Interpretive Plan Final updated 2020.pdf

Interpretive Plan

Oregon Military Museum Camp Withycombe, Clackamas, Oregon 97015

Alice Parman, Ph.D.

Tracy Thoennes, Curator

March 25, 2009

Updated January 8, 2016

Updated December 10, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

New Directions

Mission and Goals

Guiding Principles of Interpretation at the Oregon Military Museum

Audience Development and Institutional Identity

SITE OVERVIEW 7

Three Main Thematic Elements

The Central Plaza

The Historic Park

The Main Building

MAIN BUILDING SELF-GUIDED THEMED GALLERIES OVERVIEW 8

Main Exhibit Hall

Temporary, Changing Theme Galleries

Weapons Collection

Hall of Valor

THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE AT THE OREGON MILITARY MUSEUM 10

Arrival and Entry

SELF-GUIDED THEMED GALLERIES 11

Main Exhibit Hall, Permanent Exhibition: Serving Oregon • Serving Our Country

Our Roots: From Citizen Warriors and Militiamen to the ORNG

Citizen Warriors

The Oregon Militia and the Birth of the Oregon National Guard

Ready! Aim! Fire!

Keeping the Peace

First Overseas Service: The Spanish-American War / Philippine Insurrection

At War on Two Oceans

Battle-Tested

Among Our Souvenirs

Interlude: Between the Spanish-American War and World War I

The Road to Bataan

Above and Beyond

Fire and Flood

Citizen Sailors: The Oregon Naval Militia, 1898-1916

Doughboys: Mexican Border Service and World War I, 1916-1918

Guarding the Border

Over There

Interlude: The Inter-War Years

The Treaty of Versailles and its Aftermath

Home Front Duty

A World at War: World War II, 1939-1945

Mobilizing for War

War in the Pacific

Oregon on a War Footing

Continuous Combat: the Timberwolves

Oregonians Take to the Skies

Breaking Barriers

Exceptional Valor

Interlude: the Postwar Period

Cold War Ahead

Visitor Rest & Relaxation Area

The Cold War, 1945-1989

At War in Asia: The Korean War, 1950-1953

Grunts and Guardsmen: The Vietnam War, 1959-1975

Advisors and Peacekeepers

In Our Time: 1990s to the Present Day

The Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield and Operation

Desert Storm, 1990-1991

Global War on Terrorism, 2001–

Patrolling the Skies: the 142nd Fighter Wing

Service at Home and Around the World

Breaking Barriers

Above and Beyond

Homeland Security

We Are Family

Mail Call

Taking Care of Our Own

Remember

The Guard Today

Where in the World is the ORNG?

A Day in the Life

Do Your Best, Give Your Best

Serving State and Nation

Test Your ORNG IQ

Opportunities

Temporary, Changing Theme Galleries

The Weapons Collection

The Hall of Valor

OTHER INTERPRETIVE FEATURES ON THE GROUNDS 30

Historic Park

Camp Withycombe and the Clackamas Rifle Range

Quartermaster Storehouse

Battery A Field Artillery Horse Barn

Honor Garden

Track and Treads Vehicle Pavilion

World War II Quonset Hut

TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE OF INTERPRETIVE SPACE____ 33

INTRODUCTION

New Directions

Founded in 1975, the Oregon Military Museum (OMM) has built unique collections that document the role of the Oregon National Guard and Oregonians' military service and contributions to state, national, and world history. Through the years, the Museum has welcomed Soldiers and Airmen, Sailors and Marines, veterans, and their families, along with community members and travelers, to view the exhibits and share their stories. Researchers come from all over the country to study the collections and work in the archives. Dedicated volunteers spend countless hours restoring historic military vehicles and sharing them with

Oregonians at parades, commemorations, and other community events. Living History Day at

Camp Withycombe, home of the Oregon Military Museum, has drawn enthusiastic crowds to take part in hands-on family activities that interpret Oregon's military heritage.

The Department of Defense’s base realignment and closure (BRAC) process at Camp

Withycombe presented the Oregon Military Museum with a unique opportunity to expand and deepen its interpretive scope. In 2009, the Museum's collections and operations were moved to the 1954 Clackamas Armory, an outdated building requiring remodeling and reconfiguring. A new Historic Area was established, encompassing the decommissioned Armory, the National

Register-eligible circa 1911 field artillery horse barn, the circa 1911 Quartermaster Storehouse, and a World War II Quonset hut.

These opportunities have enabled the Oregon Military Museum to become a venue for high-quality visitor experiences, commensurate with OMM's nationally significant collection. We invite all friends of Oregon military history, including all veterans, to join with us in making this vision a reality.

Initially in 2009, the Oregon National Guard (ORNG) commissioned Architects Barrentine Bates

Lee AIA (BBL) to develop an architectural master plan, in collaboration with landscape architecture firm Walker Macy. The architectural master plan defined the scope and content of design and construction to transform the Clackamas Armory and its grounds into the new home of the Oregon Military Museum.

By 2013, the architectural team had evolved to include full time personnel from the Oregon

Military Department’s Installations Division, award-winning design architect Don Stastny, THA

Architecture (now Hacker), and PLACE studio, along with contractors Precision Construction

Company and numerous engineering firms. The newest architectural plan further refined the scope and content of the project, adding many new and innovative features that will make our vision for the site and facilities a reality.

