Paul Wahl

I don’t remember how old I was when I first was told that much of what I learned from history books about the founding of our nation was likely not completely true.

It was a pivotal moment in my life. If history books weren’t accurate, what other texts I had been studying for years were shading the truth?

I thought about this as we prepared to publish events and activities in the county celebrating Independence Day, which is celebrated July 4.

That’s the day the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, but the Continental Congress agreed to break away from the British on July 2. The Declaration wasn’t signed by most of the delegates until Aug. 2, 1776.

So why isn’t that Independence Day?

My earliest history education suggested that the founding fathers were all stalwart men of a single bent, to sever ties with an oppressive England and be free to determine their own fate.

It wasn’t until I saw the play, “1776” that it registered with me. Although they were statesmen, they were also politicians and had opinions across the board on “independency.”

The final straw came in 2005 when it was proven conclusively George Washington did not have wooden teeth. Research performed on a set of Washington’s dentures showed they were made of gold, ivory, lead and human and animal teeth. An odd combination of ingredients, to say the least.

Myths also surround other historical dates on the calendar.

Turns out, according to many historians, Columbus didn’t discover America. Even if you were to overlook the not-so-minor fact that millions of people were already living in North America in 1492, the fact is that Columbus never set foot on our shores. Oct. 12 commemorates the day of his arrival in what is now the Bahamas.

I’ve never understood how such dubious “facts” made their way into the annals of history. I suppose part of it is the human propensity for believing what we want the truth to be.

Some have termed it revisionist history, usually defined as the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about an historical event or the distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favorable light.

In other words, history –– like beauty –– is in the eye of beholder. Or so they say.

In spite of the controversies, I will celebrate this Independence Day with gusto, even knowing that there were only 12 original colonies (Delaware was initially part of Pennsylvania.)

And I would encourage you to do the same.

You don’t have to leave Wallowa County to be part of the pageantry. Wallowa has what’s generally considered the largest celebration, complete with a giant parade and a community gathering in the park.

Cap off the evening with the fireworks spectacular on the shores of Wallowa Lake.

If you must participate in personal fireworks, a tradition far more linked to the Chinese than the American founding fathers, please be careful. By one statistic, 9,300 people suffer serious injuries each in the U.S. from fireworks annually. More than 20,000 fires are ignited each year by fireworks.

Wahl is the editor of the chieftain who plans to eat apple pie on the Fourth of July.