----.. \\U\.1, fTI!J. Shakespeare and the
New Deal by Joe Peterson
ver wonder what towns all over Band, William Jennings America would have missed if it Bryan, and Billy Sunday Ehadn't been for the "make work'' was soon reduced to a projects of the New Deal? Everything from walled shell. art and research to highways, dams, parks, While some town and nature trails were a product of the boosters saw the The caved-in roofof the Chautauqua building led to the massive government effort during the decapitated building as a domes' removal, andprompted Angus Bowmer to see 1930s to get Americans back to work. In promising site for a sports possibilities in the resulting space for an Elizabethan stage. Southern Oregon, add to the list the stadium, college professor Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which got its Angus Bowmer and start sixty-five years ago this past July. friends had a different vision. They "giveth and taketh away," for Shakespeare While the festival's history is well known, noticed a peculiar similarity to England's play revenues ended up covering the Globe Theatre, and quickly latched on to boxing-match losses! the idea of doing Shakespeare's plays inside A week later the Ashland Daily Tidings the now roofless Chautauqua walls. reported the results: "The Shakespearean An Elizabethan stage would be needed Festival earned $271, more than any other for the proposed "First Annual local attraction, the fights only netting Shakespearean Festival," and once again $194.40 and costing $206.81."4 unemployed Ashland men would be put to By the time of the second annual work by a New Deal program, this time Shakespeare Festival, Bowmer had cut it building the stage for the city under the loose from the city's Fourth ofJuly auspices of the WPA.2 Ten men originally celebration. There would be no more using assigned to a local street project were theater revenues to cover the losses of transferred to the theater project. CCC talent. In place were the beginnings According to William Oyler, first to of what would become an enormously systematically chronicle the festival's successful independent festival, and while 1935 stage built by WPA workers for the first history, both state and federal relief funds clearly a multitude of factors contributed to Shakespeare Festival. totaling $1,100 were paid in labor costs.3 the success of Ashland's first Shakespeare With both the idea and stage in place Festival, FDR's New Deal programs played what may not be so obvious are its original thanks partly to the WPA, it seems that a vital role. 1i1t connections and dependence upon New some members of the Fourth ofJuly Deal projects. It seems President Franklin Committee raising money to cover costs of j oe Peterson is an adjunct history instntctor at Roosevelt's administration played a the festival feared that Shakespeare might So uthern Oregon University. significant role in providing a venue for be a money loser and proposed that boxing festival founder Angus Bowmer's dream in matches precede the plays on the new E NDNOTES: 1. Angus Bowmer, As I Remembe1; Adam, the form of renovations at the site of Elizabethan stage. Exactly how boxing (Ashland: Oregon Shakespearean Festival Ashland's Chautauqua Hall. matches became the festivalis original Association, 1975) p. 10. "The first [Works Progress Administration "Green Show" isn't consistently told, but as 2. Edward and Mary Brubaker, Golden Fi1·e, (WPA)] project for the city of Ashland part of the Fourth ofJuly festivities a card of (Ashland: Oregon Shakespearean Festival, involved removal of this dome and the forty-two rounds of boxing was scheduled 1985) p. 47. 3. William O yler, The Festival Story, auxiliary dome over the stage because they to be fought on the newly constructed stage. (University of California, 1971) p. 123. sagged dangerously after years of disuse," The idea was to bring in young men from 4. Ashland Daily Tidings, 10 July 1935, p. 1. remembered Angus Bowmer in his yet another New Deal program, the local autobiography. 1 Appalled at what he saw- Civilian Conservation Corps young men jumping up and down on the (CCC), to be the prizefighters partially collapsed domes of the once and financial draw! proud Chautauqua building--Ashland's fire While Bowmer had designed marshal had ordered the domes removed in his stage for more refined November of1933. What to town kids entertainment, he apparently was seemed to be a wonderful trampoline was unperturbed about this to an adult charged with guarding the afternoon use. Mter all, public safety an accident waiting to Elizabethan England had bear happen. Technically, it was the federal baiting to draw a crowd, so what Civilian Works Administration that put was the harm? Ironically, the eleven unemployed Ashland men to work CCC fights lost money and the tearing off the Chautauqua Hall domes, plays showed a profit. The first version ofthe Chautauqua Hall, built in but the result was the same. The civic hall Unfortunately for Bowmer and 1893 with a wood-shingled roof, stands next to that once welcomed John Philip Sousa's the festival, the New Deal both Ashland's fire alarm tower. 2 V OL. 2 , NO. 9 Vol. 2 , No.9 September 2000
SOUTHERN OREGON HERITAGE TODAY SOUTHERN OREGON Editorial Guideli11es arurc articles average 3,000 to 4,000 (pre-edited) words. Other materials range from 500 to 1,000 words. Electronic Fsubmissions arc accepted on 3-1/ 4-inch disks and should be accompanied by a hard-copy ~rimout. Cite all sources and conS£ruct 11 HERITA~ fs dr~~;~n~i~I~1~~c~~:ifi~a~~nc~f~r~auf.~~fSR'/~~J;,~ i~~~~f professional, unscrecned photographs and/or line art should accompa~{ submission- black-and-white or color. T he Southern ~ r~y;,~ al:~ob~~r;d%~,Ye;~~~Ali ~;r;:r2rsl~~~~dc ;ei.~b?Je~\:~~h author's name, mailing address, and telephone number. Manuscripts will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed envelop<: ~~a;;;~~vi~c~u!~ec~~ th~s~~~e~t~~~~c r~~~~d provide abncf The Southern Oregon Historical Society secures rights to FEATURE: fuU and final editing of aU manuscripts, layout design, and one-time North American serial rights. Authors will be notified of acceptance of manuscripts within mnery days of receiving materials. In most Camera Fiends and Kodak cases, payment is upon publication. Sou/hem Oregon Heritage Today takes great care with all submitted material, but is not responsible for Girls in Southern Oregon, ~~~~~:~~s10!~.o~l~Y 6~10!~b~f~:ed~ if~~!:~e~~~:~.ri~i~1j ~~~~f~~~ expressed in signed submissions arc those of the author and do nor 1850-1950 necessarily refTect the viewpoints or opinions of Southem Oregon Heritage Today or the Southern Oregon Historical Socie ty. by Peter E. Palmquist . .. p. 8
DEPARTMENTS
S UNDAY SOHSNEws&NoTES DRIVING Exhibits and program Applegate Trail updates and calendar Interpretive Center: p .6 More Than a Museum MEMBE RS & DONORS by Molly Walker Kerr p. 15 p.4
