Celebrating the Bygone-Era of Steam on Mid-Valley Farms a Tradition in Itself
Steam engine belted up to a threshing machine at what now the 2600 block of Summer St. SE in Salem in 1894. Scenes like these were common summer sights in the Salem area in the late 19th and early 20th century. Photo Source: WHC Collections X2012.033.0026 NOTE: Image published in Oregon Statesman 20 Aug 1968 pg. 5 accompanying an article showcasing the 90th birthday of a man pictured in the photo. Caption believed credible given the connection to contemporary source.
Take a moment an conjure up a vision of harvesting on a wheat farm. What do you see? Today’s air-conditioned- cab combines operated by one person is a far cry from the technology used on Mid-Valley farms a century ago. Then threshing crews banded together with steam-powered engines resembling little locomotives to thresh crops. Even though the steam-era was eclipsed by gas-powered tractors, many Mid-Valley farmers harbored a love for the old engines. In the 1950s, yearly festivals were established to celebrate and remember. The tradition continues today. In fact, the Great Oregon Steam-Up held yearly at Brooks was just awarded Oregon Heritage Tradition status.[1]
The Steam Era
In the wake of the Civil War, steam was the latest trend in new and efficient farming technology. Advertisements for steam-powered threshing engines start appearing in Oregon newspapers as early as 1862, claiming capability “of running the largest sized Separator, and threshing in one day, in a good and workmanlike manner, 2,000 sacs [sic] of grain.”[2] Powered by water and wood, straw or coal (the former being readily available in the Mid-Willamette Valley), these portable power units could be moved into the field and belted up to a separator machine, processing grain crops right on site. The early models were horse-drawn, but later models could drive under their own steam power. The new technology was expensive. One 1868 advertisement[3] listed engines for sale starting at $900 dollars (About $16,800) in today’s money.[4] Farmers sometimes banded together to purchase threshing machines and engines to run them, ensuring use on their own fields and a ready and invested crew of neighbors.[5]
Steam Traction Engine belted up in the fields. While steam powered engines were eclipsed by gas-powered equipment in the early 20th century, collectors kept these antique machines running for demonstration in a variety of shows and festivals that cropped up in the mid-1950s and continue today. Photo source: WHC Collections, 1993.010.0004.
Until the 1920s,[6] Steam threshing crews were a regular summer sight and sound on Mid-Willamette Valley farms. Unlike modern tractors, boilers on traction engines take hours to safely heat up and be ready for the day’s work.[7] This meant early mornings. Keeping the fire going and the water levels up in the boiler meant a constant stream of supply wagons and workers to supervise all the activities. With so many people involved, often over large distances, crews developed a series of signals that could be blasted out on the whistle attached to the engine for easier communication. As one Oregon Statesman reporter noted in August of 1905: “Harvesting time is now in full swing in most every section around Salem. Early in the morning one can hear the whistles of the threshing engines as they are making preparations to begin the day’s labor, which generally lasts in Oregon from sixteen to eighteen hours to the day, knocking off one hour for dinner…”[8]
Nostalgia Starts a New Tradition
Agricultural technology changed again with the easier to run and cheaper to produce internal combustion engines. Steam traction engines, when they escaped the scrap heaps and metal drives of World War II, became curios. One local collector was Silverton-born[9] Harvey E. Mikkelson, whose father Albert had worked on a threshing crew on Howell Prairie in Harvey’s childhood. Harvey began, as one reporter romantically noted, rescuing all the engines he could find “neglected and rusting in leaking old barns.” By the 1950s he had acquired 12 engines and restored 9 to working order.[10] A demonstration of a few engines from his collection in a parade celebrating Silverton’s Centennial garnered a lot of interest in the community.[11] So, Harvey and his wife Myrtle[12] decided to host an old-fashioned threshing bee at their farm in Bethany, about a mile out of Silverton.[13] October 3, 1954 brought over 1,000[14] people from 9 states[15] out to see the Mikkelson’s engines and started a tradition that would continue almost annually for the next 12 years.[16] Crowds would surge in the upcoming years to 6,000 people.[17] Over time, other groups like the Silverton-based Silver T Horseless Carriage Club brought in additional attractions for the large crowds that would gather.[18] Silverton’s Harvest Fest also grew up around the event offering pageants, parades and more entertainment with the threshing bee as an anchor event.[19]
Program Cover Harvey Mikkelson Threshing Bee. WHC Collections 0081.006.0008.004. Scroll down for a digital version of the program.
