Renowned Portland historian and professor Stephen Dow Beckham dies

Longtime Lewis & Clark College history professor Stephen Dow Beckham died Saturday from medical complications following a collapse on Friday. He was 85 years old.

Beckham was a well-respected Oregon historian, preservationist and educator who specialized in Native American history, the American West and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

“We have lost one of Lewis & Clark College’s most cherished academic luminaries, as well as a true icon of the Pacific Northwest,” said college president Robin Holmes-Sullivan.

She said many students will remember Beckham for a course he taught called “On the Trail of Lewis and Clark.” Rather than focusing on historic records, Beckham took students out to retrace the explorers’ route, often on horseback, from the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana to the Pacific Ocean.

“He did all sorts of things to really make people have an experience,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “So, they could really understand what happened.”

Beckham was a member of the Neskowin Historical Foundation. The foundation’s president, Jim Affolter, marveled at Beckham’s research skills.

“He could find anecdotes, he could find people and places,” Affolter said. “He would find in seconds what would take me an hour to dig and research.”

Beckham recently published a book called “Nestucca, Nechesne, and Siletz: Indians of the North-Central Oregon Coast.” On the day before he died, he gave a lecture in Neskowin celebrating the new book.

Despite not feeling well, Affolter said Beckham was “determined” to make Friday’s presentation.

“He had slides, and he talked, and then he collapsed at the end,” Affolter said. “And the next morning he was gone.”

Beckham was born near Coos Bay, Oregon, in 1941, at the height of World War II. In some respects, he took after his father, Earnest Dow Beckham, who had a lifelong interest in history.

Stephen Dow Beckham earned his bachelor’s degree in history and biology at the University of Oregon in 1964. He then earned a master’s degree and PhD in history at the University of California in Los Angeles.

His early career started at Linfield University in McMinnville in 1969. Then he moved to Lewis & Clark College.

“The Lewis & Clark administration decided it would be logical and appropriate to offer courses on Native Americans, the Pacific Northwest, and the American West,” he wrote for the college as the Pamplin Professor of History. “I was hired in 1977.”

Beckham spent 34 years as a faculty member and endowed chair in Lewis & Clark’s history department. He retired in 2011 but maintained a close connection to the college, authoring books about its buildings, chairing committees, hosting alumni events and making presentations.

“He leaves behind a lasting legacy as a scholar, a teacher, a mentor, and a friend whose generosity and spirit are woven into the fabric of the college,” Holmes-Sullivan said.

“Our hearts are with his family and all those who loved him.”

Over the years, Beckham became a leading authority on Indian law. By the time he retired, he had been called as an expert witness in dozens of land-use cases concerning reservations, federal recognition, casinos and fishing rights. His research was used to determine tribal rules, riparian rights and boundary lines.

Beckham also helped develop museums and exhibits in the Pacific Northwest, including “The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition” at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, The High Desert Museum in Bend, and “Oregon, My Oregon” at the Oregon Historical Society.

Beckham served as one of the trustees of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and contributed regularly to public broadcasting productions, including OPB’s 13-part radio series “Unfinished Journey: The Lewis & Clark Expedition,” and Oregon Experience’s “Broken Treaties.”