PHOTO ilY MOLLY KERR PRESERVATION PROFILE Shakespeare and the New Deal by j oe Peterson FROM THE p.2 ARCHIVES The Difference Between Chickens BIOGRAPHY and Pigs: A Chicken Bill Pruitt: Cholera Remedy by j acque Sundstrand Modern Day 0NTHECOVER Mountain Man p. s Cora Baldwin bedecked in portraits by Claudette Pruitt advertises the services of early Ashland edited by Bill Alley photographer, Mae Tyler at an Ashland p. 16 business carnival. Tyler was in business from 1886 to 1892. PI-IOTO COURTESY CJ.AUDITI"E PRUJTT Southern oregon Historical Society
Southe rn Oregon Historical Society Nlaljorie Overland, Medford, PRESIDENr Magazine Staff C opyright 2000 by Southern Oregon Historical Board of Trustees BJ. Reed, Medford Cynthia Wicklund, co;..·L\IUNJCATIONs COORDINATOR Society, ISSN #1082-2003. All righrs reserved. No part of Allen Alsing, Ashland Robert Stevens, Jacksonville Bill Powell, CU£Sl' EDITOR this publication may be printed or electronically duplicated Robert Cowling, Medford Dana L . H edrick, DESJGNERIPHarocRAPHER without the written permission of the Southern Oregon Judi Drais, Medford, TREASURER Administra tive Staff Maggie James, 1'1-larocRAPHER ASSISTA:-.·rtvow:-.TEER INTER..-.; Historical Society. Yvonne Earnest, lvledford Br.ul Linder, EXECUTIVE DJRECJ"OR Collectio n s / Researc h Libra ry Staff H. Walter Emori, M.D., Jacksonville Maureen Smith, F1NANCEIOPERATIONS DIRECTOR Mary Ames Sheret, cuR.o\TOR OF COI.J..ECTIONS AND EXHIDJTS Jim Fety, Rogue River Amelia Chamberlain, PROGRA."1S DIRECTOR j acque Sundstrand, URRARY/ARCHJVES COORDINATO R Joyce H ailicka, Burte Falls Susan Cox-Smith, MElvlBERSHIP COORDINATOR t:~-:.. Carol Harbison-Samuelsen, UBR.A.RY Mt\.NAGERIPHOTO t\RCHJVIST Nam:y Hamlin, M edford, FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SOUTHERN llll HISTORICAL Southe rn Oregon He ritage Today is William Alley, ARC HIVJSTfl-riSTORIAI'l H ank Hart, Medford published monthly by the Southern Oregon Bill Miller, LJRMRY ASSisto\.."l'f OREGON ~~~~ SOCIETY Reeve Hennion,Jacksonville Historical Society. SIIOiil-46 3 Nancy McGrew, Jacksonville, SECREThRY 106 N. Centr.il Ave., Medford, OR 97501-5926. Southe rn Oregon H e ritage Today is produced (541) 773-6536 using QyarkXPress on Macintosh computers and is printt::d by Ram Offset Lithographers. Applegate Trail Interpretive Center: MoRE THAN A MusEuM by Molly Walker Kerr
ost Southern Oregonians are M aware of the Applegate Trail, and how it was born of tragedy on the better-known Oregon The Applegate Interpretive Center Trail. But many don't takes visitors back to 1846, when pioneers know about the Applegate Local residents donned pioneer costumes and acted came to Oregon along the new trail, which Trail Interpretive Center, the roles ofApplegate Trail emigrants in a passed through Sunny Valley. where they can learn more documentary filmedfor the interpretive center. about the rugged trail and the brave pioneers who crossed it to orient visitors with a trail map. A short about it, she urged Betty to build the Oregon. film starring·local residents in authentic center, which opened in October 1998 Located near the covered bridge in costumes recreates the hardships and the after two and a half years of planning and Sunny Valley, north of Grants Pass, the hope that kept the pioneers going. "For construction. It's directed by the Applegate center is more than a museum. ''An days I watched my neighbors, who had Trail Society. interpretive center places artifacts in a story never acted, become 1846 pioneers Gaustad mortgaged her home and line, making you feel you are moving smearing dirt on their faces with grim businesses to build her dream. When through that timeline," explains the center's determination," Gaustad recalls of the visitors leave, they not only know all about founder, Betty Gaustad. filming. "I was in awe." the Applegate Trail, they have met a family The center's powerful story, complete Visitors will swear they are watching the with that same pioneer spirit, heart and with sound effects, tells of the ftrst wagon actual pioneers push wagons through rocky determination. train leaving Fort Hall, Idaho, in 1846, to streams, chop firewood, write in their The center, near Exit 71 off Interstate 5, cross the Applegate Trail to Oregon. The journals, and weep at young Martha's is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Applegate brothers, Lindsay and Jesse, grave. Before a huge mural painted by Monday and Tuesday in winter). blazed the trail to avoid the treacherous local artist Ken Dolan, two mounted oxen Admission is $5.95 for adults, $4.95 for Columbia River, where their young sons hitched to a covered wagon pause on a seniors and teens, and free for children had drowned during the Great Migration realistic trail created of rocks, leaves, twelve and under. Call (888) 411-1846 for to the Willamette Valley in 1843. grasses, and small trees. more information. jt However, the new trail could also be The center also tells the story of Jimmie treacherous. Many perished along the Twogood, who built Grave Creek House M edford freelance writer/photographer Molly "South Emigrant Road"-some at the as a stage stop on his 1851 donation land Walker Kerr is a member ift he SOHS Gold hands of Modoc Indians angry at the claim. The center stands on that property Diggers' Guild intrusion as the trail passed through their and is patterned after a lands, scattering the game they depended photograph of Twogood's house. on for food. Disease also took its toll. Other exhibits depict the Martha Leland Crowley, age sixteen, died Indian wars, the gold rush at of typhoid atop Mount Sexton. The wagon Grave Creek, the construction of train stopped to bwy her near the creek that the railroad, and more. A gift the pioneers christened Grave Creek. Her shop offers souvenirs, literature, marker lies north of the covered bridge. and antiques. Today's travelers follow a portion of the Gaustad purchased the Applegate Trail along Interstate 5, but find property in 1974 from the it difficult to imagine the daily hardships Pacific Alliance Church, moved facing those early pioneers. The her entire family to Sunny Valley interpretive center helps visitors imagine as and acquired a grocery, antique store, jimmie Twogood built Grave Creek House, an early they step through the rough-hewn doors gas station, and restaurant near the stop on the Applegate Trail and later a stage depot, into the rnid-1800s and experience the covered bridge. When Gaustad's on his donation land claim. President Rutherford B. lives of those pioneers on their journey. mother, a history buff, discovered that Hayes stayed at the inn in 1880, when this Inside, Gaustad or her brother, Dennis, the Applegate Trail ran through their photograph was taken. The interpretive center is who built the center and the exhibits, property and that no one knew much patterned after Grave Creek house.
