Coast explorer McLeod to make appearances along his old route.Byline: LARRY BACON The Register-Guard NEWPORT - It was 176 years ago that a Scotsman named Alexander Roderick McLeod Alexander Roderick McLeod, (c. 1782 – 11 June 1840), was a fur trader and explorer who began his career with the North West Company in 1802. McLeod became a chief trader with the Hudson's Bay Company after they joined with the NWC in 1821. headed up an expedition that was the first group of white explorers to travel overland along the central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographical region lying near the center of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is commonly considered to include Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Primary cities in Central Oregon are La Pine, Sunriver, Bend, Redmond, Madras, and Prineville. Coast. McLeod was chief trader for the British Hudson's Bay Co. when he led a party of about 15 people to the coast seeking new opportunities for trapping and trading furs. They left Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District (known to Americans as the Oregon Country). in early May 1826, reached the coast near what is now Lincoln City Lincoln City can refer to:
Now McLeod is back, putting in appearances along his old route. In fact, he'll be at the Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a geographical term that is used to describe the coast of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. Stretching 362 miles from Astoria to the California border, the Oregon Coast is unique in that the whole coastline is public land. History Center in Newport tonight and at one of his old campsites Saturday and Sunday on Beaver Creek Beaver Creek may refer to numerous places, mainly stream and towns. The USGS database records 658 waterways and 19 populated places using the name in the United States and numerous others using related forms like Beaver Creek Ditch, Beaver Creek Swamp, Beaver Creek Lake, Beaver in Ona Beach State Park south of Newport. Of course, the guy with the Scottish accent who will be introducing himself as McLeod isn't McLeod reincarnated. He's really Al LePage, executive director of the Portland-based National Coast Trail Association, promoting events along McLeod's coastal route. McLeod deserves some recognition for what he did, LePage said, but honoring McLeod also helps promote the Oregon Coast Trail The Oregon Coast Trail is a 360 mi (600 km) long-distance hiking path along the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States. It follows the coast of Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River on the north to the California border south of Brookings. as a place where hikers can encounter history as well as natural beauty. Coastal residents will remember LePage as the man who walked from Smith River in California to Oregon's Smith River near Reedsport two years ago while portraying early explorer Jedediah Smith, for much the same reason he is promoting awareness of McLeod's history. LePage, 48, originally planned to bicycle to the coast, walk McLeod's coastal route and make some appearances as McLeod on horseback. But that plan ended during a kickoff ceremony at Fort Vancouver last month at which LePage portrayed McLeod astride a·stride adv. 1. With a leg on each side: riding astride. 2. With the legs wide apart. prep. 1. On or over and with a leg on each side of. 2. his horse. "I was recovering from a broken kneecap kneecap (patella), saucer-shaped bone at the front of the knee joint; it protects the ends of the femur, or thighbone, and the tibia, the large bone of the foreleg. The kneecap is embedded in the tendon tissue of the quadriceps femoris, a large thigh muscle. , and I actually fell off the horse and re-broke the kneecap," he said. So LePage's plans changed. He's been making appearances as McLeod in various communities on the same dates as McLeod would have been in the area on his 1826 journey. LePage, who has some acting training, said he has been working hard on his Scottish burr and spent considerable time and money assembling clothing that would have been like that worn by McLeod. In the McLeod character, he displays the kind of gear and trade items used on the expedition and draws information from McLeod's journal as he talks about what expedition members saw and did. ALEXANDER McLEOD VISITS WHAT: Dedication of historical marker at Ona Beach State Park to commemorate McLeod's 1826 expedition to the central Oregon Coast. Al LePage, who portrays McLeod, will be the guest of honor. WHEN: Noon Saturday. WHERE: Ona Beach State Park nine miles south of Newport. OTHER McLEOD APPEARANCES: Tonight at Newport's Oregon Coast History Center, 545 S.W. Ninth St. Saturday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon at McLeod's former campsite at Ona Beach State Park, where he will talk with visitors and show them his gear. Plus July 12 in Waldport, July 13 in Yachats and July 16 in Florence. OTHER ACTIVITIES: Members of the public will be able to kayak free on Beaver Creek from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday using equipment provided by Peak Sports in Corvallis. Also, state park rangers will lead two-hour guided tours at 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday for $10 per person, with all equipment provided. Tour groups are limited to 13 people. To make reservations, call 563-2002 For more information: www.coasttrails.org. CAPTION(S): National Coast Trail Association Al LePage, executive director of the National Coast Trail Association, appears as Alexander McLeod. |
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