Historic Hood River

Notes

This blurry image with a mundane caption hides an amazing story.  The note on the reverse says, “Wells Bennett’s motorcycle party Homestead Inn,” but the word “party” doesn’t refer to festivities.  An article in this July 1924 issue of the Hood River Glacier explain what’s going on:

… features of this year’s [American Legion] climb will be motion pictures of the Saturday afternoon celebration of Eliot glacier, the ascent to the summit of Wells Bennett on a motorcycle and the visit to the mile-high camp and participation in the glacier trip of Billy Sunday and Mrs. Sunday.”

Another article explains:

One-legged men, fat men, fat women, lean men, skinny women, children nine years old and grandfathers have climbed Mount Hood, but it has been left to Wells Bennett, nationally known daredevil motorcycle rider, to announce that he will essay an ascent to the summit of the snow and glacial peak aboard a motorcycle… In the past several weeks, with Homestead Inn as his base, he has scouted over the snowy sides of Hood, and as a result of his investigations, he has had three special sets of wheels made for equipping his hill climber on the upward journey.  On the steeper pitches , the motorcycle will be propelled upward by means of a rope, acting as a pulley attached to the rear wheel.

Mr. Bennett’s earlier exploits are recounted in Portland newspaper clippings, and in 1924 he was described as heading the Portland distribution of Henderson Motorcycles.

You’d expect with all these exciting events the next issue of the newspaper would be filled with accounts of the escapades.  But nothing is ever quite so easy.  A scan of the 1924 Hood River Glacier issues digitized online shows the July 24 issue is one of a handful which are missing.  I also couldn’t find accounts of this weekend in other regional newspapers in the Oregon Digital Newspapers collection.  I’ll have to pore through the bound printed copies of the Hood River Glacier and the Hood River News on the museum shelves to see how they reported on this story.

I won’t leave you completely hanging.  Bennett “only” got as far as the summit of Cooper Spur, as reported in the September 1924 issue of Motorcyclist. And here’s another account of the climb, including another fine photograph.  And finally, we get to answer a question L.E. asked 11 years ago.  No, none of the men in this earlier HHR post appear to be Wells Bennett.

Next assignment:  Can someone find the newsreel footage from that Legion Camp?

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