Historic Hood River
Welcome to the Oregon National Forest
3-26-2013
Notes
Wikipedia tells me the Oregon National Forest was established on July 1, 1908. The forest was renamed to the Mt. Hood National Forest in 1924. Perhaps a motorcycle expert can see enough to narrow the date.
A note on the photo indicates this is the entrance south of Parkdale.
[Ed. note: this is the same motorcycle and rider as this earlier post, which dates it to 1920.]
l.e.
Mmmmm…..I can smell it!
I checked Tom Kloster, who always writes such splendid blogs about the Mt Hood area, but i couldn’t find any mention of the 1908 establishment of the Oregon National Forest.
Evidently this all started with the creation of the "Cascade Range Forest Reserve" established in the early 1890’s under President Cleveland.
Arlen Sheldrake
The signs on each side say National Forest Boundary, Arthur, can you make out what the sign on the left above the NFB sign says?
Steffen
https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org?showimage=210 This looks like the same Excelsior motorcycle from the lost Lake Photo from 1920. Also note the riders hat.
Arthur
Steffen is correct, this is the same man as in #210. High res examination shows he is wearing exactly the same clothing, so it’s a good bet the photo was taken on the same day. I’ll adjust the date to 1920 based on the license plate.
The sign above the NFB sign says, "Leave a clean camp and dead fire."
l.e.
The Mount Hood History Blog has a photo of the Oregon National Forest Gateway at Zigzag.
I think it looks older than the HR one.
http://www.mounthoodhistory.com/historyblog/?p=44
l.e.
Tom Kloster does mention the Oregon National Forest in his article about Warren "Barney" Cooper.
http://wyeastblog.org/2012/11/12/warren-barney-cooper/
l.e.
I guess I should clarify my first comment. Looks kind of odd now that I have re-read it.
Forests have a certain smell on a hot, dry, summer day.
I could smell that when I opened the photo.
I’m confused. I’m not real familiar with the Mt Hood area, but isn’t the first photo going up to Lost Lake which would be the Dee area.
And isn’t this photo more of the Cooper Spur area from Parkdale?
Jill Stanford
I agree with i.e. — forests DO have a certain smell. Over here in Central Oregon on a hot, still day the combination of Ponderosa pine, dust and Manzanita make the best perfume in the world.
Buzz
My guess is that this man is a forest service employee wearing the standard "uniform of the day" along with the pre Smokey the Bear hat. So "maybe" this photo was taken on the same day
Tom Kloster
Laurene, thanks for the nudge — yes, I think this is Fred Donnerberg and was taken on the same trip as the earlier photo (with the two men on the motorcycle with him — I suspect they were road workers he asked to pose with him). The trip is described in the September 5, 1920 Oregonian.
I suspect the sign was located where the road crossed the USFS boundary at the time, just beyond the hairpin turn where Lolo Pass Road splits off and heads down to the Dry Run Bridge.
As far as the forest name, I went with the gold standard: Jack Grauer’s "Complete History of Mount Hood"..!
"¢ June 17, 1892 – Bull Run Timberland Reserve created
"¢Â September 28, 1893 – Cascade Range Forest Reserve created (covering all of the Oregon Cascades)
"¢ June 39, 1908 – Oregon National Forest created from the northern part of the Cascade Forest Reserve, and incorporating Bull Run.
"¢ January 1, 1924 – Oregon National Forest becomes Mount Hood National Forest.
"¢ July 1, 1933 – Santiam River drainage removed from the MHNF to become part of the new Willamette National Forest.
charlott
Yes, Fred Donnerberg took many photos of the Hood River and Mt. Hood area. He was a Crag Rat and I have a number of photos credited to him on climbs he made with my family members.
l.e.
So….is Fred on the motorcycle or taking the photo?
Tom Kloster
I think it is, courtesy a tripod and shutter timer — if only because of the Oregonian news piece, and that he appears in both motorcycle poses on this blog… and knows exactly where to look! The person in the rear/right in this photo like it might be Fred Donnerberg, too:
https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org?showimage=43
It would be nice to confirm a close-up portrait of him. Most prolific photographers are notorious for staying behind the camera, so you have to cherish the rare photos they decide to appear in!
Buzz
Was Fred a professional or amateur photographer? If an amateur what was his occupation?
Arthur
Donnerberg was a professional photographer. We have prints with his imprint on them, as well as some with "Donnerberg and Slocum."
l.e.
Now I am really intrigued by him.
Another article in the making Tom?
Thank you for your comments.
Even if you did leave Alva Day’s daughters out of your article about him.
Charlott….have you seen Tom’s blog about Barney Cooper? It’s a good one.
Chase
I have it down that the Oregon National Forest was created on July 8, 1908, but think Tom’s June 39th date is more interesting.
Arthur
By coincidence Matt is just getting to photos in the "D" biography folders, so we’ll know if we have any photos of Donnerberg himself soon. Right now he’s plowing through a big pile of Pansy Dewitt’s photos, so it shouldn’t be too long.
Arthur
This jogged my memory– 2 years ago the Mazamas’ archivist shared an image of Donnerberg from 1937. I’ve compared it with the two motorcycle images, and my appraisal is "likely." Unfortunately I don’t have permission to share the 1937 image, but I think Tom is probably correct in identifying this as Donnerberg himself.
Chase
Also had a slightly different date for Mount Hood National Forest being the new name on January 21, 1924, although I realize this isn’t helping much with narrowing down the date of the photo.
Tom Kloster
"I have it down that the Oregon National Forest was created on July 8, 1908, but think Tom’s June 39th date is more interesting."
Oops! Well, June can seem really long around here on the west side when the rain lingers..! 😉 So, make that "June 30, 1908"…!
Tom
peg kaiser
Fred Donnerberg was my great uncle. I’d recognize him from about 1950 on, but could not say if this is him or not.
L.E.
From:
http://historicphotoarchive.com/oregon-photographers-online-edition/donnerberg-fred-w-hood-river/
1920: (article about new road being build on Mt. Hood from Hood River to Lost Lake.) ""¦ Fred W. Donnerberg, Hood River photographer, recently penetrated to the lake on a motorcycle with side car and took pictures of the new roadway. "¦" Includes six photos credited to Donnerberg: "Confluence of Lake Branch and West Fork of Hood River; On the Excelsior (motorcycle) Near the end of Construction Work on the Lost Lake Road; Character of Country crossed by Forestry Section of Highway; Jake Lent’s Crew Cutting Road Through Forest; At the Entrance to the National Forest; Mt. Hood From Lost Lake. Photos by Fred. W. Donnerberg, Hood River" Morning Oregonian, September 5, 1920, section 6, pg. 1, whole page.
John Donnerberg
Fred Donnerberg is a great uncle of mine according to my dad George Donnerberg II. I would love to find more information and photos if anybody knows where I might find negatives or prints.
Thanks, John Donnerberg, Portland, Oregon