Oregonians Propose Volunteer Auto Militia in 1918 to Thwart Invasion

Salem in 1918 was a strange and anxious place. There's a real turn from previous years in the emotional texture and weight of news. World War I and the Russian Revolution dominate the front-page headlines, unsurprisingly. But local news shows narrowed horizons, fear of non-conformists and strangers, and a kind of idolatrous patriotism.

Automobile militia
February 20th, 1918

Fearing coastal invasion in the west, on February 20th, they announced a special volunteer militia "automobile corps." It's like Boy Scouts with Cars for adults!

C. W. Niemeyer, Veteran of the Canadian Contingent, Will Head Movement

The first organized Automobile Corps in existence will be recruited in this state and paraded before a high official of the U. S. war office in Portland on April 20. Authority was granted today by the adjutant general's department for the organization of the corps....[something garbled] As there will be a decidede [sic] element of sport and patriotism in the applicatiin [sic] of the corps, motorists hail with delight the introduction of a military unit whereby they might still further display their love for one's country. All a car owner has to do is to offer his car (any make) and services when required for the conveying of troops rapidly to any point tho military authorities may desire. Acting Adjutant General John M, Williams states that such an organization would be of the utmost value to the state of Oregon, owing to its great strategical value.

The review on April 20th will be followed by a "raid by large enemy forces" somewhere on the Columbia, 'which it will be the duty of the corps to repel. As mobility is the primary motive of the corps efforts are being made to have the speed limits shot to the winds during such times as the corps is "in action." Similar schemes will be held at intervals in conjunction with existing military bodies.

The organization will be known as the State of Oregon Volunteer Automobile Corps, each member of which will be entitled to fly from his car a specially designed flag. The corps will consist of four squadrons of four trains. Each train will be composed of 27 cars, or a total of 435 cars, including three staff cars. One motor truck for the carrying of supplies in the way of oil, gasoline, food, etc., will be attached to each train. Fourteen motor cyclists, equipped with signalling apparatus would serve as scouts, vanguard and rearguard. A section of mechanics would also accompany each train equipped with repair accessories and minor repair parts. The complete establishment or strength of the corps would be 1725 officers, n. c. os. and men and 465 vehicles. The commanding officer would be appointed by the state militia authorities, but all other officers and n. c. os. would be appointed by the members....

February 4th, 1918

But it wasn't just fun and games with speeding and pageantry. Earlier in the month  male "alien enemies" 14 or older had been required to register at the Police Station or Post Office.

Detailed information including personal habits, and business relations of every German together with his photograph and finger prints will be taken by the department or justice in a national registration week beginning today.

A certified card, showing that he has been registered must be carried at all times on the person of German aliens and he may not change his place of residence without first notifying and obtaining the permission of the police or postmaster of the town or city in which he lives....

Later that year the registration was extended to women.

Bike Tax, Scorching at Minto, Lyons Retirement - Newsbits

You probably already know about the proposed expansion for the $15 bicycle excise tax. The Department of Revenue wants to "simplify" collection, and others see the need to correct the errant miscategorization of battery-assist ebikes. There are a few other elements that might seem to need a "fix."

Funny that it was front page news

BikePortland has a more focused story on it. They report there's a formal Work Session on it today at 5:30pm, in Hearing Room D.

(I haven't spent much time on it because while it is a very dumb tax, it is a small tax and not a catastrophic tax. It has seemed like there were much more important focuses for criticism, advocacy, and protest. Our bike shops, too, have mostly rolled with it. If they aren't fussing, maybe it's not such a big deal.)

Scorching at Minto Park

The January/February newsletter of the Salem Bicycle Club has a bit on the problem of scorching in Riverfront and Minto parks. Back in October at a club meeting, City staff talked a little about it. "The biggest complaint...is cyclists going too fast." When I am on foot, that's certainly my experience. That's not to say that dog-walkers with too-long leashes or groups spread out all across the paths might not be annoying, but people on foot should the primary users, have the primary claim, and when we are on bike the rest of us should accommodate them, not the other way around.

