Thomas G. Moses met up with Howard Tuttle in Riverside, California on November 28, 1889. Tuttle had come up to help Moses with the next few projects where they would work as a team. Tuttle had started working with Moses when Walter Burridge left Burridge, Moses & Louderback the previous year and remained with Moses when he returned to Sosman & Landis. Projects that Tuttle accompanied Moses on were in Riverside, CA, San Francisco, CA, Evansville, IN and Corvallis, OR. Tuttle would later be the scenic artist for theatre settings at the Davidson (Milwaukee, WI), the La Crosse Theatre (La Crosse, Wisconsin), Grand Opera House (Oshkosh, WI), Illinois Theatre (Rock Island, IL), Calumet Theatre (Calumet, MI), and Stone’s Theatre (Flint, MI).
During the Riverside project, Moses wrote, “I had too much to do. We worked night and day, and every evening a number of ladies would drop in from the hotel to watch us. They were very interesting – very refined – mostly from the Eastern cities. It was a pleasure to meet them.”
Moses and Tuttle stayed at the Old Glenwood Hotel. The Glenwood Hotel was started by Christopher Columbus Miller and his family, who came to Riverside in 1874. The operation included a small, cottage built hotel around the Miller home. Later additions expanded their business.
In 1880 the hotel and grounds were sold to Miller’s oldest son, Frank, who continued the business for more than twenty years. Moses noted that the Frank Miller was an the “ideal” landlord during their stay in Riverside. However, Frank Miller planned a larger hotel in 1902 and started construction of the Mission Inn on the grounds of the old Glenwood Hotel.
Miller used a stage coach, and later his brother’s fleet of automobiles, to transport visitors from the train stations. The Glenwood Hotel Stages in the 1880s made daily trips to bring passengers to Riverside from the train stations in Colton, East Riverside, and eventually downtown Riverside. The Arington Hotel on the northwest corner of Eight Street and the Glenwood Hotel on the northeast corner of Main and Seventh Streets enjoyed a rivalry trying to secure guests for their establishments. The history of Riverside is included in a publication by Steve Lech, “Riverside, 1870-1940.”
Life was finally looking up and Moses’ finances were becoming a little more stable. He wrote, “I had done very well this year, ahead of last year, so I was satisfied.” Moses recorded that he and Tuttle had a difficult time getting out of Riverside, but they were on their way by December 30, 1889, and left town with Verona Jarbeau’s company. On their way they were delayed by a washout that held them up for thirty hours. During this time, he made some sketches and “sold them on the ground.”
Moses and Tuttle then stopped for several days in San Francisco to visit with old friends, one being Bill Porter who was the scenic artist at Tivoli Theatre.
There was a great network of scenic artists across the country and many remained friends. Moses always looked up his fellow artists wherever he traveled as he never knew when he might need a helping hand on a project. After San Francisco Moses and Tuttle headed up to Tacoma for several days to sketch. Then they continued on to their next contract in Portland. In Portland they were also able to pick up a few extra projects in addition to painting for the theatre.
To be continued…