Historic Hood River
See a Man About a Horse
1-2-2015
Notes
This is one of the first glass negatives we scanned. The man looks vaguely familiar, though the way the photo is composed I suspect the horse is the subject.
The History Museum of Hood River County
Bringing the Rich History of Hood River County to Life
Charlott
The man does look familiar, think we have seen him somewhere before. Even has his tie on.Notice the boards behind the horse on the ground, They might be knots in them, but look more like drilled holes. My initial thought was that they were rails used for horse jumping, but probably not.
In the bottom right that looks like a pole, maybe used for jumping. Just a thought on all of this.
Buzz
Nothing fancy here. Looks like a working man, and a working horse. How ’bout them Ducks!!
Steve r
Morning – No visible ducks Buzz- ? 🙂
But those drilled wooden members are likely cross poles for a future power line as visible in the shadow on the barn door. The small wood piece above the door may be in place to hold the last insulator before the service wire enters the barn. Or …. they are going to be used as Charlott suggests above. The barn door rolling hinges appear to be made of repurposed horse shoes.
Jim Gray
I think the small wood piece above the door is just the stop for the big sliding barn door, wonder if the piece on the bottom right is a draw bar for a wagon
Kenn
Good job, Steve and Jim, on the door stop and the horseshoe use. Buzz, I would not class this man as a working man, he is dressed well with tie, belt and trouser cuffs on the ground.
Charlott
Them barn doors are heavy, as my horse Don pulled one off the rail, across me and went dragging the door out into the orchard. I had to get my wits together, get in the barn, find a knife and get near that barn door to cut the reins, before he did damage to himself slamming around attached to that door. No fun…..Wasn’t hurt, just disarrayed the hair rollers on my head. It is funny now, but most certainly not then….Moral….never tie your horse to the barn door….
Buzz
Kenn, thought he was a working man because of white forehead and suntanned face, and he was jusr wearing duded up clothes for whatever reason.
l.e.
I think the 4×4’s on the ground with the holes, are power pole cross arms. When we moved to our present home 30 years ago, there was a stack of those. Since they are treated, they are still pretty solid.
Charlott, they work well for planting as a post and tying a horse to. Maybe it was the rollers that spooked him.
l.e.
The saddle might be what is called a McClellan saddle.
I am surprised that for such a nice looking barn, the door hinges are too big.
l.e.
Is there a possibility this is the barn to the McCan/Sheppard home, featured in photo #89?
Charlott
Don’t think it is a McClellan saddle. The pommel seem too pronounced.
That is a good thought as to where this barn is/was. Have to check out the Sheppard barn the next time I go to town.
Steve r
Buzz – Still no ducks … 🙂
But Charlotts story of her horse above had me looking more closely at the barn door- and all be darn… seems the barn door has a few markings on it about waist height in the shadow of the pole. It looks as if the door has received a few good hoof kicks in the past.
Jim G- Yep – Door stop- it likely would have been mounted upright otherwise.
Jerry Larsen
I believe that the lumber on the ground with the holes are crossarms for telephone lines. In the early years, there was a lot of open wire in the rural areas, which often involved multiple stacked crossarms with 5 insulators mounted on each side of the pole attachment. You would also see transposition brackets mid-span, which changed the position of the conductors relative to each other, which helped eliminate inductive cross-talk. (Once upon a time, I was the Pacific Northwest Bell Plant Manager in The Dalles.)
Libby
Saddle is a Aussie saddle. A McClellan was much more basic; more wood than leather.
Barbara Parsons
I thought a McLellan saddle could be distinguished by a hole in the middle, and was for cavalry. What was that one called?