REGION
Saturday, August 29, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
‘The Maker’s Mark’
Film explores Monte Beckman’s saddles, sons and stories
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
When Laine Perry walked into
Monte Beckman’s saddle shop
Ior the ¿rst time 20 years ago, she
had no idea she would eventually
make a movie about the man.
Beckman then worked in
Mancos, Colorado, and Perry
lived in nearby Cortez. On that
day, she wandered into Beck-
man’s orb and hasn’t escaped his
gravitational pull since. The two
carved out a close and continuing
friendship.
“His saddle shop was the heart
of that town,” Perry remembers.
“Everyone touched down there.
All life revolved around that
saddle shop.”
The cowboy artist, world class
saddle maker and yarn teller
regularly mesmerizes people with
tales such as one about the trout
that took a bullet for him. He
explains how he learned to make
sushi by saying his grandfather
had gotten tired of beans and
biscuits on a cattle drive and sent
the lad to town for a sous chef. He
mistakenly returned with a sushi
chef who taught the boy all his
secrets.
Perry eventually felt compelled
to document the saddlemaker’s
life journey. The result is a
feature-length
documentary
called “The Maker’s Mark.”
Though the ¿lm has several more
weeks of production, the trailer
has had almost a thousand views.
Perry, who began working in
the ¿lm industry seven years ago
as a production designer, said her
friend had continued to fascinate
her over the years. The saddle-
maker had eventually returned to
Pendleton, where he once worked,
to set up shop. Perry kept in touch
with Beckman from Los Angeles
and later from Seattle where she
now lives.
The idea for the documentary
“The film is about
a man in full with
his flaws and his
brilliance. That’s just
something worth
investigating and it
always will be.”
— Lain Perry, film director
Contributed photo
Saddlemaker Monte Beckman and director Laine Perry chat on
location during shooting of “The Maker’s Mark” just outside
Pendleton.
germinated over beers at the
Rainbow Café during a visit
to Pendleton to see Beckman.
During lunch with him and Mike
(Red) Wallis, she suggested the
idea of a reality show featuring
Beckman and his ¿ve sons. The
idea evolved into a documentary.
Bill Dochnahl, of Pendleton, later
agreed to ¿nance the project.
During ¿lming, cameras rolled
in Beckman’s shop and in locales
all around the area, including
the Rainbow. Perry said crew
members, some who traveled
from Los Angeles, found stunning
landscapes to ¿lm.
“Pendleton is a beautiful
place and we got some amazing
footage,” she said. “We had to
learn not to get carried away with
all the beauty shots and keep
coming back to the story.”
The story encompasses Beck-
man’s journey as a saddlemaker,
but also tells of a father whose
¿ve sons ² -ared, Levi, Walker,
Dale and ,saac ² come back into
his life as young men to help him
get back on his feet after Beck-
man’s stroke four years ago. The
saddlemaker faced many months
of therapy before he could ease
back into his life as a leather
carver.
“They were all there helping
me get going again,” Beckman
said this week. “Every one of
them stepped up.”
Isaac, 36, stayed on to learn
the trade, something his father
now calls “the joy of my life.”
Tragically, his oldest son, -ared,
died during the year of ¿lming.
“This is a story of Monte and
all of the good things he’s made,”
Perry said. “Those are his sons,
his saddles and his stories.”
Perry said she has been a
movie buff ever since seeing
“Dirty Harry” about 40 years ago
at a drive-in movie theater with
her mom. She has written four
scripts, but “The Maker’s Mark”
is the ¿rst she has shepherded
to near-completion. Another,
“The Trouble with Doubt,” will
start ¿lming soon in Athena and
Helix. The good-versus-evil story
centers on a ¿ve-year-old boy
who is on the run with his mom
and his alter ego, a four-foot blue
bunny. He sleeps each night in the
trunk of his mother’s muscle car.
“The Maker’s Mark,” she
said, is unscripted and genuine.
Perry marveled at one session
between Beckham and Pendleton
plumber -im Hainey, a good
friend of Beckman’s who served
as producer and interviewer. The
two friends, she said, sat inside a
wall tent and exchanged memo-
ries, yarns and guffaws.
“We shared a splash of
whiskey and told stories,” said
Hainey. “It was a conversation
among friends.”
Hainey describes Beckman as
a humble wisecracker. “You can
tell when the grin starts, this is
going to be a doozy,” he said.
Hainey said Beckman makes
such exquisite saddles, yes,
because he is talented, but also
because he grew up in the cowboy
Sesquicentennial farms honored at state fair
Three located in
Umatilla County
Another short agenda for
Pendleton City Council
East Oregonian
The Pendleton City
Council will make its only
September meeting a short
go.
The only discussion
item scheduled for Tues-
day’s meeting is a local
improvement district for
the Pendleton Heights
subdivision off Tutuilla
Road.
Under an agreement
with
the
developer,
the city will cover the
$296,000 for infrastruc-
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The original 1840s farm-
house still stands at -ames
Monroe Hemphill Farm
south of Pendleton, used now
for storage rather than a home
that raised nine children on
the rural Oregon countryside.
Since 1865, the Hemphill
family has farmed this
800-acre homestead along
Birch Creek. Colin Hemphill,
34, is the ¿fth-generation
farm manager, growing 650
acres of wheat and raising 30
head of cows.
“I could never think of
myself doing anything else,”
he said.
Farming has changed
signi¿cantly over the last
150 years, but the Hemphill
farm remains a family legacy.
