Historic Hood River
Winterizing?
10-15-2024
Notes
My guess is this crew is winterizing Cloud Cap Inn, possibly in the 1930s– or perhaps I’m just seeing that because it’s that time of year. The large window has been boarded up for winter storms. It’s impressive that building has withstood 135 winters on Mt. Hood. It has required the work of many people to keep it in service.
We have the names of all the men, though some of the spellings are suspicious:
G. B. Datson, Arnold G. Wolf, Rosco B. Allens, Arthur Benedict, Tom Ostien, K. S. Adams, C. R. Beardsley, Wm. J. Nelson, Hugh Shearer
I can only find information about one of these men:Â In 1911 G. B. Datson was a civil engineer forming the firm of Datson, Bartlett and Morse in The Dalles.
BethH
I’m thinking this may be earlier than you think, Arthur…. But idk…
Last weekend was the Crag Rat work party to prep the building for the winter. There were many hands on deck making it fun work for most.
starboard
Cleaning the chimney!
J
Is the hat on the first (lowest) gentleman a forest service hat or just a normal local chapeau?
Arthur Babitz
I’m not confident on the date– 1930s was a guess based on the clothing, but the info about G. B. Datson might place it in the 1920s or even the 1910s.
I can’t find any USFS insignias on any of the men, but some could certainly be USFS staff. The hats do look like ranger hats, but in that era it was a pretty popular style for outdoorsmen in general.
Kurt Cyrus
Judging by the shadows, the sun seems too high in the sky to be very late in the year, and the tree has all its leaves. The guys are wearing everything from overalls to a chef’s apron, berets to cowboy hats to possibly a visor on the top fellow. To me, that adds up to simply a group photo of everyone who happened to be working there that year.
Arthur Babitz
Good points, Kurt. I got the “winterizing idea” from the fact the big window is boarded up.