inventory. He said he was alone in his family business but no way in hydrochloric acid could he do all that work alone. He said his son didn't like the work and was studying to be a policeman. He was impressed with my 4 sons.

He was soon to be married and expected the woman to help him. In his office were dozens of prepared skins for sale, some with hair and some leather. I would love to have a vest of elkskin like some I saw on the Indians at the restoration celebration. I bought a deer skin with hair for the refuge. Angelo gave me a rabbit hide.

We stopped off at the Evergreen Aviation Museum at McMinnville, home of the "Spruce Goose" the largest wooden airplane ever built. Howard Hughes Flying Boat is officially listed as H-4 Hercules. The Museum was built to house the plane which was stored unassembled until the building was ready. The plane was assembled in it. Many other planes hover around like so many chicks under the wing. No plane yet has the wingspan of this aircraft. The width of the tail exceeds the wingspan of the B-17 which is parked nearby.

. Tim in white shirt forward of the right wing

Tim was interested in Russian Photon Space Capsule

It was impossible to get an unobstructed photo of the "goose' from any point on the floor because of the many smaller craft on display. The space was open with moveable pylons and chains cordoning off excess to individual exhibits. Literature noted that exhibits change from time to time.

This plane, photographed at the museum in 2001, was not on display in 2003.

We received a map identifying the present exhibits. Curtiss, de Havilland, McDonnel Douglas, North American, Goodyear, Boeing, Beechcraft, Glasair, Fisher, Bede, Spitfire, Lockheed, Ford, and Northrup, planes were placed throughout the floor.

The largest of these were the B-17, Lockheed Blackbird, Douglas Skytrain, and the Ford Tri-motor.

Suspended above the floor were 1986 Pitts S-2H, Hiller Raven Helicopters, replica of Wright trainer, Piper cub, Beechcraft Bonanza, Christen Eagle, Schweizer glider, Hughes Helicopter, and a Yakovlev YAK-50.

In separate areas with seating, visitors could play videos of Early Flights, Hughes flying boat, Warbird, Evergreen, B-17, and special auditorium selections. We walked to look at all the exhibits, including the engines and propellers from other aircraft, and into the cargo deck of the goose.

Entrance to cargo deck is above me.
Several vintage buses and mail wagons were of interest.
We did not take time to view the videos provided at various resting areas
on the museum floor.

A large sit down restaurant and restrooms were available to the public without paying the museum fee. So was a water fountain, public telephone and gift shop. I was unable to get a thimble or a magnet depicting the goose or the museum. Too many others with the same idea, I suppose, since they were out of stock.

Four planes and a helicopter were on display outside the building. Tim was curious about what glass could be removed to bring in new aircraft exhibits or remove those on loan. It may be a big effort but changes happen occasionally.

Whether you are into flight museums or not you will be fasinated by the size comparison and wing configuration of planes of the last 100 years that celebrate a century of flying.