(from the January/February Spokes)

New-ish "Pass with Care" signs all around Minto Park

Over the winter the City's installed new "Pass with Care" signs throughout the path system.

(More on the history of scorching here. It is unfortunately something of a perennial problem with people biking!)

Sheila Lyons

Sheila Lyons, manager of the Bicycle and Pedestrian program at ODOT, is retiring today.

So a tip of the cap and clink of pint to Lyons! She took over in 2007 from Michael Ronkin, and now it's time for another transition.

Hilfiker Park Open House, Open Streets Salem Job Announcement

This is old news now, and maybe even too late as I missed it when it was fresh, but a month ago the City published a second round of information on the Hilfiker Park concepts and asked for comments. That opportunity is gone, but they'll be having another Open House on Wednesday the 28th.

The first round of comments really tended towards the idea of the public space of a park as a quasi-private space and ornamental emptiness. It's true the park is being planned as a "neighborhood park," and not one of the larger "community parks" or "urban parks," City classifications for parks that serve and draw on an area larger than a neighborhood.

But like with on-street parking, there's this creeping proprietary claim to public space for personal use, an extension of one's yard. It's just something to register.

They published three concepts, and one aspect in particular deserves comment.

The "minimal" and "nature park" options are closed on west end

Two of the three concepts envision the park as a kind of cul-de-sac. On the west, there would be no connection to Hilfiker Lane. These have connections on the north and east only. The potential extension of Sunland Street does not appear to connect on the west to Chaparral Drive or anything else.

Fiasco of 1897 Legislature: Eldridge Block Den of Prostitution and Evil!

After The Salem Clique I was interested in reading a Portland-centric take on things, and started Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment, 1843-1913. E. Kimbark MacColl doesn't dwell very long on the Dryer-Bush newspaper wars, or even on the Salem Clique very much. He focuses on money-making, merchant activity and banking (then later the railroads), as the main drivers. For him, Democratic party politics are a supporting and side detail, not the main story. (There might be more to say on this later.)

Along the way, there are some humorous episodes in it that involve Salem, and one of them was about the total melt-down during the 1897 Legislative session. It was nuts. US Senators were still selected by the Legislature rather than by direct vote, and the session got stuck quite spectacularly. (Rather than littering the quote with square brackets or footnotes, I have inserted reference links, a few brief newspaper clippings, and the photos of the Eldridge Block. Comments, like this, are in italics.)

Greenbaum's (right) in the intact Eldridge Block, 1954
Commercial Street at Chemeketa
(University of Oregon)

The north part of the Eldridge Block earlier, circa 1905.
(Salem Library Historic Photos)

Shortly after the election of November, 1896, Bourne was horrified to learn from Mitchell that the senator was abandoning his pro-silver friends and planning to embrace the "gold crowd." Bourne warned him, "You are [not] going to be elected." Having won the seat in the Oregon House, with a chance to become speaker, Bourne was in a strong position to carry out his threat. He approached his old friends Simon and Corbett (with whom he had been allied 10 years earlier) with plans to stall the forthcoming session - to prevent it from organizing, if need be - to deny Mitchell reelection.

Start of session, on January 11th
Bourne set up in Eldridge Block - Jan 9th, 1897

As Bourne later recalled:

I then hired the best chef in the State of Oregon; sent him to Salem to fix up apartments in the Eldridge Block; things to eat and drink and entertainment. I said to the chef, 'I pay all expenses. I want to take care of all my friends in the lower House who signed pledges with me, the friends of silver.'

At the MPO: Final Adoption of Project List for $5 Million

The Policy Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets on Tuesday the 27th, and they'll hold a formal Public Hearing and close the decision on the projects for the $5M in supplemental Federal funds.

The Public Hearing Comes at the end of the process

Public Hearing on the TIP

On the extra funds and projects, last month the Policy Committee ended up accepting the "Scenario B" recommendation from the Technical Advisory Committee.

A consensus on Scenario B last month

This seems to be a pretty firm consensus now around this "Scenerio B," and the vetting process has been a reasonable one, so short of some unanticipated fiasco with big new information, it seems unlikely that the Policy Committee will change the recommendation. Indeed, there is no publicly known reason for the Committee to change recommendation. The lowest-scoring project is out, and there are good reasons it was the lowest-scoring!

