WESTERN AMERICANA - HANDWRITTEN TRAVEL DIARY - Washington State - Listed Artist - 1935
Item History & Price
EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN TRAVEL DIARY. NOTED MEMBER OF PUGET SOUND NORTHWEST PAINTERS AND FAMILY. LEAVING EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, DRIVING, DRAWING, FISHING, SWIMMING, CAMPING, AND SKETCHING WESTERN AMERICANA IN SEPTEMBER OF 1935. Not only is this a terrific handwritten travel diary, but it also contains 9 original sketches of the mountainous area they were traveling in, that were hand drawn by Edgar Leslie Blake, noted artist; painter; engraver; Who's Who in American Art - 1999.... The talented diarist was his daughter, Mabel Arundell Lyon, who was a contributing writer for "Toy World" and had a gift; a great talent for writing as this diary illustrates. Her in-depth descriptions of all they experienced are absolutely enchanting and spell binding. Also on this trip was Edgar's wife, Bessie Arundell Underwood Blake, who's passion was fishing, and she would practically jump out of the car with fishing rod in hand when she would see a body of water. She would yell "stop" and Edgar would oblige. When they would rest along a stream or river for mama to fish, Edgar would go and sketch the mountains, while Mabel wrote letters and postcards home.
Artist Edgar Leslie Blake - born May 1863, Amsterdam, New York, died - 2 Oct 1949, Edmonds, WA. Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters. Parents - Earl Stimson Blake, and Jane Eliza Manchester. Edgar attended School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Edinburgh and Paris. Edgar L. Blake was a painter, engraver (listed in Who's Who in American Art - 1999.) Exhibited at Frederick & Nelson, Little Gallery, Seattle, 1935 (solo), 1937 (solo), 1939 (solo). Married - 1885 to Bessie Arundell Underwood - born 1863, in England - died 1936, Seattle, WA, a year after this trip. Bessie had a bad heart. Children - Bessie Mabel (our diarist) born - 1888, Chicago, IL, died - 1984, Edmonds, WA. ; Earl Leslie - born 1889 - died 1977.
Edgar's daughter Bessie Mabel was married 1905 to Frank Stanley (she was 17, he was 52 and that ended in divorce. Frank Stanley was very successful in real estate). An interesting note - Frank Stanley's father's name was Morgan Stanley. She was married the second time in 1912 to Arthur O Harris. She died with the name Lyon so I would imagine that she must have been married a third time. She had no known children. Birth place: Amsterdam, NY.
Edgar's woodcuts and etchings of Northwest landscapes were reproduced in national magazines. Obituary, 1949; Northwest Artist Dies, Seattle Newspaper: Edgar Leslie Blake, 87, nationally-known Pacific Northwest artist, died Sunday in his home In North Edmonds. His paintings' of mountain trails, lakes and ocean scenes had been shown In many exhibits in this area and the East. Among the survivors is a son, Earl Leskie Blake, of Selma, Oregon. Edgar's obituary was in 1949, and Earl Leskie died in 1977. What a joyful handwritten journal as Edgar L. Blake, his wife Bessie Arundell Underwood Blake, and daughter Mabel Arundell Lyon set out for what Edgar titled "A Gypsy Trip, " as they meandered through Washington and British Columbia, enjoying every camp site; cabin stop; towns and villages; views and vistas; mountains, streams and rivers. Mabel would write in this truly exquisite diary with colorful descriptions of what life was like in rural Western America in 1935. Although the dust bowl was much further to the east of them in sections of the Great Plains, they did see some evidence of it in their travels. Especially in one town that was all but deserted with homes boarded up and most folks gone. Mabel's handwritten entries are exquisite with her on-going detailed and descriptive notes; she had a gift for the written word.
