MOVIES
Thursday, april 8, 2021 • ThE BullETiN
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 21
Museum prepares for exhibit highlighting
movies filmed in Central Oregon
BY MAKENZIE WHITTLE • The Bulletin
F
rom the explosive slopes of pre-1980 Mount St. Helens to the Black Forest of Germany, to Wild West locales and dystopian landscapes, Central Oregon has
been a backdrop for the silver screen for more than 70 years. Movie nerds soon can learn all about it with the Deschutes Historical Museum’s new ongoing
exhibit on those films. And while we may be known for our hiking, skiing, beer, weather and even dogs, we’re not really known for the movies that were
filmed here.
“We’re like the B-movie capital of the
world!” joked Rebekah Averette, collections
manager at the Deschutes Historical Mu-
seum as she and executive director Kelly
Cannon-Miller worked to complete the new
exhibit last week. Their hope is to have it up
and running in another week.
“We’ve been really focusing on bring-
ing stories from the second half of the 20th
century to life,” said Cannon-Miller. “A lot
of people know the story of the mills, they
know the story of the forest, but there are
all kinds of interesting things that have hap-
pened over time here and... there are some
associations with the movie industry that
have kind of become urban legend.”
Filmed in Central Oregon
“Canyon Passage” (1945)
“Golden Earrings” (1946)
“The Indian Fighter” (1955)
“The Oregon Passage” (1957)
“Tonka” later renamed “A Horse Called
Comanche” (1958)
“Day of the Outlaw” (1959)
“Have Gun Will Travel” (1959)
“The Incredible Journey” (1963)
“Mara of the Wilderness” (1965)
“The Way West” (1966)
“American Wilderness” (1971), documentary
“Island at the Top of the World” (1973)
“The Apple Dumpling Gang” (1974)
“Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot” (1976)
“Rooster Cogburn” (1974)
“Three Warriors” (1976)
“Hot Lead & Cold Feet” (1977)
“How the West Was Won” (1978) mini-series
“St. Helens” (1981)
“Up the Creek” (1982)
“Love at Large” (1989)
“Grand Tour” later renamed “Timescape”
(1990)
“Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey”
(1991)
“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” (1992)
“The Postman” (1997)
“Swordfish” (2001)
“Into the Wild” (2007)
“Management” (2008)
“The Wait” (2013)
“Wild” (2014)
LEGENDS
Fort Benham was not a real fort. It was
constructed for “The Indian Fighter” star-
ring Kirk Douglas, and according to Can-
non-Miller, there are still some who think it
was a real Native American or old military
camp.
According to a 1993 article from “Cas-
cades East,” the actor’s production company,
Byrna Productions, wanted to build a more
permanent set for future films to be shot at.
The company along with the Bend Cham-
ber of Commerce put money into the con-
struction of the log fort built near Benham
Falls.
Brooks-Scanlon and Lelco lumber mills
provided the wood, local workers were hired
to build it and $30,000 later, the movie fort
was standing.
“It did get used periodically over the next
10 years,” said Cannon-Miller. “But it wasn’t
necessarily built for longevity.”
Eventually, the wood began to rot and
people would throw parties in it making it
a health and fire hazard. It was finally torn
down in 1963 and trees were planted over it
the site.
“This is still recent enough history that’s
routinely on things like social media you’ll
see … (people posting) ‘I ran into John
Wayne at Bi-Mart! We ran into Kevin Cost-
ner!’” said Cannon-Miller, adding that she
is “really sad” she doesn’t get many stories
Makenzie Whittle/The Bulletin
Rebekah Averette looks at a poster for “Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot” (1976).
Share your story
If you were involved in a movie production
filmed in Central Oregon or have photos or
props, the Deschutes Historical Museum
wants to hear from you!
Email your story to info@deschuteshistory.org
to share your piece of history.
about Don Knotts or Tim Conway from
when they were in the area filming “The
Apple Dumpling Gang,” released in 1975.
PERSONAL STORIES
The bulk of the exhibit lay in posters and
lobby cards acquired by the museum as well
as photographs and stories in its collections
and ones passed on from community mem-
bers.
“We have a lot of volunteers and people in
the community that we meet here that were
extras in the movie, or worked in The Pine
Tavern when Katharine Hepburn and John
Wayne were in there,” said Averette, “Every-
body seems to have some sort of story.”
The museum itself even has its own 15
minutes — or 15 seconds — of fame, said
Cannon-Miller.
“At the beginning of the really bad movie,
‘Up the Creek,’ which wanted to be like ‘Ani-
mal House,’” she said, with Averette sarcasti-
cally adding, “It’s a real classic.”
“They used the museum for a week and
made the front look like it was a frat house,”
Cannon-Miller said. “We have some lovely
correspondence between the museum staff
and the movie crew because they didn’t
come clean up after themselves.”
Included with the letters is a green hoodie
with “Nevada State U” printed across it, a
fictional university created for the 1984 film
starring Tim Matheson. The costume piece
belongs to the museum volunteer and extra
in the film, Steve Stenkamp
The exhibit also features a large, metal
film projector from the Tower Theatre,
which, Averette says, was one of the inspi-
rations for the movie-themed showcase be-
cause it is incredibly heavy — it was easier to
create an exhibit around it, she joked.
“Basically, we were like, how can we get
more contemporary culture into the mu-
seum,” Averette said. “It’s one of those things
where once we started talking about this a
little bit ... we had all these people come out
of the woodwork with these great stories so
it ...seems like the community has a real per-
sonal connection to a lot of these movies.”
And the museum is always looking for
more stories to add to the collection said
Cannon-Miller: “If people have photo-
graphs of themselves being extras, we would
love copies.”
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Reporter: 541-383-0304, mwhittle@bendbulletin.com