When we enter the East Linn Museum, thoughts of England's Queen Victoria don't come readily to mind. Still, her era's influences directly reflect on our area and many of the artifacts on display here.

For one thing, Victoria reigned from 1837 to her death in 1901. England was then reaching its peak as a commercial and colonial power, and that era has become conveniently associated with Victoria.

"Britannia ruled the waves" and "the sun never set on the British Empire." As far as our area goes, when Victoria became queen, Oregon was on the verge of being settled. Upon her death, we had a st...