Their road trip took them over 2, 000 miles of rugged coast; dirt roads with holes big enough to fall in; a highway with "S" turns that were terrifying as other cars were coming their way; road blocks; detours; strange cabins that looked haunted from the outside; a bear in the woods where mama wanted to fish; mama having a heart attack; &c., yet these folks made the best of every moment they spent on the road. Papa would go into town to get supplies while mama and Mabel made up the cabin. When papa returned they would cook a meal fit for royalty and the cabin already felt and looked like home.
They started out from Edmonds on Sept. 10 and traveled through Auburn; White River Entrance; Rainier National Park; Sunrise Point; Yakima Park; American River; Hells Crossing; Halla Halla Highway; British Columbia; Sunnyside; Kennewick; Walla Walla; Dyton; Colfax; Snake River; Palouse River, Colorado; Rosalia; Spokane; Deer Park where dad and Mr. Thomson had a 10 acre fruit ranch. Washington Valley; Chewelah; Colville Valley; Addy; Mayers Falls and Kettle Falls. Edgar would sketch the mountains and numbered his 9 sketches in this diary.
"Wednesday, Sept. 18, Meyers Falls - abandoned looking place. Lumber shed - farms here abouts. Kettle Falls; we went on the west side of the bank - and then to the east side. The falls are exceptionally beautiful and it makes me sad to think that all this will be covered by water when the Coulee Dam is finished. Oh a marvelous sight. We are leaving the falls at 12:20." (Kettle Falls was an ancient and important salmon fishing site on the upper reaches of the Columbia River, Kettle Falls was flooded in 1940, when the Grand Coulee Dam impounded the Columbia River to create Lake Roosevelt. The waters behind the dam rose 380 feet, flooding more than 21, 000 acres of prime bottomland along the river where native peoples lived, as well as the original town of Kettle Falls. In June 1940, an estimated 8, 000 to 10, 000 people mourned the falls at a "Ceremony of Tears" organized by the Colvilles and attended by representatives of the Yakama, Spokane, Nez Perce, Flathead, Blackfeet, Coeur d'Alene, Tulalip, and Pend d'Oreille tribes. Grand Coulee permanently blocked anadromous fish from traveling upriver, ending salmon and steelhead migration in the upper Columbia River Basin.)
"Drove on through Daisy Washington and took the Daisy Ferry across the Columbia River. Bought from roadside stand, and all this country will be flooded when the High Dam goes in. Stopped for lunch on a high bluff under pines on the banks of the Columbia. Began again after egg sandwiches, pears, coffee and the fruit is delicious - good orchards. Marvelous weather; the river is so blue below. Clear skies, mild warm sunshine, ancient pines. Pine country all through here. Daisy Washington. A handful of buildings half of which are all boarded up. Quite a few deserted orchards. Clifford, Washington - Inchelium Ferry. Log buildings; a church with a spire. Down-at-heels buildings. Dirt road. Washboard effect and pretty rough going. Bad S curve and river below. More bad S curves. Finally gravel and good roads again. Hunters, Washington, 2 churches, S curve in the road. Blacksmith shop - they still have them in this county - also 10 gallon hats. Log home with buggy in front yard. We have left the Columbia. It has swung to the west. Milkweed by the roadside."
"Going through fairly heavy pine forest. Opening out at whole Spokane River Valley - Spokane River. Good improved hard service road. Many S curves to get down. We cross the Spokane River and country is gradually getting less rugged. Coming back to the prairie region I believe. Kid on horseback races us. More bluffs and rocky hills. Spokane River is beautiful. Now on a high rolling plateau - wheat - cattle - horses, out of the mountains for a while. Davenport at 5:30. Dad gets the paper. This is a clean little town; prosperous looking. It is a Junction point where 7 roads come in - 6 of them directly. Found double cabin with running water, $2.00. After a good dinner mama made apple sauce and I put on spuds to boil for tomorrow's supper. Then we played cards, and mama and i took turns taking a sponge bath by the fire. Dad was too sleepy. He went to bed "dirty." We slept well. Following page has our scores from last night card game." (They play Bridge and Whist Dummy.)
