This year, all Washougal fourth grade students will have the opportunity to visit the Two Rivers Historical Museum in Washougal, courtesy of a grant from Bill and Becky Smead. The field trip allows students to visit the museum’s rich display of local items, which includes exhibits and stories focused on native peoples, industry, farming, household items and toys, and more. Gause Elementary students attended the field trip on January 28. Hathaway, Cape Horn-Skye and Columbia River Gorge Elementary fourth graders have tours scheduled for later in the year.
“As a retired teacher, I’ve always loved seeing students get excited about learning outside the classroom,” said museum volunteer Lee Gilronan. “The Two Rivers Heritage Museum is a wonderful place for kids to connect with our local history. Seeing primary sources up close brings the past to life, helping them better understand and appreciate the stories that make our community special.”
Students explored displays of mining and timber industry equipment from the 1800s and 1900s, seeing hand-powered tools and machinery that was used by early Washougal residents at the time. They watched a demonstration of weaving on a 100-year-old traveling loom. Other displays included cookware, communication tools, and toys that children would have played with more than 100 years ago. The museum includes historic artifacts from local Indigenous peoples including the Cowlitz, Klickitat, Quinault, Salish, Chinook, and Makah tribes.
Columbia Play Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing exploratory play for children, was also onsite and led the students in a hands-on wool weaving project.
In addition to the field trip, there are plans for local Chinook Indian Nation Tribal Council member, Sam Robinson, to hold an assembly at each school for these fourth-grade students. His presentations will continue the learning with an authentic and more detailed look into the lives of indigenous people of the area, past and present.
The field trip was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Washougal alumni Bill and Becky Smead to the Camas-Washougal Historical Society to cover transportation, admission and activity costs. School staff and chaperones accompanied the students, while museum volunteers provided explanations of items and stories that connected the display that students were seeing with the history of our area. The donation will fund three years of field trips with the goal that this trip will become a yearly learning experience for fourth grade students studying Washington State history.
“We are grateful for the generous grant from the Smead family and delighted to have this opportunity to share artifacts and stories of Washougal history with these young people,” said Richard Lindstrom, Camas Washougal Historical Society president. “Our goal is for students to gain a better understanding of Washougal’s geographic, economic and cultural history and that this will lead to pride in their community.”
Gause Elementary School teacher Colleen Davis said, “we are grateful for this opportunity to have students see history first hand and to help their understanding of the important role of the Washougal community as part of Washington history.” She added, “this was a great way to connect the history we teach in class to the things students can see and experience for themselves as part of the museum collection.”
Student Guinevere Walters said, “the plank house was my favorite part of the museum visit. I liked the carved designs and the way they described how the house was used.”