Here’s a photo of the first Welches Oregon pioneer homesteaders. This is probably one of the earliest photos of the Welches area, certainly of the early residents and is an important piece of Welches Oregon history.
Front row from left – Billy Welch and Firmer Walkley. Standing from the left – August Hornecker, Sam Welch, John Copper and Ira Welch.
Photographed at the Walkley homestead near the junction of Welches Road and Bridge Street. The Walkley homestead was where Tawney’s Mountain Home was located. Tawney’s was built in 1909 and was a destination for many visitors to the area until 1949 when it was closed. The old hotel finally fell into the ground and was demolished sometime around 1955.
The Brightwood Museum and Novelty Shop. Many locals who remember this place in its heyday still call this the Snake Pit. In its lifetime it was several things, including a church and a home. The building was constructed by renowned Mount Hood cabin builder Henry Steiner as a roadside tourist souvenir shop along the way to Mount Hood. This was his last log structure project. At one point it was even a reptile garden.
Back before cars were developed into the high speed vehicles of today, and Highway 26 was blasted into straight line four lane route that allowed everyone to move at speeds in excess of 55 miles per hour, a trip to Mount Hood was more of an easier pace. Post World War II was a time when families took to the highways on days off and vacations to camp and to recreate. The tourist industry was a big deal, with roadhouses and unique roadside attractions. Many people called these places “tourist traps”.
In our area here on the south side of Mount Hood there were several businesses that provided both lodging and meals. A couple of the tourist traps that were here, included this business, the Brightwood Museum and Novelty Shop, the Swiss Gardens and the Mt Hood Indian Pageant. This old building is a cultural treasure to our area but sadly it’s falling into ruins. You can still see this old structure at the intersection of Bridge Street and Brightwood Loop Road in the parking lot of the Brightwood store.
100 Years of Rhododendron Oregon and Mount Hood Tourism
I produced a video to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the little Mount Hood village of Rhododendron Oregon. It’s a collection that consists of photos that I’ve collected through the years and have added to my collection. There are a couple that are in the video that are copies of photos from the Welch Family as well as the family of Dr Ivan Wooley.
Located along the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway on a 19th-century pioneer wagon
route, Rhododendron nestles into the western flank of the craggy peak. The
terrain.
The history of the Welch’s Ranch in Welches Oregon begins in 1882. Before Welches became a popular destination, it was simply a family homestead ranch. Samuel Welch, an emigrant from Virginia, settled in the valley that year. Later, his son William “Billy” Welch and Edward Kopper, Billy’s first wife’s father, also homesteaded in the valley in 1889.
Establishing the Welch Ranch
Samuel and Billy Welch homesteaded adjoining 160-acre sections of the Salmon River Valley, located on the southwestern foothills of Mount Hood. Samuel’s homestead deed, signed by President Benjamin Harrison, was recorded in the Clackamas County Courthouse in 1893. Similarly, Billy’s deed, signed by President William McKinley, was recorded in 1898.
Over time, they expanded their holdings, acquiring nearly 1,000 acres that stretched from Walkley’s homestead in the south to “Dutch Fred’s” homestead in the north (near present-day Fairway Avenue). Their land also extended up the slopes of Hunchback Mountain to the east and Huckleberry Mountain to the west.
A Thriving Ranch and Early Tourism
The Welch Ranch was a fully operational farm with pastures, barns, and corrals for livestock, including dairy cows, beef cattle, sheep, and pigs. In addition, the family maintained an apple orchard, a large vegetable garden, and had access to abundant fish in the river and wildlife in the surrounding hills. A blacksmith shop and stables further supported the ranch operations.
As travel increased, the ranch became a stop for stagecoaches and later, motorized coaches en route to Mount Hood. Eventually, summer tourists began camping in the valley, taking advantage of its natural beauty.
Transition to a Resort
After Samuel’s death in 1889, Billy took over the ranch. Sadly, his first wife, Mamie Kopper Welch, passed away in 1902. By 1905, Clinton Kern and a Mr. Wren leased the property and opened a hotel resort, operating it until 1909. As part of the resort’s development, a large dining hall was built near the Salmon River to accommodate guests.
To replace the old dance hall, Billy expanded his store, adding a pool room and a second-story dance hall. Notably, the hall featured an east-facing balcony where dancers could cool off while enjoying views of Hunchback Mountain.
Community and Entertainment
In 1911, Billy married Jennie Faubion. Together, they managed the resort, store, post office, and dance hall. Meanwhile, the Welches Post Office had been established in 1905, with Billy serving as postmaster until 1940. Afterward, Jennie continued in the role until her retirement in 1960. Eventually, the post office moved to Wemme before returning to Welches.
