Originally called Bluff Wells, then Judson and now Mesa, this little town in Franklin County was a stop on the Ainsworth (now Pasco) to Spokane branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The station house was established in 1883. Mesa is situated in Esquatzel Coulee which means it sits in a depression relative to the surrounding terrain. Apparently, Mesa does not have its own cemetery; the nearest one is City View Cemetery in Pasco.

Parker is a census-designated place in Yakima County, located on the Yakama Indian Reservation between Union Gap and Wapato. The first plat for the town was filed in 1909; it was originally settled by William Parker in 1864 and was named for him by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1890. The only cemetery I found for Parker was the Parker Dam Cemetery (on FindAGrave).

This cemetery is located on a hill behind a Yakama Nation fruit orchard; the cemetery contains a stone monument inscribed with the names of some of the Yakama Nation’s notable Chiefs. There was once a thriving Yakama Indian community at Parker Dam which is the basis for the community that uses the Wapato Longhouse. 

Is there really a Parker Dam? YES! According to Google:

• Parker Reservoir Dam: This is a small 24-foot-high earth-fill dam located in Yakima County. It is in Dakota Draw, about 11 miles west of Yakima, Washington. 
• Parker Dam (Yakima River): A historical, low-head diversion dam located on the Yakama Indian Reservation along US Route 97 between Union Gap and Wapato. It was historically tied to a thriving Yakama Nation community. 

 Do hope you are planning to attend our EWGS Fall workshop on Saturday, October 3rd. Hasn’t it been long enough since you’ve come across our beautiful state, west to east? This workshop, featuring Cyndi Ingle and Josh Taylor will be well worth the effort, I guarantee.

I crafted this blurb months ago and so encourage you to click to our website, www.EWGSI.org, for the latest details. 

Consider this a teaser if you’ve not yet planned to come and have registered. (You do want lunch, do you not?)

 Lewis & Clark documented many other plants besides Lewisia and Clarkia. 

In their journals, they noted Balsam Root, Prickly Pear Cactus, Glacier Lilies, Silky Lupine, Snowberry bushes and Bear Grass. How many have YOU seen????

President Thomas Jefferson sent captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a journey of exploration. Congress approved the expense of the venture because it was hoped that a water route across the continent would be discovered. On a personal note, Jefferson was eager to learn what there was to be discovered in the 530 million acres America had purchased from Spain in 1803 for a mere $15 million dollars.

There was no water route across the continent, as the Corps of Discovery found out. But Lewis and Clark collected and sent back to Jefferson 239 pressed plants and some 176 were new to science at that time. 

In what is now North Dakota, they “discovered” the plant was named after Meriwether Lewis, the lewisia.  (Pix on left.) This plant was also known as Bitterroot because the Indigenous Peoples had been making bread flour from the dried roots for centuries. Lewis found the taste bitter; hence the name. 

Clarkia (on the right) was named in honor of William Clark. Lewis found this plant near Kamiah, Idaho, in 1806 on their return trip. 

For the record, Lewis and Clark really didn’t discover that many new plants. The specimens they collected were likely sub-sets (for lack of a better name here) of known species. 

Lewisias come in a variety of colors (as shown above) and may be purchased in most area garden centers in spring. They are a hardy perennial.