The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Tree of Mystery
We were pleased to have a museum visit from
KGW-TV’s Grant McComie who was producing a
segment about the Banks-Vernonia Trail for one of
his Grant’s Getaways programs. He spent an hour
interviewing the museum board and then had his
accompanying cameraman film a live interview. One
of the photographs from our collection chosen for
filming was a framed newspaper clipping of two men
in early day logger attire lying across the undercut of an
enormous tree. Two other men holding long axes stand
on opposite sides of the cut. The caption reads “Men
stand before a giant Doulas Fir, measuring 22 feet in
diameter, taken from Deer Island,” but we didn’t refer
to that during the filming.
A few days after the piece first aired, we
received a call from Brian O’Brian, an Oregonian who is
exceptionally knowledgeable about Pacific Northwest
trees and is a self-described tree detective. He noticed
the picture that we held during the filming and asked
what kind of tree it was. We read him the caption, and
he questioned whether there could be a Douglas Fir that
big because the biggest ones were usually no more than
fifteen feet in diameter. Speculating that perhaps it was
a cedar, we scanned and emailed the clipping to him so
he could better see the bark and heartwood. That led
to a series of telephone and email conversations based
on his research into this particular tree. He ultimately
found the original photograph in the Clark Kinsey online
collection at the University of Washington. The actual
identification of this tree is a giant redwood harvested in
Humboldt County, California. The framed newspaper
photo had been clipped from what we presume was a
St. Helens newspaper in the 1970s. Was this a hoax or
misinformation? Perhaps one of our patrons will let us
know. Meanwhile, we are grateful to Mr. O’Brian for
his research and will append a correction to the caption.
If you missed the Grant McComie segment on
television that aired on March 15th, you can still see
“Rolling through History” online at http://www.kgw.
com/lifestyle/grants-getaways.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell was a long-time resident whose
family had a farm in the Upper Nehalem Valley between
Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906 until 1955,
he kept a regular diary of his activities. We recently
read a clipping of a Vernonia Eagle interview with his
widow, Inez, in the 1960s in which she recalled that
they were the first to own a car in the Upper Nehalem
Valley in 1915. Virgil’s diary shows the purchase was
actually made on April 4, 1916. A few of the other early
1916 entries indicate that he had been thinking about an
automobile for some time, but when he visited a friend
in Portland who took him driving, that apparently
clinched it. It’s unclear who actually owned the car
and who did the driving before he had his first lesson.
Entries following the purchase show Virgil busy with
automobile maintenance and confirm what Inez stated
in the interview - he enjoyed taking people for rides on
the primitive roads of that time.
Tuesday, April 4, 1916: Bought a Ford car
at Clatskanie first thing in morning and got
in other words
april17
2014
7
Sunday, April 23: We all went up to
Smiths and spent the day. Went up to
Kist for a ride in afternoon. Got stuck in
a mud hole 2 1 / 2 miles below here in morning.
Wednesday, April 5: We all went down Cloudy all day and pretty cold. Got back
to Petersons in the Ford. Took my first home about 5:30 P.M.
lesson at driving and drove nearly all the
way home. Cloudy most all day. Got home Wednesday, April 26: Left 8:30 A.M. for
about 2 P.M.
Clatskanie in the Ford and got there at
11:15. Got home 6 P.M. Fair in forenoon
Thursday, April 6: Went up to Pittsburg but rained considerable in afternoon.
to look after the cattle and sheep first
thing in morning. Also fixed some fence. The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is located at E. 511
Worked on the road up in the woods for Bridge Street and is open from 1 to 4 pm on Saturdays
a while in afternoon. Went up to Vernonia and Sundays (excluding holidays) all year. From
about 3 P.M. I drove nearly all the way. June through mid-September, the museum is also open
on Fridays from 1 – 4 pm. There is no charge for
Fine bright day.
over home about 2 P.M. Went up to Vernonia
after the mail after we got home. Rained a
very little all day.
Saturday, April 8: Disc harrowed till
noon. Hauled up some wood and washed
the automobile in afternoon. Cloudy most
all day and looks very much like rain. Was
up to Pittsburg late in evening to look after
the stock.
Saturday, April 15: Worked at putting up
auto house all day and got it pretty well
along. Bright and fine all day.
Sunday, April 16: Washed the
auto first thing in forenoon.
Bend & Wilda came down. Went
for a ride at 2:15 up as far
as Weeds. Cloudy most all day
and rained late in evening.
Monday, April 17: Went up to
Detrick place and hauled down
shakes for the garage. Worked
at putting roof on in afternoon.
Rained considerable all day.
Terry’s
Gym
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