History Proves Prickly for Local Mural Project
Pictured: A teaser mural painted by the Walldogs in downtown The Dalles.
Locals Call for Increased Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion In Walldogs Mural Selection Process
By Cole Goodwin
The Dalles Main Street’s volunteer Walldogs subcommittee will be hosting a voting and public input event* at The National Neon Sign Museum on Oct. 15th from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. The group is seeking votes and public input in deciding 15 new themes for historical murals to be painted in downtown The Dalles next summer.
The large murals on downtown buildings will communicate to locals and tourists alike, for decades to come about which histories the community believes are important to promote.
The event will include a showing of a previous Walldogs event video in the Museum’s theater, wine tastings, drinks for purchase, appetizers, performances by Victor Johnson and more. There will also be a teaser mural being painted at the Oregon Motor Hotel during the event and painting will take place from October 14th-17th from sunup to sunset.
“Following the vote, artists from around the nation will be assigned to paint the selected top choices. Then, artists will begin the design process, creating renderings and collaborate with local historians to further refine the details and elements of each mural. Each finished mural will be an original piece of artwork,” said Kristen Benko of the National Neon Sign Museum.
The mural painting event that will take place next summer will be called the Northwest Mural Fest. All murals will be painted in just 4 days and it is the result of over two years of cumulative effort from the volunteer Walldogs subcommittee of The Dalles Main Street. The committee includes The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays, Real Estate Broker Phillip Mascher, Chris Zukin of Meadow Outdoor Advertising, and National Neon Sign Museum Owner David Benko.
*For a full list of the mural themes to be voted on, scroll to the bottom of this article.
Community Raises Concerns
The recent release of themes, images and descriptions of proposed murals has led to an outpouring of concerns from local organizations and community members. Concerned citizens pointed to a lack of diversity in the mural topics and the inclusion of individuals and enterprises that were directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of indigenous peoples. Also brought up was the omission of marginalized community members voices in the mural topic selection process and a lack of collaboration with local organizations and artists.
Some were also concerned about the voting process itself, as it is a one-day event in a non-ADA compliant building.
In response, the Main Street volunteer Walldogs subcommittee agreed to make sure that participants would also have the opportunity to write in suggestions for murals they would like to see celebrating The Dalles rich history and diversity. To read their official statement click here.
“We’re open to anything,” said Mayor Mays. “We make no claims to having done a perfect job. We’ve had to go by what people in the group know, so I’m sure we’ve missed some things.”
“The themes voting event on Friday is intended as an opportunity to gather input and ideas from the public on the preliminary themes that we have developed thus far,” Mays said. “This is very much a work in progress, and we look forward to collecting new ideas and input, both for additional new themes, and additional facts on the existing themes. We are also hoping to make connections with people and organizations that will have new perspectives and ideas to contribute to the effort."
Those who cannot attend the voting event are encouraged to email their votes and public input to info@thenationalneonsignmuseum.com or call the National Neon Sign Museum at 541-370-2242 to submit their vote.
A Wealth of Colonial History and a Poverty of Diversity
The Dalles is full of a rich and diverse history, from formative geological history, to thousands of years of Indigenous history, to Black Pioneers of the Oregon Trail. The Dalles has been home to Oregon’s only Pulitzer Prize winner, Marie Equi, the lesbian suffragist who famously horsewhipped a man for refusing to pay her companions salary, and the location of a former China Town.
Marie Equi (April 7th, 1872 - July 13th, 1952) was an out lesbian suffragist who’s biography received the Stonewall Honor Book award. The Dalles became the sight of one of the her most enduring legends, in which she famously horsewhipped a man about town who had refused to pay her companions agreed upon salary.
However community members say the proposed themes lack diversity and include individuals and enterprises from history which were directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of indigenous peoples.
"We are not surprised, but deeply disappointed in the options listed for this event in The Dalles,” reads a joint statement from local advocacy groups Hood River Latino Network and Gorge ReSisters. “We continue to witness a deep lack of respect and acknowledgment for the land we occupy and the communities we build here in the Columbia River Gorge. The real folks who live, work and love here also include thousands of women…. Particularly of Indigenous, Latinx, Chinese, Black and Japanese heritage, many of whom are immigrants. Yet we see a glaring lack of representation of the people of this land, of the very people who birthed and built our communities, during a festival made to honor the exact people who are repeatedly and intentionally ignored. The history of this area we call home is not centered around white men in reality, although this selection of murals certainly continues to represent these falsehoods."
