Seems like every time I think I’m done with pre-1930 photos, I find another cache of them. This photo was taken about 1910, showing Nathan McClain on the “McKnight Place” in the Tallman area.
According to information dictated by Mom (Florence McClain) and noted on the back of this photo, identifications from the right are: Nathan McClain (standing in the feed trough), his twin grandsons Ray and Roy Warren (on the back of the horse), and a son, possibly Clyde (holding, or at least next to, the horse and colt). The people on the left side of the photo are unidentified.
As you may notice, the hooves of the horse slightly left of center (being held by the man in the bowler hat) are in frightfully bad condition. Kind of sad, really.
There is obviously a story behind this photo. I’m sure Nathan McClain didn’t wander down to the McKnight place just to give the Warren twins a ride on a horse. It kind of looks to me like these horses were being sold. But even if that is true, it doesn’t explain much.
The name “McKnight Place” (as you would imagine) refers to a family. James W. McKnight was an Oregon pioneer, and had a Donation Land Claim just south of the DLC of James Tallman (on which the Tallman community and train depot sat, hence the name). Today the south end of Red Bridge Road cuts through the McKnight DLC just before it gets to Highway 34. Presumably the “McKnight Place” was somewhere along that section of Red Bridge Road, though there is no house like the one in the background of the photo in that area today.
The 1880 census shows that James McKnight was still living in this area with his family. But by 1900, the only McKnight that appears in the census for the Tallman area is his son George. By 1910, there are no McKnights in the area, and George and his wife appear to have moved across the state to Vale.
It is unlikely this photo was taken before 1910 (the Warren twins were born in July 1908). So whoever was living on the “McKnight Place” at this time probably did not have the name “McKnight.”
The appearance of the trees in the photo (some with leaves, some without) suggest the photo was taken in early fall. In fall 1910, the twins would have been a little over two. By fall 1911, they would (of course) have been a little over three. I leave it to my readers to decide which best aligns with the apparent age of the twins in the photo.
Whatever the story behind this photo may be, it is a wonderful glimpse of rural early 20th century life in the Willamette Valley.
Such an interesting picture! More questions than answers, for sure!