NEW ISLANDS

 

Aerial shot of Island Park in Springfield. The park is on the river and it looks like it's summer. Of course I've never seen the park from the air. That's probably Glenwood, a sort of suburb between Springfield and Eugene. There;s a great pizza place up there next to the rapids. 

Anyway you have to cross the river bridges to get to Eugene. Nestled under the bridges, is Island Park. I can remember when the islands the park is named for didn't exist. It must have been the mid sixties and we were visiting the grandparents. As we crossed the bridge I noticed some gravel bars. Over the years the bars got bigger, drift wood and brush got cought, bushes began to grow. 

As the years passed the islands began to sprout tree saplings. There was one right next to the bank under the bridge and two more further up the river. The other two were in the curve of the bank and slowlow formed an oxbow island. You can get to the one right next to the bank and barely get your feet wet. 

Those islands are the the children of the flood control dams. Without the dams the folks in Glenwood would be heading for high ground every time it rained just in case. Now that I remember the whole park is an island. There used to be a mill on the south side of town. Before there was a lumber mill, there was a grist mill. In fact the canal/mill race was dug with the aid of ox teams and shovels back in 1852. It connects the Middle Fork of the Willamette with the main river. I've learned some new information today and I need to do a little digesting