"Leaving Davenport Cabins. Sagebrush - ploughed fields; only slightly rolling land for miles. The day is cool so far; the sun is dimmed; slightly big clouds oh we are so fortunate. Harrington, Washington.The pictures all through this county are beautiful. Land more rolling here with rocky junctions. We are following the Great Northerner Roadway. Another Sonoma train on track; freight. Movement of grains and soft fruits heaviest since 1929. This is #7, an excellent road. We are going 50 miles per hour here. Odessa, tree lined little town. Jack Rabbits dead in the road. Mostly sagebrush. We can see a faint blue outline of the foothills of the Cascades. These plains look pale beneath them. Grant County. Mileage 15537.3. We are at the rocky summit of a green oasis with tall poplars - orchards. Small but pretty place nestled between rocky buttes. All rocky buttes to South West of us. Great Northern train arrived in Marlin at same time as we did! Thoughtful of them. Valley below rich grain-land; rocky buttes full of color and falling in contours. Nelson Creek; - trees; good school. Shortest route to Grand Coulee dam - 42 miles. Grant County Migratory Bird Preserve."
"Soap Lake; the worlds greatest cure for Rheumatism, " &c. They go on through Battleship Rock; Dry Coulee; Quincy; Vantage where there is a C.C.C. camp and men and boys are working on bridges; clearing trails in the woods, and taking up all the rental cabins. They have to push on. Ginkgo Petrified Forest; Ellensburg; Yakima River; Elum; Easton; Kachess River Snoqualmie;Lake Easton; Camp Mason; Snoqualmie National Forest; North Bend, &c. Mabel has written copious notes that describe the towns, and all the areas they visit or pass through which makes for an interesting travel diary, with 9 original sketches of the mountains and this is a very worthy acquisition indeed.
Condition: Mabel had a hard bound "Publisher's Dummy Book - Wine From These Grapes - Edna St. Vincent Millay - Publisher Harpers, " that was full of blank pages until she picked it up and wrote on the blank pages, using them for this diary. Almost every page is covered with her insightful writing. Every penny they spent on this trip is accounted for by Mabel with her running tab at the end of this book. Measures approx. 6 x 8 1/2 and has 80 pages of handwritten entries. I found this book to be enchanting. Book/diary is in good condition, internally fresh and tight with crisp and clear handwritten entries. Original book label is still on the spine.
Payment and Shipping: Please see our feedback and bid with confidence. Never a reserve and very low opening bid as always bidders with no established feedback must contact us before bidding. Payment must be received within 3 days after close of auction. Thank you.
Artist Edgar Leslie Blake - born May 1863, Amsterdam, New York, died - 2 Oct 1949, Edmonds, WA. Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters. Parents - Earl Stimson Blake, and Jane Eliza Manchester. Edgar attended School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Edinburgh and Paris. Edgar L. Blake was a painter, engraver (listed in Who's Who in American Art - 1999.) Exhibited at Frederick & Nelson, Little Gallery, Seattle, 1935 (solo), 1937 (solo), 1939 (solo). Married - 1885 to Bessie Arundell Underwood - born 1863, in England - died 1936, Seattle, WA, a year after this trip. Bessie had a bad heart. Children - Bessie Mabel (our diarist) born - 1888, Chicago, IL, died - 1984, Edmonds, WA. ; Earl Leslie - born 1889 - died 1977.
Edgar's daughter Bessie Mabel was married 1905 to Frank Stanley (she was 17, he was 52 and that ended in divorce. Frank Stanley was very successful in real estate). An interesting note - Frank Stanley's father's name was Morgan Stanley. She was married the second time in 1912 to Arthur O Harris. She died with the name Lyon so I would imagine that she must have been married a third time. She had no known children. Birth place: Amsterdam, NY.