4 VOL. 2 , NO.9 by Jacque Slblr:l.d.Stl! ffp K!'r, \I 4 ; ~-i:..,., Jacque Suiidstrand is the library/archives coordinator for the Southern Oregon H!.Storical Society. d~~ SOUTHERN OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1ill. Things To Do in September P R 0 GRAMS: (see listings below for complete descriptions) DATE &TIME LOCATION DESCRIPTION September Craft of the Month Museum hours CHILDREN'S MUSEUM "Raggedy Ann &Andy" Oregon Archaeology 2000 Tues., Sept. 12,7- 8pm HISTORY CENTER "Archaeology of the Upper Rogue" slide & lecture program Pioneer Pies Wed., Sept. 20, 10- llam BEEKMAN HOUSE Make a pie to take home & bake &3-4pm Program Space Oregon Archaeology 2000 Sat., Sept. 23, 1- 4pm RAILROAD PARK, "N' Street '~corns & Arrowheads" free family event between 6th & 8th, Ashland Oregon Archaeology 2000 Tues., Oct. 3, 7pm HISTORY CENTER "The Fire Last Time: How and Why Native Peoples Burned the Landscape" slide & lecture program PROGRAM DETAILS GENFALOGY AROUND 1HE GLOBE: SEPTEMBER 11-16 F OR TIMES AND LOCATIONS, SEE SCHEDULE ABOVE. ~ sponsored by the SEPIEMBFR CRAFT OF 1HE MoNIH ROGUE VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIE'IY "Raggedy Ann & Andy" HANLEY FARM Begins Sept. 11, 1 p.m. at RVGS library, 133 S. Central, Medford. Daily programs A workshop for families. Create your own 10 a.m.-noon; open house library research; Raggedy Ann or Andy paper doll. Fee: 25¢. Saturday Events! book fair; expert panel for help. On Sat., Sept. 16, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., $30 fee provides SPECIAL ACTIVITY HoURS: llAM - 2PM ARCHAEOLOGY OF UPPER ROGUE continental breakfast, catered lunch and Slide and lecture program for adults SEPTEMBER 2 & 3 lectures at the Ginger Rogers Craterian presented by BLM district archaeologist Pow Wow - free! Theater on Irish research, military records, Ann Ramage, which supplements the BLM SEPTEMBER9 Native American records. Call (541) 770- archaeology exhibit panels. Fee: $3. watermelon seed spitting contest • kite making 5848 for more information. •food preservatzon AcoRNs & ARRoWHEADs SEPTEMBER 16 "IN THE LAND WHERE ACORNS A family event provided by the Southern open house - free! Oregon Historical Society to explore the DANCE" lifeways of the Native peoples of September 17last open day of season! On Saturday, September 9, the Talent Historical Society will present a reading at southwestern Oregon through stories, REGULAR FARM HOURS hands-on activities and demonstrations. 6:30 p.m. of the above screenplay by Fri. & Sat. lOAM - 4PM Michael O'Rourke, at MeadowBrook Farm, PIONEER PIES Sunday noon - 5PM 6731 Wagner Creek Road, Talent. The For ages 3-6. Workshop fee: $3 for presentation is based on the life and members; $4 for non-members. Pioneer 1053 HANLEY ROAD writings of Joaquin Miller, 19th century families depended on the savory taste of BETWEEN CENTRAL POINT & JACKSONVILLE Western writer known as the Poet of the pies while traveling the Oregon Trail. Sierras. Call (541) 535-2688 or (541) 535- Create your own pie to take home and ummer fun for families continues 6825 for further information and ticket bake. Bring rolling pin, apron, cookie Sat the 37-acre historic Hanley prices. Proceeds benefit Talent Historical cutters from home. All other ingredients Farm. There is an admission fee of Society. will be provided. Preregistration and $3 .00 for adults (13 & above) and prepayment required. $2.00 for seniors (65+) and children HisToRic OPEN HousES ToURS (6-12). Tours of the historic house "THE FIRE LAsT TIME: ... " and the gardens are included in this s eptember 6 , 1- SPM H our long slide and lecture program for fee. Bring a picnic lunch, walk the • Richardson-Ulrich H ouse, 636 Conger, adults presented by U. S. Forest Service KLAMATH FALLS. district archaeologist Jeff LaLande interpretive trail, and enJOY the explaining how and why the landscape of special Saturday only events listed September 9, 1- SPM southwestern Oregon was burned by Native above. Call 773-2675 or 773-6536 • Roadman House &Apartment, 958/968 peoples. Fee: $3 . for more information. SE Pine, ROSEBURG. 6 VOL. 2 , NO. 9 EXHIBITS: (see listings below for complete descriptions) LOCATION MUSEUM HOURS Century of Photography: 1856-1956 HISTORY CENTER Mon.- Fri., 9am- 5pm SOUTHERN OREGON Exhibit by Talent Historical Society HISTORICAL SOCIETY High Water: A traveling exhibit from the Oregon Historical Society SITES Archaeology of the Upper Rogue Miner, Baker, Furniture Maker jACKSONVILLE MUSEUM Wed. - Sat., lOam - 5pm Phone: (541) 773-6536 unless listed otherwise The Shape ofFashion: 1900-1925 Fax (541)776-7994 Jacksonville: Boom Town to Home Town Sunday, noon - 5pm Email [email protected] Politics of Culture: Collecting the Native fu_nerican Experience Website www.sohs.org Hall of Justice Ongoing'hands-on-history" exhibits CHILDREN'S MUSEUM Wed.- Sat., lOam- 5pm HISTORY CENTER Sunday, noon - 5pm 106 N. Central, Medford Mon. - Fri., 9:00am to 5:00pm Rethink/Reweave/Recycle 3RD ST. ARTISAN STUDIO Saturday, Ham - 4pm REsEARCH LIBRARY 106 N. Central, Medford Tues. -Fri., 1:00 to 5:00pm jACKSONVILLE MUSEUM & CHILDREN'S MUSEUM EXHIBIT DETAILS 5th and C,Jacksonville HALL OF JusTicE Wed.- Sat., 10:00am to 5:00pm FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS, SEE SCHEDULE ABOVE. History of former Jackson County Courthouse. Sun., noon to 5:00pm CENTURY OF PHOTOGRAPHY: U.S. HOTEL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM 3rd and California, Jacksonville 1856-1956 Upstairs room available for rent. Highlights the work of two area photographers, Explore home and occupational settings from the jACKSONVILLE HISTORY STORE Peter Britt and James Verne Shangle, with 1850s to the 1930s through "hands-on-history." Mon.- Sat., 10:00am to 5:00pm cameras from the Society's collection. Sun., ll:OOam to 5:00pm RErniNKIREwEAVE/RECYcLE Beginning September 18, Wed.