Represented amongst the mural themes are several colonial era subjects, including pioneers, explorers, map makers, historic businesses, a cannery that was at least partially responsible for massive decline in salmon populations.
Themes also encompass eleven white men including recently deceased community members, pioneers, and fur trappers who were at least partially responsible for the decline, endangerment, and extinction of many native species in North America and The Columbia River Gorge. The mural themes also include four white women including pioneers, suffragists, and recently passed community members.
Five of the suggested mural themes include marginalized racial groups: Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson of the Celilo Wyam, Musical The Dalles, A Large and Vibrant Chinese Community, Chinese Laundry War: Laundries, Wash Houses, and White Competition, and The Dalles’ Tong War.
“We’ve included Native and Chinese community topics...We’ve picked more female topics than any other community has ever picked in 40 years,” said David Benko, Northwest Mural Fest Project Manager. Benko expressed it would be cool to get an all-woman painting team together to paint a local Suffragette at the event. Although it’s unclear if such a group is a possibility at this time. “How cool would it be if we had nothing but Native painters painting on an Indian topic?” added Benko.
Local Archeologist Eric Gleason thought the Chinese topics missed the mark.
“I was a little disappointed,” said Gleason, a field archeologist by profession.
Gleason and Jaqueline Cheung, own the Wing Hong Tai Company, an Archaeological Preservation Site at 210 East First Street, The Dalles.
Gleason and Cheung gave feedback on the murals but none of it was put into the themes, topics and images, Gleason said.
“It seems like they are missing the point,” he said of the Chinese Laundry War. “They did not get to the point Marilyn (Urness) was trying to make in her book that the Chinese were the ultimate victors in the war. What they have is how it started but not how it ended.”
Gleason said the “current scholarship on Chinese Diaspora is now focusing on the agency these folks had and how they persisted in the overall racism that was going on.”
He pointed out that Chinatown in The Dalles ultimately failed because the Chinese were not allowed by law to bring families over, they could not become citizens and they could not own property.
“And that is why we don’t have a Chinatown here now,” he said.
Despite the racism, Chinese laundries ended up succeeding and the Tong War did not end up in a massacre,” he said. “It could have easily but it didn't because the Chinese had good relationships with the mayor and the other people in town that they had built up over the years - those are the stories that are worth telling.”
In addition, mural themes presented by The Main Street subcommittee included no LGBT+, Black, Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino representation from the community. Activists said this was especially alarming given recent national and local movements such as Black Lives Matter which have brought conversations around diversity, inclusion and equity to the forefront of local and national attention in recent years.
In addition, community members especially had concerns over the inclusion of the Transcontinental Railroad, explorers from the Hudson Bay Company and John C. Freemont in the themes list. Activists stated that the Transcontinental railroad left a trail of indigenous blood almost everywhere it went and that Hudson Bay Company was directly responsible for forcibly colonizing, stealing and selling off nearly eight million square kilometers of indigenous lands and continue to profit from that legacy to this day. The historical narratives around both enterprises pose hard questions about how to portray such bloody history with accuracy in a way that does not ignore the harm caused by previous narratives centering on white exceptionalism and that can honor the losses of Indigenous peoples.
PBS detailed the Massacre at Sand Creek in which the Transcontinental Railroad was responsible for the murder of over 150 Cheyenne men, women, and children.
“In autumn 1864, while the Civil War raged half a continent away, a group of Cheyenne Indians made winter quarters on Sand Creek in Colorado Territory, having been invited there by the U.S. Army. Forty miles away, at Fort Lyon, a regiment of cavalry mustered under Colonel John Chivington. Chafing for action, Chivington led his soldiers under cover of night to...Sand Creek. At daybreak on November 29th, Chivington unleashed his men with the infamous order, "Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice." The soldiers swept down upon the camp, surrounding unarmed natives and chasing away their ponies to prevent escape. Chief Black Kettle waved the white flag to no avail. Indiscriminate slaughter followed. Over 150 Cheyenne were murdered, most women and children. The rampaging soldiers mutilated their corpses, some removing genitals as prizes,” said PBS.
