300127 - Rising Wolf

The program originally scheduled to appear on this date was a dramatic presentation about the real-life adventures of Major Ralph Royce of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ 1^st Pursuit Group and this unit’s “Arctic Patrol” flight from Michigan to Spokane and return. The flight set out from Selfridge Field in Michigan on January 10^th, but suffered numerous delays due to worse than expected weather and also some mechanical and maintenance issues. The majority of the flight group made it back to Michigan on January 29^th. The plan was to include Major Royce and another member of the flight crew in the live Empire Builders broadcast on the 27^th, so this broadcast topic was postponed for one week. As of January 27^th, most of the scattered aircraft of the 1^st Pursuit Group (including Major Royce and his P-1) were working their way from Fargo, North Dakota, to Minneapolis.

Instead of focusing on Major Royce and his Arctic Patrol, Empire Builders substituted a story about one of the earliest white settlers in the Glacier Park country. The story of Hugh Monroe (or Rising Wolf, as the Blackfeet named him) was written by an NBC Continuity Editor out of their Chicago office. The man’s name was George Redman.

 

George Redman, NBC Continuity Editor and author of the Rising Wolf story broadcast on January 27, 1930.  Author's collection

Hugh Monroe (1798-1896) was one of the first people of European descent to spend any appreciable time in the area of Montana that would one day become Glacier National Park. As a very young man, he hired on with the Hudson’s Bay Company and was soon tasked by his superiors with living among the Blackfeet Indians to learn their language and customs, and to earn their trust to a point that he could influence them to begin trading furs with HBC. Up to that time, the Blackfeet had mostly kept their distance from the HBC men, and none of the HBC factors (outpost managers or agents) had yet learned the Blackfeet language fluently. Monroe was eager for adventure, so he jumped at this challenge and put all his energy and effort into it.

A 1919 book about Hugh Monroe, written by James Willard Schultz. You can download the entire contents of the book as a (very large) PDF copy - it's about 12 MB, so only click the link if you really want to see the entire book!  LINK: Rising Wolf

As the radio play began, the Old Timer was once again travelling aboard a westbound Empire Builder train, and he got to talking with a fellow passenger. With the train approaching the eastern boundary of Glacier National Park, the woman speaking with the Old Timer remarked at all the high peaks coming into view on the western horizon. The Old Timer expressed mild amusement at the reaction of so many of the train’s passengers as the Rocky Mountains revealed themselves. The two of them began chatting about the mountains.

WOMAN:             Well, you’re an Old Timer out here, but it’s a new experience to most of us. In fact, I’ve been straining my own eyes for an hour. You know, it’s rather surprising to me, the way these mountains rise right up out of the plains. From this distance, you can’t hardly tell them from clouds.

PIONEER:            Oh, I reckon we all get about the same sort of a kick out of our first sight of the mountains. Sort of the feeling old Christopher Columbus got when somebody yelled “Land” … I tell you the country along this Great Northern just keeps you lookin’ out the windows the whole way from Chicago to the Coast – mighty interesting country.

The Old Timer described some of the geologic history of the Glacier Park country, and the woman admitted she had never before visited Glacier National Park. This afforded the Old Timer with another convenient opportunity to slip in a little Great Northern-style advertising copy:

PIONEER:            It ain’t like nothing you’ve ever saw before, even if you’ve seen the Alps in Switzerland. Some people call this Glacier park country the American Alps.

As only a character in a radio play can do with such a smooth delivery, the woman prompted the Old Timer for more information:

WOMAN:             Really? Well – er – what do people do when they go there – besides looking at the mountains and glaciers?

Naturally, this set the Old Timer off on an enthusiastic and detailed narrative about Glacier National Park and all the wonderful things a person could do there. He spent the next few minutes enumerating all the activities available to tourists, as well as the nicely appointed lodging options. He was a veritable travel brochure personified.

At this point, the woman asked him about a mountain peak she spotted in the distance. The Old Timer told her it was Rising Wolf Mountain, named for Hugh Monroe.

