Historic Hood River
Dedication Day
Notes
Here’s a real treat: 102 years ago today, Albert Kollas joined a carload of Hood River residents visiting Multnomah Falls to witness the dedication of the new Columbia River Highway. On the way back they posed at the east portal of the Mitchell Point Tunnel with their Cartercar Automobile.
Last week Albert’s (grand?)-nephew Paul, an HHR fan, dug an envelope of 24 beautiful negatives out of his basement and offered to let me scan them to share with you. Paul’s dad had hand colored a print of this negative many years ago. I enjoyed the result, so I did my own colorized version of a fresh scan of the 102 year old negative. I used my imagination for all the colors but one– 1916 Oregon license plates were maroon. But some of my other guesses could be right, right? I don’t usually tinker with the history, but I think this is a fun interpretation of the original negative. Don’t get spoiled, though. This takes a bit of time even with modern software.
This collection includes several shots of the dedication ceremony, as well as many nice views of the highway when it was still under warranty. I look forward to sharing more this summer.
Tags: 1910s, Columbia River Highway, Kollas, Mitchell Point, Mitchell Point Tunnel, tunnel
L.E.
Great coloring job! Did you also color the rock?
This reminds me of the time I took some coloring books and a tub of color crayons to a family reunion, to entertain the little kids. I have a photo of 5 adult men, sitting at the table, entirely engrossed in coloring.
I think it’s a guy thing.
Everyone is smiling, but I wonder what this trip was like.
Buzz
Nice. Could two cars coming from opposite directions pass in that tunnel?
Dale Nicol
Interesting fact about the Cartercar is it used a friction drive transmission that is known today as a CVT. That was a big selling point for the car at that time.
Milton Reeves of the Reeves Pulley Company invented the friction drive transmission around 1880 to control the saw speed in sawmills.
WAAAM’s recently restored, 1907 Everybody’s Motor Buggy, purchased new by WJ Sufert of The Dalles, originally had the Reeves variable speed transmission.
The Sears Motor Buggy used the Reeves transmission too.
At some later time, WJ replaced the transmission with a "two speed planetary gear transmission" that was the same type used in the Model-T Ford.
Dale Nicol
Sorry, I misspelled Seufert’s name above….they had a large cannery on The Columbia and was a major employer for many years.
https://oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/sign-at-seufert-brothers-company/#.WxlD8yAnaUk
Arlen Sheldrake
GREAT photo !! Looking forward to seeing more of these treasures…sure glad they are now available to this and future audiences.
No distracted driving on this road or in these tunnels…..
L.E.
The June 8, 1916 Hood River Glacier has a great article about all the cars streaming west for the Portland Rose Festival and the formal dedication of the highway at Multnomah.
Cars coming from Idaho and eastern Oregon. It is estimated over 1,000 cars will travel westward.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1916-06-08/ed-1/seq-1/
Kenn
Two cars could meet in the tunnel, cars stopped at the windows for views. As speeds increased and destination became more important than scenery, traffic lights were added for one way traffic. Some of the piping for a light remains at the east end.
L.E.
And look how much things changed in just a year. From the August 16, 1917 HR Glacier.
AUTOS BRING INDIANS FOR HUCKLEBERRIES.
In years gone by Indians, who annually flock from adjacent reservations to harvest the crops of huckleberries that grow luxuriantly on hundred acre burned over tracts around Lost Lake, have journeyed on the backs of faithful ponies, other cayuses carrying teepees, bedding and camp equipment. But the Redman has adapted himself by the progress of modern times, and the first of this week, according to D.I. Stone, a party of Yakima braves, their families and their dogs arrived at the huckleberry grounds aboard bright new automobiles……..
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1917-08-16/ed-1/seq-1/
Arthur
Well LE, I haven’t had a coloring book since my 1st grade teacher told my parents I was too much of a perfectionist, so I wasn’t coloring fast enough.
For those interested in technical details, I used Photoshop to tint this image. I add color using the brush tool in a layer set to the "overlay" mode so color is applied using underlying brightness. I then drop the layer opacity depending on how intense I want the colors to appear.
An yes, the rock is tinted. I sampled the color from a photo of local basalt, then applied it to the entire background in one stroke. Take that, 1st grade teacher!
Kyle
Gorgeous. Worth the effort.
Arlen Sheldrake
I remember the traffic signals on the Mosier tunnels but not Mitchel Point.
Maria Kollas
You did a wonderful job, Arthur! Thanks so much!!
Kenn
Beautiful coloring, Arthur continues to amaze me ~
At the east end of the Mitchell tunnel site, traffic light conduit remains ~
L.E.
An interesting, scenario of the celebrations that took place during the dedication of Multnomah Falls and Vista House. From a modern day Native American historian.
https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/2017/09/04/the-spirit-of-colonization-of-indian-country-vista-house-and-american-nationalism/