The Hudson Bay Company and their ‘servants’ were also responsible for numerous crimes against Indigenous People. In 1822, 19th-century governor George Simpson of the Hudson Bay Company wrote that Indigenous Peoples “must be ruled with a rod of iron, to bring and to keep them in a proper state of subordination.” Early on in their expansion, The Hudson Bay Company relied heavily on the indigenous population, especially on indigenous women, for survival and information about the ‘new world’, although the Indigenous people rarely received any compensation or credit for their work and expertise. At one point it was a common custom of Hudson Bay Company employees to take indigenous ‘wives’, sometimes forcibly, for the purpose of survival, social utility, and to ‘boost morale’. These indigenous women were almost never compensated or credited for the labor they performed for the Hudson Bay Company. These indigenous women supported white explorers' basic survival, navigation, and trading needs. However they received no acclaim or credit for their work whilst their ‘husbands’ received much acclaim as explorers, map makers, fur trappers, and traders. Hudson Bay Company even forbade its employees with indigenous wives and children from settling in the ‘new world’ or from returning to the ‘old world’ with them.
Activists also took issue with John C. Fremont. One article published by RealClearHistory.com described John C. Fremont’s legacy as an attack on Native Americans that set the stage for Native American ‘cleansing’.
“On April 5, 1846, a small military expedition led by Captain John Fremont attacked a seasonal Native American village on the Sacramento River and killed hundreds of Wintu, mostly women and children. The estimates for the official number of dead vary from 120-900,” reads the article.
Activists said that if Hudson Bay Company explorers, fur-trappers, and military captains were to be included in mural themes a lot of work would need to be done to ensure the content was handled sensitively. Activists called upon the subcommittee to tackle narratives of white exceptionalism, decenter western viewpoints, and honor the losses of indigenous peoples.
Community Advocates Speak Out
“Let me start this off by saying, I love a mural,” said Nik Portela a Latino Advocate for The Dalles Community. ”Art is a unique way a community can express its values, remember its past, and envision its future. While many of the murals in The Dalles currently could use a little love (and a lot of updating), some of them are beautiful artistic expressions of our local flora, fauna, and historical community figures. With such a rich history and so much imagination for how our town can improve and grow, it was so disappointing to see the list of suggestions presented by the Walldogs for the upcoming Northwest Mural Fest Voting Event taking place on October 15, 2021. Not a single one of their suggestions highlighted historical or current figures in our diverse LGBTQ+, Latino/Hispanic, or Black communities. I ask, why are we so stuck telling the same story of a town whose truth and future are more interesting than we’ve allowed ourselves to explore?”
“Almost 1/5 of The Dalles’ population identifies as Hispanic/Latino - almost 20 percent!,” he said. “This only accounts for permanent residents and doesn’t begin to speak to the influx of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers who come each year to support the local economy by working the cherry orchards and packing facilities throughout Wasco and Hood River counties. Without these vital members of our community, there’s no way the crop we prize throughout the region would be able to thrive. These orchards are some of the biggest employers in our area. We have a festival every year celebrating this delicious fruit that blankets our hills and valleys, and yet not even one in a list of over 30 potential options? Additionally, our Latino/Hispanic neighbors are small business owners, community health workers, mental health professionals, teachers, and so much more in The Dalles. They are part of the fabric of this community and to not even mention them is truly an affront to their value,” said Portela.
“The inclusion of Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson of the Celilo Wyam is a wonderful start to the recognition of The Dalles’ once thriving Native American communities. These communities still exist throughout the Gorge and in The Dalles, but they have unfortunately been stripped of their homes and their ancestral land, relegating many of them to in lieu sites along the river and a small village along the highway. Ironically, but not surprisingly, many of the figures listed as suggestions for other murals directly contributed to the loss these communities experienced. Do we continue to celebrate this past and the irreparable harm that’s been done? Or do we find a way to look into the present day and the future for reasons to celebrate the ways in which our Native American neighbors continue to thrive in spite of all these hardships? The mural of Celilo Falls and the “Native Little Rascals” painted along the walls at The Next Door, Inc. need only be the beginning of a different story, a more authentic truth,” said Portela.