Rising Wolf Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana

Now, I’m not as expert at such details as perhaps I ought to be, but I’m not so sure you can actually see Rising Wolf Mountain from a westbound train approaching Glacier Park. The mountain is over 9,500 feet in elevation, so perhaps it pokes above some of the surrounding peaks, but I’m not convinced. Rising Wolf Mountain is located in the western part of the Two Medicine valley – quite a few miles from the railroad line as it rolls out of the Montana towns of Shelby and Browning, and up along the southern boundary of the park. I’m trying to maintain a routine of posting something to this blog every week, so for each offering I’m pulling together the material I need within only a few days for each posting. If I had a little more time, I suspect I could research this and find a definitive answer. Perhaps you know if Rising Wolf Mountain can be seen from a railroad passenger car approaching Glacier Park from the east. If so, please leave a comment below. For now, I’m inclined to think it might be story-telling hyperbole.

In any event, the questions about Rising Wolf Mountain provided the obvious and critical segue for the Old Timer and the cast of Empire Builders to launch into a dramatic sketch about Hugh Monroe. George Redman, the author of the Rising Wolf radio story, stitched together a few elements of historical fact (Hugh Monroe really lived among the Blackfeet as an HBC agent) and then he fictionalized pretty much everything else. As with many Empire Builders playlets, the story of Rising Wolf contained elements of danger, tension, and romance. Monroe met up with the Blackfeet and managed to ingratiate himself with them sufficiently enough that he soon became a member of the tribe. Still, there were those among the tribe who clearly distinguished Monroe as a white man – it was not a perfect assimilation.

In the radio story, it was said that Bear Chief, a fictional leader of the Blackfeet, was the man who bestowed upon Monroe the name of Rising Wolf. Bear Chief’s daughter was named Moon Woman, and (wouldn’t you know it) she was exceptionally beautiful.

One day Rising Wolf stated to Moon Woman that he must strike out with his Blackfeet brothers to fight a band of Snake Indians who had been stealing the Blackfeet’s horses and causing other such mischief. Moon Woman protested, in part because she could not fully accept Monroe as her “kin,” and she felt that their fight need not be his fight. Monroe felt strongly that he had become assimilated among the Blackfeet, and that he did indeed have a duty to fight with them side by side.

Soon the party of Snake Indians came near, and as they did, Monroe realized there were white men among them – in fact, he thought he recognized one of them. It turned out to be the acclaimed mountain man and explorer Jim Bridger (1804-1881). Accepting the input of their brother, Rising Wolf, the Blackfeet heeded Monroe's pleas and spared Bridger and his party. [In real life, Monroe may have actually crossed paths with Bridger, but that’s unclear]

Bridger and his men stayed long enough to share a meal with Monroe. Bridger’s talk of the fur company, and Monroe’s expected prospects for advancement, tugged at him to return to his old life with the fur traders. When he announced his plans to depart, Bear Chief and his daughter Moon Woman were quite dismayed. They had grown not only accustomed to Rising Wolf, but also fond of him. Monroe felt compelled to express his gratitude to the chief by presenting him with a pocket mirror that Bridger gave him. This was great magic to the Blackfeet, who until then (according to the story, at least) had never seen such a thing. Overcome with his own sense of gratitude, Bear Chief tried to reciprocate by offering Monroe a gift of several horses. Note: What little I think I know about Blackfeet culture suggests to me this response was unlikely – it seems to me I’ve read that the Blackfeet have traditionally viewed the gracious acceptance of a gift as being every bit as important as the giving, thus making immediate reciprocation less than ideal. Monroe tried to protest the chief’s generous gift as being way out of scale with the value of a small pocket mirror, explaining that the white people have many mirrors – they were common and of small value. Bear Chief, still marveling at the incredible magic of the mirror, decided Monroe protested because the gift of horses was inadequate. Instead he offered up his daughter, Moon Woman, to be Monroe’s wife.

Well, wouldn’t you know it (seems I have cause to say that a lot in these posts), Hugh Monroe and Moon Woman had true feelings for one another, but after some awkward protesting and weighing of the options, Monroe left Moon Woman behind and rejoined his old pals in the trapping industry.

Funny thing, though – when Monroe met up again with the HBC folks, he explained that a life among the fur trappers was not what would make him happy. He declared that he would resign from the Hudson’s Bay Company so he could return to the “Land of Shining Mountains.” The trading post factor laughed at him and insisted he need not resign. He told Monroe what they really needed was for him to return to the Blackfeet and represent the company there as a fur trading agent. Monroe liked that idea just fine.

With a little fiddle music as a bridge, the scene shifted back aboard the Empire Builder train:

WOMAN:             Well! And so that’s the ending? Monroe and Moon Woman got married I suppose and lived happily ever after.

