Last Chance Creek, Swamp Creek

Last Chance Creek

Deep in the Wallowas, in the good old days,
.. the last Audubon's bighorns held out a long time
Competitive grazing with domestic sheep
.. guaranteed the loss of the old natives . . .
….. poaching, disease and low thrift from lack of food
We thought grizzlies, indians and wolves were problems

Swamp Creek

Cowboys named this place, frustrated with driving cows.
Beavers used to reign here with marsh and pond,
.. sedges and willow carrs, teaching steelhead to jump,
… and otters and mink amused crawdads and mussels.
Nee-me-poo left huge shell middens, cached couse
.. and flaked keen basalt tools while waiting for game.

Trading beaver for guns and pots guaranteed their demise.
.. marshes and ponds disappeared, stream down-cut,
… steelhead grew rare, everything that survived was grazed
….. by multiple classes of livestock for fire control.

It takes a long time and a glacial shift of attitude to repair
.. what was wrought with inattention, greed and short sight.

Where else on this landscape have we applied as much,
.. and forgotten . . . the grass belly deep to a tall horse,
… open pine woodlands sprinkled with dryland willow,
….. filled with walking grouse, game and abundant roots?
An ecological eye seems to see in depth of time
even as i can hear... keening in the wind through the trees.

--R.Anderson Wallowa

A Pair of Place Poems

Minam
Once, "Eh-mee-ni-mah..." was a peaceful place
.. several tribes gathered for early roots,
..... steelhead, whitefish, bighorn sheep or wapiti.
The old rockshelter was welcoming
... the campsites handy to wood and water.

Drovers, homesteaders and land speculators
. found the hidden valley following indian trails.
Tu-eka-kas posted his boundaries,
...traded friendship for peace . . .
.....and was rewarded with "the thieving treaty."

Wagon roads, toll bridges, railroad and log mill,
. a town and a fish hatchery to restore salmon runs,
.... then a highway later... and most folks
...... actually speed up to miss the historic vestiges.
Only a few fishermen wander here, now.

The rivers still flow by this place, sometimes high
. often-times as low as the legends, history and memories.
A canyon full of echos and dreams, illusions and delusions,
. it is still a quiet place to gather a few berries,
..... dig a little couse... watch the eagles or a bear.

R.Anderson, Wallowa

Corral Creek

A trail connects the lower Imnaha canyon
. to the upland prairie and forest.
The old people used to winter deep
. and crowd spring to the prairie
... for roots, game and an expansive view.

There is a pre-history and a history
. almost forgotten in this place
.... but... the scarred old pines remember.
The people... laughed, played
. and gathered sweet cambium here.

Once, a raiding party of Tukuaduka came
. looking for plunder, horses, women
..... and left their bones deep in Ni-mee-poo land.
Though congress has noted such events
. most people have forgotten.

The setting here provokes visions
. of exotic terranes, rich resources for life
... and depths of time in a widening space.
I... come here to dream, watch for falcons
. and listen for ancient echos.

R.Anderson Wallowa