“Black pioneers on the Oregon Trail traditionally get left out of the story. As a country, we have very little record of names and histories of the men and women who rode West to attain freedom, but know they do indeed exist. With the amount of Oregon Trail history throughout The Dalles, why not look to an organization like Oregon Black Pioneers for support in making a mural to honor this history? Additionally, this June for LGBTQ+ Pride Month, the Columbia Community Connection highlighted The Dalles’ historical resident, Marie Equi, a lesbian suffragist and political activist who The Dalles Weekly Chronicle wrote about and once referred to as a ‘queen.’ These are obviously not the only figures to muralize in our history within these communities, but these are some easy-to-find ideas that it doesn’t seem like the Walldogs took the time to consider,” said Portela.
Oregon Black Pioneers works to preserve the history of Back Oregonians. “We honor their sacrifices by remembering their stories and by sharing them with the public,” said Oregon Black Pioneers.
“Murals do not need to relegate themselves to the past. We can celebrate the possibilities of our future and the growing diversity of our community as well. While Black and LGBTQ+ folks have not traditionally been the loudest or most visible parts of The Dalles, this is changing. Driving down neighborhood streets, I see a number of Pride flags; our Black neighbors becoming more plentiful, our community more diverse every single day. As larger cities become more and more unaffordable, the demographics of places like The Dalles are set to change drastically. Why not find ways to ensure these folks feel welcomed as they drive through their new home?” said Portela.
“As many of us hear all too often, we must never forget our history lest we repeat our mistakes, but memorializing these mistakes is not the way we move into our future with the wisdom they have gifted us. Our little town is growing and changing every day. Let us find beautiful, artistic ways to envision that future and uplift the pasts we’ve often left behind. I ask for the Walldogs to give their list of suggestions of murals a much needed revision and offer us a little more time to vote on the new list created. Give yourselves and The Dalles a chance to paint the future we want to see with all of our communities represented in honest and uplifting ways. Let us tell a new story.”
Despite mounting concerns about the project, several agencies expressed hope that the Main Street subcommittee would respond to public input by making a concerted effort to include diverse voices and perspectives in their selection process following the voting and public input event.
“The last two years has brought diversity and inclusion to the forefront for which there is a lot to be learned and understood,” said Scott Stephenson, Director of The Dalles Art Center. “Having worked with individuals involved in this project in other capacities, I know that they will put their best effort forth to answer this call for greater representation of The Dalles’ diversity."
“The Mural Society would love to see positive outcomes from this project that don't repeat the mistakes of the past and do a better job of celebrating our community's diversity,” said Marty Hiser, Chairperson of The Dalles Mural Society.
Trouble on Main Street: Missed Opportunities for Collaboration and Inclusion
Contrary to what some might assume, The Dalles Art Center (TDAC) and The Dalles Mural Society have not been involved in the NW MuralFest planning process.
The Art Center and the Mural Society organizations raised concerns about their bandwidth to take on such a project and also cited concerns about centering diversity and equity in the murals early on.
“The Dalles Art Center’s mission is to be a connecting hub to inspire and engage with art. As an organization, we seek to support efforts to facilitate art in The Dalles within our limited capacity. This does not include fundraising or the selection of themes for The Walldog project,” said Stephenson when asked if TDAC’s was involved in the project.
The Dalles Mural Society is another local organization which could likely lend additional knowledge to the project, but which has had no involvement. The chair of the Mural Society cited a number of concerns about the project.
“The Mural Society was not involved with the decision making process to bring the Walldog artists to our community. In fact, the mural society has had some considerable objections in terms of cost, representation and cohesiveness with the existing murals,” said Hiser. “The Mural Society also has concerns about some of the mural topics and the continued retelling of indigenous people's narratives from a colonizer’s perspective. There needs to be an opportunity for equitable access to public input on new historical murals, increased organizer transparency, and increased organizer accountability and oversight,” she said.
“The oldest of The Dalles’ existing murals were created in the early 90's. Many of those images tokenize indigenous people and portray indigenous history through a western lens, and not through empowered indigenous storytelling,” said Hiser.