The local community often gathered for bonfires, taffy pulls, and marshmallow roasts. Children collected wood for towering bonfires while families sang folk songs like “Ninety-Nine Blue Bottles.” Moreover, talented storytellers entertained crowds late into the night.
Saturday night dances were a highlight, drawing nearly everyone in town. Parents brought blankets for their children, who slept in the hall’s corners while lively fiddle music filled the air. Typically, Billy Welch and other local musicians played old-time tunes as dancers whirled through two-steps, schottisches, and waltzes.
Growth of Tourism
By 1910, Welches had become a sought-after summer destination. In addition to the Welches Hotel, nearby lodges such as Tawney’s Mountain Home, Arrah Wanna Lodge, and the Rhododendron Inn catered to vacationers. To meet increasing demand, Billy expanded the ranch into a full-fledged outdoor resort, adding tent cabins and campgrounds along the Salmon River.
As interest in the area grew, Billy allowed repeat visitors to camp on designated plots. Eventually, he subdivided and sold land for vacation cabins. The Kaderly family built the first vacation cabin south of the hotel by relocating Samuel Welch’s original homestead cabin.
Development of Local Businesses
Around 1885, Samuel Welch sold five acres to John and Mary Roberts of Gresham. Their son, Ed Roberts, worked in the Welches Store before marrying Dora Owens in 1903. Later, in 1913, Ed opened Roberts Country Store near the Welches Hotel, expanding the town’s commercial offerings.
The Welches Golf Course
In 1928, Ralph Waale leased Welch’s pasture and built a nine-hole golf course. He operated it until 1939, when ownership returned to the Welches. Shortly after, Billy and Jennie continued running the course until Billy’s passing in 1942. Over time, it changed hands multiple times before being sold to Eugene Bowman.
The Lasting Legacy of the Welch Ranch’s Ranch in Welches Oregon
Billy Welch played a pivotal role in shaping Welches into a tourist destination. His foresight in converting the ranch into a resort laid the foundation for the town’s growth. Though the original homestead is gone, the legacy of the Welch family endures in the community that still bears their name.
The Welch’s Ranch in Welches Oregon.
CLICK HERE to read more about the development of the Mt Hood Golf Course, Rippling River and the Resort on The Mountain.
During the early days of photography, before it was common for the average person to own a camera, a studio photography session with a group of friends or the family was a popular indulgence, and in many cases a once in a lifetime luxury. In 1910 the consumer camera had only been available for about ten years.
At the time being a photographer could be quite lucrative but there was some stiff competition for business. Photographers had to be creative to come up with ways to make money. Rarely did one sit in his studio and wait for people to line up for portraits. Many photographers would travel to scenic locations to photograph local scenery to apply to postcards made available to tourists. Some would knock on doors of farms and homes in rural areas asking if the family would like to have their photo taken as a means to supplement their incomes. Many folks took advantage of these offers and would order several copies of the photos and would request postcards to be sent to friends and family far away.
At the time postcards were a very popular way to communicate. Phones weren’t in every home so a quick phone call was out of the question in many cases. Automobiles were primitive and typically owned by the more affluent and roads were still more primitive so hopping in the car for a quick trip wasn’t practical. Letters were saved for more lengthy and formal communication, but postcards were cheap, quick and easy way to send a quick greeting via mail. Having a photo of yourself with family or friends, the homestead or even the family horse on front of a postcard was a bonus.
There was one photographer from Portland Oregon who was especially creative in how he would entice customers to pose for their portraits at his studio. His name was Charles “Cal” Calvert and he specialized in fast postcard photos. He advertised himself as “Cal Calvert the 10 Minute Post Card Man”. While it was common for photographers to have a decorated backdrop for their clients to pose in front of, in Portland most all had one with a view of the city with Mount Hood in the distance, Cal Calvert went the extra mile with his fanciful, if not airworthy rendition of a aeroplane with cockpits for his clients to sit inside of while being portrayed as flying effortlessly over the city of Portland… complete with Mount hood on the skyline.
Cal Calvert had several backdrops that folks could choose from, probably the most popular was a conservative wood and ivy arbor but by far the most whimsical was the aeroplane in which you hardly saw a serious face, which was more typical of the era on more formal photos.
I’ve included an assortment of photo postcards that I’ve acquired through time. The best part to me are the faces of the people in the photos. I’ve also included several other photos that have backdrops from other unidentified Portland photographers from that era that include Mount Hood, just because I love Mount Hood. Most include either an airplane or a car, both symbols of status and owned only by a few.
