Notes
Welcome to a special week at Historic Hood River. HHR regular Arlen alerted us to the steam locomotive visit to the Gorge this coming weekend. You can follow the train's progress here. In honor of SP 4449 we'll be looking at images from the age of steam all week.
This nice hand-colored postcard shows a good view of both of Hood River's train stations and the Mt. Hood Hotel. The Mt. Hood Railroad station is in the foreground. It served the valley to Dee and later to Parkdale. The station in the background was for the mainline of the OR&N Company, predecessor to today's Union Pacific.
There is a good Monday Mystery to this card, though all the clues are on the reverse. In May 1908 "Arthur" mailed this card to Mrs. George Rice at 656 Broadway in Portland. His message:
Dear Sister, In this town to see the fish signs are put up right.
Who can fill in the story?
[Ed. Note] I finally have an explanation. In the June 1 1908 election their were two competing ballot measures, one by the fish wheel operators and one by the gill net operators concerning regulation of fishing on the Columbia. Both passed. I am not sure which side "Arthur" was on, or what the actual effect of the election was, but it's a good bet he was putting up election related signs.
Category: [Downtown Hood River]
Tags: 1900s depot hotel Mt_Hood_Hotel Mt_Hood_Railroad Mystery_Monday railroad
Comments
Back in the 1940's, this was the lower area of my "playground". The Mount Hood RR building was still there, and there was always a red caboose parked behind it. Nice to see it again!
Bill Seaton on 15th October 2012 @ 9:01am
WOW, a great lead off this week Arthur!!! I just sent a message to the entire volunteer crew of the SP 4449 letting them know of the postings this week in honor of their trip to Bend this weekend. The crew includes many who are also involved with the restoration efforts of the city of Portland's OR&N 197 steam locomotive. This 1905 steam locomotive will run again!
Thanks Arthur for doing this and keeping our history alive. Arlen
Arlen Sheldrake on 15th October 2012 @ 9:11am
Thanks for this! This is what it must have looked like when my grandfather, A.W. Peters, stepped off the train in 1908 and decided he had 'come home". He stayed at the Mt. Hood Hotel for a while.
I've ridden SP4449 once and always made a point to watch it steam through Aurora after it was refurbished. I grew up with steam trains -- they make me very nostalgic.
Jill Stanford on 15th October 2012 @ 12:26pm
What a fantastic 'first impression' Hood River must have made on newcomers getting off the train!
nels on 15th October 2012 @ 1:42pm
Well Arthur, no one has made a guess on the clues to the card.
I haven't had time to check this out thoroughly, but here is my guess.
Seufert Brothers had a cannery and fish wheels in The Dalles area. There was an Arthur Seufert. So, I am guessing Arthur is on his way to The Dalles for the spring fish run. When the train stopped in HR, he bought a post card for his sister Lily Rice who lived at 1734 NE Broadway, Portland.
How did I do?
l.e. on 18th October 2012 @ 9:49am
Ooops...in 1935 Lilly lived at 1734 Broadway. She must have moved up the street from her 1908 residence.
l.e. on 18th October 2012 @ 9:52am
That's pretty good sleuthing, l.e. I think we now know "who" but the "why" is still a bit murky. Why was supervising sign installation?
Arthur on 18th October 2012 @ 10:18am
Nine years later, I finally have an answer. I have updated the "Notes" section to explain there was an election with fishery related measures.
ArthurB on 18th March 2021 @ 4:46pm