Located along U.S. Highway 26, Sandy, Oregon is the last major town before reaching Mount Hood. It serves as a gateway for travelers heading to ski resorts, hiking trails, and high country lakes. The town is small but active, with a population of about 13,000 and a long history of logging, farming, and outdoor tourism. Sandy is also a center of community life for nearby rural towns like Brightwood, Welches, and Rhododendron.
At the very peak of Mount Hood once stood a fire lookout cabin — perched above the clouds and held together by grit, timber, and the legendary efforts of Elijah “Lige” Coalman. But in the summer of 1932, Summit the cat on Mount Hood became part of that story
In the 1920s and ’30s, tourists came to Mount Hood for snow, scenery, and rustic lodging. But for a short time, they also came to see the Government Camp bears.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking with old-timers and the family members of folks who’ve lived up here in the Mountain Community for years. In one or two conversations, I’d heard tell of a woman who gained local notoriety for killing a bear that invaded her space with a garden hoe.
Henry Steiner was known throughout the Mount Hood region as a master builder of log homes. He and his wife, Mollie, raised their family in Brightwood, where Henry built dozens of rustic cabins that still stand today.