Edgar's woodcuts and etchings of Northwest landscapes were reproduced in national magazines. Obituary, 1949; Northwest Artist Dies, Seattle Newspaper: Edgar Leslie Blake, 87, nationally-known Pacific Northwest artist, died Sunday in his home In North Edmonds. His paintings' of mountain trails, lakes and ocean scenes had been shown In many exhibits in this area and the East. Among the survivors is a son, Earl Leskie Blake, of Selma, Oregon. Edgar's obituary was in 1949, and Earl Leskie died in 1977. What a joyful handwritten journal as Edgar L. Blake, his wife Bessie Arundell Underwood Blake, and daughter Mabel Arundell Lyon set out for what Edgar titled "A Gypsy Trip, " as they meandered through Washington and British Columbia, enjoying every camp site; cabin stop; towns and villages; views and vistas; mountains, streams and rivers. Mabel would write in this truly exquisite diary with colorful descriptions of what life was like in rural Western America in 1935. Although the dust bowl was much further to the east of them in sections of the Great Plains, they did see some evidence of it in their travels. Especially in one town that was all but deserted with homes boarded up and most folks gone. Mabel's handwritten entries are exquisite with her on-going detailed and descriptive notes; she had a gift for the written word.
Their road trip took them over 2, 000 miles of rugged coast; dirt roads with holes big enough to fall in; a highway with "S" turns that were terrifying as other cars were coming their way; road blocks; detours; strange cabins that looked haunted from the outside; a bear in the woods where mama wanted to fish; mama having a heart attack; &c., yet these folks made the best of every moment they spent on the road. Papa would go into town to get supplies while mama and Mabel made up the cabin. When papa returned they would cook a meal fit for royalty and the cabin already felt and looked like home.
They started out from Edmonds on Sept. 10 and traveled through Auburn; White River Entrance; Rainier National Park; Sunrise Point; Yakima Park; American River; Hells Crossing; Halla Halla Highway; British Columbia; Sunnyside; Kennewick; Walla Walla; Dyton; Colfax; Snake River; Palouse River, Colorado; Rosalia; Spokane; Deer Park where dad and Mr. Thomson had a 10 acre fruit ranch. Washington Valley; Chewelah; Colville Valley; Addy; Mayers Falls and Kettle Falls. Edgar would sketch the mountains and numbered his 9 sketches in this diary.
"Wednesday, Sept. 18, Meyers Falls - abandoned looking place. Lumber shed - farms here abouts. Kettle Falls; we went on the west side of the bank - and then to the east side. The falls are exceptionally beautiful and it makes me sad to think that all this will be covered by water when the Coulee Dam is finished. Oh a marvelous sight. We are leaving the falls at 12:20." (Kettle Falls was an ancient and important salmon fishing site on the upper reaches of the Columbia River, Kettle Falls was flooded in 1940, when the Grand Coulee Dam impounded the Columbia River to create Lake Roosevelt. The waters behind the dam rose 380 feet, flooding more than 21, 000 acres of prime bottomland along the river where native peoples lived, as well as the original town of Kettle Falls. In June 1940, an estimated 8, 000 to 10, 000 people mourned the falls at a "Ceremony of Tears" organized by the Colvilles and attended by representatives of the Yakama, Spokane, Nez Perce, Flathead, Blackfeet, Coeur d'Alene, Tulalip, and Pend d'Oreille tribes. Grand Coulee permanently blocked anadromous fish from traveling upriver, ending salmon and steelhead migration in the upper Columbia River Basin.)
"Drove on through Daisy Washington and took the Daisy Ferry across the Columbia River. Bought from roadside stand, and all this country will be flooded when the High Dam goes in. Stopped for lunch on a high bluff under pines on the banks of the Columbia. Began again after egg sandwiches, pears, coffee and the fruit is delicious - good orchards. Marvelous weather; the river is so blue below. Clear skies, mild warm sunshine, ancient pines. Pine country all through here. Daisy Washington. A handful of buildings half of which are all boarded up. Quite a few deserted orchards. Clifford, Washington - Inchelium Ferry. Log buildings; a church with a spire. Down-at-heels buildings. Dirt road. Washboard effect and pretty rough going. Bad S curve and river below. More bad S curves. Finally gravel and good roads again. Hunters, Washington, 2 churches, S curve in the road. Blacksmith shop - they still have them in this county - also 10 gallon hats. Log home with buggy in front yard. We have left the Columbia. It has swung to the west. Milkweed by the roadside."