PIONEER:            (CHUCKLING) That’s just it. They raised one of the finest families of warriors in Blackfeet history, and you’ll find some of their descendants in Glacier Park to this day. And Monroe himself became such a prominent man in the tribe that they named that peak back there Rising Wolf, in his honor – it stands right at the entrance to the Two-Medicine country – one of the prettiest valleys you ever laid eyes upon.

A man on the train piped in just then and suggested Moon Woman must have levied a mighty strong attraction on Monroe to entice him to go back and live out his life among the Blackfeet.

PIONEER:         Well, I reckon she was pretty enough to put on a calendar, but that was only half of it. I heard one of these housekeepin’ ladies on the radio the other day sayin’ that any woman could land the man she wanted if she had the proper environment. Well, Moon Woman had what is now Glacier Park for her front parlor.

WOMAN:         The Land of Shining Mountains. Is it really as pretty as all that?

PIONEER:         You just take my word for it. There’s real, genuine beauty there, an’ there’s more’n that. Every mountain and valley, every lake an’ stream, is rich in legend, an’ th’ whole place just breathes romance.

WOMAN:         Well, I’m just going to bring my husband out here next summer.

PIONEER:         Ma’am, I’ll tell you it’ll be a second honeymoon.

It was generally about this point in the history of the Empire Builders radio series that the railroads officials in the St. Paul headquarters began to gather intel from their agents in earnest. One document I’ve located includes capsulized reports from station and ticket agents from across the country for the early months of 1930. The feedback ran the gamut from brief to lengthy. Some commented mostly about radio reception for the show in their community. Some commented on impacts on the railroad’s overall business due to the radio advertising campaign. Others shared specific comments about the content of a particular evening’s program – sometimes their own, and sometimes shared by customers with whom they came in contact.

Here is a sampling of the comments collected:

M.M. Hubbert, New York, N.Y.   “The Empire Builders program came over WJZ very clearly last night and impressed me as being one of the best we have had for some time. There was sufficient sales argument in the sketch to please the outside representative who is endeavoring to sell Glacier National Park and the Great Northern Railway, which, after all, is something we have to bear in mind in order to get our money’s worth from the expenditure we are making in connection with our radio publicity. The majority of the New York newspapers are carrying our program in the “Features for Today” column, which I think is very important , and hope that our radio program will be kept up to such a standard that they will demand this courtesy of the radio editors.”

J. H. Binkman, Cincinnati, Ohio     “Our radio programs are still creating a good bit of favorable comment among the ticket sellers, railroad representatives, and also the shipping public in general. We have had several letters, one or two commenting on the January 27th program. Most of the listeners are following up these programs each week and arrange their engagements so that they can be near a radio on Monday evening. We also find a number of radio fans who would tune in on these programs of ours but claim the lateness in Eastern Time zone prohibits them from doing so.”

F. L. Salisbury, Louisville & Nashville R.R., Jacksonville, Fla.     “The Great Northern Goat is always read with interest, and I appreciate your having put my name on your mailing list. The January issue called attention to the Empire Builders, and as I was at home last night, I tuned in on W.L.W. The whistling of Mr. MacGimsey was very good. I certainly enjoyed the sketch of “Rising Wolf.” It was splendid. In fact, I enjoyed the whole program immensely. After the program was over, I sat for a while and lived over some of my trips in the great Northwest. I naturally thought of you and want to take this means of telling you how I enjoyed the Great Northern program."

B.C. Culbertson, 502 Majestic Bldg., Milwaukee, Wis.         “We have had several favorable comments on this broadcast, and our own opinion also bears out the fact that this was an enjoyable and entertaining program. We have the pleasure of reporting two round trip Seattle tickets, both ways GN, sold to Mr. W. E. Richter, Waukesha, Wisconsin, and two one-way tickets via GN to Los Angeles, sold to Mrs. A. L. Gridley, Milwaukee. Both of these parties have been sold as a result of our broadcasts.”

G. W. Noffsinger, Park Saddle Horse Co., Kalispell, Mont.      “Want to write you and let you know how much I enjoyed your radio program last Monday night. It came in good and was fine. I have heard quite a little favorable comment on it here. This is the sort of publicity Glacier Park needs and was pleased with the reference to the pleasures of trail riding and especially happy to have them refer to the park as a “Glorified Dude Ranch.” If we can get that thought over it should be worth a great deal. I think the last program is the type especially enjoyed by the public, the Indian feature carrying a special appeal.”