For many old-timers in the region nothing quite beat seeing the old equipment in operation. Centenarian Hans Nelson, who had farmed for nearly 60 years in Monitor, even lent a hand pitching bundles. His only concession to his age, he quipped: “I used to climb up the stack; a ladder’s a bit handier now.”[20]
Mikkelson was a member of the Western Steam Fiends Association, a group of collectors and enthusiasts from all over the Western United States, Canada and Mexico.[21] The group had their first “field day” in Oregon at the Rodney Pitts Farm outside of Canby in 1955.[22] It drew large crowds, too, and added plowing and engine races to threshing demonstrations every Labor Day weekend on the Pitts farm until 1959.[23] The Western Steam Fiends Association also hosted Steam-up events associated with the Clackamas County Fair in Canby [24] and North Marion County Fair in Woodburn,[25] eventually landing at the Frank Petzel farm just west of the 1-5 interchange at Brooks[26] in 1970, the site that still hosts the Great Oregon Steam-Up every year and is now home to the Powerland Heritage Park and 16 independent museums and associations.[27]
Tradition Continues
The COVID-19 epidemic put a damper on plans to celebrate the Great Oregon Steam-up’s 50th anniversary of operations at the Brooks site in 2020, but plans are in place to make up for it in 2021. For more information on The Great Oregon Steam-up, check out Powerland Heritage Park’s website.
Citations
[1] See designation status on Oregon Heritage Website here: https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/pages/heritage-designations.aspx#3bc52768-7970-4e40-a569-74e0d9d741fa
[2] Advertisement. “To All Whom It May Concern.” The State Republican (Eugene). 24 May 1862 pg. 4. Text: 8 and 10 Horse Steam Threshers, for 1862. 8 & 10-horse power machines of John A. Pitt’s genuine make, Buffalo, N.Y., with all of C.M. Russell’s improvements in the Shoe and Cylinder; as it runs on Steel Pivots, and in all other respects superior to the Russel make of Machine, both in material and workmanship, as well as finish; with the large sized, improved Jack. Six 12- Horse Power Steam Engines, on trucks and capable for running the largest sized Separator, and threshing in one day, in a good and workmanlike manner, 2,000 sacs of grain…. Article taken out by Thomas Ogg Shaw, 208 Sacramento street, San Francisco.
Lest you think that advertisements do not necessarily mean adoption of products in the area, an 1863 announcement in The Oregon Democrat (Albany) 05 Sept 1863 pg. 2 informs: “STEAM THRESHER. Mr. Samuel Goff of Polk County, informs the Statesman [presumably Oregon Statesman – this is presumably a syndicated announcement.] that he will have his steam thresher at the coming State Fair.”
“Agricultural Implements.” Weekly Oregon Statesman. 21 Sep 1863, pg. 2. “The exhibition of farming implements [at Oregon State Fair] was small and devoid of great interest. Goff’s steam thresher attracted more attraction than all other articles combined. Steam was gotten up at one or two occasions and the working of the engine and thresher exhibited.”
[3] Advertisement. Morning Oregonian 28 Jul 1868 pg. 2. “Hoadley’s” and “Hettinger’s” Threshing Engines! $900 and $1000. For sale by Trladwell & Co. San Francisco. Orders received by C. Hopkins Portland.” More about J. Hoadley and Co here: https://www.farmcollector.com/steam-traction/j-c-hoadley-and-co.
[4] See inflation calculator here: https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1868?amount=900
[5] LaBare, Catherine. “Old Farm Machinery sold for Museum.” Corvallis Gazette Times. 3 Jan 1959 pg. 6. Describes a threshing separator that was purchased in a partnership showing how shares could be purchased. Text: Wren – old threshing machine separator, once owned by partnership of local farmers, purchased by Harvey E. Mikkelson of Mt. Angel…. Originally owned by Henry Plunkett, Walter Read, Ira Vincent, Chester Cosgrove, Ed Johnson and Chester Chambers…Four shares were later purchased by Frank LaBare…
[6] Learn more about the transition of steam to gas here: https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/steam-powered-agriculture
[7] Madsen, Lillie L.” Threshing Bee Jogs Harvest Memories.” Oregon Statesman 04 Oct 1954 pg. 1. Quoting Raymond Jefferson, and engineer from North Howell. “We used to work from 7 am to 7 pm on the machine” Raymond Jefferson, North Howell said. “now that’s different, too. We used to start our steam engines up at 4 am so that they’d be going good when the dew was off the grain.”
