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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1958)
PAGE ? : : - HEftAfcB -AND-NEWS- iffcAMATrt FALLS; OREGON SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 1958 Trail's End Is Product 01 Determination By RUTH KING Lilie the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, Trail's End Itanch in Swan Lake Valley in the deep limber is worth looking for. And it takes a bit of searching. There are no clanging trolleys M Trail's End, nor shrieking si rens, no maddening rush of the work a day world, no beckoning n - - Ail& Lil ONLY THOSE HOMEMAKERS . who have simmered soup on the back of a wood stove or have taken golden brown baking powder biscuits from a generous-sized oven baked without benefit of a thermometer, will understand. Mrs. B's attachment to this malleable iron range. There is no electricity at Trail's End. It is just a mile away to a power line, but wood is available for the cutting and there is no cheery popping of fir sparks from an electric stove. Tender jelly roll and toothsome poppy seed cakes, baked for. guests, were served during the photographer's visit with coffee freshly ground from whole coffee beans. . . ' " ""' I Virl'aii.,aMiiiinl.-l i&t, iikhma,inii$,,i)ti, f miMimi$itjit)ir tniiA fr--j? J THIRTY YEARS AGO when Richard von Berthelsdorf. then living in Klamath Falls. louaht ily, he drove his'car as far mmuy, ne arove nis-car as tar timber in the Upper Swan Lake the hills and there decided "this is the spot." Ther wai not enough room between the forest trees to pitch a tent, but in the years since, equipped with the barest neces sities in hand tools, Mr. and Mrs. Von Berthelsdorf have (ted this delightful spot, a mecca for many friends who neon signs nor theater marquees . . . but there is primitive wood land beauty and quiet, crackling wood fires, crickets in the mead ow, flowers and trees and bees, tin owner-built home, old Gypsy who is half coyote and half shep herd, a tiger striped kitten, and friendly folks who open the door wide to welcome guests across the new horns sits for hi as it would qo through the as it would go Valley, reached the rim of threshold. - Owners of Trail's End Ranch are Mr. and Mrs. Richard von Berthelsdorf. who came to Klam ath Falls from the East in 1913 and built a home, the first house in the Hot Springs addition. Rich ard von Berthelsdorf built much of this structure himself. It later was sold to Dr. and Mrs. M. E. Cooper. enjoy the quiet of the forest, rain that falls without lashing ' by the wind, th whiteness of snow, unmarred by civiliza tion. Pink honeysuckle, white lilacs ana' snowballs bloom in the yard and rhubarb and strawberries this spring have been irrigated with rain water from the .roof, caught in buckets by. Mrs. Von Berthelsdorf. Berthelsdorf is still lev . eling th land, using only wheelbarrow and a pick and shoveL In earlier life he had been a mining engineer and a newspaper man, getting his education in both Germany and Italy. Mr. and Mrs. von Berthelsdorf were born abroad, he in Germany, his wife Molly (Amelia) in Hun gary, to which neither, under the present Communist regime can re turn. Neither has ever been back since they arrived in America. Both are naturalized citizens of Ihis country. Both came to New York in their youth, three years apart, Molly arriving first, at the age of 15. They met and were married more than half a century ago and celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at Trail's End last August to allow all members of their family to be present for the big festivities when hundreds of friends crowded the home and grounds to wish them well. 'Actual date of their marriage was April 17. Today, the head of the family is past 80, his wife is 79. They have three children. Dr. Siegfried von Berthelsdorf, a prac ticing psychiatrist in Portland, a daughter, Lydia Colopy in Akron, Ohio and a daughter Gertrude (Gretchen) a teacher in the Port land city schools. Times wore beginning "to look like there might be trouble ahead in 1928. Von Berthelsdorf remem bcrs, and he decided to go back to the land. The family had been landholders in Germany and he well knew the benefits of living elsewhere than in a city when worm economy took a am. tie traded two lots in Klamath Falls to Alfred D. Collier for 1,000 acres of timber and brush- covered land in upper Swan Lake Valley; and in 1930 loaded his automobile with necessities and drove away to his new acres. His wife Molly remained in Klamath Falls. He drove, he says, until he Vent as far as his car could take him without tangling with the timber. lo a place where his land rose sharply toward the hills, and there he decided, was the spot upon wnicn to Duua ineir new home He had a wheelborrow, shovels, a pick ax and determination. Mrs. B. remained in Klamath Falls for two years, working, while her hus band started to clear the land and to build the first unit of their present home. . His next effort after shelter was put up, was to build a telephone line to permit him to - keep in . touch with his family for the next two years while his wife continued to work. He was then. 53 years old." None of the family friends be-, lieved the venture would be a suc- 31 KEROSENE LAMPS -- Light The Home ... - cess, some predicted failure, but the mettle of the Von Berthels dorf family was an unknown quan tity to outsiders. The gloomcastcrs erred. - The new landowner sent for. lum ber, leveled the ground wilh thous-' ands of wheelbarrows of dirt and raised the walls of their dwelling. The couple hustled to get up in the morning, and worked far into the night, piling and burning brush, building, and hauling rock for walls and foundations. They worked side by side..; They gay there is still much -work to'-be done and the routine, though at a slower pace, continues. 1 hey have during the vears com pleted a comfortable guest house. a garage and woodhouse, farm buildings, have built rock and con crete steps from level to level and planted shrubbery about the surrounding grounds. They cut their wood together with a cross cut saw and have built a terraced rock garden, 10 feet high and 80 feet long wilh rock retaining wall. Huge rocks have been rolled, shoved and boosted up planks into position without aid of any mechanical help. Some of the rocks used have been brought in the trunk of their car from Pacific beaches. - . --v A native rock fireDlace with rock chimney worms the den and the library when winter' snow drifts down. Snow frequently piles from two to 10 feet deep but snow plows now keen the winding road of Trail's End clear for traffic. There is no hot or cold water in the house and no electricity. Water is pumped by .hand from a 165-foot well. Not so lone ago it was brought to the surface with a bucket and windlass. . Molly von Berthelsdorf grinds wheat bought from neighbors in a small hand grinder to feed her young chickens who come crowding about when they hear ine mesn or gears at feeding time. For several years the owners of Trail's End raised and dressed hun dreds of birds a season and kept a lock of 1.000 laying hens, sell ing chickens and eggs lo repeat customers in town. And from this income, at the end of World War II. hundreds ol German people, left destitute after the conflict,- were helped by the Von Berthelsdorfs. A daughter Lydia. owner of the largest magazine publishing com pany in Germany, was caught in Germany while there on business. The plight of the city's citizens haunted her and she. set up a soup kitchen in a basement, feeding hun dreds of hungry men, women and (CWlnard m Page J D)
