(In Silver Falls State Park)

In the Western Cascade Mountain Range, located 26 miles east of Salem, Oregon, is Silver Falls State Park - which at 8,700 acres is the largest state park in Oregon.

In ancient times, a minimum of 8 lava flows totaling more than 600 feet in thickness filled the valley1, causing 14 waterfalls to evolve in the immediate area of the park. Ten of these falls can be visited by hiking the 7-mile loop trail - 4 of which can be walked under. The one in this painting is South Falls, the tallest at 177 feet.

From the 1880s through the 1930s the town of Silver Falls City - population 200–300 - was located near the falls. It was a logging town, as lumbering and logging were the sources of revenue for most of those living within the area.

Except for the deepest canyons, nearly the entire park was logged years ago. Old spring board stumps and remnants of big Western Red Cedar trees are still visible down in the canyons, which settlers probably used to make shakes, shingles, fence posts, and more. A beautiful forest now covers the park, because the land was preserved for its regenerating forest value rather than for agricultural purposes.

(1Based on an article by John Eliot Allen, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Portland State University. Some material for this story from "A History of Silver Falls State Park," by Paul Sisney, Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Oregon.)