After completing the scenery for the Marquam Theatre in Portland, Thomas G. Moses, Howard Tuttle, and Ed Loitz tackled two other painting projects, one in Spokane Falls and one in Corvallis. Loitz went to paint in Spokane Falls, while Moses and Tuttle traveled to Corvallis, Oregon.
Corvallis is eighty miles from Portland and fifty miles from the Oregon Coast. Originally called Marysville, the town was renamed Corvallis to avoid any confusion with Marysville, California. Corvallis derived from a Latin word meaning “heart of the valley.” The first settlers arrived in the early 1840s. This was after devastating outbreaks of malaria depleted most of the Native American population – the Kalapuya – between 1830 and 1833. A flood of immigrants arrived in the area and established their homes along the west side of the Williamette River. Throughout the 1850s the town continued to grow and even briefly served Oregon’s territorial capitol during 1855.
Between 1860 and 1900, the Corvallis’ population dramatically increased from 531 to 1819 inhabitants. A steady stream of steamboat traffic brought both people and products to this remote area. By 1873 the Army Corp of Engineers completed a canal and locks at Williamette Falls that enabled a variety of goods to pass up and down the river without having to portage any items over the falls.
The railroad also arrived in Corvallis by 1880, encouraged by merchants who sought to provide competition with the river transportation.
Moses’ project in Corvallis was to paint scenery for a small hall. Although he doesn’t mention the name of the venue, it is likely that his work was for one of the recently constructed college halls. Dramatic productions in Corvallis began at the Oregon Agricultural College in the 1890. The first standard theatre did not appear in Corvallis until 1913, so there was at least one stage somewhere else in the town.
Tuttle and Moses checked into an unnamed hotel for the duration of their stay in 1890. Moses recorded that there were cake dishes filled with candy on each of the dining room tables. Whether the tablecloth was linen, cotton, or oilcloth, each table had a dish of candy that never seemed to diminish. Moses wrote, “One day Tuttle and I took all the candy at the table (as no one ever ate it) and gave it to the children on the street. We found the dishes filled up again at night.” This story just warmed my heart as I can see the two artists distributing treats to local children. I have to wonder if those working at the hotel made the connection.
Nearing the end of their stay at the hotel, a salesman was also checking out and handed his luggage to a porter. The porter put the salesman’s trunk onto a wheelbarrow and trotted it down to the steamboat. As the bank of the river was so high, a long chute had been constructed to get the baggage down onto the boat. The porter dumped the trunk into the chute; it bounced off to one side and went directly into the river. The poor salesman had to stay in town an additional three days to dry all of his products. This story made me laugh as it must have been a sight to see – impressive enough for Moses to include it in his typed manuscript.
During the time of Moses’ visit in 1890, another artist was gaining recognition in Corvallis. In 1889 Emile F. Pernot and his brother Eugene, started a photography business. They taught both photography and art classes at Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis. There are a number of Pernot’s photographs that date from 1893-1895 when he recorded the interiors of many establishments, especially the college halls. It is possible that Moses’ painting was and any early performance stages are pictured in his photographs. Unfortunately, I would have to schedule an appointment to examine Pernot’s collection at the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center. The collection is the “Emile Pernot Photographs, 1893-1895” if you happen to be in the area. Here is the link: http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids/…
To be continued…
