The Gorge Heritage Museum, run by the West Klickitat County Historical Society, is housed in the historic Community Congregational Church in Bingen, Washington. The church has been in this spot between the Columbia River and steep bluffs since 1912. Near the entrance, a sign reads, “Local citizens built it for a strong community.” The building has served as a museum since 1987.
Inside the small museum you’ll find tangible proof of different pasts: a wild boar skull found in the Glenwood – Troutlake Valley, a black wooden sled with sleekly curved runners that make it look as fast as a Mustang — a reminder of the Gorge kids who braved snowy slopes here last century.
There’s also an incredible collection of pictures mounted on the wall as if in an album. You can flip through the framed pages and, toward the end, find large color photographs of Indigenous people gathering at Celilo Falls before the 1957 opening of The Dalles Dam inundated their centuries-old fishing spot.
For decades, this small museum has documented the people and cultures that have shaped life in the Gorge. But one community’s story had yet to find its place here: the Hispanic community.
Last month, the museum began to fill that gap with a new Hispanic Heritage exhibit created in collaboration with the nonprofit social services organization WAGAP, the Washington Gorge Action Programs. Two glass cases display traditional objects, such as a ceramic bean pot, and cultural artifacts, such as a jade ring resembling maize. On the wall behind hang two bright paintings. They beam with modern energy, but fit right in, telling more stories of people who call the Gorge home.
One of the paintings, Our Silent Heroes, by local artist Chris Cazáres, features six Latino leaders from the Gorge. There’s Rob Mendoza, an advocate for the houseless community; Betin Salguero, who was involved in agricultural workers’ efforts to form a labor union; and Francisco “Panchito” Cortez, whose legacy continues through his family’s work in landscaping and social services.
The painting also features baker Angel Isordia, Juan Reyes, co-director of WAGAP, who has spent years connecting Latino families with resources and opportunities in the Gorge, and Cazáres’ father, Luis “Daniel” Cazáres, representing, his son says, the everyday fathers who work hard for their families while also looking out for others.
Cazáres says he sees the painting as honoring each person’s contributions to their communities, including the families and legacies they have built here. Visitors can scan a QR code below the painting to watch video interviews that provide more context about each person and why Cazáres chose to honor them as heroes.
Cazáres immigrated from Michoacán, Mexico and has lived in White Salmon since he was 12 years old. He helped gather the collection and donated many of the items on display. [Full disclosure: Cazáres serves on Uplift Local’s board of directors.]
Next to the glass display case is a traditional gabán, or poncho, with “CHS Bruins” woven into the black and white pattern. Cazáres’ godfather sent it to him from Mexico to celebrate his graduation from Columbia High School in 2015.
“I really liked taking my gabánes to school when I was in high school,” Cazáres said. “I lent [this one to the museum] because they’re something you don’t commonly see here. The idea is to share a little bit of the story behind how it got here.”
The Hispanic Heritage exhibit is intended to keep changing, featuring different items that the public can enjoy and appreciate. It’s a permanent space given where space is scarce; according to the museum’s website only 8% of the museum’s collections is on display because the building is so small.
Dylan Ohnemus, a member of the museum’s board, said in the future he would also like to display more artifacts from the museum’s collection related to the Gorge’s Japanese American community, citing the story of Kenjiro and Miyuki Kida, a Japanese American family who homesteaded and farmed in the White Salmon Valley in the early 1900s.
After Japan attacked Hawai’i during World War II, the U.S. government issued an evacuation notice to the Kida family, ordering them to an internment camp along with tens of thousands of other families of Japanese descent. In response, 67 local friends and neighbors signed a petition asking for an exemption for the Kida family. The plea did not keep them from being forced to leave White Salmon, but the petition was eventually given to the museum — a record of how the community came together to support the family.
Ohnemus hopes the petition, along with more items from the Kida family, can become part of an Asian American heritage exhibit for the public next year.
The Gorge Heritage Museum has finished its summer season and is now open to the public by appointment.
Viviana Hernandez is Uplift Local's bilingual community reporter and part of the Gorge Documenters team.
