The Pioneer Mother

It's a bleak November day. This is the November we know and "love", the one with overcast grey skies and a gentle drizzle. The leaves are finally falling at a pretty good clip and I'm sure there will be stories on the news about clearing the drains of leaves so the streets don't flood. That is if the news people can talk about something else besides the Occupy Portland Protests.

We had to go to downtown Vancouver today on an errand and our appointment was at 3:30. We were right by Esther Short park and I went and got a picture of this statue, dedicated in 1929. Wikipedia has this to say about Esther Short. Have a good week, Blippers!!


Esther Short was an early Vancouver resident, whose husband Amos and ten children "jumped a claim" near present-day downtown Vancouver. This land was originally part of a larger land plot by American Henry Williamson, who mapped out a little town called Vancouver City and properly registered the claim in the US courthouse in Oregon City. He left his caretaker, David Gardner, in-charge of the land before leaving for California. During a dispute, Amos Short shot and killed David Gardner but was later acquitted in court. Amos used his courtroom experience to become a judge and claimed the disputed land for himself. He died during a return voyage from selling local produce in San Francisco. With Williamson's registered claim intact, Esther Short filed papers to claim the land. Ultimately, she obtained part of the land (including the parcel which includes present-day Esther Short Park), along with the Catholic Church and Vancouver City. [5] She also gave permission to use house ferry boats to land on her property, at the foot of present-day Washington Street, where she operated a restaurant and hotel called The Alta House.

The park was part of this land, bequeathed as a public plaza by Esther after Amos died in a shipwreck at the mouth of the Columbia.[6] Some of her other land is presently the Port of Vancouver.[7] Esther Short Park's statue "The Pioneer Mother" was dedicated July 22, 1929 and was sculpted by Avard Fairbanks.
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