One last noteworthy element of this night’s broadcast was that a high school drama department used this continuity to perform the story of Rising Wolf sometime in the following months. An article appeared in the July, 1930, issue of the Great Northern Goat magazine, telling this story. The author was given as “R. Armstrong.” Although the date or dates of the high school performance are not stated, this description was provided:

A rather unusual use for a radio program was made this spring when the members of the First Period English Six Class of the Danbury (Mass.) High School selected one of the Empire Builder’s dramas for their annual play. The students of the English Class at Danbury High School adapted the play from the radio continuity, which was sent to them by the Great Northern Railway, and all the roles were taken by the students themselves.

I don’t profess to be a geography whiz, but I’ll be darned if I can find evidence of a Danbury High School in Massachusetts. There’s a Danbury High School in Connecticut, Ohio, and Texas. Then there’s a Danvers in Massachusetts . . . so it seems to me the author may have muddled up the location of the school a little. I have yet to find corroborating information about the school and the performance of Rising Wolf, so this remains something of a mystery. (Here’s your big chance again to contribute! Let me know if you have any details about the correct school and the performance of this play.)

 

300120 - Steelhead Fishing

The January 20, 1930, episode of Empire Builders was initialed scheduled to tell a tale of Butte, Montana, but that story was delayed until a later date. Instead, a story was aired titled “Steelhead Fishing.” It was based on a story written by Ben Hur Lampman, the same author who wrote “The Coming of the White Man” which aired on Empire Builders for the December 16, 1929, broadcast.

Man and girl steelhead fishing on the Trask River near Tillamook, Oregon, circa 1936. (Photographer unknown; Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation, OHDM002)

Without a copy of this episode’s continuity, I haven’t much to go on except the press release. Here’s what it had to say:

A fishing story broadcast in midwinter will seem a little out of season east of the Rockies, but it happens that the gamey steelhead is at his best during January and February in the mild streams of the Pacific coast. So Empire Builders on Monday night (January 20) will present a romance that  is intermingled with the whirr of the reel and line, the ripple of the streams, and the lashing of the steelhead at the end of the line.

Rudyard Kipling

It will be recalled that one of the few things that Rudyard Kipling found to his liking in America was the fishing in Oregon, which he covered quite fully in his essays.

The story was written especially for Empire Builders by Ben Hur Lampman of Portland, poet and nature writer whose works appeared in numerous magazines of national circulation.

The cast includes Harvey Hays as the lovable Old Timer, and Miss Virginia Gardiner, whose role affords her an opportunity to sing as well as act. Incidental music is by Andy Sannella and his recording orchestra, and Bob MacGimsey, harmony whistler.

 

Men steelhead fishing on Umpqua River, circa 1937 (Photographer Ralph Gifford; Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation, OHDG434)

For the next few episodes in the Empire Builders radio series, I have in most cases the press release and (most importantly) the continuity as well. There should be a good deal more to report about for at least the next month.

300113 - Hard Clean Through

 

As noted in the episode banner above, this broadcast of Empire Builders was the 41^st to air in the program’s usual Monday evening timeslot. It could be considered the 42^nd broadcast of the series, if we include the broadcast of January 12, 1929, when the new Cascade Tunnel was dedicated and opened to regular use. That first broadcast effectively heralded the new tunnel and introduced the Empire Builders series.

This episode of Empire Builders was titled “Hard Clean Through” and was written by a Seattle author named Ruby Bailey Harlowe. She was a member of the Western League of Writers, and some of her work was published in the Saturday Evening Post. This night’s show served as a commemoration of the first anniversary of the Cascade Tunnel.

In the Seattle Times of Sunday, January 12, 1930, a photograph appeared showing Harlowe with two Great Northern Railway officials who were based in Seattle. The accompanying photo caption explained that Harlowe spent time at the site of the Cascade Tunnel during its construction to gather atmosphere for her story.

L-R, Donald Ashton, Ruby Bailey Harlowe, and L.C. Gilman. Ashton was Western Advertising Manager for the GN, and L.C. Gilman was Western vice-president of the company. It was Gilman's older brother, Daniel, (along with Judge Thomas Burke) for whom Seattle's Burke-Gilman trail was named. Author's collection

A presser issued by the GN said the dramatization would be about “a movie queen whose rise to fame turned her head. She pays a visit to a sister whose husband is an engineer engaged in driving the gigantic tunnel. Snobbery gets a rude jolt out where real work is being done.”