The creation of visitor experiences for this state-of-the-art facility and site, including associated historic structures and outdoor interpretive features, will be guided by this interpretive master plan. Working closely with Museum Curator Tracy Thoennes and the Museum's exhibit committee, Alice Parman, Ph.D. authored the original draft plan. After careful review by

Museum professionals, scholars, and Oregon National Guard officers and staff, Parman prepared a final interpretive master plan. Thoennes and the exhibit committee further revised the plan in

2015 and 2016, to reflect additions and changes to the site, additional proposed exhibits, the

Museum’s name, and a revised Museum mission statement.

These architectural and interpretive master plans guide subsequent planning, design, and construction of the Museum's buildings and grounds. They are also invaluable communications and fundraising tools during the Museum’s capital campaign.

Mission and Goals

To ensure that new exhibits and programs convey the unique identity and values of the Oregon

Military Museum, the interpretive plan is firmly grounded in the Museum's mission:

The Oregon Military Museum was established in 1975 by the Oregon Military Department as the state's official military repository. Its mission is:

To inspire and educate visitors about Oregon's military heritage and legacy to include the National Guard, the state's early militia, and all branches of the Armed Forces.

To meet its professional stewardship obligations for the historical artifacts and archives entrusted to its care.

The Goals of Interpretation According to Freeman Tilden, author of Interpreting Our Heritage, the aim of interpretation is

“to reveal meanings and relationships…rather than simply to communicate factual information.”

Interpretation provokes attention and curiosity, relates concepts and facts to visitors’ own lives, and reveals key messages in unforgettable ways. Making use of a variety of objects, experiences, and media, interpretive exhibits and programs appeal to as many senses as possible.

Interpretive displays and activities seek to engage visitors intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

Take-Home Messages and Interpretive Goals

Guided by the Museum's mission, the first step in interpretive planning is to determine the big ideas to be conveyed to all visitors. Working with interpretive planner Alice Parman, the

Museum's staff, stakeholders, and key members of the Oregon National Guard have identified five core take-home messages:

The military is an enduring part of Oregon's past, present, and future.

Military service members are my neighbors and co-workers; they have volunteered for extra responsibility.

Working together with respect, people can accomplish amazing things.

History is interesting, important, and relevant.

I am part of history.

Take-home messages provide the conceptual framework for organizing the visitor’s experience of the Oregon Military Museum. Interpretive goals describe how these visitor experiences are intended to influence visitors’ understanding, attitudes, and behavior. We expect that during and after their visit, many visitors will:

Feel new or renewed respect for values associated with military service: duty, honor, service, endurance, and valor;

Understand the meaning of "freedom isn't free";

Express a personal connection to the past, including their own family history;

Share their excitement about the Museum with friends and family, and make plans for frequent repeat visits.

Guiding Principles of Interpretation at the Oregon Military Museum

Citizen Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines are the stars of this exhibit.

Personal stories bring images and artifacts to life. First-person accounts bear witness to the quiet heroism and devotion to duty made by the thousands of Oregonians who have served in the military. This testimony also conveys the camaraderie and tradition of military service. Visitors in turn will be inspired to share their stories.

Visitors view Oregon's history through the lens of military experience.

The military is revealed as a unique cultural institution with a proud history, tradition, and identity––expressed in uniform styles and colors, insignia, and weaponry through time. Visitors discover connections between military traditions and Oregon's history and popular culture. As they follow Oregonians to humanitarian missions and wartime duties throughout the nation and the world, visitors begin to think of Oregon history in national and world context. They become aware of historic military sites and resources, in Oregon and elsewhere, featured in OMM displays.

The Museum interprets Oregon military history as lived by participants, and understood today.

Visitors get a sense of what it has meant to go to war in different eras; they see how the nature of combat has changed because of technological innovation and conditions on the ground.

Firsthand accounts express how military service members from all branches fight, cope, learn from experience, and keep working to make a difference. The distinct roles of the National

Guard on the home front are a revelation to many visitors: the Guard's unique responsibility to maintain civil order, and its participation in humanitarian, firefighting, and rescue missions.

People of all backgrounds relate to the experiences of family members: life on the home front, deployment and re-integration, casualties of war, and how families and communities support service men and women.

A chronological pathway unfolds a fascinating story, rich in authentic objects and images, with unique opportunities to study, look closely, and even touch the past.

Each time period has at least one centerpiece, ranging from a single artifact or photograph to a full-scale diorama. Whatever the scale, the focal piece is dramatically lit, drawing visitors in.

Stage-set decor and graphic motifs reinforce the look and feel of each historic period. Headlines and quotes also play a role, with cultural references and dates to place visitors chronologically.

When visitors choose to move randomly among time periods, they remain aware that a story is unfolding within the exhibit space.

Audience Development and Institutional Identity

Through exhibits, special events, and volunteer programs in its previous location, the Oregon

Military Museum reached an average of 4,000 visitors per year. Most have been veterans, and family members of veterans.

In the past, security and manpower issues forced the Museum to set strict limits on attendance.

