These two photos of a picnic in Sodaville have typed captions on the back giving the location and date. Otherwise I could not be nearly so precise.
Perhaps this was a Tallman community event (just guessing). In any case, I don’t recognize most of the people. Grandma Addie McClain is easy enough to spot in the left half of both photos. I presume the man to the left of her is Grandpa Arthur, but neither photo has a clear enough view of him to be sure. I believe Uncle Bernard is the left-most person in the lower photo.
There are some interesting elements in both photos: the expressions on people’s faces, the dress, the tree with all the hats hung on it. You can probably spot more.
If you recognize other people in these photos, please speak up. Likewise if you know where this location is in today’s terms. In a quick search, I was unable to spot anyplace around the current community of Sodaville that looks like this. It’s difficult to say for sure, but that almost looks like a river in the background, behind the rock wall. But the community of Sodaville as it exists today is quite some distance from the Santiam River.
Interesting that a picnic involved blankets to sit on….not the bringing of folding chairs!
I don’t see the river but I see apples in the tree. I love this slice of life, the formal clothes in such a setting. Thanks, Lloyd.
Thank you for mentioning the apples, Art. I meant to mention them, but it slipped my mind when I got down to writing.
Would it be a railroad track grade there in the back, above the rocks? Or is that just a wire of the fence?
Interesting suggestion, Timothy. I think what you’re seeing is just a string of wire on the fence. That same line is the one my eye was interpreting as the far bank of a river. But I see on close examination that it is just a wire on the fence. The lower picture shows more clearly that there are several strands of what appear to be barbed wire that are part of the fence. One strand runs across the tops of the posts. And I think there are three others between the horizontal rail of the fence and the ground. The two photos are taken from different heights above the ground. By chance the line made by the strand of wire across the tops of the posts in the lower photo lines up (or close to it) with the line made by the highest of the lower strands of wire in the upper photo. This gave me the impression that that line was in the distance in both photos. But I see now it isn’t. So there is no far bank of the river as my eyes originally interpreted it. And unless I’m misunderstanding what you are referring to, I don’t think there is a railroad grade either. But I see how it could look like that.
In one picture, it looks like Grandpa has his back to Grandma; at least it certainly looks like the back of his head as I remember it. Otherwise, I am no help.
I’m in no position to recognize the back of his head, but yes, in one photo the person I thought was Grandpa has his back to Grandma and to the camera. Thanks, Donna.