A Riparian Homage

We are excited to introduce a new blanket in the black/ivory color scheme that our Pendleton customers love so much: Oxbow. It’s named for Oxbow Park, a regional park just 25 miles from downtown Portland.

Oxbow

Oregon’s Oxbow Lake was formed in a deep bend of the ‘Wild and Scenic’ Sandy River, which flows from majestic Mount Hood. Twists and turns of the river are shown as angles, with medallions representing the snowmelt and glacial till carried by the current. On the beaches of Oxbow Lake, wildlife laps at the shore. Ombred diamonds represent the trout, salmon, and steelhead that fill the lake’s waters, their scales catching light just below the surface.

This beautiful blanket was designed by our Portland team, and woven and finished entirely in the USA at our woolen mills. It is unnapped so the pattern’s intricacies show sharp and clear, and finished with a wool binding.

What are Oxbow Lakes?

Oxbow lakes start as meanders, deep U-shaped bends in rivers that eventually separate enough to form lakes. You can watch one form in this video.

Oxbow lakes are important because they create unique riparian environments.

According to the Oregon Conservation Strategy:

Riparian habitat zones are adjacent to flowing water in rivers and streams as well as springs, seeps, terraces, and many low-elevation alluvial floodplains. Riparian zones are the dynamic interface between land and flowing water. Riparian habitats often have high species diversity and are critical for wildlife. In addition to providing habitat for birds and other wildlife, riparian habitats have important ecological functions. Healthy riparian vegetation protects banks from erosion, influences in-channel aquatic habitats, maintains favorable water temperature for fish through shading, filters runoff, and provides nutrients to support terrestrial and aquatic life.

All that, and they provide wonderful opportunities for human recreation. Oxbow Lake in Oregon is a shaded, safe place for family swimming, unlike the river from which is was formed. The Sandy River is a swift one, one of our country’s protected “Wild and Scenic" waterways.

What is a “Wild and Scenic” River?

That’s a question best answered by our friend Greg Hatten, a wooden boat enthusiast and river rat who ran several such waterways as part of the celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of the passing of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

In 1968, Congress passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and President Johnson signed it into law.

“The great purpose of this act is to set aside a reasonable part of the vanishing wilderness, to make certain that generations of Americans yet unborn will know what it is to experience life on undeveloped, unoccupied land in the same form and character as the Creator fashioned it… It is a great spiritual experience. Unless we preserve some opportunity for future generations to have the same experience, we shall have dishonored our trust."
Senator Frank Church (1957-1981)

The primary goal was to “protect and preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations." Eight rivers were inducted in the original group and, now, fifty years later, there are over 200 rivers in the program. The state of Oregon has more protected rivers than any other state by far – with over 50 included in the program.

Thank you, Greg! The Sandy River is one of those protected Oregon waterways, and Oxbow Lake formed alongside it.

More information:

See the blanket here: OXBOW

Read more posts about Pacific Northwest rivers by our friend Greg Hatten: GREG HATTEN

Take a trip to Oregon’s Oxbow Lake with Pendleton:

Pendleton Picnic: A Trip to Oregon’s Oxbow Park