This was my first time returning to the United States in 13 years, and I had to get by without a car because my drivers’ license expired. Therefore, the theme of this trip was “America on Foot.” In both Los Angeles and Portland, I relied on public transportation for my tours. I thought I would have to call uber a lot, but it turned out that I only called Uber once (not counting the trips back and forth the LAX).

It is no news that Los Angeles is especially un-user-friendly when it comes to public transportation. I went to high school in Los Angeles and in the years that I lived there, I had never taken public transportation, not even once. The reason being that public transportation runs rather sparse schedules in LA (there is simply not a general reliance on public transportation, therefore, not much demand to support frequency).

Also, Los Angeles is a vast expanse of city and suburban development. At best, a given bus stop can only take you so close to the final destination. And then there is the prejudice against those folks that have to rely on public transportation. In a place like Los Angeles, it is a fact that public transportation takes the poorest of people around, very much unlike New York City. The prejudice is that “public transportation is not safe because only the beggars, DUI and homeless take buses.”

But when the same trip costs $25 on Uber, and $2 on buses, it is a matter of math to resort to public transportation. Being the way that I am (I tend to travel solo to any destination in the world, and very often in Asia), I would of course opt for the buses. The first time was, “let’s see, be cautious,” then after the first time it was, “hey, not bad, let’s do it again.” By the time I got to Portland, I didn’t even think twice about my options, “certainly buses and light rail.”

Some Observations to Note

Contrary to my impression, the public transportation system in both Los Angeles and Portland run frequently and they are very time efficient. In Los Angeles, the buses that went inter-city between Long Beach and San Pedro came every 15 minutes or so. Google’s bus schedule was also incredibly accruate. In Portland, Google’s bus schedule was also very reliable.

Now, would I recommend any common tourist to do buses in LA and Portland? My answer is no, especially given that I have a lot of Hong Kong readers, who are likely to be able to afford renting a proper car. I think it is an adventure in itself to navigate the public transportation systems in LA and Portland, but unless you have the guts that I do (you know what my guts are, when it comes down to traveling, if you read my blog), I do not recommend taking public transportation in Los Angeles and Portland.

In Los Angeles, I noticed that I appeared to be dressed a notch better than fellow bus riders. I was a little out of place in the crowd, besides the fact that I was obviously clueless (in every trip I had to ask how much). I also did notice that there were homeless people on the buses, and not just a few. My issue was not the possibility of being robbed or harmed, because the bus drivers that I encountered were all sensible people, they appeared to be ready and able to handle that type of situation well.

My issue was simply that it felt icky to have to sit close to people who likely have not showered for a long time. Or otherwise sit at a spot that was previously occupied by people who haven’t showered for a long time. When I returned to my hotel, I put away all the clothes that I had worn on the buses and did not wear them again until I did laundry.

My friends, who are LA natives, told me how brave it was that I chose to do public transportation. He himself had his new iphone robbed once on the light rail in Long Beach. He had never touched the public system since. I certainly appreciated the point. Let’s be real, there are known dangers. So, if you were really going to do the bus, the caution would be not to do it late at night, and do not show your priced belongings at all. If anyone accosts you, avoid the person, or even get off the bus right away. These are common sense measures to protect yourself.

Now, in Portland, I noticed that generally the crowd was a bit better dressed than the public-bus-taking folks in LA. There were some homeless people on the light rail and buses in Portland, but perhaps the vibe was slightly less hopeless than the LA buses. I myself did encounter an incident at the Gateway Transit Center, when I was visiting the Multnomah Falls by the bus. There was a certain someone that was causing a scene, and when he sat at a nearby bench at the station, the staff there indicated to me that I had better get up and leave.

But there was no incident at all where I felt threatened. And I enjoyed my rides, when it did not feel dirty.

Whether I would do the same again is another question. Good experience, however.

Here’s to Los Angeles and Portland for their wonderful hospitality. Until next time.

When it comes to the history of Oregon, what immediately comes into mind is the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This is the nationally-taught history of the Pacific Northwest. Although there was a story before and there is a story after, the expedition is a good starting point for a first course in Oregon.

The purpose of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, & such principal stream of it as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this Continent for the purposes of commerce.

                                                                                                                             ～ President Thomas Jefferson

Before Lewis and Clark

The well-known explorers that have trekked the Pacific Northwest long before Lewis and Clark were the Spanish Juan Rodriguez in 1543. He sailed from Mexico to Oregon. Then came the British Sir Francis Drake in 1592. The British continued to take interest in this region (mostly due to the fur trade), and in the 1770s came James Cook, George Vancouver and Peter Puget. In around the same time period, the American fur trader Captain Robert Gray discovered the Columbia River.