- Sat., 10:00am to 5:00pm HIGH WATER: A Traveling Exhibit Members of the Rogue Valley Handweavers, Far Sun., noon to 5:00pm from the Oregon Historical Society Out Fibers and the Saturday Handweaving THIRD STREET ARTISAN STUDIO Dramatic photographs of Oregon floods from guilds present an exhibit of recycled items 3rd and California, Jacksonville Saturday, ll:OOam to 4:00pm 1862 to the present, on display through August creatively woven at the Third Street Artisan Studios through September 2. HANLEY FARM 12. A special exhibit on local floods of the last 1053 Hanley Road 150 years will be on display through fall2000. (between Central Point & Jacksonville) Clarification: In the August issue of Southern Fri. & Sat., 10:00am to 4:00pm Oregon Heritage Today regarding the Pernoll Sun., noon to 4:00pm ARCHAEOLOGY OF UPPER ROGUE Grange Store, it should have stated John Pernoll (541) 773-2675. The Society and the BLM have put together a donated the land on which the Applegate Valley SEPTEMBER 17 small traveling exhibit reporting on 30 years of Historical Society is now located. archaeological studies of the history of the native peoples of the Upper Rogue. On display September 12 through October 10. Mystery Object of the Month MINER, BAKER, FURNITURE MAKER Explores the development of the Rogue Valley J une's Mystery Object was a coat and the impact the industrial revolution had on hanger. Eight were stored in a the settlement of Oregon. leather box when traveling. THE SHAPE OF FASHION: 1900-1925 Congratulations to Vivian W. Rice of Women's fashion changed dramatically during Yreka, CA, for answering correctly! the early years of the 20th century, reflecting the changing role of women in society. On display September Mystery Object: through December is a selection of daywear, evening gowns, and undergarments. his small metal object is louder than it T looks and was used at the turn of the jACKSONVILLE: Boom Town to Home century to help people get to where they Town needed to go. Do you know what it is? . Traces the development ofJacksonville. Send your answer on a postcard with your POLITICS OF CULTURE: Collecting the name, address, and phone number to: Native American Experience News & Notes Mystery Object, SOHS, Cultural history of local tribes and discussion of 106 N. Central Ave., Medford, OR 97501, contemporary collecting issues. or by email to info @ sohs.org SOUTHERN OREGON HERITA GE TOD A Y 7 ~artWUV CZJ~and ~ cf}id& {n; 3~~ , 1850-1950 That the quality of patience is responsible for success in life has been demonstrated so often and with such force that the saying is almost trite, yet its truth cannot be more clearly shown than by a glance at the women photographers of today. Admitted into the proudest ranks of latter-day workers, she has steadily climbed by dint of hard work andpatienc e until she can and is commanding the same attention as herfollows of the sterner sex. --Camera Greif! magazine, August 19021 ~ wan{; t& {k (l/ CXodak Pemt sl(ru£ witJv lnlf camR/U1/ stand, sf(~ doiJv a&u,w lnlf Aemt, sl(ru£ ~ itv lnlf Aarul. c:=/)) --Los Angeles Camera Club News, January 19032 ~tography is easily one of the most significant inventions of modern times, yet there is a general perception that early-day photography was almost exclusively a male-oriented occupation. This impression has persisted despite the fact that women have been involved with the medium since its invention in 1839. Moreover, by the mid -1840s several women were already working as commercial daguerreotypists in Boston, New York, and St. Louis. Further west, a Mrs. Davis has been credited as the earliest historical record remains photographer in Texas in 1843, and in January 1850, Julia maddeningly vague, but it Shannon was already hard at work in San Francisco, California, was most likely the wife of advertising "Daguerreotypes taken by a Lady" in the Alta one of the male Calijornia.3 By 1910, even the United States federal census photographers operating in recorded that 15 percent of America's photographic work force Portland or elsewhere was female. 4 across the state. Peter Searching the historical record for women photographers is not Britt, who was active in unlike prospecting for gold. The data-gathering process requires a Jacksonville as early as great deal of digging and considerable patience but there are many 1856, was married by wonderful discoveries to be made. In Oregon, those involved in 1861, but it is not known the ongoing process of documenting the history of the state's if his wife participated in female photographers have relied largely on information gleaned her husband's business, from city directories, census records, and local newspapers. These although his daughter data have been supplemented by reviewing public photographic Amalia ("Mollie") collections for images taken by women. As of this writing, more enjoyed a minor role as than 250 camerawomen have been listed for Oregon between a colorist and gallery 1850 and 1950. However, fewer than 10 percent of these women assistant. The earliest female actually worked in the southwestern part of Oregon represented by portrait photographer in Southern Oregon s oHs #13386 D ETAIL the Southern Oregon Historical Society.5 from whom a significant number of photographs In addition, a small number of women photographers worked in survive was Mae E. Tyler of Ashland. Born in 1851, Tyler settled several small towns on the California side of the border. For example, in Ashland with her husband, an upholsterer, in 1885. The A.M. Tidd advertised in the Yreka journal in early 1864, offering following year she opened her own photographic gallery and soon ''Ambrotypes $1.00 and Photographs, per half dozen $3.50."6 began enjoying an "increasing reputation and success" until her Who was the very first female photographer in Oregon? The untimely death in 1892 at the age of forty-one.? 8 V OL. 2 . NO. 9 The closing two decades of the saleswomen serving in camera stores. An Unfortunately, we know little about nineteenth century witnessed a modest but unknown number were or had been the personal lives and goals of these significant increase in the number of involved in amateur photography. In fact, women, such as: How many were amateur female photographers active in Southern by 1895 the Blue Book ifAmateur photographers who turned professional? Oregon. In April1888, Cora D. Morris Photographers identified darkrooms and How many were foreign-born, or the sole and her daughter established a short-lived dealers that catered to amateur support of their family? How much did portrait studio on D Street in Medford. In photographers in no fewer than sixty-three they earn from their profession? What January 1891, Mollie Ober and Frank Oregon communities, including the Logan social status was accorded these women? Redden opened the "Ober & Redden Art gallery in Ashland and the Everitt gallery Studio" in Medford, which lasted until in Grants Pass.9 Several regional camera 1898. Central Point was represented by clubs also were formed about this time. Sarah]. Lyon(s), listed as a photographer in an 1889 regional business directory, and a Mrs. I. M. Nichols also offered her photographic services to the citizens of Central Point from September 1892 through at least 1895. By 1902, Grants Pass had become the home of photographer Mrs. C. J. Smythe, who advertised photographs printed on "either the dull or glaze finish paper as desired" in the Rogue River Courier. Likewise, Mrs. Charles L. Clevenger and her husband were also active in Grants Pass from 1903-1906. Women photographers also served other small communities including Myrtle Creek (Mrs. Hutchinson & Son, 1891), Oakland (sisters Blanche and Dora Q!ant, 1905-1910), and Lakeview (Cornelia Knox, 1900- 1905, and Cora Finley, ca. 1907).8 Typically, once