Recording
status: not recorded
In the mid-1850’s, the U.S. Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis (yep, that one – eventually President of the Confederacy during the Civil War) oversaw the Pacific Railroad Surveys. This project was launched to locate favorable railroad routes across the United States. Five railroad surveys were conducted, the fifth and final of these led by Lieutenant Robert Williamson, starting in California and heading north into Washington Territory. Robert S. Williamson (1825-1882), ultimately a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, served as Chief Topographical Engineer of the Department of the Pacific. Oregon’s Williamson River, which flows through south-central Oregon, is named for the Lieutenant Colonel. This night's broadcast was a dramatization of Williamson's survey trek up through central Oregon.
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| Lt. Robert S. Williamson. Library of Congress collection |
Long after the 1893 completion of the transcontinental main
line of the GN, the railroad created a new and significant branch through central
Oregon to offer shippers access to California on their trains. The work of the
Williamson survey party three quarters of a century earlier laid out a feasible
direction for the railroad to build the new line. Construction on the final
section of this route [also known as the “Inside Gateway”]
was started in 1927, running about 68 miles from Bend to Chemult, Oregon. The
GN operated into Klamath Falls via trackage rights over the Southern Pacific,
and from there the line was extended about 92 miles, into California, to meet
up with the Western Pacific at Bieber. The line was completed in November of
1931. A year prior to the completion of the line, the Great Northern saw this
topic as good material for a story on Empire
Builders.
According to the material I’ve located to date, this
broadcast of Empire Builders was not
recorded by the Great Northern Railway. Nor have I yet located a copy of the
continuity for this program, other than what may be a partial copy published in the Great Northern Goat magazine in 1931. Adding to the
incomplete nature of my knowledge of this particular radio play is that the
title of it is likewise uncertain. Some resources present this broadcast as
“The Williamson Survey.” In another source, it appears to be called
“Carmencita.” When I first encountered this alternate title, I thought perhaps
there was a confusion with an earlier broadcast called “Carmelita” (301006).
However, I now understand these are two distinct names for two distinct
broadcasts. The confusion was simply my own.
 |
| Photograph with caption, as it appeared in the January, 1931, Great Northern Goat magazine. Author's collection |
 |
| Uncropped version of same image as above, showing cast of "Carmencita." This is a roughly 8 by 10 press photo. Author's collection |
The Great Northern Goat
was a small format magazine published by the railroad for the primary purpose
of keeping the company’s ticket agents apprised of news about railroad
business, personnel, and changes in traffic rates or services. The Goat first appeared in 1925. It was
published on a mostly monthly basis throughout its existence, which ended with
the March, 1970, merger that created the Burlington Northern railroad. In
addition to posting brief synopses of upcoming Empire Builders broadcasts, the Goat
was twice published as a special edition to showcase the radio advertising
campaign. The first such edition was issued for April, 1930, and had the cover
title “Special Empire Builders Edition.” The January, 1931, edition of the Goat was titled the “Radio Number.” My pal Lindsay Korst acquired a spare copy of
this issue of the Goat magazine from
me a few years ago. He then scanned the entire issue and posted it, page by
page, to his web site devoted to all things GN:
http://www.gngoat.org/1931_goat.htm
The Empire Builders
broadcast of December 1, 1930, was announced as a story of the extension of the
Great Northern Railway through central Oregon into the state of California.
Here’s how a press release for the program was offered in the November 30,
1930, San Antonio (TX) Express
newspaper:
EMPIRE
BUILDERS WILL TELL STORY OF ROMANTIC WEST
Delving into the
romantic story of California's past, a tale of adventure and exploration full
of action, romance and breathless suspense will be told in the "Empire
Builders" radio drama for Monday evening, Dec. 1, when the program goes on
the air from the Chicago studios of the National Broadcasting Company between
the hours of 9:30 and 10 o'clock Central Standard Time, and broadcast locally
by WOAI.
The drama will tell
of the surveying and laying out of the route followed today by the California extension of
the Great Northern Railway. The love story of a beautiful Spanish senorita and
a Westerner provides the main theme of the story, the dramatic interest of
which is heightened by a succession of obstacles overcome only by hard fighting
and heroic action.
The Empire Builders
triumvirate of Harvey Hays as the "Old Timer," Bernardine Flynn as
the Spanish senorita, and Don Ameche as the dashing young hero, will be
featured again in the leading roles, supported by a large cast of actors.
Elaborate sound effects have been planned to give the radio presentation an
atmosphere of unusual realism.
The material presented in the Goat magazine began with content and format clearly reminiscent of
one of the many actual continuities for the show that I’ve retrieved. Here’s
how the representation of this show began, in the magazine at least:
Empire
Builders
9:30 to 10:00 PM CST Monday
Nights
ANNOUNCER: The
Great Northern Railway presents EMPIRE BUILDERS!
(Orchestral music
which fades to speeding train effect indicating the arrival of the Great
Northern Railway’s crack train – The Empire Builder.)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we are
going to take you to the Chicago
studios of the National Broadcasting Company, which occupy the entire 19th
and 20th floors of the world’s largest building – the new
Merchandise Mart. Here for the next half hour we will mingle with the cast of
Empire Builders, listen to the music of Josef Koestner’s orchestra and peek
into odd corners to see how this nationally broadcast radio program is
produced.