[8] “Cutting Grain While Moon Shines” Weekly Oregon Statesman. 08 Aug 1905 page 7.
[9] See obituary: Harvey Edgar Mikkelson. Statesman Journal. 18 Sept 1995 pg. 12.
[10] Maxwell, Ben. ”Nine States Represented at Mikkelson Threshing. Capital Journal 04 Oct 1954. Pg. 21
[11] ”Old Fashioned Threshing Day Scheduled for Sunday.” Oregon Statesman. 01 October 1954 pg. 2. ”Thousands of guests were intrigued by the noises of the chugging, tooting engines in the recent Centennial parade.” See also: Madsen, Lillie L. ”Threshing Bee Jogs Harvest Memories.” Oregon Statesman 04 Oct 1954 pg. 1. ”Silverton’s Centennial Parade and a hobby of Harvey Mikkelson, farm-reared youth, gave birth to Sunday’s threshing bee.”
[12] Article states Mr. And Mrs. Harvey Mikkelson are hosting the event. See. “Old Fashioned Threshing Day Scheduled for Sunday.” Oregon Statesman. 01 Oct 1954 pg. 2. She is Myrtle Sunde Mikkelson. See her obituary. Statesman Journal. 06 Oct 2000. N.B. the founding date of the Threshing Bee as listed in the obituary is incorrect and contradicts contemporary source listed above. (1957 v. 1954).
[13] “Old Fashioned Threshing Day Scheduled for Sunday.” Oregon Statesman. 01 October 1954, pg. 2. Accessed via newspapers.com. “Thousands of guests were intrigued by the noises of the chugging, tooting engines in the recent Centennial parade. The show is to be at the MIkkelson ranch one mile from the location of the Silverton catholic church on the old Silverton highway, known as the Bethany Road. The first driveway north, after passing the airport service station, leads directly a quart of a mile to the Mikkelsons.”
[14] Reported attendance figures for this first event vary widely. See 1,500 and about 1,000 in Ben Maxwell’s article (“Nine States Represented at Mikkelson Threshing. Capital Journal 04 Oct 1954 pg. 21.) 1,200 in Lille Madsen’s article (Madsen, Lillie L. ”Threshing Bee Jogs Harvest Memories.” Oregon Statesman 04 Oct 1954 pg. 1). 1,500 given again “Threshing Bee Planned again.” Oregon Statesman 30 Aug 1955 pg. 1.
[15] Maxwell, Ben. “Nine States Represented at Mikkelson Threshing.” Capital Journal. 04 October 1954 Section III, page 7. Newspapers.com
[16] Held yearly except for 1962 (See: “Silverton‘s Harvest Festival in Full Swing.“ Oregon Statesman. 18 Aug 1962 pg. 3. “In former years it was held in conjunction with a threshing bee at Harvey Mikkelson‘s ranch, but this feature was dropped for 1962.“ and “Harvest Fete will be Minus Threshing Bee.“ Oregon Statesman. 19 May 1962 pg. 9. “Mikkelson announced at last year‘s bee that he planned to skip it for at least a year. Efforts have been made to get him to hold it but so far he says “no.“). And 1965 (see ”Silverton C-C Shapes Festival. Capital Journal. 10 Jul 1965 pg. 9. ”Harvey Mikkelson has indicated he will drop the threshing bee at his farm this year.” See also Madsen, Lillie. ”Revival of Threshing Bee Due on Aug. 19-21 Oregon Statesman. 09 Aug 1966 pg. 7. N.B. that Madsen states that bee wasn’t held for the past two years. That can’t be true as there is newspaper evidence that it was held in 1964 (see ”Threshing Bee Attracts 6000 to Silverton.” Capital Journal. 24 Aug 1964 pg. 2.), but perhaps she is referring to the lack of a festival in 1962?
