DianeMP
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 6, 2015 10:28:03 GMT
I happen to live in Klamath Falls, Oregon, so I also happen to take quite a few pictures in the vicinity. First, a tiny historical summary off the top of my head:
There are no "falls" here, only a set of shallow rapids in the Link River. This widens and becomes the Klamath River, which continues on south into California to the Pacific Ocean. It passes through national forests, ranches, small towns and wilderness. The name Klamath is from the Chinook* language for "people of the river," as they referred to one of their neighboring tribes to the south in Oregon. Besides the Klamath people, other local tribes are the Modoc and Yahooskin. Together they are known, for administrative purposes, as the Klamath Tribes. They had their own reservation covering a section of southern Oregon, but the US Government disbanded the reservation in the early 1960s, paying members about $70,000 each. This carried on the tradition of robbing Native Americans of their property, but this time with a token monetary compensation. They still struggle to find their place in American society while preserving their cultural traditions, as do most tribes in the USA.
Klamath Falls was settled in the mid-1800s by lumbermen and soon became a boom town. There were myriad lumber mills fed by independent loggers and small logging companies who flocked to what was then known as Linkville to make their fortune. Logging, milling and wood-products manufacturers (boxes, molding and so on) lined the waterways, convenient "highways" for floating logs from their dumping point, downstream to the mills. My own family was heavily involved in southern Oregon logging beginning in the late 1940s, eventually living in Klamath Falls. It was a very bustling town through the 1950s. In the 1960s, logging began to move further afield, gradually followed by mills and related industry. Klamath Falls has had a depressed economy since the closure of the enormous Weyerhaeuser Mill in about 1990. It's a geographically isolated, small city of about 40,000, with little opportunity for economic growth. It's also somewhat culturally isolated. The town looks run down and there are many abandoned homes and industrial buildings, Main Street is largely vacant and the main place to shop for anything is Walmart.
Well, it sounds grim, but I admit to enjoying the photographic opportunities - I love old, falling-down, rusty and just plain odd subjects. Many people are a bit paranoid, so I am frequently questioned and have even been yelled at when taking pictures in broad daylight, from public roads or walking around public property. There are few tourists, except those who are passing through to see the magnificent Crater Lake about 43 miles north of town, so I think that anyone with a camera is considered odd or suspicious. Of course, there are some lovely "wild west" vistas, some of which I'll also upload. I will divide this into two or three posts so you don't have to scroll forever.
Abandoned truck stop and environs...
*The Chinook are in far northern Oregon and Washington state.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 6, 2015 14:00:29 GMT
Very interesting! Everything has 'Ghost Town" written all over it. Looking forward to more of your photos Diane.
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Post by bjd on Jan 6, 2015 15:03:01 GMT
I like your pictures but don't think I'd want to live there. What is the population?
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Post by htmb on Jan 6, 2015 17:13:24 GMT
You're right! Lots of great photo opportunities as evidenced by your pictures. This is interesting, Diane, and I appreciate being able to read the history you provided.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2015 18:07:13 GMT
Oh, I love your sense of what it is interesting to photograph, but I understand some of your problems with people not wanting things to be seen by your lens. I imagine that the "Klamath Tribes" might have a very interesting case if they ever decided to sue to government for having been swindled. Obviously they would not get the land back, but they would probably receive compensation with far more zeroes after the 7.
Since there are not many trees to be seen in your pictures, I am also wondering if there used to be huge forests in those areas.
When I was little, Crater Lake was always mentioned in magazines and books as being one of the wonders of the world. I remember that my family had the jigsaw puzzle as well, because we were very much into jigsaw puzzles.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 7, 2015 1:57:06 GMT
Diane! This is fabulous -- pure artistry.
The history preceding the pictures is a perfect introduction. To read of a concern the size of Weyerhaeuser pulling out is like reading about a sentence of death for a town. Did they leave because of easier pickings elsewhere, or because they'd logged out the Klamath Falls area?
I'm currently reading a book about Edw. Curtis's attempts to document native American culture before it was crushed out of existence, so your coverage of the ongoing plight of the local tribes is particularly appreciated.
