By Marie Kennedy The Mountain Times
This is the third in the series on community names in the Mount Hood corridor. We’ll take a look at some of the towns heading down the mountain, starting with Government Camp.
Government Camp
Government Camp sits at 4,000 feet elevation, to the south of Mount Hood, and is the only town within five miles of the mountain. The area was known as Government Camp as far back as 1849, when a group of U.S. Cavalry men that were headed to Fort Vancouver were ordered to take the land route, rather than floating down the Columbia River with the rest of their comrades. It was late in the season, and harsh winter weather led them to abandon their wagons and supplies. When the remnants were found in the spring, the area became known as Government Camp. Oliver Yocum, Francis Little and William Steel filed for homestead rights, and the town grew from there.
Oliver Yocum petitioned for a post office in town. After some dickering with the Postal Service over the name, he elected to call it Pompeii, after the Roman city that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. Eventually, the Postal Service decided to go with the original name though – so the town name switched back to Government Camp. There was a movement to change the name to Trillium in the early 1960s but it apparently failed miserably. There was also talk of incorporating Government Camp as recently as 2011, but residents voted it down. Today, Government Camp, or Govy, is at the heart of the mountain scene – a center for outdoor recreation.
Driving down the hill from the town of Government Camp, about 8 miles from Rhododendron, sits Laurel Hill. We buzz through it with ease these days, but pioneers and travelers struggled mightily to get themselves, the wagons, and their animals through, requiring ropes and pulleys, and impromptu anchors made from dragged trees.
Elizabeth Goltra, September 24, 1853 wrote: “This is a very rainy morning, the roads are very bad, but no time to be lost, fearful of being caught in a snowstorm, started early, cleared up a little about noon, got down Laurel Hill about dark, this is the roughest and steepest hill on the road, got down all safe by cutting and chaining a tree behind the wagon 100 ft. long.”
Rhododendron
In 1846, just east of what we now call Rhododendron, a tollgate was built for east to west travel only. Upon arrival, weary travelers would have just gotten their wagons, passengers and animals down the 60 percent grade at Laurel Hill, where they now faced the Barlow Road tollgate. The pioneers found a widening in the road, where they rested and prepared for the last leg of the journey.
Frank Stevens on July 5, 1881, wrote: “… all of a sudden to the Toll Gate. Had a small store here for the accommodation of emigrants. Came on down into a little glade, where we found some grass and camped for dinner. Here we found the red-and-white clover, dandelion, dewberries, strawberries, all growing.”
Lottie Maybee Morris, 1900, wrote: “It looked like any farm gate … but it was locked and there was no way around it. We paid the 25 cents to pass through.”
It was near here that in 1905 Henry S. Rowe, a Portland mayor and businessman, built the Rhododendron Inn, with partner Lee Holden, a former Portland Fire Chief. They named the community Rowe, developing the property as a summer resort colony. Holden took over management of the hotel in 1910, and Rowe died in 1914. In 1920, the town name was changed from Rowe to Rhododendron at the request of the Postal Service. Rhododendron celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2020.
Faubion
The town of Faubion was named for the Faubion family. In 1907, William and Anna Faubion moved from Portland to settle on 80 acres of land just east of the Ranger Station in Zigzag, Oregon. They built a family home there, at the base of Hunchback Mountain and called it “La Casa Monte,” or “The Mountain House.” They turned the family home into a roadhouse, and eventually added a store on the property, which helped them get approval for a post office in 1924. The Postal Service, however, canceled the contract in 1937. The community, including the old store which is now a private residence, is located on Faubion Loop Rd., part of the old highway loop.
The Faubions had 6 children. Their daughter Wilhelmina Jane “Jennie” Faubion married Billy Welch in 1911. Jennie Welch worked alongside her husband, managing their businesses and properties (more on Welch family and the development of Welches in the fourth and final part of this series). Jennie was well-loved in the mountain communities and was a vibrant and independent woman. Her antique store in Welches, the little yellow house across from the resort, was filled with wonders. Jennie Faubion Welch passed away in 1985.
Next month we’ll finish our ride down the mountain, visiting more of the towns along the way as we head west.