Notwithstanding appearances in a "Public Hearing," the real opportunity for public comment was much earlier in the process, particularly last fall when they first published the "interactive map," and even earlier when local governments were first making project applications. It's really rubber-stamping at this point.

New Concepts and Surveys out for Riverfront Park and Streetscape Plans

Both the Riverfront Park and Downtown Streetscape planning processes have released new concepts and new surveys this past week.

In one key way, they are exactly backwards!

The Riverfront Park concepts show enhanced crosswalk treatments, while the Streetscape plans are essentially silent on downtown crosswalks.

In central ways, the Riverfront Park project team appears to understand that external connections, principally connections across streets or across units of analysis, are as important an internal connections, the sidewalks and paths within the block or unit of analysis.

This seems backwards because, you know, the park plan's about a park, and the streetscape plan is about streets.

So we're back to one of the primary criticisms of the Streetscape Plan: By omitting analysis of the streets themselves, it's hamstrung and hobbled from the start.

Conversely, the Riverfront Park Plan appears to get that both structural and decorative elements are important.

Silence on Downtown Crosswalks

You might think a slide titled "Knit Downtown Together" would have more on the knots and loops and ligaments between blocks and other connections. Like crosswalks!

But it does not.

Instead if focuses on trees, clear zones for walking, and consistent styling with street furniture or other decorative elements.

Missing an important element of "knitting"

On wayfinding and art, there are a couple of crosswalks (they appear to be the north part of the crosswalk on Front at Court), but the focus is on a horizontal view and what a person sees above the ground, at eye-level, and not so much on the ground.

City Council, February 26th - Secret Goat Trails and the Policy Agenda

Council meets on Monday, and there's some secret neighborhood lore on the agenda!

Croisan Scenic Trail and the "Cemetery Trail"
(north of Sprague High School)

The City is considering purchasing some land, about 4.25 acres, and a secret goat path that connects with the Croisan Scenic Trail, an extension of Croisan Scenic Way, which has been formalized, but yet might also be secret neighborhood lore for many.

On December 4, 2017, City Council approved a motion by Councilor Cook regarding the transportation system in the area of the Croisan Scenic Trail. The motion directed staff to evaluate how existing City plans protect access to the Croisan Creek Trail (also referred to as the Croisan Scenic Trail) in light of future development...

Per the Salem Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan, the Croisan Scenic Trail is an Interim Connector Trail located along a combination of existing rights-of-way and adjoining undeveloped park property....The Salem Transportation System Plan (see Map 3-8) includes plans for Croisan Scenic Way S extension to serve as a north-south minor arterial street connecting River Road S to Kuebler Boulevard S. When the extension of Croisan Scenic Way S is constructed, it will include sidewalks and bike lanes that will replace the current trail and enhance the bicycle and pedestrian connectivity in this area. The Croisan Scenic Way S extension will also meet ADA requirements, improving accessibility. With the exception of ADA accessibility, the current Croisan Scenic Trail provides pedestrian connectivity and will continue to do so until the street improvement is constructed....

In addition to the Croisan Scenic Trail, there is an informal trail connecting Dogwood Drive S to Croisan Scenic Trail. This trail is commonly referred to as the “Cemetery Trail”....This trail crosses over private property and is not included in adopted City plans. The City is negotiating possible purchase of a portion of two tax lots that are traversed by this informal trail (see Attachment 3). In addition to crossing through these tax lots, this trail traverses two additional private properties before joining with the Croisan Scenic Trail. To formalize the Cemetery Trail, Council would need to include it in the Salem Transportation System Plan or the Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan or both. [italics added]

The agenda item is listed as "information," not an action item, and in the materials there is only a "letter of intent to negotiate." There is no "purchase and sale agreement." So the decision is not formally at Council for approval yet. Curiously, the letter of intent contains a deadline of February 26th for a purchase and sale agreement, so maybe this item will shift over the weekend to become an action item.