2021 Portland Rose Festival Medallion Hunt

The only significant part of this introductory clue is the word "trail", a reference to the Sandy River Water Trail. It starts near Brightwood at River Mile 38 and continues past Dodge Park to the confluence with the Columbia River.

Obfuscate means to puzzle, confuse, or mystify. Most of the time the clues have started with a broad scope and gradually narrowed the field to a specific area. This year, the clues go back and forth (oscillate) from general clues to more exact ones and back again.

A.C. Gibbs, La Fayette Grover, and Theodore Geer were governors of Oregon. Booth Gardner was governor of Washington. When politicians are campaigning, they are referred to as being "on the stump". The medallion was hidden at the base of a stump.

Four facts about Clark Gable:
1) One of his most famous roles was Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty.
2) In 1922 he was employed by the Meier and Frank department store in Portland selling neckties in the men's department.
3) A favorite vacation spot for he and his wife, Carole Lombard, was the Weasku Inn on the Rogue River.
4) His full name was William Clark Gable. Cutting his middle name eliminates Clark County.

Another hint pointing to the word "stump". The original name of Mickey Mouse was Mortimer Mouse. Walt Disney's wife Lillian thought that sounded too pompous, and suggested calling him Mickey. In 1858, a young newlywed named Mortimer Stump was shot and killed by his father-in-law, Danford Balch. They were on the Stark Street Ferry, an enterprise owned by James Stephens, another Portland pioneer.

Henry and Georgiana Pittock had their 16,000 square foot, 23 room mansion ready for occupancy in 1914. At the other end of Portland society was Eliza Bunets, a "working girl" whose nickname was Boneyard Mary. She was involved in the death of Thomas McMahon in February of 1878, and though it was ruled an accidental drowning, many believe she had a direct hand in it. She was called Boneyard Mary because she lived on one of the old riverboats in the steamboat company's graveyard at the foot of Flanders Street. If you stand at Pittock Mansion and look toward the spot where Flanders meets the Willamette, you would be looking east.

Dodge Park, although quite a distance outside of Portland, is maintained and administered by the Portland Water Bureau, part of Portland's city government.

SOLUTION:
What these three cities have in common is that they are at a confluence of rivers. At Kennewick the Snake joins the Columbia, at Pittsburgh the Allegheny and Monongahela join to become the Ohio River, and at Cairo, Illinois the Ohio joins the Mississippi. Dodge Park is located at the confluence of the Bull Run River and the Sandy River. The medallion was hidden at the point where the two rivers meet.

A movie reference. The first line refers to Meryl Streep, who played the title role in The Devil Wears Prada. She also played the Angel Australia in the 2003 TV mini-series Angels in America. The second line refers to Kevin Bacon, known as Mister 6 Degrees because of the game based on his career. If you start with 6 degrees on the Celsius (C) scale and convert it to the equivalent degree on the Kelvin (K) scale you get 279.15 degrees. Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon appeared together in the 1994 movie The River Wild. Sections of the Sandy River are protected under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act passed in 1968, including the section beginning at Dodge Park.

Over the years the Treasure Hunt clues have included many men in Oregon history named Sam. The 2016 hunt alone had three Sams featured in the clues. This Sam was Samuel Cobb, who in 1924 donated land to the Camp Fire Girls organization. The original 80 acre donation is where they started Camp Namanu, directly across the river from Dodge Park.

The Lusted Road Bridge over the Sandy River provides access to Dodge Park and is the east section of the original Burnside Bridge, which opened in 1894. It was moved to its present location in 1926 when it was replaced by the current Burnside Bridge. The west section of the original bridge, also relocated in 1926, now spans the Bull Run River in the reservoir area.

In 1976 presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, in an interview published in the November issue of Playboy, admitted that he had lusted after women and committed adultery in his heart many times. The quote caused him to lose his substantial lead over President Gerald Ford and came close to costing him the election. The reference is to Lusted Road, which leads to Dodge Park.

The Montavilla neighborhood was originally named Mount Tabor Village. When streetcars started serving the area in 1892, the name was abbreviated to "Mt. Ta. Villa" on destination signs, then later as "Monta. Villa". In 1911 the Mount Hood Railway and Power Company built a railway line from Montavilla to Bull Run, serving 30 small communities on its way to Dodge Park. In 1912 the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company acquired the line and converted it to an electric trolley line. This became what was called the "Picnic Train", and until service ended in 1930 it transported crowds of Portlanders to Dodge Park on the weekends.

Currently there is one gated entrance road into Dodge Park. However, there are four stone pillars still standing that used to be two gates. If you stand between them and look into the park, you'll be looking at the community hall. If it wasn't there you would be able to look directly at the area where the medallion was hidden.