Lane County Historian
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Lane County Historian INCLUDING A COMPLETE PROGRAM FOR 3Ktatawa rai1 A PAGEANT OF th 3tait TRANSPORTATION (!Ii4r1iratirni HAYWARD FIELD EUGENE OREGON August 18.19-20 at 8:oo P. M. Aiigrnil ig anb nfl, 11L Price25C "Trail to Rail" celebration, 1926. LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Vol. XVIII, No. 3 Eugene, Oregon Fall, 1973 LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Mrs. C. A. Huntington, 740 West 13th Street, Eugene, Oregon 97402 President Stuart W. Hurd, Rt. 2, Box 345, Eugene, Oregon 97401 Membership Secretary LANE COUNTY HISTORIAN lnez Long Fortt (Mrs. James 0. Fortt) Editor 3870 Watkins Lone, Eugene, Oregon 97405 The Lane County Historian is a quarterly publication of the Lane County Historical Society, a non-profit organization. Membership in the Lane County Historical Society includes subscription to the Lone County Historian. Annual dues: $3.00; family membership: $5.00. CONTENTS "TRAIL TO RAIL"The First Eugene Pageant 43 By Hugh Rosson, retired law professor, U of 0; one-time U of 0 athletic manager; businessman Participants in Pageant: left to right, Maude Kerns, Mary Chambers Brockelbank, Edith Kerns Chambers. 42 "Jraillo RaiL' ]he iri1Cuene PaJean1-1926 By Hugh Rosson PART I Thacher, Cal Young, Jas. H. Kohl, Preface: and in later years, Horace Robin- To such persons as myself who son. In each case high tribute was reviewed the production of Klat- deserved and there is, indeed, sad- awa, and, in confusion of miscon- ness in recalling the first four who ception had termed pageantry an have passed to immortality. exhibition of children d an ci n g But I would pay tribute specific- around a maypole, was awakened ally to three others, Wm. Tugman, to the thrilling dramatic possibili- L. L. Ray and Mildred LeCompte ties of pageant presentation and Moore. that first Eugene offering created Mr. Tugman became an "all out" an abiding enthusiasm. convert to pageantry w i t h the It has, therefore, been a pleasure 1926,and thereafter. As editor of to prepare an article on the sub- the Register-Guard, his enthusiasm ject of the pageant years. meant a committal of his staff to However, in the attendant re- complete coverage of every phase search, there has been a mixture of pageant preparation, features of happiness in recalling man y and events. The value of this policy pleasurable incidents and events, and his editorials were tremendous while sadness also surfaces as so in developing and maintaining pub- many names are brought to mind lic interest, not only in Eugene, whose onwers have passed away, but throughout the entire area of tobe remembered aspersonal Lane County. friends and co-workers in the pag- To me, a happy memory was his eant projects. participationinpageant scenes, An interesting item appeared in oftenhilariouslyhumorous, his the1947official programs, listing designation of himself as a wrangler only26persons, as participating and a member of the hardy crew in all six pageants, including that handling the animals used in the year. It leads to remembrance that show each night. Innately, a fear- many would participate in one or less horse and oxen attendant had two or more years, but eventually been lost to the mundane profes- retire. When itisrealized that sion of journalism. threetofour thousand persons Mr. Ray, though president of the were required for cast, committees Pageant Association in 1947, was and parades each year, one readily largely a worker behind the scenes, understands the importance of en- whose great work was practically ergetic recruitment to fill all ranks unknown to the public. each year. Pageantry as a subject had in- In newspaper reviews and other terested him for a number of years, reportsfollowingeach pageant and, as the celebration of1926 closing, praise was expressed for was considered, he suggested the the accomplishments of numerous topic for the event to be a history individualsrepeatedly,including of travel and to be treated in pag- Doris Smith, Professor W. F. G. eant presentation. His idea was ac- *AlI photographs used in the story, "Trail to Rail," except where otherwise designated are from the Lane County Museum Library, kindness of "Chris" Bettis, librarian. 