History on the Wall, Fun in the Walk: TD’s Murals Just a Step Away
By Nancy Turner
The Dalles, Ore., Oct. 23, 2025 — Earlier this month, Tom Peterson posted what the Walldogs are up to now. It’s titled “Little Art City Strikes Again with Umatilla House Restoration.” Simultaneously, I was organizing a dozen friends to do a walking tour of murals in the east end of The Dalles. A moment of synchronicity.
Mural madness!
We don't have to fly to Europe to see walls adorned with iconic paintings or go to an art museum to enjoy art. We can just park our cars and walk around town.
Many dull walls around The Dalles provided a canvas where people added color and images that reflect our local heritage. There are now about forty in and around our downtown area.
These paintings bring vibrancy and interest to what would otherwise be a lackluster area. They encourage pride in our small town. Some of the painters are local volunteers. Others, called Walldogs, travel a long distance to be part of these amazing projects. They make it look easy, but they put in many hours of hard work.
During the summer, tourists arrive at The Dalles dock by ship on the Columbia River. Sightseers disembark and do a walking tour of downtown. One of the highlights for these folks is viewing the murals. A friend of mine, Lise, leads these tours as well as gangs of students from the middle school. She offered to guide a group of my friends on a Saturday morning earlier this month. I figured if she could herd an entire class of eighth graders, she could keep a collection of elders in line.
A dozen of us met at Sawyer’s Hardware Store on East Third.. On the back of their building, a mural covers the entire wall. From there we leisurely walked around the east end of town with Lise leading the way. We didn’t hurry. We paused to appreciate the skilled artistry and learn the story behind each painting.
We felt clever finding “easter eggs,” referring to figures painted in weird places, having nothing to do with the theme of that particular painting. One had to look closely. In one painting a Sasquatch, three inches tall—which is small when the painting covers the whole wall of a building—sauntered along a road toward the river. In another, we spotted a menacing serpent in the Columbia River that looked as if it had swum here from China. What was a faint angular image of a two-foot mosquito doing on a wall depicting pioneer life? It reminded me of the Nazca Lines in northern Peru. Art can be informative, provoke feelings and expand awareness, and also be downright playful.
In two hours we only covered the east end of town. We’ll go back to see the rest another time.
Those beautiful wall paintings aren’t going anywhere. We can go see them any time we want. If you’d like to know more, check out the link provided in the CCCNews article. There are maps available at The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles Art Center, or you can ask AI to find a PDF of the mural map to download or print. Don’t wait until you have guests from out-of-town. Go any day you want. It’s free art for everyone to enjoy, and it’s fun.
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