I see that the
members of the cast are now grouped before the “mikes” ready to go on the air.
Suppose we listen to them for a brief time.
(The
scene is laid near the Oregon-California boundary where construction crews are
busily pushing steel southward on the Great Northern’s new extension into California. There is a
background of steam shovel effects, tooting of steam shovel whistles, clang of
rails, etc.)
I’m not quite sure what to make of that last bit, in the
parentheses. I’m speculating that it was written, as shown above, as pure
narrative for the sake of the magazine article.
The radio playlet opened with a conversation between the Old
Timer and a fellow named Craig, who was involved in building the new railroad
line into California. The Old Timer painted a glowing picture of the rich timber
and farming land in the region of the new line.
CRAIG: Yeah … Well, this part of Oregon and
California’s waited a long time for this railroad.
OLD
TIMER: (Chuckles) Seventy-five years
about!
CRAIG: Seventy-five years? Why, say, there
wasn’t any railroads west of the Mississippi seventy-five years ago, were
there?
OLD
TIMER: No, there weren’t. but there were
explorin’ parties right along here – and for that matter, all over the west, as
early as 1855.
CRAIG: Well, that’s sure news to me.
OLD
TIMER: Yes, sir, and the remarkable thing
is that nearly all the western railways were built pretty nearly along the
routes discovered in those explorations before the Civil War – routes that were
declared practicable by fine Army men like Gunnison and Stevens and Beckwith
and Williamson.
CRAIG: And this route between Oregon and
California was one of them?
OLD
TIMER: The very first railroad route ever
explored up and down the coast! Yes, sir! The strange thing is though that the
first railroad built didn’t follow it. (Chuckles) Why, Craig, I reckon if you’d
been standin’ on this very spot back in August of 1855, you’d of seen a party
of soldiers led by a young lieutenant named Williamson, a-comin’ over the ridge
there – just about where you’re makin’ the big cut …
After the history lesson, the Old Timer was just on the
verge of busting loose with another of his riveting stories.
CRAIG: Well, I’ll be darned.
OLD TIMER: And it must’ve been right around here that the
Indians had Terry an’ Hobbs an’ Suzanne cornered. Dog my cats, there’s a story
for you sometime.
CRAIG: (Laughing) Sometime! You know, there’s
no time like the present, Old Timer.
OLD TIMER: Well, it was like this Craig. Lieutenant
Williamson and his soldiers started out from Benicia – that’s down by San Francisco
– and they was a-heading north. Why, I can just close my eyes and see ‘em all –
Lieutenant Williamson … the soldiers … an’ a girl ‘bout as plucky as they come
… Suzanne was her name.
(The orchestra comes in here playing a military number popular about
1850, indicating the transition to the scene of the story)
The acting troupe of the Empire
Builders took their turns at the microphone to dramatize a brief scene in
which the Lieutenant chats with Suzanne, Terry, and Carmencita. The Lieutenant
and his men were about to embark on their surveying journey from Benicia (near
the San Francisco Bay) to the Columbia River (which comprises a healthy section
of the dividing line between Oregon and Washington). One of Williamson’s men,
Joe Hobbs, also joined the conversation, which was pretty much limited to
everyone exchanging farewells, and commiserating over the fact they would all
miss one another. We also learned from this exchange that Hobbs had a
pronounced stutter. Once the Williamson party mounted up and set out, Ted
Pearson came to the microphone, and the entire continuity – at least as it
appeared in the Goat magazine – took
on an entirely different course.
ANNOUNCER: And now, ladies and gentlemen, we will
have to leave the actors for a while, as there are many things we must do in
this half hour. However, for those who must know how the story ends, I will say
that Terry receives news that there is Indian trouble to the north and rides
forth to notify Lieutenant Williamson. He meets Hobbs and the two of them are
cornered by Indians, who are henchmen of a Spanish renegade named Romero, but
are rescued through the courage of Suzanne.
The program closes with Romero
getting his just deserts. Before continuing our explorations perhaps I had
better introduce myself first.
Pearson then proceeded to invite one person after another to
the mike to be interviewed. Regarding this night’s radio play, we learn through
this process some of the cast assignments.
Old Timer: Harvey Hays
Lt. Williamson: unnamed
Craig: unnamed
Suzanne: Lucille Husting
Carmencita: Bernardine Flynn
Terry: Don Ameche
Joe Hobbs: Bob White
 |
| (L-R) Lucille Husting; Don Ameche; Bernardine Flynn; Ted Doucet (unconfirmed). Press photo. Author's collection |
When it came time to introduce Bob White’s wife, Betty, the
material in the Goat magazine planted
the seed of a perplexing mystery. I may be getting redundant on this point, but
I’ll make it again: a young woman (but an adult woman) named Betty White
– Betty Reynolds White – was a member of the cast of Empire Builders in its final season.