43 cepted, and his files, given by his training and directorship in this family to the Pioneer Museum, dis- highly important pageant element. close numerous letters in corres- Other names come flooding into pondence with Doris Smith and my mind, literally hundreds, eman- others in discussion of problems ating in acquaintance in pageant any matters and plans involving work, who became grand friends t hem e, the necessary paid em- through all the succeeding years. ployees, contracts an d expenses To name each one would be beyond estimates. He might well be termed the space limitations of this ar- the Father of the Pageant idea, ticle, but to each and every one, I and, in subsequent years, his coun- express appreciation for the joy sel and advice were important fac- these friendships have given me tors in decisions on themes and through the years, and the hope script. that this review of the pageant He was truly one to whom high- years may recall happy incidents est tribute should be paid in ap- and associations for those w ho preciation of his modesty, his sin- viewed or participated in the pres- cere and unselfish devotion to pag- entations, and possibly serve as an eantry, as a thrilling and spectac- imaginative offering to a younger ular form of dramatic art and his generation to whom knowledge of gratuitous service in the solution this period can now be given only of numerous problems and details through recitation or documentary attendant upon organization and treatment. presentation of the various pag- * * * * eant features. Eugene, 1926. It was a year to be emphatically remembered in the Our tribute to those gentlemen annals of the city. It was a year of must also be paid in memoriam prosperity not only for Eugene, as we recall their demise in recent but across the n at i o n business years. flourished, government in Washing- The contribution of Mildred Le- ton, under taciturn Calvin Cool- Corn pte Moore as director of danc- icige was largely quiescent,but ing for all the seven pagea?its' growth and expansion of m an y years was also highly noteworthy, communities was the order of the yet, somehow, t h a t contribution day. seems less publicly noted in com- Locally, the lumber industry was parison to praise for other dir- flourishing, sawmills unrestricted- ectors. ly permeated the air with smoke In 1926 and prior thereto, she from the i r sawdust burners in had conducted dancing classes in many areas of Lane County. Eugene and as she was chosen dir- The city had become an ever in- ector those students became the creasing important point as a dis- nucleus for the large dan ci n g tribution center serving the south groups needed f o r t h e pageant. and southwest areas of the state. It From that experience,it bcame had proved to be a practical loca- automatic to employ her in that tion for the establishment of ware- capacity in each of the subsequent houses and branch offices for num- years. The finished performance of erous large corporations, w h i 1 e the dances was emphatic evidence sales representatives fo r o u t-o f- of the talent and accomplishment town firms found the city attrac- she exhibited in the recruitment, tive as a "home base" from which 44 to travel and service their terri- across the open plateau country to tories. an easy grade to the Klamath Basin In addition to these elements, and on to a point in Northern Cali- new industries,finding excellent fornia where the old line wiuld power, water and transportation f a- be rejoined on the route to San cilities available, were increasing Francisco. in number and variety. For years the project had been The era when Eugene's seem- contemplated by railroad officials ingly only claim for public notice and work had started when World was that it was the location of the War I caused stoppage of further University of Oregon was indeed construction. passing. That concept by many Eventually, after the war, work residents carried no thought of was resumed to completion in 1926. derogation of the University's im- It had been a noteworthy feat in portance to the social, cultural, ed- railroad annals with the boring of ucational and economic welfare of some 23 tunnels within a 50-mile the community, but rather that distance while, at other notable new factors must also be given points, construction on the sides of credit for progress and advance- seemingly s h e e rcliffs was de- ment of the city. manded. Robert Prescott, a well known Eugene, which supercedeci Rose- realtor, who for many years had burg as a division point for the endured the scoffing of unbelievers r a ii r o ad, 'benefited enormously in his constant repetition of the from this undertaking. It would be conviction that "Eugene will some a junction point from which the day be a city of 50,000 people," old Siskiyou route and the new was enjoying growing respect as N at r o n cut-off proceeded. Ade- possibly a true prophet. Grudgingly quate land at the northern limits the "die hards" admitted, "Bert of the city had been acquired and might be right after all." large railroad yards we r e con- structed together with repair shops (Editorial Note: Population and other facilities. statistics, Eugene, 90,100; The move meant the transfer of August, 1973.) practically all railroad personnel But the spur to immediate from Roseburg to Eugene, thus t h o u g h t of a celebration came adding a most desirable, stable and largely from a truly momentous skilled labor group as residents.