The filming of an Oregon Silent Movie on Mount Hood
I have come across an interesting series of photographs recently that document the filming of an early Oregon Silent Movie filmed on Mount Hood. The photos show a crew of photographers and actors that appear to be reenacting a mining scene. There appears to be a wooden sluice set up, men with shovels as well as a scene with men with rifles who appear to be defending their claim.
The scene that shows Government Camp gives some indication of the age of the photos. Dr Kelly’s cabin is clearly seen as well as the old Timberline Climbers Cabin which was located very near the future location of Timberline Lodge. This would place the event near what I found to be the best possible chance to be a documented filming of a movie around Mount Hood. A silent movie filmed in 1917 called “A Nugget in The Rough”.
The subject of this movie seems to be about gold miners. There seems to be a scene with gold panners with a sluice filmed on the slopes of Mount Hood. There’s also a scene where it appears that the miners are protecting their claim with rifles. After I acquired the photos I found out there were other scenes to this set that appear to have been filmed in Portland at a constructed set with a primitive town, log buildings etc. The town scenes appear to depict the activities of miners when they’re in town to spending their earnings, including saloon scenes and a group of “painted ladies”.
I thought that these photos would be great to own, but now that I have acquired them I’m a bit saddened that the group was broken up and separated. These are historically significant images depicting very early movie making in Oregon. Perhaps one of the first Oregon Silent Movie films made in Oregon.
This list of films shot in the U.S. state of Oregon are listed first by region, and then
… The first documented film made in Oregon was a short silent film titled The …
This is an old privately made Real Photo Postcard of a crew of three friends taking a break from hiking or climbing on Mount Hood.
The writing on the front reads: “Crater Rock Mt Hood – Steaming Rocks – August 22nd, 1906”. Climbing Mount Hood has always been a popular sport with tourists over the last 100 years. Although Crater Rock is not the summit of the mountain it’s a healthy hike above Timberline to get to that location.
This photo was taken in the summertime when climbing Mount Hood is the most dangerous so it’s most likely that this group didn’t make it to the top.
Oliver C. Yocum, Mount Hood Photographer – I love Mount Hood, history and photography, and when I can bring all three together in one place I’m happy. Loyal readers of my blog may remember the article that I wrote about Jennie Welch and her photography and its importance to the history of Welches and the Mount Hood area. Before Jennie Welch took her first photo another Mount Hood icon, Oliver C. Yocum, was bringing cutting edge photography technology that would eventually allow consumers, such as Jennie, an easier method to create their own photos to the Pacific Northwest.
Oliver C. Yocum, known to everyone as “OC”, came to Oregon in a wagon on the old Oregon Trail as a five year old child with his parents in 1847 and by the time that his life ended became a legend indelibly etched into the history of Mount Hood. His family settled in Yamhill County where he spent his childhood working on the family farm and odd jobs in between. By the time he was 17 he had worked as a clerk in the family hotel in Lafayette, was an apprentice saddlemaker, a builder and in his spare time studied law. In time he struck out on his own. He loved Shakespearean novels and travelled mining camps with a troupe reenacting the plays on a portable stage for the miners.
He eventually made it back to Lafayette where he met Ann Robertson, herself an Oregon Trail immigrant who travelled to Oregon as a two year old, and they were married. OC did some building, cabinet making and grain buying before the couple moved to Portland in 1881 where OC became a photograph printer and eventually a professional photographer.
Photography, back in the old days, was a messy and complicated procedure. It required a glass photo plate to be prepared with chemicals, exposed and developed all within a 15 minute period of time and required a portable darkroom in the form of a tent if you were taking photos in the outdoors. This form of photography was called wet plate photography. But in 1871 a process called dry plate was invented and by 1879 factories were being made to manufacture glass dry plates. Oliver Yocum was the first person in Oregon and, perhaps, the Pacific Northwest to manufacture dry plates. Dry plates were portable and able to expose the photo quicker allowing for hand held photos and were able to be stored for a time after the photo was made before it needed to be developed. This allowed more people to be able to enjoy photography and even though the cameras were still rather bulky, they allowed folks to carry their cameras into the outdoors.
In 1883 Oliver C. Yocum climbed Mount Hood for the first time. During the trip he carried a large 8” x 10” wooden camera and all of it’s accessories weighing close to 50 pounds. It was on this trip that the first photos taken on the summit of Mount Hood were made. It was also on this trip that Yocum fell in love with the countryside on the south side of Mount Hood.
For several seasons Yocum did photography in Portland during the Winter and came to Government Camp in the Summer. He took every opportunity to climb the mountain. In 1887 he was a member of the party that illuminated the summit and was one of the founding members of the Portland climbing club, the Mazamas, in 1894. He guided people to the top of Mount Hood until he turned 67 years old.
