wooden gift box Silver gifts tend to make people happy. When they came in the formof spoons and shoe buckles, it made archaeologists at the NationalPark Service giddy.
"They were very anxious to see the treasures we brought with us,"said Ron Loomis, who donated family heirlooms to the service thisspring.
Loomis, 71, is the great-great-great-grandson of John McLoughlin,the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Co. in the 1800s. McLoughlinbefriended American settlers in Fort Vancouver and made a bigcontribution to Oregon's settlement. But British officials worriedthat too many Americans in the area would make it a U.S. territory,so the "Father of Oregon" was forced to leave the company. He thenmoved to Oregon City with his family.
Ron Loomis and his wife, Betty Loomis, 75, knew how importantMcLoughlin was, so they donated two of McLoughlin's shoe buckles,12 pieces of silverware with the family crest, a clock with reversepainting on the door and several photographs of McLoughlin'sgranddaughters to the Park Service.
" really helped us know more about the people," saidmuseum technician Heidi Pierson. "They're useful to do research onthe family and the times."
Ron Loomis, an only child, inherited the heirlooms from his mother,Winnifred Elizabeth Myrick. Some items decorated the couple'sTemecula, Calif., house, but most remained in boxes.
"We felt they had greater value to the public," Ron Loomis said."They've been sitting around in boxes for years."
The retired couple made a trip to Fort Vancouver and the McLoughlinHouse in May to donate the treasures. Park Service employees wereexcited to know McLoughlin had a living relative, Betty Loomissaid. "They didn't even know about Ron," she said.
But Ron Loomis knew about McLoughlin. The couple has several bookswritten by and about McLoughlin, family photos and stories RonLoomis' mother told him. Talking to him helped fill in some gaps inthe McLoughlin family tree, Pierson said.
The heirlooms are currently in storage but will be displayed in theMcLoughlin House or Fort Vancouver in the future. The couple keptthree silver spoons displayed in a wooden box.
"We wanted to keep a reminder of Dr. John," Ron Loomis said. "Andit was a gift from my mother."
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