4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JUNE 14, 2017
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History: Patron saint of bike commutes
I
n recent
years,
For The Sentinel
bicycle
commut-
ing has had something of a resurgence in Oregon.
That’s especially true in urban areas, where you’ll
see these hard-bodied, Lycra-clad road warriors
out in all kinds of crazy weather, jockeying for
position with larger vehicles in traffi c and trying
not to get run over by inattentive motorists.
Proud of their weekly mileage though these
hard-core commuters are, few of them can hold a
candle to the ninth governor of the state of Oregon
– who bested all but an elite handful of them using
a heavy steel “safety bicycle” in the twilight years
of the 19th century.
T.T. (Theodore Thurston) Geer was the fi rst Or-
egon governor to have actually been born in the
state. He served from 1899 to 1903; before that,
he was a state representative and a Presidential
elector. So, it’s safe to say he spent a great deal of
time in Salem.
Which was something of a challenge for him,
since he actually lived 10 miles outside Salem, on
a farm in the Waldo Hills near the unincorporated
hamlet of Macleay.
Most legislators and other state politicians
solved dilemmas like this by taking a small pied-
a-terre in the capitol city, from which they would
journey home on weekends. Some of the more
determined commuted each day with a horse and
buggy, or rode horseback.
As for Geer, when the roads were dry enough,
he made his commute most days by bicycle.
Geer was an enthusiastic participant in the
1890s bicycle craze that broke out after the “safe-
ty bicycle” was invented and came into wide-
spread use. The “safety bicycle” is essentially the
same design used today – two smallish wheels,
one driven with a chain. These were called “safe-
ty bicycles” for a reason: they were far less like-
ly to kill you than earlier variants, especially the
By Finn JD John
high-wheeled “ordinary bicycles” of a few years
before.
“Ordinary bicycles” (sometimes called pen-
ny-farthings) commonly had no brakes, be-
cause braking too fast caused the all-too-com-
mon-and-occasionally-fatal accident known as a
“header,” in which the rider rotated over the front
of the six-foot-tall front wheel and smashed into
the ground. Plus, just getting aboard one required
an act of gymnastic excellence beyond the skills
of most.
Geer leaped aboard the bicycling bandwagon in
June of 1898, a little late by nationwide standards;
but he had just been elected governor, so his adop-
tion of this new hobby was headline news. The
headline is one of the earliest examples of the
penchant for awful puns that newspaper copy edi-
tors and headline writers are notorious for. It read,
“GEER HAS A WHEEL.”
(“Wheel” was still common slang for “bicycle”
in 1898, because in the old penny-farthing days
bicycle riders appeared to be perching atop a sin-
gle giant wheel. By the late 1890s, the lethal pen-
ny-farthings were no longer in use, but the term
endured.)
Geer proceeded to use his “wheel” every chance
he got. But it must not have been a very good one,
because just eight months later he bought a new
one – a Rambler brand, bought from bike dealer
Fred T. Merrill of Portland.
It was this bicycle that Geer was riding on May
1, 1900, when the Ramblin’ Governor set out for
his most famous ride.
On that morning, Geer hopped on his Rambler
and pointed it northwest. He was riding not to
Salem, but all the way to Champoeg – 30 miles
distant.
“I shall never forget that beautiful ride,” Geer
wrote in his memoirs. “It was a perfect day, with
a fi rm north breeze, not a cloud in the sky; the
roads were in splendid condition, the crops were
growing splendidly, birds were singing every-
where, seeming to be in harmony with Nature’s
glad mood.”
Geer rode north, probably following Howell
Prairie Road, to Gervais and on from there to
“Woodburn, the ‘Metropolis of French Prairie,’
railroad junction and all-around pushing town.”
At Hubbard he turned off to the west, and a few
hours later arrived at Champoeg.
Geer was on a mission for the newly chartered
Oregon Historical Society. He planned to meet
up with the Society’s secretary, George Himes, to
fi nd and mark the exact location where, 57 years
earlier, a group of Oregon residents had voted 52-
50 to form a provisional government for the Ore-
gon Territory – the step that had led to the territory
joining the United States rather than Canada.
Helping them in this quest would be the last
surviving member of the group, François X. Mat-
thieu. Matthieu, in fact, had played a key part
in that decision, having successfully convinced
a fellow French-Canadian to come over to the
American side, with the result that the vote was
50-52 rather than a 51-51 deadlock.
