Heading down from Brownlee Campground to the Brownlee Dam, the landscape quickly turned from forest to desert. The reservoir behind Brownlee Dam looked so out of place in this dry landscape, like someone had dumped a bucket of water at the base of an anthill. Across the Oxbow Dam, and I was in the high desert of Oregon. Up Hell’s Canyon, I felt sorry for Russ, who would ride that route the next day in 103 degree heat.

Then, suddenly the landscape changed again, and I climbed into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and over the three Blue Mountain peaks Russ would have to conquer. Down the other side, and back into dry land, although this time the entire valley floor was heavily irrigated for farmland. Strange to see a lush green field on one side of the road and dry sagebrush on the other. 

I was happy to find plenty of available campsites at Clyde Holliday State Park, along the John Day River just west of the town of John Day. I was surprised to find the park was beautifully landscaped and shaded, with well-spaced sites equipped with water and electric hookups. It had very much the look of a suburban recreational park (which is half of the park), but it also has this very nice campground. The only drawback? CLOUDS OF FIERCE, BLOOD HUNGRY MOSQUITOS. Ugh. My camper’s screens are not that great—one of my least favorite features of the T@b—and I was finally forced to close all the windows and keep the AC running almost all the time in order to keep the interior liveable.

But the campground had a more pleasant surprise for me. The first evening, just before dark, I saw a scurrying movement out my camper window. There, on the gravel path beside my camper, was a covey of California Quail, those comic little birds with the comma-shaped feathers sprouting out of their heads. I had my binoculars and was out of that camper before you could say SQUEEE! There were four adults (which I got to watch taking dust baths) and at least 14 downy baby chicks, scurrying around after tasty bits. I did think 14 was an awfully big brood, so I looked it up—while California Quail can have even larger broods, those youngsters were probably from more than one nest, gathered together in a crèche looked over by multiple adults. California Quail females have even been known to lay eggs in other females’ nests. 

On Sunday, I headed back into John Day to see the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site, a busy Chinese general store, herbal apothecary, and community center in its day. The nearly hour-long tours are free, but limited to eight people at a time. Inside is a treasure trove of artifacts from the 1940s and earlier.

Kam Wah Chung has been translated variously as “Golden Flower of Prosperity” or “Golden Chinese Outpost”—the latter is currently accepted as most accurate. The small stone building was originally constructed in 1865 as a military fort, but was leased by Lung On and Ing (‘Doc’) Hay in 1887, and it quickly became the center of a bustling Chinatown. Lung On was a savvy businessman, and Ing Hay, despite never learning to speak or write English, became respected as a healer well beyond the Chinese community. So when the Chinese population dwindled after the gold boom ended, both men stayed. Lung On left the building and business to Ing Hay when he died. Years later, Ing Hay left to receive medical treatment in Portland, locked the building and left his nephew instructions to watch over it. He never returned. Thus, the interior stayed almost untouched until the property was sold to the town and later turned into a museum. Their whole story is one of success and respect gained against all the odds, in a time when anti-Chinese sentiment ran strong.

The Chinese apothecary left by Ing Hay is fascinating. It is the largest collection of Chinese herbal medicine in the United States, and it has been completely cataloged by the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. Those archives, complete with Ing Hay’s handwritten prescriptions and a listing of all of the raw ingredients found at the site, can be seen in the Kam Wah Chung Medical Archive at www.kwc.ocom.edu. 

The elderly greeter, a retired forest ranger, even showed me some of the artifacts found by residents and give to him over the years, including miniscule single-dose medicine bottles, intricately decorated perfume and snuff bottles, and even an unusual bronzed and carved small gourd, a good luck charm.