Because the Museum's exhibits displayed priceless artifacts in unprotected touch zones, visitors could only tour the galleries under close supervision. An important goal for the new facility is to house all original objects securely and safely. This will enable the Museum to expand public hours and welcome many more visitors. These additional security and staffing resources will allow OMM to engage all of Oregon’s service members, veterans, and their families, and increase additional target audiences of school and youth groups, non-military families, tourists, veterans' associations, and general visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

The desire to build and diversify the Museum’s audience has influenced many of the visitor experiences proposed in this document. By presenting storylines, collections, and educational opportunities in personal and highly accessible ways, the Museum’s exhibits can appeal to a multi-age audience, including families and school groups.

OMM displays will also create new opportunities for in-depth exploration. This potential will be best fulfilled by increasing staff capacity to present customized tours to special interest groups, and to recruit, train, and supervise volunteer guides. The exhibits proposed in this plan are self-guided with the exception of the Battery A Field Artillery Horse Barn and the World War II

Quonset hut; but visitors’ experience will be even more memorable when they can personally interact with knowledgeable museum resource people.

Through exhibits that intrigue, engage, and educate, we will offer rewarding experiences for all visitors. By building changeability and flexibility into exhibit design, the Oregon Military

Museum will become a leading regional attraction, with ongoing repeat visitation by nearby residents and tourists alike. And by serving as a gateway to introduce visitors to military history sites and resources throughout the state, OMM will play a key role in Oregon's museum and cultural communities.

SITE OVERVIEW

The Oregon Military Museum is experiencing institution-wide renewal. New exhibits in the remodeled Clackamas Armory and the 4-acre site will reflect an expanded, deepened interpretation of Oregonians’ military service and the Oregon National Guard. The Museum’s nationally significant collection will be the focus of engaging, in-depth exhibits for a multigenerational audience. All friends of Oregon’s military history are invited to be part of realizing the vision outlined here.

Approaching and entering the grounds of the Oregon Military Museum, visitors encounter three main thematic elements that set the stage for a memorable visit: the Central Plaza, the Historic

Park, and the Main Building. Guided by appropriate signage, visitors can explore the entire

Museum grounds. During Living History Day and other special events, when re-enactors and live interpreters are present, these educational resources truly come to life.

Three Main Thematic Elements The Central Plaza contains visitor drop off and parking zones, and provides the first view of the museum grounds. The large, open grassy area provides ample space for outdoor event use, such as military parade grounds and living history interpreters’ reenactments and military encampments. The area might also include a small Honor Garden recognizing

Oregon’s veterans of all wars. Beyond the parade grounds is the Tracks and Treads vehicle pavilion that interprets large scale macro artifacts in a weather-protective setting.

The Historic Park is to the right (west) as visitors enter. The Park encompasses a pastoral setting of very large, old trees and two circa 1911 historical buildings: the Battery A Field

Artillery Horse Barn and the Quartermaster Storehouse. These structures were rescued from demolition and relocated here in order to interpret the history of Camp Withycombe, a former military encampment site and a target range. Additionally, the “Walk of Honor” engraved brick pathway might be placed here, set among the old growth trees within the park-like setting, inviting visitors to investigate further and take time to reflect.

The Main Building of the Oregon Military Museum is to the left (east) of the Central

Plaza. Visitors enter the Lobby, and find the Museum Store and other welcoming visitor services. Founders’ and major supporters’ plaques salute the generous contributors whose farsighted vision made the new Museum a reality. The journey through military history begins in depth from here, through self-guided galleries of the Main Exhibit Hall, Temporary

Exhibits Galleries, the Weapons Collection, and the Hall of Valor.

MAIN BUILDING SELF-GUIDED THEMED GALLERIES OVERVIEW

Main Exhibit Hall - Serving Oregon • Serving Our Country

Following a dynamic overview of military service, visitors embark on a journey through time and enter a space that is rich in history. Lighting and signage lead them along a chronological pathway. Visual clues point ahead to areas that may be of special interest to some visitors. The story unfolds through several centuries, and many generations. The journey of discovery begins with the legacy of many generations of Oregon's Native peoples: since time immemorial, they were the original citizen warriors of Oregon.

Our Roots documents Oregon’s earliest military history, from Native American citizen warrior traditions, through Lewis and Clark’s first U.S. military venture into the Pacific Northwest, to the organization of Oregon’s earliest militia. Visitors learn about Oregonians’ involvement in the

Civil War, and follow the course of protracted Indian Wars, with Native warriors involved on both sides. Historic photos and documents, and a few precious artifacts, attest to the central role of military effort in establishing Oregon as a territory and a state, culminating in 1887 legislation establishing the Oregon National Guard. The finale of Our Roots is an electronic shooting gallery where visitors can safely handle replicas of 19th century weapons.

First Overseas Service details the campaigns of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine

Insurrection, 1898-1899. A tropical look and feel, a magic lantern show, and original artifacts immerse visitors to headline news and rapidly unfolding events that led Oregonians to fight overseas for the first time. Souvenirs and personal memoirs provide evidence of the decisive role played in the Philippines by the 2nd Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry.

Here as throughout the timeline, special features and interludes portray the peacetime responsibilities and accomplishments of Oregonians in military service. In the period before

World War I, the Oregon Naval Militia and the Coast Artillery Corps are in the spotlight.

Doughboys puts Camp Withycombe in the center of Oregon’s response to incursions into U.S.

territory by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. In Guarding the Border, period images and artifacts bring Soldiers’ memories of Mexican Border Service to life. Visitors gain appreciation for this nationwide call-up as a training exercise that prepared the United States military for service in World War I. The centerpiece of Over There is a fully restored Liberty Truck.

