Historic Hood River
Camping Laraway Style
3-3-2023
Notes
I wonder how much of the forest they cut down to make camp furnishings? This image shows camping for the Laraway’s wasn’t a light-on-the-land affair. I’m not sure how they got the cast iron stove to the site. It looks heavier than my Coleman single burner. And of course there are the ubiquitous lard pails for whatever needed containing.
L.E.
So much detail! A variety of expressions, most of them tired looking.
I wondered if this could be when they were traveling west, but can’t imagine loading and unloading that stove at every stop.
I think Thurston Laraway is the boy on the left? In 1900 he was 4 years old and they were still living in Iowa. The family came west in 1904.
The lady with the dish pan is cleaning something, I think. Looks like eggs, but I don’t think you would take your chickens camping??
nels
These pictures just make me tired looking at all that clothing (and no
permapress) that had to be hand washed and hung to dry, then ironed
with an iron heated on a stove..
nels
I have a kettle just like that – smaller volume.
Extremely heavy.
Arlen L Sheldrake
looks like they are about to attend church with their sunday duds.
Cecelia
From other Laraway pictures it looks like that is definitely Adah, wife of W.F., Laraway on left. In an interview Ellen Emry Heltzel did with Zella Laraway for the museum, Zella said that W.L. and Adah lived on State Street and moved to the Front St house in 1937. Is it possible this picture could be on State Street sometime after 1904? It certainly looks like a more permanent camp but I have no idea what State St., particularly west of downtown, looked like before 1920.
ArthurB
Cecilia, there were no forest like this near downtown in 1904. There were actually far fewer trees than there are today, as so much in range of the river was burned to power steam engines or milled for construction. We have many photographs to confirm this.
W.F. died in 1928. I don’t have the exact date they moved to Front Street, but based on the photos with his beloved 1913 Marmon it was very close to that date. We have automobile service receipts from I think 1914 and 1915 with the Front Street address.
Bhuk
Maybe it’s a permanent camp they like to go to pick huckleberries- hence all the lard buckets"¦? I think the woman is peeling potatoes. Just a thought
Christie
My grandparents used to spend the summer at Lost Lake in the early 1900s. They used to take their cow with them. This might be the Laraways doing the same thing. I could easily see this as Lost Lake.