After the broadcast, the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) ran a review of the radio drama in its radio review column called “The Listener Speaks.” The review began with an accounting of the nature of the story:

The "Empire Builders" radiocast through the WJZ chain at 10:30 on Monday was worked out in a novel way. Harking back 12 months to the time of the first program, which celebrated the opening of the Cascade Tunnel by the Great Northern Railway, it presented a picture of these actual ceremonies -- even describing Graham McNamee's activities before the various microphones on and off the first passenger train to pass through the tunnel.

The plan worked out quite well. According to custom there was a romantic little story upon which to hang the descriptive matter. In this case it dealt with a playwright who had been working as an engineer in order to get local color. He had fallen in love with the secretary of one of the leaders of the work. The high point of the affair was the discomfiture of a New York actress who longed for the "big men of the open spaces," but who did not desire to welcome them in return in her own city. Not realizing the young engineer's identity she informed him that she was to play the lead in his next play and was then to become his wife.

The CSM review of the broadcast then provided some commentary about the effectiveness of the performance and the reviewer’s thoughts about a couple of other elements:

As usual, this sketch was presented as a "play within a play." First of all the Old Pioneer, whose pleasant tones are always an attractive feature of these radiocasts, was conversing with some amusing English tourists as the train approached the tunnel. Waxing reminiscent, he told them of the opening ceremonies and offered to recount one of the many romances connected with its construction. Incidentally, he gave a very complete summary of its interesting features -- from the method employed in building it to the type of electric engines now used.

A little music was introduced to separate the different elements of the program and "Bob" MacGimsey did some more of his two-part warbling, which is pretty and birdlike enough but has been heard rather frequently of late. Its connection with the largest tunnel in North America is a little obscure.

While the arrangers of these radiocasts are in [a] reminiscent mood it is to be hoped that they will recall some of the really excellent historical programs which they offered so successfully a year ago and perhaps provide some more of the same type again.

Although Ruby Bailey Harlowe was credited with writing the “Hard Clean Through” story, her material was evidently edited by Edward Hale Bierstadt to adapt it for radio.

The essence of the broadcast, as described in the news clips above, was that the Old Timer was traveling west on the Empire Builder, and he met an English couple and launched into a discussion with them about the new Cascade Tunnel. This morphed into a dramatization of the story the Old Timer was telling. The first lines of dialog deserve comment. Here’s how the broadcast opened after MacGimsey’s whistling ended abruptly (as though a radio was just turned off) and interior train effects came up:

PIONEER:      ‘Scuse me, folks, but I jest had to turn that radio off for a spell. Snakes an’ wildcats!, every time I sit down here in the observation car of the Empire Builder, I got to compete with that there radio, an’ it’s almost more than a body can bear. Can’t hear myself think hardly!

WOMAN:       Were you – were you thinking about anything interesting?

PIONEER:      Was I? Well, I just guess I was! You know, I was thinkin’ that it’s just a year ago tonight that the Great Northern sent the first train through its new Cascade Tunnel, and that any minute now this here train will be at the eastern portal of the tunnel on its way through.

In some of the Great Northern Railway’s advertising copy of the day, special attention was brought to the fact that passengers could avail themselves of good radio reception on both the Empire Builder and Western Star trains. This was treated as an advantageous feature. By contrast, the Old Timer’s dialogue to set the stage for this story demonstrates a pronounced disdain for having a radio in the observation car. I’m a bit surprised the railroad officials (Harold Sims, in particular) did not override that piece of dialog and request it be rewritten without such a derogatory treatment of the radio.

The next bit of hushed dialogue served to establish the Brits as a bit bemused by the Old Timer, but willing to let him prattle on about the tunnel.

BRITON:        (Sotto) I say, Muriel, who’s your pal?

WOMAN:       (Sotto) Dear old thing, how do I know? One of these curious pioneer creatures and what-not, I dare say. Great open spaces-strong silent men, and all that sort of thing.

BRITON:        (Sotto) He may be strong, but he’s not silent. Turned off that jolly radio thing just so he could jabber a bit. May be a pioneer; booster I’d call him.