Uniformed mannequins represent an infantryman, a bilingual telephone operator, and a balloonist. Supported by artifact and photo collections as well as first-person accounts, these displays put both women and men in touch with the “war to end all wars” from three very different perspectives.

A World at War is the Museum’s largest display, reflecting the depth and breadth of its World

War II collections. Mobilizing for War honors shipyard workers whose contributions were critical to victory in both the European and the Pacific theaters. Opening toolboxes and lunch pails, visitors find photos and memories of men and women throughout Oregon who contributed to the war effort. A photo essay with artifacts documents coastal defense units, and a Japanese attack on Fort Stevens. War in the Pacific begins with headlines and maps detailing an embattled nation, mourning Soldiers stranded in the Philippines and men and ships lost during

Pearl Harbor. A centerpiece diorama of a destroyed Japanese HaGo tank invites visitors to follow the path of the Sunset Division Jungleers; authentic images and artifacts and an interactive game bring their island-hopping amphibious attacks to life.

Oregon on a War Footing showcases fascinating artifacts and photos to convey the involvement of ordinary men, women, and children in the war effort. Vintage calendar pages trace the

Continuous Combat of the 104th Infantry Division Timberwolves during the 195 days that took them from Cherbourg to the Elbe River. Visitors use binoculars and stereoscopic viewers to learn about the air war in Oregonians Take to the Skies. Breaking Barriers pays tribute to women and members of minority groups who overcame discriminatory laws to serve their country. Exceptional Valor honors all of Oregon’s Medal of Honor recipients, with a special focus on the selfless actions of 2nd Lt. David R. Kingsley, for whom the 173rd Fighter Wing’s

Kingsley Field is named.

Before continuing along the timeline, visitors can relax and browse in the Rest & Relaxation

Area. Comfortable benches are also available at strategic locations throughout the exhibit galleries.

The Cold War documents the period from 1945 to 1989: the Korean War, the Vietnam War era, and European conflicts through the demise of the Soviet Union. Centerpiece exhibits of the F-86

Sabre Jet as well as vehicles, photos, memorabilia, and quotes from oral histories show the roles played by Oregonians, both overseas and stateside, during these historic events.

In Our Time continues the story of Oregon’s military history through the present day. An artifact-rich feature on the Gulf War is followed by a chronology and changeable updates on the

Global War on Terrorism since 2001. A special feature honors the role of the 142nd Fighter

Wing, Patrolling the Skies over the West Coast. The timeline culminates in a web-based interactive experience, Homeland Security, where visitors are immersed in the ORNG’s unified emergency management and response system. They take roles, make decisions, and find out the consequences of those choices.

We Are Family, changeable (and very personal) exhibits by and for veterans and their families, reflects the daily lives of people who most unfailingly support their deployed loved ones. A memorial quilt, first-person stories, and excerpts from a theater piece written and performed by veterans are highlights of this special display.

The Guard Today offers a lively introduction to the challenging, rewarding daily lives of citizen Soldiers and Airmen. In Where in the World is the Oregon National Guard?, visitors learn about key roles of the National Guard and see where the ONG has been deployed, such as

Task Force Phoenix V. A Day in the Life pairs mini-biographies with hands-on experiences, as visitors follow recruits through their first day of training. An obstacle course, Do Your Best, Give Your Best, lets adults and children measure their abilities against the Guard’s fitness standards. The ORNG’s humanitarian and civil defense activities are documented in Serving

State and Nation, to include deployments for Hurricane Katrina and wildfire fighting. Visitors assess their knowledge of military etiquette and tradition in Test Your ORNG IQ, and use a touch-screen computer to learn more about Opportunities offered by the Oregon National Guard.

Temporary, Changing Theme Galleries

Created to be flexible with rotating exhibits, these galleries are designed to inspire return visitation and complimenting educational programming, as well as to forge partnerships with other cultural and community organizations. Examples of exhibitions might include: Notable

Figures in Oregon’s Military History, Walk a Mile in These Shoes, Aspects of Insignia, Oregon

Painters of Military Themes, Oregonians who were Prisoners of War, Letters Home.

The Weapons Orientation and Weapons Rooms encompass state-of-the-art displays for the

Museum’s outstanding small arms and artillery collections, inviting visitors to preview collection highlights and view many of these rare artifacts in a display format that meets the security requirements for weapons. Interpretive displays along a reader rail offer fascinating facts for novices, and enough technical information to satisfy military history buffs.

Hall of Valor

The Hall recognizes acts of valor and great courage in the face of danger performed by Oregon’s

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. It can also serve as a gathering place, small classroom, meeting room, or tour orientation room.

THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE AT THE OREGON MILITARY MUSEUM

The exhibit ideas described below represent a conceptual framework for exhibit design.

Typically, more ideas are offered than can be accommodated in the available space and additional ideas emerge during the design phase. Therefore this narrative description should be read as an approach or concept, a vision that will guide designers, the architect, fundraisers, and others who will work together to make the new Oregon Military Museum a reality.

Arrival and Entry

As visitors approach the Oregon Military Museum, attractive signage directs them to the entry.