Local artists also raised concerns about handling sensitive historical content in a mindful way. They raised concerns about the lack of local or indigenous artist involvement in the project and concerns about the failure of the Main Street subcommittee to answer questions and concerns about the project which came from nearly 20 community stakeholders which were posed to the committee a year ago.
“As an internationally known artist and curator, I have been involved in both public art and non profit organizations since moving to The Dalles,” said Dylan McManus, local Master Printmaker, International Artist and Curator in Wasco County. “When I sat on The Dalles Main Street Design Committee, I publicly advocated for great care in the selection of artists and subject matter, a respect for the existing local talent, and a desire for equal representation of all people within our community, especially our under-represented neighbors. In 2021, it is critical that art not be used to give only one voice to a location. Rather art must elevate an entire community collectively through shared representation. I have been vocal in questioning how Walldogs was attempting to accomplish these goals since the project was first proposed in 2019. In 2020, a group of over 20 business owners, community members and artists came to me and asked that I represent their voice of concern regarding the Walldogs project. We presented the organizing committee of Walldogs a list of 25 questions that are yet unanswered,” McManus said.
“Our collective concern was not that someone wanted to paint murals, but rather the lack of representation of local artists in the development process, the lack of a clear explanation of who was being paid and by whom, and the lack of equitable representation of artists and subject matters,” McManus said. “If The Dalles is going to use art to represent our community, it is imperative that we make room for the voices of our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ neighbors. It is equally important that our local talent, of which many are queer, Native born, or underrepresented, be given a fair opportunity to participate and not purely as volunteers. As an artist whose life work is dedicated to exploring systems of oppression and exploitation, and who has operated professionally on projects the scale of the Walldogs event, our questions are pretty typical of any six-figure projects happening today,” said McManus.
Current Mural Themes to be Voted On
1. Air Mail Beacons in the Columbia Gorge & Captain Walter E. Case
2. Ben Snipes
3. Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson of the Celilo Wyam
“As leader of Celilo Village, Chief Thompson regulated access to the salmon fishery at Celilo, the most productive freshwater fishery in the region. He was also a strong advocate for his people’s right to harvest salmon, a resource upon which they had depended for millennia. He was a vocal opponent of Bonneville Dam, for example, and organized a successful campaign against proposed state fishing regulations that would have shut down the Indian commercial fishery after the completion of the dam in 1938.” -TheOregonHistoryProject.org
4. David Thompson Canadian Fur Trader and Map Maker
5. Edward Crates French Canadian of Hudson’s Bay Company
6. Eleanor Todd Moffett Borg, Dancer
7. Jeanne Hillis, Artist, Pilot, Preservationist
“In 1854 he served as Assistant Surgeon in the medical department at Fort Mackinac, Mackinac County, Michigan. He served during the Yakama Indian war at Fort Dalles in The Dalles, Oregon, Texas and Washington Territory until the Civil War. During the Yakima Indian War (1856-1857) Brown was stationed with Colonel George Wright when Wright assumed command of Fort Dalles, Oregon, in January 1857.” -Fort Dalles Museum
9. Benjamin Gifford, Celebrated Photographer
10. The Great Fire of September 2nd, 1891
11. Sylvia Thompson, Local Leader for Women’s Voting Rights
“With the right to vote for Oregon women in 1912 came the right to run for public office. Dozens of women in the Beaver State pursued elected state and local office from the time women in the state achieved suffrage to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. One of the women who utilized this new right was Sylvia Thompson, a Wasco County Democrat. As a legislator, campaigner, and public figure, Sylvia Thompson was the embodiment of someone who took full advantage of the opportunities woman suffrage provided.” -OregonWomensHistory.org
12. The Dalles Welcomes Transcontinental Railroad in 1883
13. Vogt Opera House (1889-1916) Posters & Ads
14. Nathaniel J. Wyeth, Oregon Pioneer of 1832 x.
“Upon seeing the deserted Multnomah villages caused from recent disease epidemics, Wyeth noted that "providence has made room for me and with doing them [Natives] more injury than I should if I had made room for myself viz Killing them off."[3]” - Wikipedia.com
"after selling Fort William and Fort Hall to the Hudson Bay Company, Wyeth returned to Boston in debt of $20,000 after five years of attempts at establishing a commercial outpost in the Oregon Country.[4]"