The Oregon Century Farm &
lifestyle. He started building
saddles on his back porch in 1980
and sold his ¿rst to a dentist for
work on one of his sons’ teeth. In
any case, he knows what it feels
like to sit in a saddle for hours on
end.
“He’s walked the walk,”
Hainey said.
Another conversation in the
¿lm, this one between Beckman
and three of sons, brought Perry
to tears.
“I walked outside, leaned
against the wall of the saddle
shop and cried,” she said. She told
Dochnahl, who was concerned,
“That was so beautiful. You can’t
as a ¿lmmaker dream of getting
that kind of genuine feeling.”
Beckman recently saw the
movie’s trailer and couldn’t resist
a wisecrack.
“I was really shocked that she
was able to get Brad Pitt to be my
stand-in double,” Beckman said.
Beckman admitted initial
skepticism about the project.
“I thought it could be a massive
waste of ¿lm,” he said. “I was
surprised when she showed up
with a ¿lm crew and said, µWe’re
here.’ I thought, µDamn, she’s
serious.’”
Perry is de¿nitely serious.
“The ¿lm is about a man in full
with his Àaws and his brilliance,”
Perry said. “That’s just something
worth investigating and it always
will be.”
Perry said she is glad she didn’t
wait any longer to make the ¿lm.
Beckham recently downsized,
moving the business and saddle
school out of his Main Street shop
and into home.
Showings of “The Maker’s
Mark” are scheduled for 8 p.m.
and 9:30 p.m., Oct. 9, at the Prod-
igal Son. Seating is limited.
²²²
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or
call 541-966-0810.
Photo contributed by EmmaLee Demianew
The Hemphill family stands in front of their original farmhouse south of Pendleton.
From top left: Lacey and Colin Hemphill; Chuck and Dinah Hemphill; and EmmaLee
and Chris Demianew. Bottom left: RyLee Demianew, Callen Hemphill, Katelyn Demi-
anew and Seely Hemphill.
Century Ranch Program will
honor the Hemphills, along
with two other Umatilla
County farms, celebrating
Staff photo by George Plaven
The original homestead still stands today at James
Monroe Hemphill Farm on Highway 395 between
Pendleton and Pilot Rock, and is considered one of the
county’s oldest buildings.
W ar on All Fronts: Oregonians
Rem em ber the Second W orld W ar
• New book launch featuring reminiscences of
Umatilla County residents
• Col. John Turner discusses “The World Perspective
Seventy Years Later” on eve of V-J Day
• Books for sale, refreshments, and popular songs
from WWII
their sesquicentennial during
an event Saturday at the
Oregon State Fair in Salem.
-. Adams Ranches, of
Adams, and AB Lieuallen
Century Ranches, of Athena,
have also reached the
150-year mark under contin-
uous family ownership.
The Hemphill farm was
established by -ames Monroe
Hemphill and his wife, Eliza-
beth, in 1865. -ames Monroe
was born in New Hampshire
and initially came west to
California during the 1849
Gold Rush.
The Hemphills married
in Stockton, California, and
came immediately to Oregon.
They began raising sheep and
sold chickens for $1 each to
miners in the nearby ghost
town of Granite.
Chuck Hemphill, 70, is the
fourth-generation farmer and
Colin’s father. He has since
retired, but still lives near the
farm with his wife, Dinah.
“To us, it’s worth more
than a farm because it’s our
family’s history,” Chuck
Hemphill said.
Oregon Century and
Sesquicentennial Farms will
be honored at 11 a.m. at
the state fair, in the Garden
Tent on the west side of the
fairgrounds. Oregon now has
1,175 Century Farms and
33 Sesquicentennial Farms
statewide.
²²²
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
ture and road upgrades,
which the developer will
pay back.
The upgrades will
eventually service phase
two and three of the
development, which will
add 28 units to the 22-unit
subdivision.
The council canceled its
Sept. 15 meeting because of
its conÀict with Round-Up
week.
The meeting will be held
at the council chambers in
city hall, 500 S.W. Dorion
Avenue, at 7 p.m.
BREASTFEEDING CLASSES
One class covers breastfeeding benefits,
pumping and much more. Come to this
FREE class taught by a certified lactation
consultant, and learn techniques that
make for a successful experience.
Free, but please pre-register.
September 2
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
GSMC Conference Center 3 & 4
EARLY PREGNANCY
One FREE class focusing on the first six
months of pregnancy. Healthcare professional
speakers will provide presentations on topics
that include medication use, exercise, diet,
breastfeeding and many other helpful
subjects. Free, but please pre-register.
September 24 • 6:30-8:30pm
GSMC Conference Room Center 2
BIRTHING CLASSES
Two-day course to prepare each
mother and birth partner for a
knowledgeable, rewarding and
sharing childbirth experience.
September 25 & 26
Friday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm,
Saturday: 9:30 am - 3 pm
GSMC Conference Room
BABYSITTING BASICS 101
For babysitters ages 10-15. Learn
childcare techniques, children's
developmental ages and what to expect,
basic first aid and infant and child CPR.
Sept. 12 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
GSMC Conference Room
$30 - includes lunch & all class
materials. Must pre-register & pre-pay.
Terrific Tuesday – September 1 – Free Admission
7:00 pm at Heritage Station Museum
Call Heritage Station
Museum at
541-276-0012
for information
For information or to register for a class,
call (541) 667-3509 or email healthinfo@gshealth.org