2023 Rose Festival Treasure Hunt | SOLUTIONS FOR 2023

Thirty-two hunts we have enjoyed,

a long and rich history.

Let’s raise a glass to many more.

Now on with thirty-three.

No hints are contained in this introductory clue. In some past hunts there have been a few

hints in the first clue, but we like to keep you guessing.

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When marching toward the sunrise,

the right dress would be great.

Then follow your nose from a line

Modified in fifty-eight.

Yes, many will recognize part of this clue (right dress) as being used in the Fort Vancouver hunt in 2017. Dress right dress is a marching drill command at which most members of the formation snap their heads to the right. If you are marching toward the sunrise (east) and look to the right you would be facing south. The line modified in fifty-eight is the Washington/Oregon state line down the middle of the Columbia River. When the boundary was first established it was defined as the center of the Columbia River. Over the years, due to natural and human factors, that line shifted. To remedy the problems that were created by shifting river lines, in 1958 both states approved ballot measures adopting the modified line as a series of specific coordinates.

This clue tells you that the search area is south of the state line, thus excluding Clark County.

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We love our Sams, it’s named for one,

count the cold bodies it contains.

It’s less than that in miles though,

from state line to where treasure reigns.

Samuel seems to be a very popular name in Oregon history, and we’ve encountered many during the treasure hunts. The cold bodies are the twelve glaciers on Mt. Hood, named for British Admiral Samuel Hood. The medallion was hidden less than twelve miles from the state line. (Actually a bit under seven)

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Yesterday was about state line,

today’s clue is about county.

Prince would love this Beaver town’s grots.

It’s less than that to the bounty.

Prince named his home and recording studio Paisley Park. Near the southern Oregon town of Paisley are the Paisley Five Mile Caves, which tells you that the medallion is hidden less than five miles from a county line. (It’s actually about 2.24 miles)

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Think alphabetically,

then search accordingly.

It’s another name for

what we call the ninth floor.

Another word for floor is level, and alphabetically the ninth letter is “i”. This tells you that the medallion is hidden at the average person’s eye level.

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Look in something like a landmark

and you’ll earn your hunt diploma.

It directs the pretty trickles

to a thing once called Multnomah.

A synonym for landmark is watershed, and Multnomah is the name first mentioned by Lewis and Clark as the name given by the natives to the Willamette River. This narrows the search area to Portland’s Willamette River Watershed.

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Find it and squeal,

it’s a big deal.

It has appeal,

encased in steel.

The medallion was in a black aluminum box, but the box was hidden on a gate latch protected by a steel casing. It was surrounded on all sides by steel, but still accessible from underneath.

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Although you’ve been searching high and low

I would really rather see ya

keep it between just the two of us

and lovely Sacajawea.

This is a blatant attempt at misdirection. The statue of Sacajawea stands in Washington Park, and there is a statue entitled “Just the Two of Us” at the corner of Hall Blvd. and Farmington Rd. If you pay attention to the first part of the clue which talks about searching “high and low”, it tells you that it’s about elevation. Sacajawea is at about 350’ and “Just the Two of Us” is at about 150’. The medallion was hidden at about 250’, about halfway in elevation between the two statues.

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While you’re walking about town

just think on this, we plea.

Where would Henry David go

to feel truly free?

This directs you to the west side. Henry David Thoreau’s famous essay entitled “Walking” includes the line, “Eastward I go only by force; but westward I go free.”

The second first and second,

just look in the book and see.

Add the only one of nine

and the second one of three.

“The book”, in Western culture, often refers to the Bible. There are seven sets of Bible books with “First” and “Second” in their titles, the second one being First and Second Kings. The only Bible book with nine chapters is Amos. There are many books in the Bible with three chapters, but the second one is Nahum. Put them all together and you have Amos Nahum King, the owner of the original donation land claim where the medallion was hidden.

This year is important,

pay attention, please do.

It helps you to find it

if you follow it through.

This year is ’23, and if you follow 23rd Street through the search area it turns into Vista Avenue and crosses the Vista Bridge.

Do you want to be on

the threshold of greatness?

Then go ask Harold Hill.

(Mike Love’s boat is not nameless)

Harold Hill was the title character of the 1962 movie “The Music Man”, and he was played by actor Robert Preston. Mike Love is a member of the Beach Boys, and they had a hit with a song released in 1966 called “Sloop John B”. John B. Preston was appointed by President Millard Fillmore in 1850 to be Oregon’s Surveyor-General, and as such he established the Willamette Meridian and its baseline. The prize was hidden within a few feet of where the baseline intersects the Vista Bridge, and a synonym of baseline is “threshold”.

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From one two one one one,

to three two two one eight,

the first thing you would see

helps pinpoint and locate.

January 21, 2011 was proclaimed “Portlandia Day” by Mayor Sam Adams. The first episode aired that evening, with the last episode airing on March 22, 2018. The opening title shot was from the Vista Bridge.

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On the bridge,

at a gate.

Reach inside,

don’t be late.

There are four gates in the fences on the Vista Bridge to give maintenance workers access to the built-in benches. The locks on the gates are protected by steel boxes that allow access from underneath. The medallion was placed on top of a ledge inside the north box on the east side.

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