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If you attended last year's convention, then you probably heard about the old Stoddard automobile that made a trip from Ontario to Portland and back again in 1912. One of our own very talented folks even presented a poem about that wonderful trip. We are hoping to have that very same car on display for you at the convention in Ontario.  

In the meantime, we thought you might like to see the 1951 newspaper article and poem here.

"1910 Sturdy Stoddard Still Spins"   The Original Story from the Malheur Enterprise October 4, 1951

Metropolitan newspapers recently gave much space and publicity to a Chicago-New York race between a Stanley Steamer automobile and another early model car, a Stoddard-Dayton. L. J. Hadley, 75, of Vale followed the race with more than a little interest for he still has in his barn a 1910 Stoddard-Dayton which is in good running order. Not only that, Hadley drove his Stoddard over the McKenzie Pass from Eugene to Bend in 1912--the first automobile ever to traverse that steep, twisting road over the Cascade mountains. Hadley purchased the Stoddard at Portland in 1910 for $1,600 without accessories. At that time even a windshield was an "accessory" and Hadley had to pay extra for that piece of equipment.      The four-cylinder Stoddard was delivered to Vale from Portland by freight train and was at that time one of the few cars in Malheur County.      With the purchase of his Stoddard, Mr. and Mrs. Hadley became enthusiastic "tourists" and took long trips into Nevada, Washington and Idaho over roads better described as "rabbit trails". In 10 years the Hadleys traveled their Stoddard over 10,000 miles of dirt roads in northwestern states. "We drove that Stoddard on some roads over which it would have been difficult to lead a horse," Hadley declares.      The most memorable of their early day jaunts taken by the Hadleys was their trip in 1912 to the Elks convention in Portland.      Forty years ago a motor trip was not the simple thing that it is today. Spare parts and extra differential, a couple of rear axles, a good supply of gasoline and oil, plenty of food and a camping outfit were necessary if the trip was to be extensive.      By removing the back seat of the Stoddard, the Hadleys could just squeeze in all the things they would need on the trip to Portland. They made record time to The Dalles, reaching there in six days from Vale and fixing only eight flat tires on the way.      At The Dalles the travelers found that the road ended and they had to ship the Stoddard and themselves down the Columbia river to Portland on a steamboat.      The Elks convention over, the Hadleys motored up the Willamette river to Eugene. After visiting all the scenic points along that river they decided to head for Vale and home, dreading the long journey back through Portland and up the Columbia.      Upon inquiring around, Hadley found that there was a "fair-to-middlin" wagon road through the Cascade mountains from Eugene to Bend via the McKenzie pass. But as far as they could learn no car had ever been able to make it over the McKenzie to Bend. By this time the Hadleys had absolute confidence in their sturdy Stoddard and decided to "give her a try anyway."	Leaving Eugene they camped that night some 50 miles up the McKenzie river near the entrance to the pass. Hadley made arrangements with the driver of a freight team heading for Bend to give them a hand if he encountered the Stoddard stuck on the mountain side.      The Hadleys needn’t have worried for the Stoddard just chugged up the high pass and seemed right at home on its torturous grades.      Hadley admits they did get stalled a few times on steep pitches and his wife was forced to jump from the car and place rocks under its hind wheels to keep it from rolling backward.      Most of the difficulty on the steep climb was caused by the gravity feed from the gas tank to the carburetor. Fuel pumps were still a thing of the future in 1912.      Heading down the eastern slope of the McKenzie toward Sisters the Stoddard mired to the hub caps in soft lava dust. But Hadley had run up against such difficulties before in his trips to Nevada and was prepared for this emergency.      Two long canvas tarps were unrolled from the back of the car. Hadley jacked up the Stoddard and slipped a tarp underneath it then proceeded to drive ahead on the canvas. By the slow process of taking the rear tarp up and placing it ahead of the car, the deep lava dust was traversed without mishap and the Stoddard rolled into Sisters to the amazement of the natives there who would not believe at first that the Hadleys had driven over the pass.      For many years the Hadleys drove the Stoddard in eastern Oregon before purchasing another car.      The ancient car was finally retired to the Hadley barn where it reposes now. Not that it still isn’t serviceable, according to Hadley, it still has plenty of miles under the hood.      The Stoddard has been brought out of retirement several times to appear in parades in Vale. Three years ago the car had not been started for 10 years. Hadley dusted the old boat off, turned some gas into the carburetor and the motor sprang to life after two twists of the crank.      "She would run good right now if I found find some tubes for the tires," Hadley laments, "and that car is a long ways from the junk yard."      Although Hadley has owned many cars since he retired the Stoddard, he claims the old car is still the best of the lot. "They just don’t make cars like the Stoddard-Dayton anymore, " he says.      The Hadleys continue to be tourists and over the years they have visited all the states in this country besides Canada and Mexico, but their fondest memories of motoring are still tied up with that old car that is now collecting dust out in the barn.
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"Ode to L.J. Hadley and the Wild, Wild, East"   I was driving to Portland from Ontario one day, A very long drive, 400 miles I’d say. I tuned in the radio to KJDY   It was coming in strong I guess that’s why I heard a story from 1912 of a man named Hadley who was on a trip, in an old Stoddard, moving at a good clip.   He started in Vale, so the narrator tells and made record time-- six days to The Dalles and only 8 flats, WOW!   The trip was extensive and so was his gear He'd need it all to get back to here.   I started to think as I sped on my way Am I on the trail he took that day? I looked all around; the terrain was rough just like 1912, it must have been tough.   I arrived in The Dalles a little bit dazed; six hours it took, sort of like 6 days!   The story continues but the road she was gone. They took a steamboat to Portland at dawn. The conference was over and so was his stay It was time to leave but not the same way.   They traveled to the Willamette to play and sightsee. It was time to return but which way should it be?   The McKenzie Pass to Bend was the motto It hadn’t been done by anyone in an auto.   The Hadley’s were worried of getting stuck on the trail But the Stoddard ran true, chugging up without fail and seemed right at home on the torturous trail.   Hadley admits they stalled a few times on the steep pitch and of course the lava dust, well that was a bitch.   They made it to Sisters but the natives did feel That this trip through the pass and the ash was not real.   The station was fading and then it was gone But the story I know continues on.   When I return to Ontario this week I will tell all of this concept I seek.   Travel today is fast and real quick, but the country out here hasn’t changed a lick.   The state is large that much is true; But if Hadley could do it then so can you.   So get in your car, truck or van; or jump on a bus, I know you can. And take a tour of the country here because we are closer than we appear   OUT HERE in the Wild, Wild, East!
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