Pamplin Media Group – Early automobile to Bend too large for grade in Cow Canyon

Manager of the Deschutes Phone Corporation of Bend requested the Holsman auto from Chicago in 1906

1 of the first cars to arrive in Bend was procured in Chicago in 1906 and delivered by rail to The Dalles. H.C. Ellis, manager of the Deschutes Telephone Organization of Bend requested the automobile, a Holsman, which experienced a two-cycle motor with superior wheels.

This car or truck was procured since of the substantial centers in the streets in the spots of Central Oregon serviced by the company. Some of the high centers had been the stumps of trees. The only use created of Central Oregon streets at that time was by freight wagons, stagecoaches and buggies.

After the automobile arrived in The Dalles, it was challenging to find gasoline as there was none in The Dalles. A supply was received from Goldendale, Washington, right after quite a few days. Ellis transported some of the gasoline up the line so it could be picked up in transit.

The car established considerable pleasure in The Dalles when it lugged up the Columbia to a crossing of the Deschutes River at Freebridge. There was only a single other vehicle in The Dalles at that time.

The Holsman slowly creeped up Rattlesnake Canyon from the crossing of the Deschutes to Moro. It had a hold off whilst it waited for the delivered gas to arrive. The motor vehicle reached the head of Cow Canyon after the sunshine experienced absent down. Freeway 97 now is a superior-pace freeway down the canyon, but in 1906, it was a pretty rugged wagon road.

The car moved extremely bit by bit down the slim and steep road. The driver had to decide on the “trail” by the dim illumination of the primitive headlights. The quality started to slender, and the passenger side of the auto became dented and scraped. Even though passing by way of a slim lower, the fenders have been torn from the car or truck. By the time the vehicle experienced achieved the base of the quality, the fenders were scraps of metal. The fenders ended up eradicated at Heisler Stage stop on Trout Creek. The stage cease operator retained the fenders on display for quite a few yrs to exhibit the folly of the “new-fangled contraption” in horse nation.

The car ultimately achieved Bend and was a wonder to neighborhood residents, even nevertheless it looked uncomfortable without fenders. Getting gasoline was a trouble and it experienced to be freighted in from Shaniko. Gasoline in those times ranged from 75 cents to $1 for each gallon.

The auto was employed for several a long time by Ellis and his phone crew. It was a rough introduction for the vehicle to the primitive streets of Central Oregon.