A Man with an Obsession; a Museum in the Middle of Nowhere

This is the Maryhill Museum.  It sits on the Washington bank of the Columbia River in middle of nowhere.  There are literally no buildings within sight of this 'house'.  That's what it was built to be by Samuel Hill, a man with an obsession over two women.  Sadly for his marriage, neither one was his wife.  Yes, this place is as huge as it looks.  In the reviews I read about this place, it's described as 'eclectic' and 'eccentric'.  I would also add unexpected and creepy.  

 Meet Loie Fuller.  A nice mid-western girl, only able to speak pigeon French, who overnight became a dance sensation at the Follies Bergere in Paris at the turn of the century.   She was lionized by the press and became an instant European and American celebrity.  Her talent?  She devised a series of dance steps involving voluminous gowns she swirled about herself using rods and dowels to twirl the material.  She must have had 'something' because she managed to keep herself in the limelight for the next 30 years becoming the darling of the rich and powerful.  One of her conquests was the American entrepreneur, Sam Hill.  Sam, the builder of the above house was her lifelong friend.  The house, now the Maryhill Museum, contains photographs of her, posters advertising her run at the Follies, paintings, bronze medals struck with her likeness, the above statue, and a 1906 Pathe Company movie of Loie doing her dance routine.  She must have been compelling because she was friends with royalty, multi-millionaires, great artists (Rodin), and scientists (Marie Curie).  With Sam, she raised millions of dollars for post WWI European relief.  All fame is fleeting...nobody today remembers her at all.  

Entering the mansion you are confronted with bizarre furniture, clothing and accessories.  Behold Sam Hill's second lady:  Queen Marie of Romania.  

  Here she is surrounded by her children.  She is a relation of Queen Victoria (like who wasn't in European Royalty in 1900).  Somehow she and Sam Hill developed a relationship.  In the house she urged him to turn into a museum, I saw the coronation gown she wore to the crowning of Czar Nicolas II, two thrones, her crown, as well as various pieces of jewelry and trinkets designed and executed by Faberge.  The gown and mantle were the most fascinating.  I think it's less the material (woven with gold threads and embroidered with silver accented by rhinestones) as much as the 18" waistline.

  (No, she didn't wear tennis shoes under her coronation gown; those are my feet.  A trick of the reflection.)


The entire time I was in these exhibits, I kept wondering about the relationships between this wealthy man and these two women.  The all knew each other.  That much is obvious from the pictures scattered around the museum.  I couldn't decide is he was with them consecutively or concurrently.  I suspect he and Loie were the love match.  She never married.  I think the Queen and him became friends rather than intimates during his herculean effort to raise money for European relief after World War I.  Without the efforts of wealthy and influential men and women, a significant portion of the European population would have starved to death in 1919.   

  After reading about his personal history (very hidden; you had to find the small print), I don't begrudge him the happiness he found.  It turns out that his wife didn't like the West, and she didn't like either Oregon or Washington at all.  She whisked herself back to the Midwest taking their two small children with her.  The small print allows that they were 'estranged'.  I had to wonder - before or after Loie and the Queen?  Even sadder, Sam's two children:  his daughter developed paranoid schizophrenia, and his son totally rejected him and refused to communicate with his father.  There were certainly volumes not disclosed in the few short paragraphs I was able to find.

If this wasn't enough, the excellent portion of this museum took me totally by surprise.  Down in the basement was gathered an amazing collection of Native American artifacts from every portion of North America once inhabited solely by Indians.

I saw the Smithsonian Museum of Native America when I was in New York, and the Maryhill Museum collection was equally impressive.  Not only were there artifacts of significance, but they were beautifully presented together with amazing early photographs of vanishing people.  Here's my favorite one:

Tlinglit Basketmakers in Sitka, 1895 - baskets were already being made for tourists.  I couldn't resist taking pictures of the various artifacts that appealed to me as either unique or outstanding examples.     

Finally, Sam Hill was certain this area was destined to become a major economic player in the United States.  He gambled buying thousands of acres and trying to lure 'settlers' to immigrate and make his vision a reality.  He had enough pull to get a major bridge built across the Columbia within spitting distance of his new house.  Who knows why this didn't happen?  Perhaps the 10" of annual rainfall stunted agriculture which he envisioned as the economic lynch pin of his dream.  Perhaps he was diverted by the two women with whom he was obviously obsessed.  Or perhaps he lost heart after World War I as did so many others of that generation.  He left a mysteriously haunting museum which I'm glad I saw.

If you want to see more pictures of the Columbia Gorge as well as Sam's museum, click the link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2012OregonColumbiaRiverGorge?authkey=Gv1sRgCMrKo63Lv9SSqgE