But on to the pictures ~ damn, you're good!!! I could go on & on about your choice of subject and your perfect framing & composition, but what really ices the cake is your treatment of those subjects. Your pictures are accurate right down to the weather, the light, and the feeling of space. But your particular genius is in the psychic freight you have so exquisitely captured and conveyed. I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of this thread.
And on a more mundane note, what does the photo 2nd from the end show?
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Post by Diane on Jan 8, 2015 6:59:34 GMT
Thanks so much for the nice comments and questions, tod, bjd, htmb, kerouac and bixa!! It does have a ghost town feeling, even in town. The above photos are a few miles south of town and this sad truck stop seemed too iconic to pass up! My area looks much like Nevada or parts of Texas - sage brush, pine and juniper trees, brown grass and dirt. This looks both bleak and Western Movie romantic. At first, I only saw the former. I am gradually noticing some of the latter, enough to enjoy my photo excursions out in the "boondocks." Never in my wildest imagination could I have thought of moving back here (I am a dedicated Californian!), but here I am. The population of the town is about 40,000, so it's not exactly small, but it has a small-town culture. The paranoia I talk about refers to Caucasians in Klamath Falls. People here have always been prone to a very conservative worldview, dislike outsiders and reserve a special hatred for Californians - ha! (If anyone gives me trouble, I say, with a big smile, "Hey, I grew up here, so you can't tell me anything!"). I don't go to the Native area north, a small town called Chiloquin, but will eventually. They are quite rude to white people visiting and might even threaten me if I took photos. (However, you will see one of a Klamath tribesman in another post.) I can't resist testing the waters, so to speak. Kerouac, there were never forests in the immediate area of Klamath Falls, but many people assume that because Oregon is known for its lush forests. I am in a huge region called the Great Basin, which covers parts of E. Washington and Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and N. California. Oregon's forests begin not far west of me and run along the coastal mountain ranges. This place was chosen as a central point for processing the logs into lumber, then shipping to big cities all over the country, because of the waterways and the flat landscape. That allowed for a good rail system and fewer steep mountains for it to climb. As for Natives suing the US gov't, they've done that many times over the years and have sometimes won, sometimes lost. The buy-out of the Klamath Tribes happened around 1961, I think. That was a less enlightened time. These local tribes are now so small - a few thousand people - and have little power. They did win the right to open a big casino north of town and many of them work there and even the ones who don't share in the profits. They have free health, mental health and substance abuse services. The primary problem, hands down, holding Native Americans back, in fact killing them, is alcoholism. I used to work for the mental health agency here and I would say alcoholism is one of the biggest negative factors among all rural poor in America, and much more so for Native Americans. (You will find this exact same formula in other places where there are rural poor and/or defeated native populations - Canada, Africa, S. America and Russia, to name two. It's a history of horror.) The poorest county in the USA is a Native reservation. Bix, that photo is in the Klamath Wildlife Preserve, which is a big marsh and major resting point for migratory birds - especially masses of ducks and geese.
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DianeMP
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 8, 2015 7:09:53 GMT
<<sigh>>> I've forgotten the nuances like logging in, replying and editing here and didn't mean to be a "Guest." Anyway... Here is a post I did in the Google Earth Community about Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the same place as in my link above. I know quite a bit more about them than I do the Western tribes.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2015 19:39:46 GMT
I think all of this is super enlightening, Diane, and I am just sorry that your post has been a bit overshadowed by the events in Paris. But everybody will get back to it sooner or later, so please keep adding more information, if you have any.
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Post by mossie on Jan 8, 2015 19:52:12 GMT
A very interesting thread, thanks Diane, which I'm afraid I have only just seen. Reminds me of parts of the UK which suffered Thatcherisation and are only slowly recovering, drink is a problem for them as well.
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Post by htmb on Jan 8, 2015 21:53:43 GMT
Some very interesting links, Diane.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 8, 2015 23:11:27 GMT
Looks quite like Ellensburg Washington where I lived for three years. The east side of the Cascade range has a similarity up and down the PNW. The dry slope mountains to the west of places like this are often very beautiful.
