We are gnats on the elephant
dependent on weather
and her mastodonian nature:
a flick of an ear or a downpour.
She has taught us to be adaptable,
to stay humble, to turn tragedies
to opportunities and despite
our good luck, revel quietly
upon our small part of her dusty
hide. And she accepts us—as long as
we remain less irritating than those
on the rest of her landscape.
drycrikjournal 
Alas… “The Elephant”
A term also used during times of great peril by the emigrants who traveled by covered wagon over the Oregon Trail over 170 years ago. I am intrigued by your symbolism tailored to the extreme conditions you face in the 21st century. They were “hit by the elephant” now you faced to “ride her.”
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Glad you made the connection! What reading I’ve done, they saw ‘the elephant’, overwhelmed by the perils of the frontier to return home to the East. What fun 🙂 …and we are just gnats on her back after all.
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Not all were “turn-arounds”… some perished by the elephant, others drove on determined to reach what destiny awaited at the End of the OregonTrail.
I’m wondering… do you have family roots that would have broken away to head south on The Applegate Trail?
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My great, great grandfather’s brother Isaac Dofflemyer and wife Susan arrived in the Oregon Territory via the Oregon Trail around 1850, establishing the lighthouse at Budd Inlet in the Puget Sound in 1852. Another brother Noah traveled with them until Soda Springs, ID and then took the California Trail to Sutter’s Fort to join his brother Ben. Our branch of the family (Daniel) came to California via Shawnee Mission, KS, Pueblo, CO and the Imperial Valley, CA before arriving in the San Joaquin Valley to become pioneers in the citrus business in 1912. Their parents, Henry and Elizabeth, had 12 children: John, Joshua, Daniel, David, Benjamin, Noah, Jacob, Isaac, Jonathan, Mary, Delilah, and Joseph. Enough elephants for them all in those days.
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This is a very rich family history. It sounds like your heritage is well preserved. Thank you for taking the time to share this… I wish I was still in the classroom teaching… these are the kinds of stories that were fun to share as we were learning about Oregon’s early history. Real life experiences make history come alive!
Your family certainly made better pioneering decisions than did my great-great grandfather. Living in Chicago, he purchased 40 acres in Catlow Valley, and a home site in Lakeview, Oregon as a land speculation. I have since inherited the piece of land in Catlow Valley, but the City of Lakeview condemned the homesite land to build a Public Works lot.
I’m the only of my great-great grandfather’s descendants to have settled in Oregon. My husband and I came across country from Philadelphia as pioneers 42 years ago… in a Volkswagen (as opposed to a covered wagon)!
However, I don’t live in Catlow Valley… we are in the Willamette Valley…
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Hi John, I live down the street from the lighthouse on Budd Inlet…I have always been interested in the history of what is now known as the Boston Harbor neighborhood of Olympia – and of course Isaac and Susan Dofflemyer are key to understanding the history…I wonder if they ever left journals of their experience living here?
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Jane, it is another history teacher, William Dofflemyer of Stockton, CA, who traced eleven generations of the family back to Bavaria. Great grandson of Isaac and Susan, William spent several years writing and placing each generation within its historical perspective for the benefit of his grandchildren, with additional research after visiting with descendants still residing in Germany. However, it is his inspirational account of Susan maintaining the lighthouse at Dofflemyer Point for years after Isaac passed away in 1889 that brought tears to my eyes. She saw the elephant and never weakened.
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