In his quest to spend time outdoors in clean air, due to “pulmonary problems” caused by smoky air in Portland, and no doubt the chemicals from the photography process, he changed his occupation to surveyor and in 1890 Yocum moved to Mount Hood, homesteaded, operated a sawmill and started guiding people to the top of Mount Hood. In 1900 he built the first hotel in the town that was named Government Camp.
Oliver lived on Mount Hood until 1911 when he sold most of his holdings in Government Camp and moved back to Portland where he decided to study dentistry and accepted a position at the North Pacific Dental College. He was 69 years old at that point and had sold most of the business to the soon to become legendary Lige Coalman, including the hotel.
OC lived a long and varied life and will forever be associated with the history of Mount Hood, but will also be a part of Mount Hood’s photographic history. OC died in 1928 and was followed into eternity by his wife Ann two years later. Although his legacy rarely mentions his contributions to photography, his name will be preserved in some of the geographic locations on and around Mount Hood. Yocum Ridge, a very challenging ridge on the southeastern side of the mountain was named for him as well as the picturesque waterfall on Camp Creek, Yocum Falls.
Yocum Falls, is a waterfall located in the heart of the Mount Hood National Forest,
… the west slope of Mount Hood, comes from businessman Oliver C. Yocum.
The Summit of Mt. Hood circa 1915 – This is a “Magic Lantern” slide from my collection. It shows a climber standing on the top of Mount Hood with the old Summit House fire lookout station built by the legendary mountain man Lige Coalman.
All of the lumber was carried up the mountain by hand, with Lige doing most of the carrying. Lige found it difficult to find men who would work as hard as him. Most of those whom he hired lasted only a day or two before quitting. Once the building was built Lige routinely carried barrels of heating oil and other supplies to the lookout.
This structure was built in the Summer of 1915. By 1941 it had deteriorated to bad that it was pushed over the edge.
Standing on the summit of Mt. Hood, the highest point in Oregon at 11,250 feet, is
a lifelong dream for many aspiring mountaineers. The Mazamas have been …
Not as well know as some of her contemporaries, Jennie Welch deserves to be remembered as one of Mt Hood’s early Photographers. We’re all photographers in the 21st century. In 2018, the day of cell phones and their cameras, we hardly think about it when we pull out the phone to get a photo of friends, family and places that we visit. A hundred years ago it wasn’t so easy. Back then cameras were bulky and film was inconvenient. Not all photos turned out and you didn’t know what results that you would end up with for a long time while your film was away being developed, if you didn’t develop your own. But, of course, there enthusiasts.
There were photographers that ranged from full fledged professionals to home hobbyists with their own darkrooms. Most professional photographers provided services to those who didn’t have their own photography gear. They would travel and offer their services, sometimes door to door. They would photograph anything from individual portraits to family groups. Even photos of prize possessions such as their home, pets or a brand new automobile.
At the early part of the 20th century postcards were a big deal. Many people would order a set of the photos printed as a postcard to provide a way to send a photo to a friend or a family member that lived away.
Many of these same photographers provided photo postcards to souvenir shops of local iconic landmarks frequented by tourists. Afterall it was easier to just buy some picture postcards than it was to fuss with a camera and the subsequent rolls of film.
Some of these photographers made a name for themselves that has endured through the years but some of them were a little bit obscure. Some churned out massive amounts of these photo postcards while others only made enough to sell in their own roadhouse gift shops or country stores. Billy Welch’s Hotel was no exception.
Back in 1905 the Welches post office was established at Billy’s Ranch with Billy as postmaster. Billy married Jennie Faubion, the daughter of Oregon Trail pioneers and local homesteaders, and in 1940 became the Welches postmaster. Jennie was the Welches postmaster until 1960. Jennie Welch loved antiques and enjoyed collecting daguerreotype, ambrotype and tintype examples of early photography. It’s obvious that Jennie enjoyed photography.
Most people who remember Jennie remember her primary passion being antiques, but what a lot of people don’t know is that Jennie Welch was also one of the first local photographers of her day. She took photos and most likely had someone else develop them and apply them to a postcard backs to be sold to tourists in the Welches Store and Post Office. They’re quite rare as she didn’t make volumes of them like some of the other pro photographers did and they’re hard to take notice of when you see one, but every now and then one is recognized by the keen eyed postcard collector.
Although not recognized as such, Jennie Welch should be included in the list of early 20th century female photographers. Her photos capture the history and beauty of the Welches. Without her photos many early scenes would be lost with the passing of time.
Today her photos are considered rare and collectable. Gone or the days of pictures postcards and travelling photography salesmen but thankfully their work lives on. Jennie Welch – Mt Hood Photographer
