Last month’s mystery location: Oxbow, Oregon
Because the Where am I? riddle for July 2017 stumped our readership, THUNDER PRESS staff suggested we share the mystery location and de-construct the riddle sprinkling in a few facts about the area. Admittedly, the clues were tricky because they were so obvious in the July riddle’s text.
So follow along to get inside the head of the itinerate Susan Swan, our riddle-mistress.
Here’s the July riddle—presented here in bold type; in three verses.
Explanations are in parenthesis ( ).
I’m spittin’ distance from the Oxbow (Spittin’ distance is close. The oxbow is a geological feature, a stretch of the Snake River with oxbow-shaped shoreline. Oxbow Dam is also present in the basin.)
In the town that with a history’d past (The town no longer exists—it’s history)
As a copper field of plenty (The mystery location was the mining town of Copperfield, later reborn as Oxbow, Oregon, in Baker County)
Waders see the pine and snake just there in the grass (Wading in the Snake River or Pine Creek nearby)
There’s not much here, at least to speak of (Because town no longer exists)
An Inn, B&B and for a tenner you can pitch a tent (Hells Canyon B&B, Hells Canyon Inn or $10 camping at the Copperfield Park campground in Oxbow, Oregon) in a nice clean campground with spectacular view. By golly that’s my kind of rent
Tomorrow it’s SW on the 86 (Highway to SW of riddle location) then the 84 and then who can say? (A highway off the 86, in this case headed W)
It’s been too long since the road has called (sadly self-explanatory)
This trip’s going to be done my own way… (ditto)
