The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-09-25
HOW THE GLACIER
WAS ESTABLISHED

Paper read at the annual Hood Riy-
er Pioneer Association meeting last
week by Geo. T. Prather, founder If
the Glacier
In the fall Of lss7 Al meeting of
the A o. L. ". under the head Of
good Of the order" We were 10 de-
/ bate the question What would be
/ the best thing to advance the interest
Of Hood River and the Valleyr" Al
I though al this time there were not
many OF Us here, We were all enthusi-
astle for Hood River and anxious TO
/ see the town developing and growing.
= Cordwood was then legal tender. A
good many Strawberries were grown
and few apples But We were eager
/ that some industry be started that
would give people employment. Some
/ took the stand that an irrigation ditch
was what We needed. while others ar
gued that a large sawmill would iust
/ I'LL our need. | took the ground that a
good weekly newspaper would better
/ advance our interests than ANYTHING
else that thus We could advertise
what We had. and that others would
| surely come soon. if they found what
we had won the debate but then
more important question arose who
would start the paper
Hood River town then did not have
over 250 or 800 population. talked
with Mr.. 5. F. Blythe but he was
against it then, saying that the ven
ture would be a money loser from
| start too soon.
| At this time the late A. samuel of
Portland. who at the time of his death
was manager of the Oregon Life In.
surance Co.. was publishing the old
| West Shore Magazine, an illustrated
| periodical. He came to Hood River to
| give US write up. He wanted $3.50
1 for the publicity feature. He talked to
several and was turned down. so he
came to me. declaring that he could do
nothing here as there was no organlza-
tion to take hold of his proposition. He
proposed to me that he would turn the
thing over to me, if would sign up,
and give us good article, written by
| Mr.. +. l.. Smith. and we'll illustrated.
He offered me the amount Of the sub
scrlptiOn in magazines, which | could
/ sell, realizing my money. | was post
master and he assured me that could
sell the magazines for % cents each
So | signed up, giving him my personal
check for $3.50. | sold all my allotment
of magazines and 300 over Nearly all
of the publications were sent by mail
out of the valley, this being Hood Rlv-
er's first advertisement.
| This success with the West Shore
| Magazine made me more enthusiastic
than ever for newspaper, so | made
trip to The Dalles to see John Cradle
| baugh then editor of the old W asco
County Sun, and talked the matter over
with him. He considered it little too
soon to launch the paper, but suggest
ed that the time would soon be ripe
In the spring of 1888 Hood River took
quite boom. The old Columbia river
steamer, Wasco. was built here. Will
lam Ladd and c. T.. 5. Wood. of Port
land, bought the toll road to Mount
Hood, built by Col. II. c. Coe, David
| Cooper and q. l.. Stranahan, and were
repairing the road and erecting Cloud
Cap Inn.
The secret of the sudden start of the
Glacier has never before been told AT
this time Campbell Bros were operat-
ing a Job shop at The DaIes. and John
| Michel was editor of the old Times
Mountaineer 1t reached Mr. Cradle
baugh's ear that Campbell Bros. and
Mr.. Michel were contemplating start
ing Job shop and newspaper here with
Mr. Michel as editor. Mr. Cradle
baugh lost no time in coming here and
advising me to start the paper at once.
He stated that he wanted to come to
| Hood River to live, but was unable to
move until October, at which time he
would take the paper of my hands
He agreed to print me 500 copies
weekly for $40, local items, adverts-
| ing.and whatever editorial could be
ing furnished by me. So on the night
of June s, 1888, the Glacier was born
Mr.. C. X. Bone, who had been in the
valley only short time, was neverthe-
less a booster for Hood River and the
home newspaper just as he is today
He helped me gather the items for the
first issue of the paper. The question
then arose as to name. Several We're
suggested, when Mr.. Cradlebaugh said
why not call it the Hood River Gla.
cier" Good - said Mr.. Bone. and so
it was.
On the morning of June the first
copy of the Hood River Glacier was on
my counter for sale and | was ready to
take subscriptions for four months for
50 cents each. No one but Mr. Bone
and knew, until the papers arrived
here that the Glacier was to be started.
But every paper was sold before night,
and nearly every adult IN the commun-
lty had subscribed most Of them twice.
one copy for home consumption and the
other to be mailed to some eastern rel
ative or friend Joseph A. Wilson and
). j. La France each took five sub
scriptions. But never was dollar
contributed toward starting the Gla-
cier other than from the payment Of
subscriptions.
On or about October /, lSSo, | turned
over the paper to Mr.. Cradlebaugh
with paid up subscription list of 435.
| was out of pocket about $40 in addi-
tion to my time From June s, 1888,
up to the present time the Glacier has
never missed publication date, and
today it is considered one of the hest,
if not the best weekly newspaper in
Oregon outside of the METROPOLIS of