Along a wrought-iron style fence, decorative elements based on uniform colors and camouflage designs might be used to create a sense of history.

Entering the grounds and proceeding to the parking lot, visitors notice macro artifacts, historic structures in a park-like setting of old growth trees, and make a note to tour them later.

Interpretive graphic panels throughout the site orient visitors to elements within the museum grounds and introduce them to Camp Withycombe’s history. Other interpretive elements could include an interactive sandbag filling station celebrating the Oregon National Guard's invaluable humanitarian service in their home state and throughout the nation.

In the Lobby, a friendly greeter welcomes visitors and invites them to sign in. An attractive brochure includes a floor plan, and information about membership, donation, and sponsorship opportunities. A changeable signboard shows upcoming events and volunteer openings.

Appealing window displays preview the Museum store, stocked with unique merchandise. On the wall to the left of the restrooms, a founders' plaque pays tribute to contributors who have made the new building possible, and whose continuing support ensures its success.

SELF-GUIDED THEMED GALLERIES

Four main exhibition areas within the main Museum building are: the Main Exhibit Hall, Changing Theme Gallery, the Weapons Collection, and the Hall of Valor.

Main Exhibit Hall – Permanent Exhibit: Serving Oregon • Serving Our Country

From the Lobby, visitors can see the entryway to the Museum's main exhibit gallery.

Moving through the doorway, visitors enter the 9,000-square-foot former drill floor of the

Clackamas Armory. Here they encounter an engaging and memorable exhibit, Serving Oregon •

Serving Our Country. Through the magic of exhibit design, the drill floor is transformed into a journey that takes visitors all over Oregon, and throughout the world. Yet the shape and texture of the armory can still be seen. Visitors are aware of being in a spacious, solidly constructed building where generations of men and women have trained and prepared to serve.

Entering the main exhibit hall, visitors begin their journey with Our Roots, the first exhibit in the history timeline. As visitors travel through time, they encounter compelling authentic objects, richly evocative images, dramatic vignettes and dioramas, media presentations, and a wealth of first-hand quotes. The combined effect brings history to life. The look and feel of casework and graphics, within a defined range of materials and typefaces, reinforce visitors' sense of being in each specific time and place. Securely and safely protecting valuable (and potentially dangerous) artifacts from harm, exhibit components allow visitors to look closely, and (where appropriate) interact with replicas, and even with carefully selected original objects.

Our Roots:

From Citizen Warriors and Militiamen to the Oregon National Guard

Citizen Warriors

It is envisioned that this exhibit will be developed in collaboration with designated representatives of Oregon Tribes. The description below is a “what if” that could serve as a starting point for those discussions.

A title panel is displayed on a replica tule mat, framed in cedar. Suspended from the ceiling, beautifully lit banners display portraits of American Indian men and women of the Oregon

Country, whose lives became entwined with those of Euro-American newcomers in the 19th century. Interpretive panels with firsthand quotes give visitors a sense of the difficult choices faced by Native people during this period. Contemporary images and quotes honor American

Indian veterans of recent decades. Beaded items, loaned by Native artists and tribal museums, trace the service and sacrifice of American Indian veterans through many generations.

Beneath the banners, framed period images portray individuals and families caught up in conflicts––and efforts to keep the peace––as ancestral lands were taken over by forts, military roads, and homesteads, defended in turn by citizen militias and Indian scouts. Mini-biographies, and a few precious artifacts, personalize a timeline that weaves together the military history of the Oregon Country with stories of settlement, commerce, territory, manifest destiny, and statehood.

The Oregon Militia

The timeline continues with Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and President

Jefferson's Corps of Volunteers for North Western Discovery, the first U.S. military venture into the Pacific Northwest. Historic paintings and re-enactment photos depict key encounters in

Oregon, the unique role played by Sacagawea and her son, and the construction of Fort Clatsop.

(A sidebar shows ORNG members helping to rebuild the fort after a devastating fire in 2005.) A vintage mural reproduction depicts the "Wolf Meeting" that led to organization of Oregon's earliest militia. Mini-biographies of the Whitmans blend with eyewitness accounts of the shocking events at Waiilatpu, mobilization of a citizen militia, and concerted efforts to keep the peace. (Another sidebar portrays 21st century re-enactors from Milton-Freewater who commemorate this 1847 militia.)

Embedded in the timeline, an interactive map shows the vast area encompassed by "the Oregon

Country" during the emigrant period. Visitors can compare subsequent territorial and state borders, the extent of lands ceded by Oregon tribes, and the borders of today's Indian reservations. Place names from the state's Native heritage are displayed on the map, along with forts, military roads, early settlements, and river and harbor development by military engineers.

Continuing along the timeline, visitors look through an album of Civil War era cartes de visite, portraying members of 1860s Oregon Volunteer Cavalry and Infantry Regiments and Oregon

State Militia companies such as the Fenian Guards, Zouave Cadets, Light Battery A, and Marion

Rifles. Quotes from newspapers and official documents trace the deeply controversial role of slavery in the vote for Oregon statehood. In a series of captioned photos, re-enactor Sgt. John

Muller (ORNG) explains that many Oregonians are found among the estimated 100,000 Civil

War re-enactors in the U.S. Visitors learn that the First Regiment, Oregon Cavalry, an all-volunteer unit, served on active duty from shortly after statehood until mid-1866.

