1973 Darr Company Pictorial Map of Mt. Hood Recreation Area, Oregon

This is a 1973 Darr Company comic pictorial place-mat map of Mt. Hood, Oregon, illustrating its history and folklore. While the true meaning of the pink elephant has been lost to history, the drunk rabbit is still dodging cars on the road to Timberline Lodge.

A Closer Look

Comical illustrations populate Mt. Hood. Some skiers fly down the slopes, while others fall headfirst or land flat on their backs. A group of toboggans down the right side of the mountain. Mt. Hood's first ski lift is illustrated to the right of the Timberline Lodge, which is still in operation. Numerous ski runs head down the mountain from the Timberline Lodge. The buses in front of the lodge are the skiers' transportation since the Forest Service originally regulated that no private individuals drive to the lodge. Anyone wanting to visit the lodge or go farther up the mountain from there had to park in Government Camp and ride the bus. A new access road was built in 1950 to accommodate private vehicles. Numerous small cabins appear throughout, each built by a ski club. During the 1930s and 1940s, clubs wanted their own cabins where their members could stay when visiting Mt. Hood. These eventually fell out of fashion as club members demanded better than dormitory conditions. Most of the other buildings, such as The Battle Ax Inn, Hill's Place, and the Tyrolean, have all burned down. The Ski Bowl, situated in the lower right, hosted the 1939 Ski National Championships and the 1940 U.S. Olympic Trials. The ski jump to the right of the Ski Bowl regularly hosted ski jumping competitions that as many as 10,000 people attended. Farther up the mountain, the gadget to the left of the Timberline Lodge was called the 'Snowgo' and was the first snowcat. It was invented by Ira Davidson, the foreman of the WPA crew that built the Timberline Lodge. This new machine gained international fame when the Forest Service used it to take skiers to the starting line of the 1939 National Downhill Championship Races. These races are referenced here as well. The 'no speed limit' quip near the summit refers to the high speeds competitors reached on this challenging course.

Publication History and Census

This map was published in two editions. The first edition was drawn by Eugene 'Gene' Gayer in 1940 and printed by the Hallwyler Printing Company of Portland, Oregon. That original edition measured 16 x 22 inches. The present edition was published in 1973 by the Darr Company. Everett and Ida Darr owned a gas station at the west end of Government Camp and, in 1973, built and opened a Mountain Shop and Restaurant next to their gas station. They resized the map (it now measured 12 x 16 inches), and printed it on lighter paper for use as placemats at the restaurant. According to Lloyd Musser, a curator at the Mt. Hood Museum, 'not many copies of the Darr printing survived as they had pancake syrup and catsup spilled on them at the restaurant.' We note only 2 instances when original examples of either edition have appeared on the private market in recent years. Examples of the 1939 edition are part of the collection at the University of Washington and the David Rumsey Map Collection.