Stolen Lingerie - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This is one of three groups of history signs at this locations. This group includes a second smaller sign and a location map.

Main Marker Name: Stolen Lingerie
Main Marker Text: Humans, lacking breeding plumage of their own, coveted these elaborate feathers to adorn themselves. At the turn of the 20th century, plume hunting for the fashion industry was decimating nesting populations of great egrets. Because only the feathers that are grown during the breeding and nesting cycle were valued, these birds were attacked when they were trying to raise a family. Then State Game Commissioner and President of the Portland Audubon Society William Finkey used photos of widespread breeding colonies littered with broken eggs, nests, and rotting carcasses to compel President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Malheur a National Wildlife Refuge in August of 1908. At one time an ounce of feathers was worth more than an ounce of gold. Now, one can argue that the investment in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has only appreciated.

Small Marker Name: “O give me a home . . .
Small Marker Text: Small herds of 30 to 40 bison once roamed the high desert of Eastern Oregon. Bison bones discovered with artifacts suggest that bison were an important part of the diet of the prehistoric Northern Paiute Indians living in the basin. By the time trapper Peter Skene Ogden visited the area in 1826, the only evidence of bison in the area were skulls seen on the dry lake bed of Harney Lake.

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