Oregon's Willamette Valley

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Though the early settlers were largely Scotch-Irish, the mix of people that make up the population is now diversified, both ethnically and politically. At the northern end of the valley, you'll find Russian Orthodox Starovery, "Old Believers," whose brightly dressed women wear boots and long skirts. Czechs settled near Scio. Other heritages are reflected in festivals, which occur throughout the valley on a nearly constant basis. Aurora has a German Sausage Dinner; Junction City celebrates a Scandinavian Festival; Mexican Fiesta Days are held in Woodburn; Mt. Angel, where there's a Swiss Benedictine monastery, has an Octoberfest; and the Grande Ronde Tribal Restoration Celebration, featuring ceremonies and dances of the seven Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, is sometimes held in the Willamette. The largest "cultural group" seems to be the Californians . . . but they've blended quite well into the landscape. "About the only way to spot ex-Californians," one Oregonian remarked, "is that they drive faster than we do."

In fact, peaceful coexistence of divergent cultures and views—such as loggers and environmentalists, freethinkers and fundamentalists—is one of the most remarkable things about the valley. But there's a certain irony in the role reversal that's occurred between youth and age in the past two decades.

Cathedral Action, a Corvallis ecology group that's striving to save the remaining 8% of old-growth stands on Oregon's public lands, can attract to its campus meetings only some 10 students out of the 15,000 at OSU—and most of those just listen and take no action. "The students' major concern is having fun," an over-30s Corvallis resident sighed. "Second, they want their piece of the American Pie—no matter what!"

Even so, entering the Eugene area, which has been called The Northwest Berkeley, is a little like stepping back 15 years. Relatively speaking, Corvallis is more conservative, but a number of remarkable people have made the surrounding area their home.

For example, Bonnie Hill, a schoolteacher who, practically single-handedly, brought about a ban on the spraying of the herbicide 24-D and was the subject of the Plowboy Interview in MOTHER NO. 72, lives outside Alsea.

Harry MacCormack (I mentioned his organic gardening column earlier) lives with his actress/astrologer wife on their organic Sunbow Farms near Mary's Peak. A university professor and political activist in the 60s and 70s, and former operator of a model soydairy, Harry is probably best known for his work on the popular book about Indian spiritual history, Seven Arrows.

Noted silkscreen artist Earl Newman has 47 acres tucked back in the foothills near Summit, where he raises Angora goats. He and his wife, jean, took time out from canning peaches to share their excellent homemade wine and to show me Earl's hand-built studio with a solar porch for drying prints. Nearby is a huge hot tub made from a recycled mint tank, and a totally odorless composting toilet sits on a lofty, elegant perch inside the passive solar greenhouse, where the heat helps process the waste.

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