a community had become the home of SOHS#l6599 a female photographer, others could be Ace #66.163.6B expected to follow. As might be expected, the majority of these nineteenth-century At right, portraits women photographers were married or had mounted on four-by-six been married and were widowed or inch cards were a popular divorced. All but a handful of Oregon's format in the late 1800s, early women photographers were involved when these examples in portrait photography rather than trying were produced by the their hands at outdoor photography or studios ifCora Morris landscape views as art. Met!ford and Mrs. The actual range of occupations for Nichols ifCentral Point. women involved in the photographic field Above, an early Kodak was diverse: they were gallery owners, Folding camera, model partners and managers, portrait and 4A, and woodfilm spools commercial photographers with and were developments that without formal gallery connections (some helped make photography working from their homes), gallery clerks more accessible. and bookkeepers, photofinishers, retouchers and colorists, as well as At left, Cora Baldwin represents Ashlandphotographer, Mae Tyler at an Ashland Business Carnival ca. 1886-1892. SOUTHERN OREGON H ER I TAGE TOD AY 9 just off the organization's main meeting Oregon and it was rumored that it had room, while order-taking and the sale of been elaborately prepared regardless of her scenic views were handled downstairs expense. Determined to become the best in her father's hardware store. photographer possible, Baldwin attended In 1902, George Baldwin built a two the California College of Photography in story addition on the east side of the Palo Alto, California, "class of 1905 ." By A.O.U.W. building. The entire second July she had returned to Klamath Falls and story of this addition was given over to reopened her studio with great fanfare. A Maud Baldwin's new studio, which she reporter from the Klamath Republican opened on July 9, 1902. Her new and wrote an extensive review of the grand greatly improved facility was touted as the opening, including the following tongue most complete and up-to-date in Southern in-cheek credo: "If you have beauty come and we'll take it--if you have none, come and we'll make it." The opening attracted more than one hundred attendees who were universally enthusiastic about what they saw. The main reception room A stellar exception to the typical was devoted to examples of lack of biographical information is Baldwin's portraiture and the remarkable life and tragic featured an extensive display of death of Klamath Falls local scenes.ll photographer Maud Evangeline Specializing in all types of Baldwin.IO Born in Linkville, commercial photography, (now Klamath Falls) in 1878, Baldwin's photographs form an Baldwin was the only girl in a indelible record of life in the family of five children. Her Klamath Falls area. But as the father's pet, she enjoyed a well-to years passed, family pressure do lifestyle as her prominent (primarily related to her father's father, George, moved up the local ascendant career) cut into the political ladder-from county time she previously had treasurer to county judge to state dedicated to her photography. senator. As befitting a senator's Moreover, the romantic love of daughter, Maud Baldwin was her life, a man employed as a expected to be on hand for all cook in her father's Baldwin social events involving her father's Hotel, was declared unsuitable career, a responsibility not entirely for a senator's daughter. By to her liking. She took up 1915, she had all but abandoned photography about 1898-1899, her vocation and found herself beginning a creative career that increasingly ensnared in social she adored. Concentrating on activities. Her personal scenic views of Southern Oregon, Maud Baldwin, here astride a horse , skillfully used her camera to she opened a studio on the upper document Klamath Basin life from about 1899 to 1915. floor of the Ancient Order of United Workers meeting hall at the corner of Payne Alley and Main Street in Klamath Falls. Her first darkroom and a primitive studio were located in a small room Atfar Left, George Baldwin's hardware store and his daughter, Maud's photographic studio occupied a large portion of the Ancient Order of United Workers hall in Klamath Falls, ca.1902.At left, Baldwin's studio is set up to photograph PHOTOS COURTESY lill.tVlATH COUI\f"JY MVSEU.l\•1 a sleeping baby. 10 VO L. 2 , NO . 9 interests thwarted, she became deeply Southern Oregon. The Vinson sisters, depressed. In 1920, this unhappy world Annie and Pheba, operated a gallery in Dry mountpress. collapsed even further when her mother Medford from 1906 until1911. In 1908, suffered a disabling stroke which left her photographers Cecelia and Frederick an invalid. This tragedy was shortly Lesmeister arrived in Medford. The followed by the death of her beloved father. following year, Frederick abandoned his Burdened with caring for her mother and wife and moved to Dayton, Ohio. Cecelia with full responsibility for her father's moved to Central Point where she estate, Baldwin found herself unable to operated a studio and confectionery shop cope. Finally, in 1926 she made her fateful through 1915, and later operated studios in decision: "I am going insane and I cannot Crescent City, Dunsmuir, Chico, stand it. You will find me in the lake. · and Monterey, California. Maude[sic]."12 Her body was found floating in several feet of water under the Link River bridge. A nonswimmer, she had waded into Lake Ewauna and deliberately drowned hersel£ The first two decades of the twentieth century added many new names to the growing roster of women photographers to be found in the communities of Ashland, Medford, and Grants Pass. Wynne Scott, who specialized in baby Medford, meanwhile, portraiture, was active in Ashland in 1912 before relocating to Medford the became the most active site following year. Scott also advertised wash for female photographers in drawings, hand-tinted photographs, and a Southern Oregon. comprehensive line of outdoor photography as well. She also answered the needs of local amateur photographers with a full range of developing and photo-finishing services. In 1913, Scott was hired as the head of the Photographer TtJnne Scott portrait department of the {above) specialized in baby Gerking-Harmon Studio of portraits in Ashland and Medford. Details of Scott's Mulford, ca.1912-13. life after 1913 are not known. Five years later in 1918, the Carl C. Darling Studio opened in Ashland, Cecelia Lesmeister, active in and Darling and his wife, Medford, Central Point, and Cynthia, offered a full range of several California cities, used commercial services through 1933.13 this heavy view camera for her As previously noted, Grants Pass was studio work. It is on