The Beginning of a Legend

After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the size of the United States doubled with the westward territory extending beyond the Mississippi River, covering Louisiana. Oregon lied beyond this expanded version of the United States. It was President Jefferson’s vision that the young nation’s territory would eventually stretch across the whole continent, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

President Jefferson commissioned Merriweather Lewis, a neighbor of his in Virginia, to commence on an exploration all the way from the Mississippi River to the farthest western shore at the Pacific Ocean. Lewis then approached his army friend William Clark to serve as co-captains on this voyage, named Corps of Discovery.

The team consisted of the two captains and thirty other men. They embarked at St. Louis, in Missouri. That is where the Missouri River meets the Mississippi River. It was also going to be the largest outpost for the crew before heading west to a land hitherto unknown to Americans.

The Expedition Begins in 1804

In May 1804, the expedition began, carrying with it three vessels. An interesting point to note is that the crew fished for food. On one summer morning, they caught 490 catfish in just a few hours. The Missouri River remains a key habitat for catfish today.

This roundtrip would take 8,000 miles back and forth St. Louis. A key difficulty was the abundance of mosquitoes and gnats, which bothered the crew consistently. The team were very good documentarians. The two team leaders aside, the other team members also compiled diaries of their observations of the American west. Together they returned hundreds of pages recording the journey.

The journey west was not wholly unknown to men, however. The Frenchmen conducted fur trade with the tribes and they had some records that assisted the crew, including some descriptions of the American Indian Tribes and maps. The crew did not quite know what to expect in terms of seeing fierce animals, but they surely expected to meet some American Indians that might be somewhat hostile. The American Indians have inhabited in this land since they migrated here 15,000 years ago.

The Lakota tribe, of present-day South Dakota,for example, demanded more gifts from the explorers than the coffee and tobacco that was offered. There was a moment of tension, where Clark drew his sword. Eventually, he managed to take the bowline of the canoe from the Lakota chiefs and coolly returned to the main keelboat.

The Corps of Discovery passed through what is now South Dakota, then onwards through the Great Plains. Their next stop was what is now North Dakota, meeting the chiefs of the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians by the fall of 1804. Soon, the snow-capped Rocky Mountains also came into their view.

At now-Montana, the crew faced the Great Falls of the Missouri River. They had to carry their boats for 24 days before they reached the upstream for safe voyage. They met a Frenchman Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife, who was an Indian girl turned into slave. The explorers took in the man and his wife Sacagawea.  Together, the team soon met the Shoshone tribe. The Shoshone tribe recognized Sacagawea as their own. They provided the explorers with horses and a guide to climb the Rockies, until they made it safely to the level terrains—what is now Idaho.

The team assembled canoes for the next leg of journey. They aimed to reach the Pacific northwest by boat, on the Columbia River, which is the riverway that runs in this territory. In American Indian language, this river is called Origan. Obviously, this territory would become known as now Oregon. On their way, they met the Nex Perce Indians and the Chinook. The meeting with the Chinook indicated to the crew that their destination, the shore of Pacific Ocean, was near.

On one fateful day, November 7, 1805, about 1.5 years after the Corps of Discovery embarked their journey, the team finally had the Pacific Ocean in view from their camp, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Pacific Ocean was going to be miles away, but it was within sight.

President Jefferson provided a letter of credit from the United States Government that whatever ship that takes the crew back to the East Coast would be fully paid for. However, after camping a whole winter at Astoria, Oregon, the explorers did not meet any ship. In  March 1806, they began heading back by trekking the way of return. It took them six months to reach St. Louis in September 1806, since they already knew what to expect on the return journey.

The Significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

One prominent feature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is its scientific nature. The team had first-hand experience with the nature and peoples that lied in previously unknown territory. For one thing, they encountered the first coyote and grizzly bear that they had seen in their lives.

It was also an exceedingly successful adventure because only one life was lost to sickness early on in the journey. The first version of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Journal was published in 1807, containing a trove of valuable information on the geographic and natural discovery, as well the ethnographic information of the American Indian tribes encountered.

In terms of business insights, Lewis and Clark recommended the establishment of fur trading posts on the route to counter the increasing business presence of the British Canadians in this region. Due to the rapids and falls of the Columbia River, he recommended to President Jefferson that he should not rely on the Columbia River system as a commercial waterway.

Sources

Conrad Stein, Lewis and Clark (1997).

Eyewitness Travel Guides, USA (2006).

Oregonhistoryproject, The Lewis and Clark Expedition.