WOMAN:       (Sotto) Booster! Darling, how you do go in for this American slang!

I don’t profess to be adept at writing dialog for radio plays that involves British phrasing and colloquialisms, but the British characters in this presentation seem awkward and unauthentic. Their purpose in the story appears to be to provide the Old Timer an uninformed foil off of which he could find a reason to describe the Cascade Tunnel and segue into a dramatic story. And that’s just what he did.

The Old Timer served as mouthpiece for the railroad’s advertising department and went on to describe all the marvelous statistical data about the tunnel, and all the benefits derived from it on behalf of shippers and the traveling public. As he was summing up his points, he noticed the train was just entering the east portal of the Cascade Tunnel. Pulled by quiet electric locomotives, the train glided through the dark tunnel, and the Old Timer launched into one of his yarns. This one told the story of movie star Letty La Verne, who came to the site of the tunnel to see everything on the day that it was dedicated. After a short bridge of transitional music, the Empire Builders actors played out the dramatization of the Old Timer’s story.

Anne was secretary to the Chief Engineer of the tunnel construction project, and Bob was her beau. If I’ve learned anything about the Empire Builders dramas, any story of romance is bound to suffer from one or the other of the two lovers fatalistically quitting on their relationship in some fashion, only to learn that they were premature or victims of a dreadful misunderstanding (usually of their own making, and utterly without cause). Our first scene in the Old Timer’s story has Bob, a civil engineer working on the Cascade Tunnel, stopping by to see his girl Anne, and to let her know he has to break a date they had for taking a stroll together that afternoon.

BOB:               Anne – I’ve got bad news.

ANNE:            Oh, I’m so sorry! What’s the matter, dear?

BOB:               Why – we can’t have our walk this afternoon, after all. I’ve – I’ve been delegated to take Miss La Verne into the tunnel, and show her the workings.

ANNE:            Oh – so that’s the bad news … Attractive, isn’t she, Bob?

BOB:               Why – yes – I suppose so. Why?

ANNE:            Seeing quite a lot of her, aren’t you?

BOB:               Why – er – yes – in a way.

ANNE:            Well, don’t let’s be too serious about it. I’ve only this to say, Bobby.

BOB:               Fire when you’re ready,Gridley! 

Brace yourself … here it comes . . .

ANNE:            I will. You see, I’m just secretary to the Chief Engineer, and – and Letty La Verne is a moving picture star. There’s a lot of difference. I just want you to know that – if you change your mind – it’s all right – I’ll understand.

BOB:               Why, Anne dear, there’s no question of that! Surely you don’t think …

ANNE:            Perhaps I’m not thinking very much – but I’m feeling quite a good deal … Run along, honey, and keep your date. I’m all right.

BOB:               But Anne – Miss La Verne is only here to get local color for her new picture …

ANNE:            Well, maybe you’re in the picture too. You never can tell.

Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob! Haven’t you learned yet? You can’t live with ‘em, and you can’t live without ‘em. It seems Anne took Bob to be about as shallow as an Arizona mud puddle on a July afternoon – and his devotion just as fleeting. Instead, it turns out that good ol’ Bob was not only faithful to his beloved Anne, he was setting up Letty the Movie Star for a comeuppance. Letty La Verne was presented as being snobbish. She played Bob for a little amusement out West, but she’d have none of him back in New York. That world was far too sophisticated to stoop to the affections of such a rough western outdoorsman. Bob, in the meantime, was stringing her along before divulging his true identity.

Bob took Letty La Verne on an inspection tour into the new tunnel, and described to her some of the features of the remarkable construction project.

BOB:               And now, tonight, we have the big party – the official opening of the tunnel, and the first train to run through. President-elect Hoover is going to speak; Graham McNamee is going to be master of ceremonies, and there’ll be all sorts of goings on. You’ll be there, won’t you?

LETTY:          Of course I’ll be there! You don’t think I’d miss that, do you? Aren’t you going to ask ….

BOB:               I’m so sorry, but I can’t. I mean I’ve …

LETTY:          Oh, that’s all right. I know how busy you’ll be … Hadn’t we better be starting back – Bob?

BOB:               Yes, we had. It’s later than I thought.

LETTY:          It’s all so marvelous! Oh, Bob, I do like men who do things!

BOB:               Well, there were certainly a lot of that kind of men working on this Cascade Tunnel!