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Post by lugg on Jan 9, 2015 8:18:33 GMT
Really interesting thread Diane - ditto what others have said but I have to say it too , your photos are excellent. This is so different to the Oregon of my imagination so really looking forward to reading and seeing more
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DianeMP
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 10, 2015 2:56:19 GMT
I think all of this is super enlightening, Diane, and I am just sorry that your post has been a bit overshadowed by the events in Paris. But everybody will get back to it sooner or later, so please keep adding more information, if you have any. Completely understandable, Kerouac, I have been glued to CNN for days, myself. I have also been posting this on my several photo-sharing sites: Nous ne sommes pas peur! Liberté prévaudra!
The corrected version (merci, bjd!): Nous n'avons pas peur! La liberté prévaudra!Also, thank you to the rest of you for your comments. I will definitely be posting more!
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Post by bjd on Jan 10, 2015 8:22:31 GMT
Diane, if I may correct your French: Nous n'avons pas peur! La liberté prévaudra.
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 11, 2015 2:57:09 GMT
Diane, if I may correct your French: Nous n'avons pas peur! La liberté prévaudra. Yes, of course you may correct my French and also correct Google Translate's French. Lol!
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DianeMP
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 11, 2015 6:43:53 GMT
Good old American Main StreetIt seems that every American town has a Main St. Not quite all of them, but most do. It's the equivalent of High St. in the UK, where retail business is conducted and it has traditionally been a place to socialize, too. Our Main St. was like that when I grew up here, but it's now a shell of its former self. There are old brick buildings, no more than three stories high, still intact and some being restored, but many of them vacant. Small businesses move in and out of the spaces, not many seem to really take off. It's that problem of suburban shopping vs. downtown shopping and the suburbs have been winning for at least 20 years. I've grown very fond of these old (not European-old, just N. American-old) brick and granite buildings on and around Main Street. The best of them were built from about 1910 to the late 1930s, with the Art Deco Depression era ones making the most creative statements. Some of these photos will be from the alleys on either side of Main, so they look pretty bad, but just as interesting - at least, I think so. Some occupied, some vacant... Klamath Union High School Former National Guard Armory, now the museum. This place was hoppin' in the 1940s and '50s, serving as an events venue, too. Acts such as Duke Ellington, the Dorsey brothers, Fats Domino, B.B. King, boxing matches and ballets came into town. Very fabulous events for such an isolated town! My parents met here at a dance in 1945, right after the end of the war. My dad and all the other servicemen had just come home to Klamath Falls, or moved here from other places so they could get logging and mill jobs. Union Pacific Railroad bridge over Main, crumbling and creaky. My favorite decor... Terracotta elements, beautifully made, and that pine cone is just delicious! Abandoned Arcade Hotel. My grandmother took me out to lunch here, sometimes. It was the only linen-tablecloth dining room in town, then (1950s), and I felt like quite the sophisticated 12-year-old. Wong's, estab. 1930s, and the Wong family still operates it. It was an incredibly exotic place in the '30s, Chinese food was available then only San Francisco! Bob, the local sign painter, and his friend working on Main St. They are both Native Americans. I e-mailed him this shot for his brochure. Why is there a rat drinking wine in this vacant store's window? I don't know, but it wouldn't make me want to buy wine here! The BIG rat is me. A couple of Main St. regulars. Ye Olde Towne Clock. Should I buy a bull? Mmm, I don't think so... Black Dog Billiards, one of the few thriving businesses on Main. Alley walker... Original 19th C. wood remains on the backs of some buildings. Alley scene... More around Main, to be continued...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2015 7:22:38 GMT
Fascinating! It is amazing how similar "Main Street" looks everywhere in the country -- and how it suffered the same fate nearly everywhere as well.
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Post by bjd on Jan 11, 2015 7:34:15 GMT
Amazing how a black and white image immediately puts the scene in the past, especially scenes like this.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 11, 2015 11:20:23 GMT
Very interestiing, makes me want to wander around with my camera too. Thanks DianeMP
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 11, 2015 18:31:41 GMT
Diane, you already know from another venue that I am a major fan of your photographs, so I'll try to keep the burbling to a minimum, but boy these are great pictures!
I really love the treatment you chose for each picture, really making a time machine of the sequence. The three Chinese restaurant photos, for example, really capture how very exotic that place must have seemed at one time.
The armory/museum very much looks as though it has WPA ornamentation, a beneficial side effect of the Depression.
