Historic Hood River
“Drill Team 1898”
Notes
We saw another view of this Spanish American War era drill team in this image, but this one has better identification of the participants. I’m also experimenting with providing more resolution than I have previously. You should be able to zoom in your browser to see more detail, if this works correctly.
Based on the date and the Sanborn maps of the era, I believe they are standing on Oak Street between 4th and 5th.
Back row:Â Belle Howell, Alice Graham, Bernice Toley, Nell Clark, Ida Foss, Alice Clever, Grace Graham, Emily Palmer, Agnes Dukes, Mary Wolfard, Clara Blythe, Dell Bolwig, Carrie Shute, and Maud McCray.
Front row: Grace Howell, Lilly Shute.
Capt. Eph Winans is leading the drill. We saw a good image of Eph Winans 50 years later in this post. I often find it difficult to reconcile two images of a person 50 years apart, but that’s not the case with this one!
(Note: I have preserved the spelling from the reverse of the image.)
This image demonstrates a common problem with photographs of this era. The poor lens grinding means only the center of the field is in focus.
Dale Nicol
I wonder if the rifles the women are holding are dummies?
They look suspiciously fake to me.
nails
Was this to protect homeland during that war?
Arthur Babitz
Thanks Dale, I should have pointed out the drill rifles are pieces of wood shaped like a rifle with no metal parts except for a strap of some sort where the trigger guard should be. I think this was common for drill teams– no need to risk unintentionally firing the rifle while practicing their drills.
To address @nels question, I think these drills were more an expression of patriotism than a defensive exercise. We know there were homeland defense actions in WWII, but I don’t think people felt a direct fear at home before that.
L. E.
The resolution is very clear when I enlarge the photo. Mary Wolfard (Wolford) must be the daughter of C. M. Wolford who was mayor of both HR and WS. She would be about 16 years old in this photo.
Interesting that some of the ladies are very serious and others are smiling.
kmb
Our old friend Maltie Dukes, along with Clarence English, Dr. Brosius, and a few other locals were in the Philippines during the war and wrote letters home in 1898 and 1899, some of which were published in The Glacier. These letters make interesting reading to understand the patriotic mindset of that time.
Arthur Babitz
Good reminder, kmb. Here’s a link to one of Clarence English’s letters to his mother: https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1899-02-24/ed-1/seq-2/#words=Clarence+English