Later that evening, Bob escorted his sweetheart Anne to the east portal of the tunnel to take in the dedication ceremonies.

BOB:               Listen to the crowd, and that band! By George, this is going to be a show!

ANNE:            The Great Northern is broadcasting the tunnel opening over a National net-work, isn’t it?

BOB:               You bet it is! The whole country will know about this tonight.

ANNE:            There’s the special train! And look at the people!

Just after this dialog, the following text in the continuity provides instruction to the studio production and sound effects crews to reenact some of the action broadcast one year earlier:

AT THIS POINT, PIECE IN THE TUNNEL OPENING MATERIAL TAKEN FROM THE PHONOGRAPH RECORDS. IT WILL PROBABLY BE NECESSARY TO WRITE IN A FEW SPEECHES TO TIE THIS TOGETHER. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE REPRODUCTION OF THE ACTUAL MATERIAL BE AS AUTHENTIC AS POSSIBLE. GET THE CROWD EFFECT AND THE START OF THE TRAIN THROUGH THE TUNNEL.

The phonograph records referred to above are the 17-disc set of 78 RPM Victor records made to capture the entire one-hour broadcast of January 12, 1929 – the dedication and opening of the Cascade Tunnel. A number of copies of this set were produced, and some of the sets were no doubt presented to various railroad officials, construction company executives, and selected dignitaries. One of these complete sets has survived and is in the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul. As I’ve written about before, recorded sound was not permitted on the radio by NBC in those days, so it was not an option to simply play selected parts of the records. The instructions quoted above suggest the records were consulted for content details, and then portions were reenacted during the performance of “Hard Clean Through.”

A grouping of three of the seventeen 78RPM records that captured the entire inaugural broadcast of the Cascade Tunnel dedication and the introduction of the Empire Builders series. Minnesota Historical Society collection

Just after the first passenger train entered the new Cascade Tunnel, Letty La Verne approached Bob and Anne. Bob mentioned that he understood Letty was heading back to New York the next day, and then informed her that he too would be going there in a couple of weeks. He suggested that she make time to see him when he was there. La Verne began to backpedal.

LETTY:          Why – yes – of course. But you know – New York is different. You wonderful out-door men need your background – don’t you? And then too – I’ll be busy.

BOB:               Yes, I know. You’re rehearsing a new play aren’t you?

LETTY:          Yes, and – oh, it’s magnificent! Such a part! And, Bob, I haven’t told anyone this yet, but I’ve decided that I’m going to marry the author!

BOB:               I wonder – whether you will be glad to see me – after all!

LETTY:          I’m going to marry the man who wrote that play if it’s the last thing I ever do!

Here we go again. Now it’s Letty La Verne who’s making dramatic matrimonial commitments – regarding a man she doesn’t even know. But Bob is working up a little enlightenment for her.

BOB:               Let’s see, what’s his name?

LETTY:          Robert Carlton Young.

BOB:               Letty, do you remember my name?

LETTY:          Why – Robert Carlton! Bob! You’re not -- ?!!

BOB:               I’m afraid I am. Yes, it’s my play. You see – I’ve been out here getting local color too.

LETTY:          Well! I hope you’ve got it – Mr. Young!

BOB:               Yes, and some that wasn’t so local. Wait a minute, I want you to meet my fiancé. (Calls) Anne! Anne!

ANNE:            Yes, Bob! Coming!

LETTY:          I’m sorry. I can’t wait. (fades out)

ANNE:            Why, Bob, what did you do with Miss La Verne?

BOB:               Well, dear, on the stage they’d say that Miss La Verne took a quick curtain!

Another musical bridge transitioned back to the Old Timer and the British couple.

PIONEER:      (Chuckles) I reckon that time that the biter was bit, good and hard too!

WOMAN:       I saw that play with Letty La Verne. Rotten actress!

BRITON:        And here’s the topping old tunnel still doing business at the old stand – what?

PIONEER:      Here it is, and here it will be for many a year to come. We’re through it now, and you can’t realize, as I do, the miles of twisting and turning and climbings that you’ve been saved just because it is there … Well, folks, I got to go to the baggage car, and see if my old hound dog January is bedded down for the night. See you later, I hope!

It turns out, of course, the Old Timer was right about the tunnel being around awhile. It’s been in pretty much constant daily use for over 85 years now. There’s no telling just how much longer the tunnel will continue to serve its purpose, but it’s a safe bet it will be a long time.