15. Peter Skene Ogden, Explorer Trader and Trapper 1790-1854 x. ix.
“In 1826 Peter Skeen Ogden, a fur trapper from the Hudson’s Bay Company, was the first white man to leave his footprints on our lands. One hundred and seventy five years later those footprints have multiplied into the thousands, each leaving their marks on the lands and the Klamath Tribes. The newcomers came first as explorers, then as missionaries, settlers and ranchers. After decades of hostilities with the invaders, the Klamath Tribes ceded more than 23 million acres of land in 1864 and we entered the reservation era. We did, however, retain rights to hunt, fish and gather in safety on the lands reserved for us “in perpetuity” — forever. -KlamathTribes.org.
16. Sorosis Club of The Dalles
17. The Dalles “Dip” Summer Swimming Hole in the Columbia River
18. A Large and Vibrant Chinese Community x.
“From the 1860s to the 1940s, The Dalles Oregon had a Chinese community that contributed to and supported the growth and development of the city, and Oregon as a whole.” -GorgeDiscovery.org
19. Chinese Laundry War: Laundries, Wash Houses, and White Competition
20. 1894 Flood on the Columbia River at The Dalles
21. Ferry Boat Crossing the Columbia River at The Dalles
22. Historic Columbia River Highway 1912 and 1913
23. John C. Fremont Explorer and Surveyor, Known as the Pathfinder x.
“Captain Fremont - who went on to be California’s first senator and the Republican Party’s first presidential candidate - continued his killing spree, marching his men up the Sacramento River into Oregon, murdering Native Americans on sight, and only turning back to California when word of the war with Mexico reached him.” -RealClearHistory.com
24. Dr. Belle Cooper Rinehart Ferguson 1862-1944
25. H.L. Davis Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author from The Dalles
“...an American novelist and poet. A native of Oregon, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Honey in the Horn, the only Pulitzer given to a native Oregonian.” -Wikipedia.com
26. Heidelberg Beer Columbia Brewery, Eastern Oregon Brewing Company
27. Musical The Dalles
28. Rodeo Early 1900x to WWI and Blanche McGaughey Sammis, Rodeo Champ
29. Seufret Bros. Cannery, Diverse Local Production x.
“The “Seufret Bros Co.” was established in 1881 by brothers Francis and Theodore Seufert. This enterprise became one of the largest salmon fishing and processing establishments on the Columia River. The brothers owned the majority of fish wheels surrounding The Dalles, and their cannery was located at the Columbia River Mile (RM) 192, just upstream of today’s The Dalles Dam. On June 1, 1954 Seufert Brothers Co. was liquidated and its assets disposed of. The land where the cannery was located was sold to the Army Corps of Engineers in connection with The Dalles Dam project. Until the cannery was burned, it was leased by Wasco County for public events.” - ColumbiaRiverImages.com
Pictured: A graph depicting declining fish counts from 1866 to 1992 and during the years in which the Seufert Brothers Salmon Cannery & Fish Wheel Operated. Activists pointed to this graph saying it was “Yet another example of an unsustainable business that destroyed a fish run that had survived sustainable fishing by indigenous people for thousands of years, and still failed.”
30. Thomas Condon Frontier Preacher & Pioneer Geologist x.
31. The Dalles’ Tong War x. x.
“..the truth is the Chinese had never caused any such ruckus in town previous to that occasion. All local Chinese residents had gotten along with one another beautifully. It was a simple case of mistaken identity- and a nervous trigger finger.” -Columbia River Gorge Natural Treasure on the Old Oregon Trail.
Chinese workers had come to The Dalles to escape the Tong Wars which were taking place in Portland.
32. Honald Sign Company, Barney & Gary Honald
33. How The Dalles Got its Name
Make your voice heard.
The voting and public input event is open to everyone in the community.
Those who cannot attend at The National Neon Sign Museum on Oct. 15th from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. are encouraged to email their votes and public input to info@thenationalneonsignmuseum.com or call the National Neon Sign Museum at 541-370-2242 to submit their vote.