Upon arriving at Matthieu’s farm, Geer found
that Himes was there, and had brought along a
Portland photographer to document the occasion;
but Matthieu, having forgotten the appointment,
had hopped a train to Portland to run some er-
rands.
A long-distance telephone call ensued, and
soon Matthieu was on his way back to Champoeg.
While Geer and Himes waited for their host,
Himes suggested that they play a game of Horse-
shoes.
“This was agreed to, with the declaration on the
part of each that he hadn’t pitched a horseshoe for
more than 20 years,” Geer recalled. “But I soon
afterward had reason to suspect that (Himes) …
had forgotten his dates.”
Himes was a strict Congregationalist, so it’s un-
likely that any bets were placed. But if they had
been, Geer would have been cleaned out. Himes,
it seemed, was something of a horseshoe shark.
Finally, after more than an hour of repeatedly
having his head handed to him, Geer gave up on
the game and went to join the ladies of the house
on the porch. There, he made the mistake of com-
menting that the lawn needed to be mowed.
“I was at once informed that a very good
lawn-mower was in the woodshed!” Geer re-
called. “Game to the last, I expressed my undying
fondness for pushing a lawn-mower – that, in fact,
it was one of my particular pleasures in life; and
to prove my sincerity, I mowed something like a
half-acre of heavy blue-grass during the next hour
and a half, much to the enjoyment of the demon
Himes.”
Geer does not say so, but one assumes he slept
well and soundly that night.
The next morning, he joined Himes, Matthieu
and the photographer on the bank of the river, at
the spot where the state government of Oregon
was born. Matthieu having pointed out the spot,
the governor of Oregon borrowed an ax from
a nearby neighbor and used it to chop down a
six-inch-thick Garry Oak tree. He then chopped
through its trunk again to form a heavy stake.
Then he handed over the ax to Matthieu and held
it while the old ex-Frenchman struck the fi rst
blow. The three of them then took turns pounding
on it until it was fi rmly wedged into the ground.
This done, the governor climbed aboard his
Rambler and set out southward, heading back to
Salem and home. Was he at least a little sore when
he arrived, after so much exertion? The record is
silent on that score.
The following January, the Legislature ap-
proved an appropriation to install a monument on
the site, replacing the stake. It remains there to
this day – although to look at it, it’s hard to avoid
the suspicion that whoever designed it was root-
ing for the British side in that 1843 meeting; it
resembles nothing so much as a tombstone.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
OP&E enthusiast
Remember Oregon Pacifi c & Eastern Engine No. One
that was donated to the City of Cottage Grove in the
late 1950’s and was placed in Coiner Park for a while,
then went to the ill-fated Railroad Museum at the Vil-
lage Green, then was GIVEN to Fred Kepner of Mer-
rill, Oregon.
There are three other steam locomotives with OP&E
#1, and they look as bad or worse! Mr. Kepner does
not care about maintaining them. Also, I believe one of
his other steam locomotives is in a fi eld around Dorena
Lake.
Also, remember Coos Bay Logging Co. #10, that was
owned by Fred Hicks and donated to a group who had
promised to repair and restore it… in 1988?? It was in
front of the OP&E shop?
Well, it was the same sad story… the group had NO
funding to do the restoration, the “in-fi ghting” began
between the group’s members, parts of the engine were
lost or stolen, and fi nally the property owner said:
“Move it, restore it, … or I scrap it!”
The group disappeared, nobody else was interested, and
Coos Bay Lumber #10 was scrapped. I am sure if Fred
Hicks were alive today, he would not be at all pleased
with the fate of the locomotive he spent his hard-earned
money on in hopes of preserving it for future genera-
tions.
The same would apply to the City of Cottage Grove.
They can get grants to restore the Chambers Bridge,
but they couldn’t take care of OP&E #1!!!
Very truly yours,
Steven W. Coons
Yoncalla, OR
School district
Adults are supposed to set the right example for young
people. What did the students in South Lane School
District learn this spring?
Perhaps the School District should consider a code of
conduct, and the Golden Rule and the Ten Command-
ments would certainly be a good starting point.
Janetta Overholser
Cottage Grove, OR
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