A massive sideboard symbolizes the Oregon ties to the Union General and President Ulysses S.

Grant. Though Grant acquired the piece during his sojourn in Washington, his gift of the sideboard to fellow Soldier Forrest Hathaway brought it to the Northwest––where Grant had been posted at Fort Vancouver in the 1850s. Hathaway's subsequent service in the Indian Wars provides a biographical thread, part of an account of important incidents and sites in that lengthy series of conflicts. Visitors learn of roles played by Indian citizen warriors and scouts portrayed in the banners hung overhead. Sarah Winnemucca, spokesperson for the Paiute Tribe, and

Winema Riddle, a Modoc tribal member who worked for peace between her people and the U.S.

government, are prominently featured.

Birth of the Oregon National Guard

A memorable photographic portrait honors Owen Summers, legislator and citizen Soldier, whose landmark legislation established the Oregon National Guard. Visitors can peruse a copy of the

1887 Summers Act. An interpretive panel, illustrated with historic images, spells out basic facts about the Oregon National Guard: the origin of the name in the Marquis de Lafayette's Garde

Nationale; the all-volunteer makeup of the Guard; its dual mission at the federal and state levels;

and its commander-in-chief, the Governor of Oregon.

Ready! Aim! Fire!

The finale of Our Roots is an electronic shooting gallery. Visitors use specially modified replicas to "load" and "fire" a pioneer-era smoothbore musket, a rifled musket of the Civil

War/Indian Wars era, and a Springfield 45 caliber rifle, such as was issued to ORNG units in

1889. Visitors can time themselves and find out how close they came (electronically) to hitting the target. Step-by-step photos of re-enactors show visitors how to load and fire. A six-pounder cannon, acquired in the 1870s as a deterrent against Indian uprisings, is on view nearby, along with a replica of the silk guidon of the Portland Light Battery.

Keeping the Peace

In the first of several single-panel displays featuring ORNG operations in Oregon and the U.S., visitors learn how units of the newly formed Oregon National Guard were deployed within the state to protect jailed immigrant workers from lynch mobs in Vale, The Dalles and Roseburg.

First Overseas Service:

The Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection, 1898-1899

A title panel floats on a textured, bamboo-framed support. A curtain-like scrim presents period graphics of palms and beaches, and colonial scenes of Cuba and the Philippines. Within a darkened space, a second scrim displays translucent images of the explosion of the Maine in

Havana harbor, and Admiral Dewey's entrance into Manila Bay. Intermittent sound and light effects evoke the flash and boom of battle.

At War on Two Oceans

Visitors sit on camp stools under a palm-leaf shelter to view a "magic lantern show" of captioned period graphics, political cartoons, newspaper headlines, historic photographs, and period maps.

They learn how emergence of the U.S. as the world's leading industrial power collided with the last days of the Spanish empire; how a bid for independence by Cuban revolutionaries inspired sensationalist "yellow journalism" in William Randolph Hearst's papers; and how the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor led Congress to declare war on Spain. Half a world away, Admiral George Dewey entered Manila Bay and trapped the Spanish fleet. Eleven thousand U.S. Soldiers made common cause with Filipino insurgents, who then turned against them after President McKinley decided to annex the Philippines. The magic lantern show concludes with a somber recounting of U.S. and Filipino dead and wounded, from 1898 until the insurgents' defeat was declared in 1902. The storyline is interspersed with historic photographs of citizen Soldiers of the 2nd Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry, and their commander, Brigadier

General Owen Summers.

Battle-Tested

Objects from the Spanish-American War (including some described in the magic lantern show) range from a shell casing fired from a Spanish ship, the Cristobal Colon, in the decisive battle of

Santiago de Cuba to a projectile of the type fired from the 13-inch gun used on the U.S.S.

Oregon. A Soldier's equipment and personal kit (if available as originals or replicas) are accompanied by historic images of Soldiers in camp, and quotes from letters they sent home. A special feature contrasts the entirely unsuitable wool uniforms that were standard issue for 2nd

Oregon Soldiers deployed to the Philippines, and the far more comfortable cotton uniforms made for them on contract by Hong Kong tailors. Quotes from letters and reports shed light on this snafu (a classic example of a communication lag between the front lines and the home front) and how it was resolved.

Among Our Souvenirs

A changeable potpourri of trophies, booty, and souvenirs includes General Summers' elaborately carved wooden chair; Private Frederick Edmunds M1889 campaign hat and the remains of some baptismal records he collected from a church; a Spanish 9-pounder field gun, dated 1776; and one or more medals cast from a second Spanish gun, melted down for that purpose. Candid photos, family stories, and excerpts from letters and diaries enliven the recollections of the well-traveled 2nd Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry. A period quote pays tribute to the speed of "those

Oregon greyhounds."

Interlude:

Between the Spanish-American War and World War I

The Road to Bataan

An interpretive panel uses historic photos, brief text, and quotes to trace the connection between the declared defeat of Filipino insurgents in 1902 and the deaths of thousands of U.S. and

Filipino Soldiers on the Bataan death march, forty years later. The decision to make the

Philippines a U.S. protectorate meant establishment of a permanent garrison of American and

Filipino Soldiers in Manila. These troops would be trapped, without the possibility of supplies or reinforcements, when Japanese forces invaded Manila (and other strategic Southeast Asian targets) soon after their devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. Significantly, most Filipino troops remained loyal to the United States, fought the invaders, and suffered alongside U.S. troops during the occupation.