display at represented by Mrs. C. L. Clevenger the History Center. from 1903 to 1906, and then by Ruth Clemens and Inez G. Fitzgerald, both about 1913. Clemens was associated with the Clemens Drugstore from 1913 through 1917. Fitzgerald was born in Michigan in August 1852. She was unmarried and had been involved in photography since 1889. Fitzgerald's early professional years were spent in California, first in San Francisco and later in Gilroy. She was about sixty years old when she arrived in Grants Pass. Further afield, Mae Mongold was listed as a photographer in Klamath Falls in 1911-1912, and Tina Hamblock Barrows is thought to have practiced photography in the coastal community of Bandon in 1915.14 Medford, meanwhile, became the most active site for female photographers in SOUTH E RN OREGO N HERITA G E TOD A Y 11 This hand-tintedportrait was a product ofthe Ossott Studio, operated by james and Anna Wendt Iss ott in Medfordfrom 1919 to 1927. Mrs. M . E . Wilson also operated in Medford in 1912-1913, and by 1919, the husband-and-wife partnership of]ames Issott and his wife, Anna Wendt Issott (1883-1974) operated a studio specializing in children's portraiture. They located business in rooms formerly occupied by Frank Hull on the northwest corner of Main and Riverside streets. The Issotts later sold their studio to Albert and Lorene Peasley in April1927. 15 The Peasleys bridged the Depression N years successfully, largely by offering a fu In the Twenties and Thirties, Patterson Post Cards ofMedford turned out hundreds of thousands ofpost cards featuring the work of Frank Patterson, many ofthem hand-tinted by his wife, josephine. SOHS#3396 12 VO L. 2 , NO 9 This heavily built, light tight wooden box held Gaylord picture studio, and, to use her words, "thefon fragile glass-plate was the first began. "Perhaps she had in the mind the time negatives widely manager of when she and a partner had a studio used during the the Medford houseboat on the Columbia R iver, and the nineteenth operation. She was incidental camping experiences along the river, century. followed by Blanche as the ''studio" movedfrom town to town. Leclerc, assisted by Interested in photography, her real hobby is Ruth Leclerc as raising unusual plants andflowers. She and "photographer." In May Skipper, the pup, constitute the family. Her 1936, Blanche Leclerc studio today is located in M ec!ford, Oregon. 20 purchased the gallery but continued to operate it under The 1940s saw the beginnings of one of the Kennell-Ellis name until the region's longest-running photographic 1938, when it became the establishments. Phillip F. Brainerd W ilfley Studio.19 purchased the Wilfley Studio in the fall of In 1935, Edith Hayden 1940 and operated it with his wife, Jones was listed as a Medford VerNette, until their retirement in 1982. photographer at 607 West For many years the Medford M ail Tribune Second Street; residence used the Brainerds as a source for same. Fortunately, we have a photographs, paying one dollar for each chatty account of her life: image published. They also did most of the areas "drug store" frlm processing and Miss j ones is a native of photo finishing. Missouri, Kansas City, to be During the war years, another husband exact. Her father served in the and-wife team, D ale and Violet Vincent, Confederate Army. .. . Her earlier served as photographers at Camp White, days were happily spent on a farm. the U.S. Army post near Medford.21 When fifteen, she entered the University of The Bruno Studio was in business for a no Oklahoma, leaving the college while a short time in 1940-1941, and offered small sophomore. Readers will recall a popular fad of "Bruno's Exclusive Hollywood Glamour task when you that time, leather pillow covers, with Indian Service," with Glee Bruno as saleswoman. consider that an scenes painted on them. She obtained T he close of the 1940s into the 1950s average day's production employment as a painter ofthese scenes, since featured a new round of husband-and-wife was on the order of five to seven thousand her urge for art would naturally interest her in operations in Southern Oregon. An cards. In one eleven-hour marathon day these productions. Meanwhile, she had several exception was the Memory Lane Studio of the studio printed 10,000 individual post friends in Oklahoma City who owned a photo Ashland, which was run by two women, cards. In 1930 alone, it has been estimated studio, another outlet for her artistic trend By Bonnie L. Conrad and M ildred L. Alger, that production amounted to at least questions and answers, experiment and trial, from 1947 to 1967. In Medford, Harry 250,000 cards.18 she learned the rudiments ofthe profession and and Ruth Foreman operated their own The 1930s saw the arrival of a Kennell soon showed skill as a retoucher. Soon she studio at 32 North Central Avenue from Ellis branch studio in Medford. This discarded pillow top art for retouching in portrait operation was part of a chain of six several studios. By this time her parents moved Blanche L eclerc {below} , galleries located in Oregon and to Yuma, Arizona. She moved with them, but purchased the M eciford Kennell Washington. Another branch was after a six months' stay decided to go forther Ellis Studio in 1936. established in Klamath Falls. Each studio west, and went to live with a cousin in was operated by a local manager who Po1·tland, Oregon. There being no retouching received either a salary, a split of the to be done, she purchased a stamp profits, or both. Catherine ~__..--""'"'------===:::::::~;; The Pacific Northwest chain studio Ken nell-Ellis opened a M eciford gallery in the early 1930s, and used discount coupons to attract clients. SOUTH E RN 13 1951-1955, and from 1953 through at least 11. Klamath Republican, 3 July 1905. In 1935, Maybelle A. Jones was listed in 1957, Ronald R. and Faustina Hughes 12. The Klamath News, 23 May 1926. a local directory as a photofinisher at the owned Hughes Photo Service at 27 North 13. Alley, A Century of Photographic Arts, pp. Bushnell-Perkins Studio in Ashland. 4, 13. 20. Ibid., p. 8; The FocliS,July-August, 1942, p. 3. Main Street. As well, Medford's Classic 14. Robinson, Oregon Photographm, pp. 48, 21. Alley, A Centwy of Photographic Arts, pp. Studio was run by Dwaine E. and Janet L. 182, 277-8, 480. Details of Fitzgerald's 3, 15. Smith from 1956 to 1967. 