2022 History Hunt Clues and Answers

Clue 1: In Mayor’s Square, what animal is “Hitchin’ a Ride” and on what? Answers: A dog; scooter

Clue 2: There is a big yellow caboose at the Depot Rail Museum. What are the numbers on the side? What is the tune on the side? Answers: UP25748; “We’re a Great Big Rolling Railroad”

Clue 3: A historical marker at the Depot Rail Museum near the Sandy River discusses Coxey’s Army. How many people were involved? What did they do? What year? Answers: Approx. 500 people; Commandeered a train in an attempt to reach Washington DC; 1894

Clue 4: What is the elevation of Troutdale according to a sign at the Depot Rail Museum? Answer: 56 feet

Clue 5: There is a large very old oil painting that can be seen as you walk into the Gateway to the Gorge Visitors Center. What does it depict? Answer: Multnomah Falls

Clue 6: In the Barn Exhibit Hall’s special exhibit there is a plaque named Friendship. What were the nicknames of the two fellows who were friends? What business establishment did they run in Troutdale? Whose famous nicknames were the same? Hint: they were well-known government officials. Answer: Ike and Dick; Handy Bros Service; Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower & Richard “Dick” Nixon

Clue 7: The Barn Exhibit Hall’s “King of Roads” exhibit names the sheriff who directed painting a white line down the center of the recently paved, brand-new, now Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway. What was his name and official title? Answer: Peter Rexford; Multnomah County Sheriff Deputy

Clue 8: Lewis and Clark State Park has a section dedicated to Plants as Medicine, “Forest Pharmacy.” In that section what exact parts of the Sword Fern did the Native Americans use for medicinal purposes and what illnesses did they cure?

Answer: Roots were used for sore throats, Rhizomes and leaves were used in a tea for pain relief. 

Clue 9: In the Douglass Cemetery what Troutdale celebrity is buried in Block 4 Lot 122? What was the person known for?

Answer: Laura Bullock Harlow; Second Troutdale Woman Mayor

Clue 10: In the Douglass Cemetery who is buried in Block 7 Lot 43? What was this person’s title? Answer: Eric Rolf Enquist, The Fish King

Clue 11: In the McMenamins Edgefield Lodge, there’s a poster in the hallway advertising “An evening with Lyle Lovett.” What animal is depicted in the poster? What date was the concert? Answer: Rooster (chicken); July 27  

Clue 12: In the registration area at Edgefield there is a picture of an old man named Christ Boyd sitting in a rocking chair. What animal is sitting beside him? What does he have in his lap? Answer: A black rabbit; A cap

Clue 13: Whose 50th birthday was celebrated at the Key Largo bar on June 22, 1993? HINT: Come in through the first-floor east porch of McMenamins Edgefield and immediately look to your right (next to the ‘Bell Tower’)” Answer: Steve Weber 

Clue 14: In the Country Pride Restaurant, in the TA Truck Stop, located on the Frontage Road in

Troutdale is a plaque on the wall in the hall titled Troutdale Celery. Who was the visionary that believed the rich bottomland where this restaurant is now located would grow celery? What year did he have this idea?

Answer: H.C. McGinnis; 1909

Clue 15: There is a picture of the celery fields next to the above-named plaque. It shows five men with hoes in the field. Who is on the horse? What is strange about the rider? Answer: A boy; He is sitting backwards on the horse

Clue 16: How many museums does the Troutdale Historical Society have and maintain? What are the names of these museums? Answer:  Three; Answer: Fred E Harlow House, Barn Exhibit Hall, Depot Rail Museum

Bonus Question: The Troutdale House by the Sandy River is now an upscale wedding and event center. What was this building’s original function? (This will take some digging.) 

Answer: Troutdale Vegetable Growers (Packing and Shipping) Shed