Above and Beyond

In the first of several special displays celebrating the valor and exceptional achievement of members of citizen Soldiers and Airmen, a remarkable collection of marksmanship awards won by Guardsmen Steve and Hugh Pearson is showcased. Photos of the two Soldiers, along with first person quotes, are accompanied by changeable images of more recent champion marksmen among Oregon's Soldiers and Airmen. A target lifter interactive, using a Springfield M1903 with a simulation of a 1000-yard range, gives visitors a sense of technological advances over the previous loading and shooting interactive.

Fire and Flood

En route to the next exhibit space, an interpretive panel with newspaper headlines, photos, and eyewitness quotes highlights the ORNG's response to memorable turn-of-the-century disasters that threatened thousands of lives. A medical unit dispatched to San Francisco after the devastating 1906 earthquake, and the Guard's first service on the fire lines, at Bull Run in 1909, are signal examples of continuous, steadfast humanitarian service by ORNG volunteers.

Citizen Sailors and Marines: The Oregon Naval Militia

This small exhibit area has a nautical look and feel, with decking, ropes and halyards, a life buoy, and a ship's bell that visitors can ring. Models, line drawings, and photographs show the cruisers U.S.S. Boston and U.S.S. Marblehead and the destroyer U.S.S. Goldsborough––the successive ships of the Oregon Naval Militia. Historic photographs from Naval Militia publications, and from the Jefferson High School yearbook, depict some of the young men who made up the ranks of this volunteer force. An Oregon Naval Militia uniform is on display, along with first-person quotes about the unit in the years prior to its entrance into federal service with the U.S. Navy in 1917.

Defending the Coastline: The Coast Artillery Corps

Period images commemorate the founding of the Coast Artillery Corps in 1911, with heavy artillery in place at Fort Stevens. Artifacts and reminiscences tell the story of the 249th Coast

Artillery Regiment.

Doughboys:

Mexican Border Service and World War I: 1916–1918

Camp Withycombe

Period photographs and artifacts highlight a small display about the history of Camp

Withycombe, originally a temporary encampment named for the governor at the time, James

Withycombe. Images show Soldiers arriving at the nearby railroad depot, the horse barn with its stables and the Guard’s newly acquired horses, and Soldiers engaged in target practice with horse-drawn artillery weapons. Quotes and captions describe the role of Camp Withycombe in mobilization for Mexican Border duty and World War I.

Guarding the Border

A Model 1905 3 inch gun is flanked by photo cutouts of Mexican revolutionary (and brigand)

Pancho Villa, and Brigadier General John "Black Jack" Pershing. A simplified period map of the U.S./Mexican border, with a timeline of quotes from news stories, traces the history of Villa's deadly border raids. Visitors learn about Lt. Henry Adair's death in battle, as he led African

American troops in a cavalry charge; President Woodrow Wilson's order for a punitive expedition; and the mobilization of 7,000 U.S. troops under General Pershing's command.

Recruiting posters, a replica company flag, and historic photographs document the mobilization of two units of the Third Oregon Infantry and two separate units: Troop "A" of the Oregon

Cavalry and Battery "A" of the Field Artillery. First-person quotes prompt visitors to study the photographs, comparing horse-drawn and motorized vehicles used by Oregon Soldiers during what turned out to be a mobilization involving National Guardsmen from many states.

A souvenir shell, photos, and Soldiers' reminiscences describe months of sheer boredom, relieved in this case by firing a shot across the border and then retrieving the spent shell.

Visitors learn that although few troops encountered Pancho Villa or his followers, the citizen

Soldiers who served on the Mexican border in 1916 received valuable training. World War I had been raging in Europe for two years already; after this exercise, the U.S. was better prepared for combat.

Over There

A fully restored and operable Liberty Truck is the centerpiece of an artifact-rich interpretation of

World War I. Because the Liberty Truck is often used in parades and other community events, it can be easily removed. When the truck is on display (as is the case most of the time), it is set against the background of a large photomural, printed on a portable panel. The color photomural shows Howard Ramsey, the last living U.S. World War I combat veteran and a longtime Portland resident, at the wheel of this same Liberty Truck, shortly before his death in 2007 at the age of

108. An inset image shows the Liberty Truck bearing Ramsey's coffin to the Willamette

National Cemetery. (When the Liberty Truck leaves the building, the photomural can be moved slightly forward, to fill in the empty space. This arrangement is also used in other exhibits that include operating vehicles.)

A sidebar display shows volunteers restoring vehicles and other artifacts for the Oregon Military

Museum. Snapshots of the Liberty Truck restoration, and quotes from volunteers, describe how parts were cannibalized from several Liberty Trucks to put this vehicle in working condition.

Visitors learn that this replacement for the horse represented a significant technological breakthrough, capable of a maximum speed of 14 mph!

Nearby interpretive panels with inset cases let visitors trace the World War I service of Oregon volunteers. As they admire replica colors and insignia from Oregon's 3rd Regiment and the 41st

Division, and study photographs of Oregon National Guard Soldiers, visitors learn that the 3rd was the first regiment in the nation to be ready. They follow the 3rd Regiment's reorganization as the 162nd Infantry, part of the new 41st Division, a replacement and training unit.