This was not a youthful Betty Marion White, she of the game show and
sitcom fame of more recent years. Bob and Betty (Reynolds) White had three
sons: Robert, Jr.; Bradley; and Evan. Bradley passed away in the late 1980s,
not long after their mother passed. Robert is the eldest of the three brothers,
having been born in 1928, prior to his parents joining the cast of Empire Builders. So although Betty Reynolds White was great with child in
early December (Bradley was born in March of 1931), they had at that time, by
all reliable accounts, only one child: Robert. The “other” Betty White –
Betty Marion White – was born in Oak Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) in
1922. At the time of this broadcast, Betty Marion White was almost nine years
old, but she has stated publicly that she and her parents had relocated to
California by that time. So all the available, reliable data indicates Betty
Marion White never had anything to do with Empire
Builders. But here’s where it all starts to get a little odd.
 |
| Betty Reynolds White, who appeared on Empire Builders. Author's collection |
Betty Reynolds White, at a petite 4’11” tall, specialized in
child’s voices. In fact, many fans of Empire
Builders wrote to the railroad to ask the identity of the adorable little
girl they heard on the radio, only to learn the “little girl” was in her
mid-20s. And very pregnant. From the January, 1931, Goat magazine, here’s what Ted Pearson supposedly said about Betty
Reynolds White:
After the
Thanksgiving program we received a number of letters congratulating us on the
excellent child actress we had obtained for that program. Of course I may be
giving away a state secret but that “child actress” wasn’t quite as young as
she seemed, as she
has a daughter old enough to fill the part visually that she took vocally.
This was Mrs. Betty White.
I have spoken by phone with both Robert and Evan White. They
are both adamant that they did not have a sister – at least not one that
they ever knew of.
I have located corroborating alternate sources to validate
virtually all factual detail pertaining to the several individuals mentioned in
this Goat magazine article, with the
glaring exception of the comment about Betty White having a daughter old enough
to have played a young girl. Was this a complete fabrication? Was it willfully
deliberate? Or was there some hidden truth to it? And even if Bob and Betty
White had a daughter, one who vanished from their lives and was never mentioned
to their sons in later years, what became of her? Could a fanciful tale be
concocted to tie Betty Marion White’s life into this odd story? That just seems
beyond outlandish. It is well documented that the parents of Betty Marion White
were Christine Tess (née Cachikis) and Horace Logan White. If one were to
conjure up a story of how Bob and Betty White had a daughter, named her Betty
like her mother, and then found some circumstance to put her up for adoption,
what are the odds the adopting parents would also be named White? It’s all
pretty preposterous, and has not a shred of valid evidence to support it. But
if Bob and Betty White did have a daughter, and it was not Betty
Marion White, then who was she and what became of her? Frankly, it seems like
the most rational answer to this puzzle is that the author of the Goat magazine article invented the
daughter assertion to underscore the age of Betty Reynolds White, without actually
stating her age in years. Even that explanation seems pretty strange, but at
least it provides an angle that allows for all the other known facts to reside
in harmony.
 |
| (L-R): Bernardine Flynn; Harvey Hays; January the hound dog; Bob White; Lucille Husting; Don Ameche. Author's collection |
One of the principals of the radio series mentioned in the Goat magazine was Harold M. Sims, the
executive assistant to the GN’s president, Ralph Budd. Ted Pearson duly noted
the contributions Sims was making to identifying and inventing crucial sound
effects, and also his couple of script submissions. One of the many duties that
former newspaperman Sims had with Empire
Builders was to write the weekly (and additional periodic) press releases
about the broadcasts. When Sims was “brought to the microphone” (in reality, or
only in print), he commented on the recently concluded radio script writing
contest. He summed up the details thoroughly:
This year it was
decided to give our listeners, particularly those living in the Northwest, an
opportunity to get their favorite story produced in this series of programs.
So, with the cooperation of five of the N.B.C. stations, we announced a series
of radio story contests with prizes of $250, $150 and $100 offered for the
three best stories in each contest. Conditions similar to those I have already
mentioned, were made and judges were appointed by the various stations.
The returns from
this source were far more than we expected and the judges had considerable
difficulty in picking the best continuities. However, decisions were reached in
all the contests and following is a list of the winning stories and their
authors:
In the KSTP, St.
Paul, Minn., contest Mr. Edward Staadt of the University of Minnesota won first
prize. In the KGO, San Francisco, Calif., contest “La Mariposa,” written by
Emilia Clapham of Berkeley, was declared the winner. Miss Ida M. Jones of
Spokane, Wash., won the contest conducted by KHQ of that city with a story on
Colonel Steptoe. Miss Vera S. Cockrane of Bremerton, Wash., was winner of the
KOMO, Seattle contest. Her story was called the “Ascent of Mt. Rainier” and
Mrs. E. W. Ryan of Vancouver, Wash., won the KGW, Portland, Ore., contest with
a story entitled “The Marriage Tree.”
A contest was also
sponsored among the members of the Great Northern Railway and the winning story
was by Mr. Mark Haywood.
As the stories submitted by these contest winners come up in
the rotation, I will comment about them in the corresponding future blog
entries.
Until next week, keep those
dials tuned to Empire Builders!
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