"Going through fairly heavy pine forest. Opening out at whole Spokane River Valley - Spokane River. Good improved hard service road. Many S curves to get down. We cross the Spokane River and country is gradually getting less rugged. Coming back to the prairie region I believe. Kid on horseback races us. More bluffs and rocky hills. Spokane River is beautiful. Now on a high rolling plateau - wheat - cattle - horses, out of the mountains for a while. Davenport at 5:30. Dad gets the paper. This is a clean little town; prosperous looking. It is a Junction point where 7 roads come in - 6 of them directly. Found double cabin with running water, $2.00. After a good dinner mama made apple sauce and I put on spuds to boil for tomorrow's supper. Then we played cards, and mama and i took turns taking a sponge bath by the fire. Dad was too sleepy. He went to bed "dirty." We slept well. Following page has our scores from last night card game." (They play Bridge and Whist Dummy.)
"Leaving Davenport Cabins. Sagebrush - ploughed fields; only slightly rolling land for miles. The day is cool so far; the sun is dimmed; slightly big clouds oh we are so fortunate. Harrington, Washington.The pictures all through this county are beautiful. Land more rolling here with rocky junctions. We are following the Great Northerner Roadway. Another Sonoma train on track; freight. Movement of grains and soft fruits heaviest since 1929. This is #7, an excellent road. We are going 50 miles per hour here. Odessa, tree lined little town. Jack Rabbits dead in the road. Mostly sagebrush. We can see a faint blue outline of the foothills of the Cascades. These plains look pale beneath them. Grant County. Mileage 15537.3. We are at the rocky summit of a green oasis with tall poplars - orchards. Small but pretty place nestled between rocky buttes. All rocky buttes to South West of us. Great Northern train arrived in Marlin at same time as we did! Thoughtful of them. Valley below rich grain-land; rocky buttes full of color and falling in contours. Nelson Creek; - trees; good school. Shortest route to Grand Coulee dam - 42 miles. Grant County Migratory Bird Preserve."
"Soap Lake; the worlds greatest cure for Rheumatism, " &c. They go on through Battleship Rock; Dry Coulee; Quincy; Vantage where there is a C.C.C. camp and men and boys are working on bridges; clearing trails in the woods, and taking up all the rental cabins. They have to push on. Ginkgo Petrified Forest; Ellensburg; Yakima River; Elum; Easton; Kachess River Snoqualmie;Lake Easton; Camp Mason; Snoqualmie National Forest; North Bend, &c. Mabel has written copious notes that describe the towns, and all the areas they visit or pass through which makes for an interesting travel diary, with 9 original sketches of the mountains and this is a very worthy acquisition indeed.
Condition: Mabel had a hard bound "Publisher's Dummy Book - Wine From These Grapes - Edna St. Vincent Millay - Publisher Harpers, " that was full of blank pages until she picked it up and wrote on the blank pages, using them for this diary. Almost every page is covered with her insightful writing. Every penny they spent on this trip is accounted for by Mabel with her running tab at the end of this book. Measures approx. 6 x 8 1/2 and has 80 pages of handwritten entries. I found this book to be enchanting. Book/diary is in good condition, internally fresh and tight with crisp and clear handwritten entries. Original book label is still on the spine.
Payment and Shipping: Please see our feedback and bid with confidence. Never a reserve and very low opening bid as always bidders with no established feedback must contact us before bidding. Payment must be received within 3 days after close of auction. Thank you.