22 California years are found in Peter E. 22. Ibid., pp. 5, 7, 10. In 1956 (and probably Like any historical summary, this article Palmquist, Shadowcatchers II: A Direct01y longer), Nora Jenks was listed in a local only touches on the highlights of the of Women in California Photography directory as offering "photo developing & 1900-1920 (Eureka, Cali£: published by printing" as well as photographic retouching subject of Southern Oregon's female the author, 1991). at 714 Dakota Avenue, Medford. photographers through 1950. Harkening 15. Robinson, Oregon Photographers, pp. 429, 23. My recent study of the female photographers back to the analogy that searching for 651, 681; Alley, A Century of working between 1850 and 2000 in rural women photographers is much like· PhotographicA1-ts, pp. 1, 8, 9, 15, 16. A Humboldt County, California, uncovered Mrs. T. M. Barnard was also established in information about more than 750 women prospecting for gold, there are still many Central Point but the date of her activity involved in some aspect of the photographic "nuggets" of information to be found. has not been established. arena. A recent exhibit was mounted and a However, perhaps the most intriguing 16. Alley, A Centwy of Photographic Arts, sixty-page catalog prepared under the title: aspect of our present knowledge of pp.12, 13. Behind the Redwood Curtain: Women Oregon's early women photographers is not 17. William Alley, "Personality Portraits from Photognzphers of Humboldt County 1850- the Shangle Studio," Southern Oregon 2000 (Arcata, Cali£: Women in that there were so many, but rather that so Heritage Today, Vol. 1 No. 10, October Photography International Archive, 1999). many have already been forgotten.23 1lli: 1999, p. 9. Nearly thirty years of research went into this 18. Alley, A Centwy of Photographic Arts, study. Since Humboldt County is Pete1· E. Palmquist is founder and curator of the pp.11-12. Medford Mail T1·ibune, 1 geographically and demographically similar Women in Photography International Archive. January 1928; personal interview, Esther to the Medford-Ashland area, it is likely Hobbs of Ashland by Robert Wright, that a similar number of women were March 2, 1985. involved in photography in that region E, D OTES: 19. Alley, A Cennny of Photographic Arts, p. 8. through the year 2000. 1. Camera Cnift, Vol. 5, No. 4 (August 1902), p. 158. 2. Los Angeles Camera Club News, January 1903,p. 9. 3. Houston, Texas, Chronicle, 16 July 1939; San Francisco Alta California, 29 January 1850. 4. Occupational statistics compiled in 1910 list 26,811 male photographers and 4,964 female photographers active in the United States. 5. Thomas Robinson, Oregon Photographers; Biographical Histmy and Direct01y 1852- 1917, Second Edition (Portland: published by the author, 1993); William Alley, A Centwy of the Photographic Arts in Sou them Oregon (Medford: Southern Oregon Historical Society, 2000). This information has been supplemented by the files of the If it Women in Photography International i.nr 'r an Archive, Arcata, California. Eastmau, it i.wr'c 6. (California) 20 January Y1-eka, journal, a 1864. Kodak 7. Robinson, Oregon Photographers, pp. 356-7,435, 647; Alley, A Centwy of Photographic Arts, pp. 4, 7, 9, 14. Tyler may not have been the first female photographer in Ashland. In 1884 Charles W. Logan and his wife established an Ashland gallery that las ted until1891. Mrs. Logan, however, is not specifically identified as a photographer in regional business directories until1891. Other documented Ashland photographers were Margaret E. Herrin, who took over the Larson Studio in June 1897, but who by August 1898 had relocated to Portland, and the husband-and-wife team of Frank and Martha Canifro, active about 1900. 8. Robinson, Oregon Photographers, pp. 182, 441, 496; Alley, Centmy of Photographic KODAK lhto m m ... nt ~nd .thl•ry.~r.l lhl• ,HI.I .-11 c h;•rn1 of picturr" th.u Jt•IJ th,• , .....u 1u n .,tur) Arts, pp. 9, 11; Rogue River Courier, 3 ~lnll)l ... b' the- h. od.1J... .,, ., , ... m th.lt thl' m ..·r .. ·'-1 0 0 \ ,, ... ..·.m m.r l..<.' J.:. •H.ht IH \'Iur•"" lf•)Ol July 1902. rem o• ... J OlO!>l of th ..· oa,portunuu.·., tur nuL.uto:: nu .. tJ~''!t 9. Walter Sprange, The Blue Book F01· Amatew· Photographers (Beach Bluff, Mass.: published by the author, 1895), pp. 296-297. 10. Harry J. Drew, Maud Baldwin Photographer, Klamath County l V>et>euun •• Research Paper No. 10 (Klamath Klamath County Museum, 1980). 14 VOL. 2 , NO.9 MEMBERS'&: PATRON M ary Jean Sturdevant, Tacoma, WA Donors M r. and Mrs. Wallace B. Brill, M edfo1·d Pat Watson, M edford Anne F. D ecker, Ashland M ary M . Wilkinson, M edford SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS H awk Oil Company, M edford Jacksonville Museum Qyilters Mr. and Mrs. Roger G. Hewitt, FRIENDS Colleen Tokar M edford Ashland Ranger District, Ashland Walmart #2029, JoEllen Stodola Jackson County Title/Oregon Title, John A. Beare, Keizer M edford Grace A. Berg, M edford GENERAL COLLECTION Lovella Moore, Central Point Daughters of the American Revolution, Judy Boling, M edford Ruth A. 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Majerowicz Shady Cove Cora Fischer Irvine, M edford Alice Mullaly Dr. and Mrs. James Birdsey Gregory, Jill Livingston, Klamath R ive1; CA Southern Oregon L ong Beach, CA Bill Lorton, M edford Historical SoCiety Owen 0. Hall, M ercer Island, WA New Members Joanne M. Mack, Gmnge1; IN Dr. and M rs . Jack Ingram, M edford Foundation D onna B. M cLanallan, H onolulu, HI Ransom H. Smitl1, H ombrook, CA PATRON William P M eyer and Diane Gravatt, ENDOWMENT FUND Nimbus, Ashland *Charles 0 . Swingle, M edfo1-d Medfo1·d CONTRIBUTORS *Eugene D. W right, Phoenix D on C. Miller, Talent Gregory L. Applen PIONEER/FAMILY Richard G. M ontgomery, Jacksonville M r. and M rs . Ron Kimmons, A shland FAMILY Dennis and Judy Barr Therese Norris, M edford Jim and Shigayo Smith, Central Point M r. and Mrs. Jack Altman, A shland in memory ofJ ames P R owan Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sprague, Gregory L Applen, M edford Joetta O rtner, M edfo1·d Vickie Butler M ec!ford Mr. and Mrs. Ken Blackhurst, M edford Gertrude W. Revoir, A shland John A. Beare M r. and Mrs. Dunbar Carpenter, Lorraine Savage, M edford Anne F. Decker FAMILY M edfo1·d H oward Saxon, L as Vegas, NV Gwendolyn H . Edgecomb Donita Everett, R ogue R iver Mr. and Mrs. Ronald R. Cochran, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sherrill, Jud and Barbara H yatt Lois N. Harrison, M edford M edford R ogue R iver D onna B. McLanallan Mr. and Mrs. Hank H enry, M edford Mr. and M rs. Frank DeSantis, Leilia Sparks, Phoenix Norris Shoes D ave and Ollie Johnson, A shland San M ateo, CA M argaret D. Stephen, M edford Robert Potvin M r. and Mrs. Robert}. Kush, *H arriet}. D orris, Medfo1-d Klaus Warme, D .D .S., A shland William B. Powell Jacksonville D ixie Lee Fleeger, Central Point Ethel A. W arrender, M edford Paul A. Richardson D eidra Rapp, M edford Elizabeth G reer, A shland Anita Wheeler, Central Point Ben Stinson Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schatz,]acksonville Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Likins, Mr. and Mrs. Tim Stoner, M edford M edford Mr. and Mrs. Bill M ackey, Gold H ill Xi.. Leave a Lega~y of Southern Or.egon is a