Super-dooper slice of Americana, Diane. I'm looking forward to more.
a lapse into burbling: I adore that pic of the armory streetlights w/contrail.
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 12, 2015 3:13:31 GMT
Thanks so much, again, to kerouac, bjd, cheery (love your spinning avatar) and bixa! Yes, Main St. looks just about like this all across the country, just older and maybe a little more refined in the east! I love the alleys, too, so here is a bit more alley action. Fire escape detail. Through a very dirty window, alley view of the abandoned Arcade Hotel. I like the funny assortment of roofs on one building. A little more on Main Street... This guy walked up and said, "I'm an Indian, do you want to take my picture?" It was both funny and uncomfortable. Demolition, 2011. This building's roof fell in from record-breaking snow in 2007, but demo didn't start until 2010. The front of Klamath Falls' first Ford dealership (1930s?) was saved and there was reportedly a plan to rebuild, but I have my doubts. It had already been mostly vacant for years when the roof fell. There have been a number of arson fires in the vicinity of this north part of Main, the last one and the biggest was 2011. No one has ever been charged and it's still a mystery. It happens to be an area where transients hang out, so my guess is that they were set by homeless people passing through and perhaps building fires inside. The old creamery is now a brew-pub, also one of the long-term successful businesses on Main. I'm so glad they saved the cow! She looks very 1950s. I don't remember what this used to be, but I love this old monstrosity. I have a feeling it was the original cold storage place. This is on the edge of the industrial district. (More about that at another time.) This portion isn't complete without a shot of the Hydraulic Hose Department. The south end of Main... This is on a Sunday afternoon, but whatever day or time I take photos downtown there are few-to-no people around. Second-hand store Bye for now!
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Post by questa on Jan 12, 2015 8:51:36 GMT
Great photos Diane, the mood seems one of gentle dereliction. You have caught the classic autumn in the life of a once lively town.
As for cheery's avatar...shhh, it might hear you and chase you, robot voice threatening, "Ex-ter-min-ate....Ex-ter-min-ate." It is a Dalek, major opponent of The Doctor in Dr Who. Google for details.
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Post by htmb on Jan 12, 2015 20:59:02 GMT
Diane, you've got a great eye for detail!!!! Can't wait to see more of your photos.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2015 21:47:43 GMT
Nothing to do with this thread, but you have triggered my memory of the only Chinese restaurant that existed in my area when I was young: "House of Lee Loy." It was actually quite a fancy place where we went maybe once a year with the principal memories being how weird "sweet-and-sour" anything tasted and how "Chinese mustard" was the most deadly thing ever invented. (I presume that it was wasabi.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 13, 2015 4:49:03 GMT
Love Questa's description of "a classic autumn in the life of a once lively town" -- perfect!
And Diane, you have perfectly captured not only the present state of things, but the whole bright-eyed ambition of the earlier American dream. Again, I'm knocked out by not only the photographic excellence, but also by the way each picture seems to vibrate with a particular history and emotion.
I sure hope you'll add to this thread from time to time.
Kerouac -- Chinese mustard is in fact mustard, whereas wasabi is made from a plant with a flavor similar to horseradish. Wasabi is found on Japanese menus, so you'd have burnt out your sinuses with Chinese mustard which is really hot.