Photographs, quotes from letters and diaries, citations and medals (including a roster of

Oregonians who earned the Distinguished Service Cross), ephemera, and souvenirs represent the varied experiences of citizen Soldiers from Oregon, serving with diverse American units in many parts of France, both on the front and behind the lines. Brief text summarizes key battles and other events of "the war to end all wars", from the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 to the

U.S. declaration of war in 1917, up to Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

Three uniformed mannequins present very different accounts of the American military experience during the "Great War." A uniformed doughboy (infantryman) is the focus of changeable personal stories of Oregon combatants; period illustrations, letters, and memorabilia

(such as German pioneer bayonets, with and without saw teeth) make the horrific conditions of trench warfare vividly real. Period quotes draw visitors' attention to a standard issue weapon that was later banned by the Geneva Convention: poison gas. Another feature compares U.S. and

German machine guns; eyewitness accounts describe the havoc wrought by the new automatic weapons, and the difficulty of gaining ground once troops were entrenched.

A bilingual telephone operator (known informally as a "Hello Girl") stands in uniform next to a period switchboard. When visitors pick up the earpiece of a wall-mounted telephone and turn the crank, they hear oral history accounts of how these volunteers served as translators for

French switchboards within the combat zone, on General Pershing's orders. A sidebar credits

Congress for 1977 legislation (introduced by Senator Barry Goldwater) that granted veteran status to surviving bilingual telephone operators who served in World War I. A quote from a historian pays tribute to women who were among the first to serve in the U.S. military, during

World War I.

A balloonist in uniform is the subject of an interpretive panel and objects associated with the emergence of aerial warfare during World War I. Stepping into a stage-set "balloon basket", visitors take a closer look at an aerial drop bomb and a pair of aviator boots. An inset monitor or digital frame shows images of balloons and fighter planes in action, foreshadowing the formation of Oregon's Air National Guard within a generation.

War booty given to Oregon (as to all states) by Congress, based on the number of Oregonians who served, is represented by a German cavalry lance and a 210 mm Krupp mortar. Text explains that even as new technologies such as poison gas transformed the nature of warfare, some units continued to use traditional (and obsolete) war equipment, such as an Uhlan cavalry lance. A souvenir case displays the Museum's fascinating collection of trench art, including decorated shell casings, as well as gift items: handkerchiefs, postcards, etc.

A large display case, designed for easy change-outs, showcases the Museum's extensive collection of World War I artifacts. Thematic installations might include dress vs. combat uniforms; personal equipment and kits; newspapers and annuals produced by deployed units;

decorations and citations; sidearms; lockets, bibles, and other good-luck pieces, etc.

The Inter-War Years

The Treaty of Versailles and Its Aftermath

A sidebar panel links the aftermath of World War I to tragic events of the mid-20th century.

Quotes and historic photographs depict the negative effects of the Treaty of Versailles, whose punitive reparations imposed on Germany led to inflation, destitution, and unemployment…and ultimately contributed to Hitler's ascent to power, as Germany re-armed in preparation for another World War.

Home Front Duty

An enlarged historic photograph shows Oregon Guardsmen nursing flu victims in an armory during the devastating, worldwide epidemic of 1918. A browsing album presents statistics and news items from one of the worst health crises of modern times. Period quotes describe the humanitarian role played by the ORNG when the epidemic broke out in Oregon.

Photos show members of an Oregon military unit on Prohibition enforcement duty. A bold quote from the 18th Amendment, temperance pledges, period beer and whiskey bottles (maybe even a still), and news clippings about raids and busts enliven a glimpse into the Guard's role in maintaining civil order in Oregon during a mostly unpopular ban on alcohol that lasted almost 20 years. Another series of images and headlines shows Guard Soldiers on duty during a 1934 longshoreman's strike.

A World at War:

World War II, 1939-1945

A military historian has termed World War II "the most cataclysmic event in the history of mankind," with at least 62 million deaths and countless more displaced and disrupted lives.

Because of the importance of these events for Oregon, the nation, and the world, as well as the extent and diversity of the Museum's related collections, A World at War is a major focus of visitor experiences at the Oregon Military Museum. The story unfolds in a series of chapters: a prelude in which a nation mobilizes for war despite its declared neutrality; island hopping in the

Pacific; Oregon on a war footing, training thousands of Soldiers and Airmen on bases throughout the state; an Oregon-trained unit in continuous combat in the European theater; the increased and decisive roles of airborne reconnaissance and warfare; and in an inspiring finale, stories of men and women determined to serve their country by overcoming the barriers of prejudice and discrimination. Examples of innovation, adaptability, and valor are woven throughout.

Mobilizing for War

A mural-size historic photo portrays shipyard workers, proudly celebrating the launch of a naval vessel in the Kaiser shipyards. Photos and quotes reveal that vessels built on the Columbia River would be used in amphibious landings by the Jungleers of the 41st Infantry Division. Children play a matching game to pair up images of ships being built with photos of the ships in action.

Quotes from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attest to the strategic importance of the Lend Lease program in helping Great Britain hold out against Hitler and Germany from 1940 until the U.S. entered the war in 1941. A photo album of a war bond drive among shipyard workers is a special treasure.

Opening period toolboxes and lunch pails, visitors find…