Historic Hood River
Is That Her?
Notes
The Alva Day negatives are full of surprises. This one was flanked by negatives of people with pitchforks clearing ice from the water intake at Powerdale, but even from the negative I knew what this was. There hasn’t been a crowd like this in Hood River since Queen Marie of Romania visited on November 3, 1926. My guess was confirmed when the high resolution scan showed the placard “Royal Party Official” in the window of one car.
We already saw an image of this visit, but this view captures far more detail. You may not be able to see Queen Marie, but you can certainly tell where she is in the frame. Every eye is upon her. She has turned her head to greet the crowd. Only one of the dignitaries is in plain view, and that is none other than Sam Hill himself. He’s the hatless gentleman in the rear seat of the lead car.
charlott
Oh yes, Sam Hill………..well that guy is another story. More impressed with looking at the buildings with their awnings, the people and the dress of the era. There is that wonderful old clock again….
l.e.
Good Grief!!! That is a lot of people. Claustrophobic.
The men with a white feather in their hat….I wonder what they represent?
I see the JC Penney store is in business.
Charlott….I have a book about one of Sam Hill’s mistresses and the house he built for her at Bonneville. But, he definitely was good for road building in our area.
spinsur
l.e., I’d have to wonder w/ the Bavarian kinda look to the hats, feathers, vest, and rigid stance, if they’re part of the entourage from Romania.
l.e.
Now that I think of it, Sam Hill was pretty good for house building in our area also, which I think is why Queen Marie is here.
I think
She will be dedicating his home at Maryhill as an Art Museum.
In the car with Queen Marie should be her two children Prince Nicolas and Princess Ileana.
charlott
Yes, I know about Mona and all the rest of them……….I will say the roadbuilding was incredible, but how he got his money and all the rest including what he attempted to do at Columbus is dispicable.
James
Look, a cragrat shirt in the sunshine. Black/white plaid, was this their wear then? And I.e., can you locate a link about Sam Hill’s dispicable nature and how he got his money? I just thought he was one of the many railroad tycoon’s, along with Leland Stanford and the rest……???
James
Charlott, why was Sam Hill dispicable. What were you referring to???
charlott
Crag Rats were not an organization then.
Sam Hill married for his money, marrying the daughter of James Hill the railroad man. Though never divorced the marriage didn’t last, but he had the money. He had it in his plans to run the residents of Columbus out, but money couldn’t buy everything. Many stories of his "adventures."
Arlen Sheldrake
"Royal Party in Hood River", now that is a BIG deal regardless of what history says about Sam Hill. Good to see the giant turnout. I’m looking forward to a summer trip to Maryhill and having a brew on the new deck overlooking the Gorge (and watching trains). Arlen
l.e.
Arlen, I just read that thousands came by train to view the event.
I also read that "the Queen was the first ruling monarch to visit the United Sates, much less Klickitat County."
I was looking for an actual 1926 account of the event from White Salmon or Goldendale papers. Haven’t found it yet, but I did come across some interesting stories.
From the 1961 Mt Adams Sun.
Queen Marie’s Daughter Revisits Maryhill Museum After 35 Years
http://mas.stparchive.com/Archive/MAS/MAS11091961P04.php
From 1986 Goldendale Sentinel: Some memories of the event by local people.
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~westklic/musaqms.html
Scott Cook
I won’t say too much here in this type of forum, but I have been studying the legacy of Sam Hill for the past 6 years. I consider him a great man, a man who dared to both dream and then accomplish. We do owe our beloved Scenic Highway to the heroic vision of this one man. We wouldn’t have gotten a Scenic Hwy under the urgings of only Simon Benson and Oswald West. Hill may have been/seemed a scoundrel to the folks at Columbus, WA, but his failures there set the stage for truly great endeavors for the state of Oregon. I say 100 cheers for the memory of Sam Hill! It was 100 years and 60 days ago today that Sam hosted the entire Oregon Legislature at his Maryhill Ranch and showed them first-hand what a quality-built road looked like. Not 7 months later work commenced on Oregon’s Columbia River Highway. Sam Hill IS a controversial figure…best maybe to watch this OPB episode about his life and times in the NW: http://watch.opb.org/video/1031948713
I’ll hoist a toast in Sam’s honor. I would’ve drank his whiskey had he successfully bought the Jewett Farm. Maybe we would have been gazing across our Columbia at a Hill mansion on the White Salmon bluff?? What we wouldn’t have, if Sam had successfully purchased the Jewett property, is our beloved Columbia River Scenic Highway. The pieces wouldn’t have fallen into place had not Hill’s efforts to get a North Bank Rd built to Maryhill (at Lyle) been scuttled by Wa Governor Hay in 1910. The sequence of events is an intriguing one.
Hill’s a neat man…watch the video, then read his biography…and…decide for yourself perhaps. Cheers.
Arthur
I’ll second Scott’s suggestion to watch the OPB video about Sam Hill. As I recall there is a very interesting excerpt from Queen Marie’s diary revealing her personal reaction to Mr. Hill.
Jeffrey Bryant
The Hood River Glacier, 1926-11-04, page 9 reported the visit of Queen Marie through Hood River.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1926-11-04/ed-1/seq-9/