Joseph Stewart State Park, Set 3: The Beauty Never Ends! (+10 insets!)

Trip Talk: History is the missing puzzle piece to "KNOWING" a place!

I must admit that I haven't made much time in my life for history since I graduated high school. I enjoy the subject but it's so…yesterday! Present day and future events have always grabbed my attention and left me saying to myself, "I'll look into the history of this later." Except that I never get around to it…and now I'm 55 years old and most of the history I learned as a student has drifted away over the years.

Lately I've come to realize how much I've neglected the past. More importantly though, I've been presented with compelling reasons to add history back into my life.

Here's a question for you: how do you get to know a place you've visited?
In other words, what do you do when you traveled somewhere, in order to walk away feeling totally satisfied that you got a true feeling of a place? This is something I've pondered since I began travelling as a 21-year-old and in the end, my answers never quite sit right.

The first idea I came up with was, "Take pictures!" Well, that's certainly a really big step but it's not the whole answer, is it?

"What about making videos?" Heck, I've never even tried that but I can tell that it's also just a facet and wouldn't be the whole answer.

"Get to know the locals!" That's a good one! Still, you'd have to talk to a lot of people to get a true feeling of a place.

"Write about your experiences there!" Definitely a strong choice and this really gives an immersive quality to the place you visited.

One of my favorites is, "Hike, cycle, walk all over the area…see as much of the area as possible!" Now that's a really awesome thought! And yet…it's still not quite enough, is it?

Maybe it could be, "Visit and experience all of the local attractions!" Well, we all know about the value of tourist traps and the need to carefully prise the promised quality of the experience from the money-grubbing garbage.

The fact is, to truly "KNOW" a place, one must employ many of these ideas to get the whole picture. And yet…even though I did this, I couldn't stop the annoying voice in my head which kept telling me I was missing an important angle.

When Steve and I began travelling in our first RV, we learned about state parks and I kept wondering about the names. Why weren't the names all about the location? Reading the origin suddenly added an element which hit home for me: HISTORY!

Gaining a true understanding of the background of a place--or even the reason behind a name--adds a crucial depth that can't be skipped. However, it's not enough to scan the information--something I've always been guilty of. By reading about, understanding, and then reflecting on that information as I'm appreciating a place has given me that complete sense of "knowing" it.

Joseph H. Stewart State Park's History in a few words:
Named for the leader of the pear industry in southern Oregon, this 910-acre park opened in 1978 after the Lost Creek Dam and Lake was built on the Rogue River. The land is leased from the Army Corps of Engineers and the campground has four loops which contain 151 campsites and 50 tent sites. The park also has a boat marina, store and boat moorage facilities. Annual overnight attendance is 64,787 and annual day-use attendance is 301,816.

Joseph H. Stewart moved to the Rogue Valley from Illinois in 1885 and began planting apples, prunes and almonds on his 160-acre farm. Within 5 years he was shipping his harvests all over the nation. In 1898 he and his son-in-law bought the land where the park sits and planted pear, apple and walnut trees there as well. Most of the trees are still alive--and now I want to visit the park again just so I can visit this man's heritage. (Here's their brochure with map if you're interested)

Today's Pictures:
My main picture today is another incredibly beautiful view of one of the park's stunning meadows. Really, all you can do is just stand there and sigh, it's so pretty!

Insets today include a trio of white mushrooms, festively colored blackberry leaves, another pretty view of the park, a pair of "yin-yang"-leaves with clover leaves, a pair of maple "shoes", an elegant stem of dried grass, a fanciful leaf caught on a pine branch, leaves on a stump, a mushroom I found at the base of the tree with the huge burl, and finally, an ancient mushroom family growing out of a stump (that picture wasn't as crisp as I wanted so I turned it into a creative image!).

Pam, wouldn't it be fun to wander around this park and visit some of the trees planted here by Mr. Stewart? I would love listening to your stories of some of your camping adventures and also…did you ever spend time on a farm? That would be fun to hear about too! Today it's very cold but sunny--how about you? I hope all is well in your world my dear! *BIG HUGS*!!!!

Explored on 11/22/19; highest placement #10.