| Historical
Museum Is Grant Recipient
The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, ID has received a grant award from Inland Northwest Community Foundation in Spokane. The award is for $25,720. The project will complete the internal enhancement of the museum. This is the concluding phase of a 7-year project undertaken to replace old and unsafe exhibit cases. Its intent is to provide museum visitors with better displays and improved visibility of the artifacts. This phase includes the construction and installation of floor-to-ceiling, lighted exhibit cases and the installation of four museum-quality mannequins in order to provide a display of vintage military artifacts and uniforms. The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude is one of the longest, continuously operating museums in the Northwest. The museum reflects the history of north central Idaho with exhibits pertaining to the Nez Perce, the Chinese in Idaho, as well as the ranching, mining, farming, logging, and settlement of the region. The Rhoades Emmanuel Memorial gallery houses exquisite Asian and European artifacts, some of which date to the Ming Dynasty (1364-1640) and 18th century Europe. The museum is open year round, Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 to 4:30. Inland Northwest Community Foundation, formerly Foundation Northwest, serves twenty counties throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Founded in 1974, its mission is to foster vibrant and sustainable communities in the Inland Northwest. The Foundation manages more than 250 funds, valued at approximately $65 million as of December 31, 2007, which have been established by individuals, families and businesses. In partnership with the donors the Foundation serves, they have awarded $33 million in grants and scholarships throughout the region since its inception. These awards have enriched education, promoted arts and culture, provided critical human services, supported community and economic development, and ultimately impacted thousands of lives in the Inland Northwest.
Historical Interpretation of Chinese Sites in Hells Canyon June 26-27, 2008 The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho received permission to reprint an article that originally appeared in the Oregon Historical Quarterly. The article, entitled “A Most Daring Outrage: Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887” by Greg Nokes, was reprinted in the September 2007 issue of our journal, Echoes of the Past. 
As a result of that article and a jet boat tour in August of 2007 to the Cove in Hells Canyon, a small group of people met in Lewiston, Idaho to discuss and plan for a “healing” event connected to the tragedy. That event has significance to, not only Idaho history, but to Pacific Northwest history. Sometime in May of 1887, as many as thirty-four Chinese miners were massacred at the mouth of Deep Creek in Hells Canyon. Their bodies were thrown into the Snake River and the killers fled with the miner’s gold. The Oregon Geographic Names Board has since officially designated the site as Chinese Massacre Cove. The intent of a “remembering/healing” is to remind people of this tragedy, to bring about some kind of reconciliation, and to honor an ethnic group who contributed to the local and regional history but whose history is little mentioned. That event will take place on June 26-27, 2008 in Lewiston. Greg Nokes, a Portland, Oregon historian, has done extensive research on the Chinese massacre. On Thursday evening, June 26, he will give a lecture in the ballroom of the Historic Lewis & Clark Hotel in Lewiston, followed by a reception at the Lewis Clark Center for Arts & History. The next day will include a jet boat trip into Hells Canyon to the site of the massacre where a healing ceremony will take place. The boat trip will include an interpretive tour of sites in the Canyon that once were occupied by Chinese. Teachers, college/university students, historians, and other interested people are invited to the event. We are inviting people in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho who may have an interest in the history of the Chinese in the Northwest. Attendance on the jet boat tour is limited to 100 participants on a first come, first served basis. The cost of the entire event is $100 per person that includes the lecture, the reception, and the all-day jet boat tour. Immediate, but limited, financial and in-kind support is coming from the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce, Lewis Clark State College, and the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude. If you have any questions or would like to receive registration materials please feel free to contact Lyle Wirtanen at (208) 962-2051 or at director1@stgertrudes.org. |
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