Note that there was not Threshing Bee in 1967. (See Question. Oregon Statesman. 08 Aug 1967 pg. 4. “There is no Threshing Bee at Mikkelson’s at Silverton this year. Mrs. Harvey Mikkelson said she did not know whether there will be one next year.” Could not find newspaper evidence for 1968 (so doubt it). Note “Great Oregon Steamup Set for Woodburn.” Oregon Statesman 10 Aug 1969 pg. 32. States that it is the continuation of “Harvey Mikkelson’s Show.”
[17] ”Threshing Bee Attracts 6000 to Silverton. Capital Journal. 24 Aug 1964 pg. 2.
[18] “Old Fashioned Threshing Bee Near Silverton Next Sunday.” Capital Journal 01 Sept 1955 pg. Section 3 page 18. Threshing Bee planned again. Oregon Statesman 30 Aug 1955 pg. 1. ”Old Cars to Join Stem Fete Sept 9” Oregon Statesman. 22 Jul 1956 sec. 2. pg. 13.
[19] ”Titles of Songs Keynote Parade.” Capital Journal 18 Aug 1958 section 2, pg. 1. At Silverton’s Harvest Festival Parade ”Mr. And Mrs. Harvey Mikkelson, whose threshing bee inspired and will climax the festival, are grand marshals of the parade” Also, ”Harvest Festival Full of Events at Silverton.” Oregon Statesman. 18 Aug 1958 Section 1, pg. 5.
[20] “Thousands See Threshing Bee.” Oregon Statesman. 21 Aug 1961 pg. 3; Madsen, Lillie L. “Annual Threshing Bee at Silverton Draws Throng.” Oregon Statesman. 22 Aug 1960 pg. 1. – “There was no one more gay at the bee than Hans F. Nelson who farmed in the Monitor area east of Silverton, 60 of his 99 ½ years.” “Death End Active Life after 101 Years for Silverton Man. Oregon Statesman. 12 Sept 1962 pg. 1.
[21] ”Steam Fiends Meet Saturday.” Oregon Statesman. 17 Jul 1959 pg. 12. ”The Stem fiends include members in U.S. Canada and Mexico. Each year at both the Pitts and Mikkelson Farms, at least 25 old time steam engines are displayed with at least half of them under steam. Crowds of 5000 to 7000 persons attend the events.”
[22] ”Steam Fiends’ will Convene at Canby Farm.” Oregon Statesman. 02 Sept 1955 pg. 15. ”The event will mark the first field day in Oregon for the Steam Fiends, Burnett said, although their ninth annual threshing bee at Colton, Wash., will be held September 17-18.” Also, ”Five Steam Engines Harvest, Plow in Canby Demonstrations.” Oregon Statesman 06 Sept 1955 pg. 4. ”Occasion was the first Oregon outing and demonstration of Western Steam Fiends Association, a group of persons…”
[23] ”Steam Fiends Meet Saturday.” Oregon Statesman. 17 Jul 1959 pg. 13. ”Canby Cancels Steam up Day on Pitts Farm,” Oregon Statesman. 19 Aug 1960 pg. 13. The novel steam up day held every Labor Day on the Rodney Pitts ranch here has been cancelled this year. It was originated by Pitts in 1955. He has urged owners of all steam threshing equipment and thousands of persons who come each year to support the similar threshing bee at the Harvey Mikkelson farm near Silverton….”
[24] Madsen, Lillie. ”Art Added As Clackamas Fair Attraction.” Oregon Statesman. 04 Aug 1965 pg. 14. ”The Steam engine show is new to the fair. It is sponsored by Western Steam Fiends and the fair board. Silverton will not hold its annual Threshing Bee at the Mikkelson farm this year, and the Steam Fiends will gather here instead.”
[25] Laurs, Pete. “North Marion County Fair Due Today at Woodburn.” Oregon Statesman 12 Sept 1968 pg. 15
“North Marion Fair Offered.” Oregon Statesman 12 Sept 1968 pg. 1
[26] https://www.newspapers.com/image/198860608/?terms=%22Frank%2BPetzel%22
This article was written by staff of the Willamette Heritage Center. A version appeared in the Statesman Journal newspaper in August 2020. It is reproduced here with citations for reference purposes.
See the Source
Program for Harvey Mikkelson Threshing Bee. WHC Collections 0081.006.0008.004
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