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 13, 2015 7:14:11 GMT
Great photos Diane, the mood seems one of gentle dereliction. You have caught the classic autumn in the life of a once lively town. As for cheery's avatar...shhh, it might hear you and chase you, robot voice threatening, "Ex-ter-min-ate....Ex-ter-min-ate." It is a Dalek, major opponent of The Doctor in Dr Who. Google for details. Oh! Questa, I happen to have a picture of a Dalek! I had no idea what a Dalek was until people on Panoramio kept saying this looked like one. It's a little bit south, in Dorris, Californa, but I guess it counts because it's still in the Klamath Basin geographical area. It's a "wigwam" sawdust burner, used at lumber mills in the old days. They are now very rare in the western US and Canada and I'm very happy this one has been preserved...so far...long after the mill has been torn down and replaced by modern machinery. Ain't it a beauty? Probably built in the 1930s-40s. This is the Klamath Falls version, don't know what this shape is called but the wigwam is the more usual shape. I don't know whether it's newer or older than the first one, but it also has been saved. Someday I'll go to the local historical society and try to find out more about these. I remember seeing the sparks flying out of the top at night and the lovely campfire smell. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying your comments, guys! Kerouac, isn't it funny how shocking the sweet/sour flavor combo was at the time? Almost too exotic to comprehend - how things have changed, that's really tame, now. Chinese mustard! Haha, I remember almost passing out when I first tried it. (When I first tried wasabi, I though it was avacado. Wow, was I sorry.) Htmb, thanks so much. I will definitely add more. Gradually, I promise. Bixa, I love Questa's description, too. It's perfect. There actually is a lot of emotion behind these, based on several factors, which I think I've already talked about. How perceptive you are! In a nutshell, I hated moving back here. Loathed it. I didn't even like the place when my family left in 1962! I'll never feel at home here, due to huge differences I have with ignorant, gun-carrying redneck culture, but I've made peace with it in some ways. I moved here to keep an eye on my aging parents, who had retired back here years before. At first, my photos were about bitterness, "I'm going to show it for the ugly, falling-apart place it is and post the photos on Google Earth!" Later, after I'd spent the last year of my dad's life with him, I became nostalgic about the old, rusty trucks and logging equipment because of his earlier life as a logger. And, my grandfather's entire life as a logger. (It's Testosterone Central around here!) Then, I began looking forward to going out to photograph the ugly stuff for its own aesthetic appeal. (Either you like Ruin Porn or you don't.) After that, I finally began to see some beauty in the dry, brown high desert landscape and the vintage appeal of Main St. Six years after moving here, I take pictures for all of those reasons, but by now it has a much more affectionate flavor for me. Mom is in assisted living, so I'm here for the duration of her life. Truth is, because I'm now retired I can't afford to move back to the big-dollar San Francisco area, unless I want to live in my car and eat at a soup kitchen. Ha! Maybe later I'll move to Dorris, California, at least. I can keep an eye on the Dalek!
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Post by questa on Jan 13, 2015 11:56:33 GMT
Diane...I just love your Dalek, complete with its single protruding 'eye'. I wonder what would happen if you sent some pics of it to the BBC or Dr Who fan club. The tourists might flock in and annoy the town forever.
In outback Oz there are many old semi-deserted towns like yours, although not so big, where the climate vanquished the agriculture or the mine closed down. The young left to work in the big cities while the elders went to live with their children. The dust, rust and failure to repair things did the rest. Now the buildings are like in your photos. A few old timers meet at the pub and travellers pass through without stopping. I love those old towns, specially the ones in the deserts, where the creeping sand gradually takes over and covers everything. Have you been for a walk in the local cemetery? You really get a good picture of the town and its families from there.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 14, 2015 1:41:10 GMT
I remember seeing those same conical burners outside of Sacramento back in the sixties. The tule fog would reek of burning sawdust in the winter.
This is a loving portrait of a very interesting place, thank you so much.
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Post by DianeMP on Jan 16, 2015 11:28:58 GMT
Diane...I just love your Dalek, complete with its single protruding 'eye'. I wonder what would happen if you sent some pics of it to the BBC or Dr Who fan club. The tourists might flock in and annoy the town forever. In outback Oz there are many old semi-deserted towns like yours, although not so big, where the climate vanquished the agriculture or the mine closed down. The young left to work in the big cities while the elders went to live with their children. The dust, rust and failure to repair things did the rest. Now the buildings are like in your photos. A few old timers meet at the pub and travellers pass through without stopping. I love those old towns, specially the ones in the deserts, where the creeping sand gradually takes over and covers everything. Have you been for a walk in the local cemetery? You really get a good picture of the town and its families from there. Thanks, questa! My area has a lot in common with Australian towns. I have a good friend who runs a hotel/cafe/bar in Kookynie, WA, and I've always wanted to go out there and look around. If you ever get out there, say hi to Kevin for me! He's a real character. Yes, it's just the nature of "boom and bust" areas. They're built up fast on one industry, go like crazy for a few decades, then get blown away with the dust. Klamath Falls isn't quite blown away, yet, but I can see how it continuing to die. One of these days I'll post some nicer aspects of the place, when I'm in the mood - lol! The old cemetery is fascinating and I'll post a few shots of it, eventually.
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