We are pleased to announce that this program will take place onsite at the museum. For everyone’s safety, masks are still required on museum grounds.

Perhaps the most commonly recognized evergreen in the northwest is the Douglas Fir.  Have you ever wondered where it got its name?  “Trifles Will Not Stop Me” is a program about the man responsible for hundreds of discoveries and descriptions of our native northwestern trees, shrubs, and plants.

David Douglas came to the Pacific Northwest by ship from England in 1825, and he recorded his explorations for the Royal Horticultural Society in his journals. Interactions with local Native Americans, encounters with animals, and the arduous and difficult acquisition of seeds and specimens are woven amongst his descriptions of the land as it was before European settlement.  From 1825 to 1827, he traveled thousands of miles through Washington, Idaho, and Oregon by foot, horse, and canoe collecting seeds, preserving specimens, taking notes, and packaging his discoveries for return to England. 

Gary Lentz was the Park Ranger at Lewis & Clark Trail State Park near Waitsburg, Washington, and worked for Washington State Parks for 35 years. Many of those years were at Lewis & Clark Trail State Park, which has a unique riparian habitat and botanical diversity and is situated on the Lewis & Clark Trail. Gary was born in Pennsylvania and spent many hours hiking the Appalachian Trail.  He found many parallels between his life experiences and those of David Douglas, such as a love of plants, the desire to see what was growing over the next hill, and finding out how to collect and preserve seeds, flowers, and other plant products.