community-wide PIONEER/FRIENDS *Mildred Mason, M edford "·"" ·' "·"'c'- program established to create. public awareness and to promote Jean Lust, M edford interest in charitable giving through a will or from an estate. The Southern *M ary-Kay Michelsen, Ashland Oregon Historical Society is participating in Leave a Legacy. ~ary Peter Partipilo and Mary Jo Scarim, FRIENDS Hanley bequeathed Hanley Farm to the Society in 1982, thereby leavmg a Lester L. Applegate, H igley, AZ Jacksonville W. Lael Prock, M ercer Island, WA historic legacy for Southern Oregon residents and visitors who can now L eni Assali, Eagle Point experience the farm's rich history. Emily E . Campbell, M edford Barbara Ragus, M edford Mike D avis, Central Point Milton R. Snow, M edford Bea Frederickson, Shady Cove Mr. and Mrs. D onald R. Thumler, Central Point tt~~ I Theresa G ieg,]acksonville Mr. and M rs. Fred Tonkinson, M edfo7-d II II John Kuoni, Basking R idge, NJ II II I We invite YOU to become a member! II II Sally Lowell, Ben Lomond, CA PIONEER/FRIEND - }om now! Our goal1s 2,000 members by June 30, 2001. RobertS. Saunders, A sh/and Elmer G . Bailey,]acksonv ille Member support is more important than ever due to the 14.5% Juanita Schireman, M edford Charlotte Beeney, M edford budget cut by the couny this past June. Barbara Butler Kellenbeck, Grants Pass Your membership will support: preservation of Southern Oregon's Ren ewing Mem bers Beverly Cannon, L akeview rich heritage; Society exhibits and educational events; outreach to Gwen H. Edgecomb, Redding, CA schools; workshops for adults and children; living history programs; BUSINESS Mr. and Mrs. M ichael Enright, and tours and demonstrations at historic Hanley Farm. *Carlson W agonlit Travel, M edford Phoenix Nancy Firth, Grants Pass Members receive Southern Oregon H eritage Today, the Society's PIONEER/PATRON Eloise E. Friesen, M edford monthly magazine with newsletter, providing a view into t:he past Eugene Peart Bennett,]acksonville Dorothy Paley Kelley, L ake Oswego and keeping you up-to-date on services provided by the Soc1ety. Mr. and Mrs. Craig M ayfield, M edford M elanie Kuhnel, E ureka, CA MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES William B. Powell, M edford Juanita D . Larimore, Santa R osa, CA *Mr. and Mrs. D om Provost, A shland }. Richard M organ, M edford Friend ...... $ 20 Curator or Business .$120-$200 Don Simpson, L akewood, WA Jane and Mike Murray, D urham, CA Family ...... $3 0 Director ...... $250-$500 Linda L. Walker-Turner, Klamath Falls William Poole, M ilwaukie Patron ...... $ 60-$90 Lifetime ...... $1,000 SOU TH ERN OR EGON H ER ITAGE TOD A Y 15 john Day and Pruitt on a may who knew him, the member of the Mount Ashland Ski Patrol Crater Lake ski trip. death of Bill Pruitt, on September and organized the Caveman Ski Club.3 For 10, 1998, while descending from a number of summers he operated his own active member of the American Alpine, the summit of Three Fingered Jack in the climbing school on Mount Ashland, and Wy'East and O.S.U. mountain clubs. Central Oregon Cascades, brought back . guided on the Rogue River with his Pruitt hadn't climbed Three Fingered memories of his life and many brother, Bobby, and cousin, Leroy Pruitt. Jacks since 1955. In September 1998, on accomplishments. If Pruitt wasn't on a trip, In December 1965, Pruitt went to work the fiftieth anr:J.iversary of the founding of it seemed he was either "preparing for," or for Gold Hill. rancher John Day, who had the O.S.U. Mountain Club, he joined three "cleaning up after," one. just been appointed by the U.S. Olympic friends to once again ascend that peak. Pruitt was born December 26, 1932, in Committee as national director of cross During the descent from the top, Pruitt Grants Pass. In 1951 he graduated from country skiing. Pruitt was appointed the became ill and died suddenly at the 7,500- Medford High School after accomplishing Southern Oregon representative on the foot elevation. 8 Thus perished an track records in the 880 yard relay. He was Olympic Northwest Committee.4 In 1966, outdoorsman who contributed greatly to introduced to mountaineering as a student Pruitt helped Day establish the Oregon the mountain lore of Southern Oregon. It at Oregon State College.l Upon Nordic Club through which they held the is fitting that a rescue team brought Pruitt graduating in 1955, Bill joined the Army. first cross-country ski races in Southern off the mountain as he himself had done Mter training in Airborne & Mountain Oregon sanctioned by the U.S. Ski for so many others. In his final climb up schools, the latter with the Tenth Association. Pruitt also taught cross Three Fingered Jack, Bill Pruitt lost his life Mountain Division which qualified him as country skiing to local enthusiasts who doing what he enjoyed most- ascending to a certified ski and mountaineering were unfamiliar with this new sport.S a higher place. 1[ instructor, Pruitt served duty in Japan for a In April1968, Pruitt, with several year and a half as a first lieutenant. Grants Pass friends, skied down Mount Claudette Pruitt of Grants Pass was married to In 1958, after a stint with the University McLaughlin from the summit, the first Bill Pruitt. Bill Alley is historian/archivist for the Southern Oregon Historical Society. of Arizona as an extension agent, Pruitt skiers to ever do so.6 This group became ENDNOTES returned to Grants Pass and bought his the nucleus for the Southern Oregon 1. Grants Pass Daily Courier, 14 M ay 1950. father's Pruitt Feed and Seed store.2 Pruitt Rescue Team (SORT), which Pruitt 2. Grants Pass Cow·ie1·, 27 February 1959. also began selling his invention, the "Billy established in 1970. The team carried out 3. Ibid. Cup," a piece ofNaugahyde, folded flat many rescues and body retrievals at Crater 4. Grants Pass Cow·ie1·, 27 D ecember 1965. and stitched on three sides to form a cup Lake, Mount Ashland, the Rogue River 5. M edford Mail Tribune, 22January 1967. that could easily be carried when hiking or canyon area, Illinois River, and other areas 6. Grants Pass Daily Cow·ier, 27 April1968. 7. Author interview with Bill Sloan, Grants Pass climbing. in Southern Oregon, but became inactive attorney. During this time, Pruitt climbed many after moved to Montana in 1978.7 8. The Bend Bulletin, 12 September 1998. Pacific Northwest mountains, hunted, and Pruitt climbed all the major Cascade M aterial for this article also came fro m the boated on the Rogue and other Northwest mountains from Mount Shasta to the Claudette Pruitt diaries. rivers. In 1963, Pruitt became a charter Canadian border over the years. He was an Non-profit Org US POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 164 Medford, OR t:'!.~ SOUTHERN ~~~~ HISTORICAL OREGON 1111 SOCIETY 106 N . Centr- al A ve. M e dford, Ore gon 97501-5926 SOUTHE RN OREGON HERITAGE TODAY