 

300106 - Topic: Early California

The 40th episode of Empire Builders was a story of the early days of California. I have only a couple of sources from which to draw a synopsis of the broadcast, including the Great Northern Goat. I’ve referenced this publication in previous posts, but here’s an explanation for those who may have missed it.

Great Northern Goat, January, 1930. Author's collection

The Great Northern Railway published a monthly magazine for many years that they called the “Great Northern Goat.” The magazine was a small, nearly pocket-sized format, and typically contained a number of short articles designed to inform the railroad’s ticket agents about company news and selected personnel changes.

From the early 1920’s (until the 1970 merger that somewhat obscured the GN legacy under the new company’s moniker “Burlington Northern”), a mountain goat was utilized in the corporate trademark of the Great Northern Railway. This was done to draw attention to the company’s tourist facilities in Glacier National Park, where the mountain goat remains a ubiquitous wild denizen to this day. Ergo, the company’s ticket agent magazine was called the “Goat.”

Throughout the duration of the Empire Builders radio series, the GN ran small articles in the monthly Goat magazines that offered glimpses of upcoming broadcasts. These were typically prepared by a staff writer named Malcolm Breese. I have a suspicion this was a pseudonym for Harold Sims, the GN’s executive assistant in charge of the radio campaign. I have no proof of this as yet, but it’s just one more detail to chase down.

The Great Northern Goat magazine for January, 1930, contained the following description of the broadcast concerning California (with a Malcolm Breese by-line):

A romance of early day California, the marvels of modern engineering and a story of the city of St. Paul will be the variegated themes behind the Empire Builder series of radio programs, which will be on the air the four Monday evenings in January.

The first of these tells of an American prisoner of war, in the California of years ago, who is saved from death by a Senorita. He finally overcomes all difficulties and marries the charming Senorita. This story has a historical background and will be broadcast January 6^th.

Radio series flyer containing a synopsis of the broadcasts of December 2, 1929 through January 13, 1930. Author's collection

Another vehicle the GN used to alert listeners to upcoming Empire Builders broadcasts was a series of small pamphlets that were distributed from the autumn of 1929 until at least the end of 1930. Each pamphlet contained a short synopsis of about a half dozen of the scheduled programs. This date’s broadcast was addressed in such a pamphlet that included air dates of December 2, 1929, to January 13, 1930. For the January 6 program, the pamphlet had this description:

An American prisoner of war, in the California of years ago, is saved from death by a señorita. He becomes invaluable to the easy-going Spanish settlers and finally overcoming all difficulties of nationality, religion and condition of servitude, marries the charming Señorita. The story has a historical background.

As you can see, this write-up differs very little from the Goat magazine blurb. And finally, we have a short preview published in the Seattle Times on the day of the broadcast, which again tells us little more than we already have:

ROMANTIC HISTORY WILL BE TOLD BY EMPIRE BUILDERS

Broadcast Deals With First American Captured on Soil of California and Charming Señorita

The first American to set foot on the soil of California was immediately seized as a prisoner of war and saved from death by a charming señorita. The incident affords material for the historical romance which will be presented by the Empire Builders tonight at 7:30 over KOMO. The prisoner becomes invaluable to the easy-going Spanish settlers and finally overcoming all difficulties of nationalities, religion, and servitude, marries the charming señorita.

The cast will include the “Old Timer” and Miss Virginia Gardiner. Andy Sannella and his orchestra are to furnish a musical atmosphere suggestive of romance of early California. Another feature of the program will be Bob MacGimsey, three-part harmony whistler.

An allusion to the “historical” nature of the story appears in each of the three published synopses of this broadcast quoted above. Many stories used on Empire Builders incorporated actual historical figures, and despite the fictional nature of the stories, the radio series’ writers clearly made an effort to adhere to historical accuracy to a significant extent. In the absence of this broadcast’s continuity, I can only speculate, but it seems the protagonist of this story may well have been Jedediah Smith (1799-1831), considered to be one of the first American civilians to enter California. According to the historical record, Smith was in fact initially detained by the Mexican authorities he encountered when his explorations and fur trapping endeavors drew him across the Sierra Nevada mountains and into California. If Smith was indeed the inspiration for the story, the reflection of his life in the Empire Builders broadcast probably ended there – what little I know about Smith suggests that in real life he departed California without marrying anyone.