History Forum to feature film on botanist David Douglas

By Karl Vercouteren

David Douglas - Courtesy of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“‘Finding David Douglas’ - an Environmentalist Before His Time’” is the topic of the first program of the Original Wasco County Courthouse 2022 Regional History Forum.  The program begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. Due to COVID-19 precautions, programs will take place on Zoom as they did a year ago, and not at the historic 1859 Courthouse.

Access is free at this link by clicking here.  Those needing help getting Zoom on a computer or cell phone may leave a message at 541 296-4798.  There is a limit of 100 participants.  Zoom will be available at 1 p.m., and the presentation starts promptly at 1:30.  

Lois Leonard produced ‘Finding David Douglas,’ a 58-minute documentary film that tells the compelling story of the 19th-century Scottish botanist/plant hunter.  She will introduce the film and be available to answer questions following it.  

David Douglas was born in 1799 and in his all-too-brief 35 years he managed to discover and/or introduce to the gardens and forests of the Old World more than 200 previously undocumented plant species.  He lived during the Age of Enlightenment— a new age illuminated by science and reason.  It was a time of adventure, world exploration and discovery.  His thirst for knowledge brought him from a small village in Scotland to the wilds of Canada and the Oregon country.

During the years 1825-’26 Douglas explored the Columbia River and its tributaries, wintering over at Fort Vancouver.  His journeys on the river included an overnight in The Dalles.  Later explorations took him to California and eventually to Hawaii where he met an untimely death.  He will be forever memorialized in our region by the tree that bears his name, the Douglas fir.

The film is a production of the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.  Lois Leonard is an author, filmmaker, educator, and former curator of exhibits at the Oregon Historical Society.  She and her husband retired to a forest service cabin on the Mt. Hood National Forest where the Douglas firs are a constant reminder of David Douglas.

The online presentation, just like in-person programs over the past 40 plus years, are free.  But donations to the Original Courthouse are gladly accepted.