MTR.2011.2 Mountaineers Film Collection, Charles and Marion Hessey Films
Film-to-Video Transfers
In 2004, Lowell Skoog of the Mountaineers History Committee borrowed films 1-15 (below) from Marion Hessey and Phil Dahl for transfer to digital videotape for the Northwest Wilderness Heritage Film Preservation Project. This project was sponsored by a grant from The Mountaineers Foundation. The item numbers in the tables (below) match stickers placed on the film cans during this project. The following table provides details of video transfers. (Click a movie name below for film notes and clips.)
Description | Date | Format | Length | Video Transfer | Archive Location | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | 16mm, color, sound | 33 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture from film #2, sound from film #1. | |
1957 | 16mm, color, sound | 30 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture and sound from film #5. | |
1958 | 16mm, color, sound | 24 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture and sound from film #13, replacing picture with footage from film #14 where possible. | |
1958 | 16mm, color, sound | 30 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture and sound from film #7. | |
1958 | 16mm, color, sound | 16 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture from film #6, sound from film #12. | |
c1959 | 16mm, color, sound | 16 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture and sound from film #9. | |
1959 | 16mm, color, silent | 16 min. | 2010, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Films #105 and #106. | |
c1968 | 16mm, color, sound | 20 min. | 2004, DigiBeta | UW Special Collections | Picture and sound from film #10. |
Note: In 2009 we discovered films 3-B, 6-B and 6-C, below, which have better footage than what we used in the 2004 transfer project.
16mm Feature Films
All of these films are in color. The picture quality on sound prints is not as good as on silent originals. Scripts for most of these films are in the Hessey papers.
Item | Description | Format | Length | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Skiing Cascade Wilderness" | 16mm, magnetic sound | About 30min | Good sound but the picture has bad scratches throughout. |
2 | "Ski Lyman, KOMO-TV Original Kodachrome" | 16mm, silent original | About 30min | This is the original of "Skiing Cascade Wilderness." This film is in beautiful shape but has no soundtrack. There is extra footage during the long North Star ski descent which causes this film to get out of sync with the soundtrack from film #1. To use the film #1 soundtrack with this film, we need to fill (or eliminate) this gap and resynchronize on Bruce Gilbert playing the harmonica. |
3 | "Glacier Peak Holiday" | 16mm, silent original | About 14min | Beautiful footage. No soundtrack. This film is incomplete, ending at the Pyramid Mountain viewpoint. (See film 3-B below.) |
3-B | "Glacier Peak Holiday" | 16mm, silent original | 16min | Beautiful footage. No soundtrack. This film is incomplete, beginning with horse packers led by Ray Courtney on McGregor Mountain and continuing through the end of "Glacier Peak Holiday." This reel was overlooked during the Northwest Wilderness Heritage Film Preservation project. This and film 3 (above) are definitely the best picture source for "Glacier Peak Holiday." This film does not match the soundtrack on film 5, but may match film 4. Some of the horse packing footage was used in "Have You Seen the North Cascades National Park?" |
4 | "Glacier Peak Holiday" | 16mm, magnetic sound | About 30min | This soundtrack begins, "Let us pretend..." Chuck narrates the entire film. This is the film on Marion's old VHS video (#20). There are a few sections of poor sound. |
5 | "Glacier Peak Holiday" | 16mm, magnetic sound | About 30min | This soundtrack is different from film #4. Marion narrates the portion about the importance of water. There are no poor sections on the soundtrack in this film. |
6 | "From East to West in the North Cascades Wilderness Area" | 16mm, silent original | 36min | This film is in beautiful shape, but has no soundtrack. It includes the complete winter ski sequence at Spanish Camp and makes the transition to summer by showing scenes along the Naches River. It returns to the Pasayten at Three Fools Pass. However, this film does not include the Whatcom Pass sequence at the end. The film ends with rain on the tarp at Whatcom Pass. (See films 6-B, 6-C below.) |
6-B | "From East to West in the North Cascades Wilderness Area" | 16mm, silent original | 4min | Beautiful footage. No soundtrack. This film is incomplete, beginning with Marion Hessey cooking breakfast at Whatcom Pass and continuing through the end of "East to West." This reel was overlooked during the Northwest Wilderness Heritage Film Preservation project. This reel should be combined with film 6 to provide the best picture source for "East to West." This film is missing scenes found in film #7. |
6-C | "From East to West in the North Cascades Wilderness Area" | 16mm, silent original | 9min | Beautiful footage. No soundtrack. This film is incomplete, beginning with Marion Hessey shaking water off the tarp in the morning after rain at Whatcom Pass. This film includes some of the scenes missing from film 6-B. I don't know if it has all the missing scenes. This reel was overlooked during the Northwest Wilderness Heritage Film Preservation project. This reel should be combined with film 6 to provide the best picture source for "East to West." |
7 | "From East to West in the North Cascades Wilderness Area" | 16mm, magnetic sound | 31min | Good soundtrack. The film has scratches at the beginning but this improves. This film is entirely about summer and does not include the Spanish Camp winter sequence. |
8 | "From East to West in the North Cascades Primitive Area" | 16mm, magnetic sound | - | In this film, the winter skiing segment is truncated. There is no air drop and it doesn't include Chuck's injured finger. The narration seems a little less polished than in other films. There is a broken splice half way through and I didn't watch the second half. |
9 | "A North Cascades National Park? Affirmatives, Edition 1" | 16mm, optical sound | 16min | Good sound. Nice scenery, but probably the poorest picture quality of the Hessey feature films (faded). Shows a backpacking trip from the head of Downey Creek to White Rock Lakes and back. (NCCC film in mailing box. See also films 113 and 128, below.) |
10 | "Have You Seen the North Cascades National Park?" | 16mm, magnetic sound | 20min | Good sound, nice color. There are a few scratches and blips, but in good shape overall. |
11 | "A North Cascades National Park? Affirmatives, Edition 1" | 16mm, magnetic sound | - | The soundtrack for this film is incomplete, or maybe non-existent. |
12 | "Pasayten Wilderness Skiing" | 16mm, magnetic sound | About 20min | This is the complete winter skiing segment from film #6, with sound. This film doesn't have a title and doesn't have the introductory scenes from film #6. It appears that this footage was removed from an earlier version of the film, perhaps to make the all-summer version in film #7. This film is entirely about skiing. It ends when Chuck and Marion leave the Spanish Camp cabin. |
13 | "Cascade Crest Trail" | 16mm, magnetic sound | 25min | Highlights of the crest trail from the Columbia River to the Canadian border. Lots of mountain goat footage. Good sound. Includes some skiing footage. Nice film. |
14 | "KOMO Goats" | 16mm, silent original | 25min | Silent version of film #13. This film includes two bits of leader inserted in the Dome Peak area. |
15 | "NCNP - Pulled from 'A' roll 'A People's Wilderness'" | 16mm, silent | 30min | This reel contains outtakes from other films, mainly "East to West..." and "Have You Seen..." Variable quality. Many of the scenes were included in other films. This film has a broken splice at the beginning, right after the leader. (Note: This film apparently was not donated to the Mountaineers by the Hessey estate. As of Oct. 2009 it is missing.) |
Analog Videotapes
The following analog videotapes were made by the Hesseys, probably in the 1980s. Lowell Skoog borrowed them for reference in 2004 during the Northwest Wilderness Heritage Film Preservation Project. We returned them to Marion Hessey after the project was complete (without duplicating them). Some of the 16mm films may have been changed since these tapes were made. The Hessey estate donated these videos back to the Mountaineers in 2008, but some were missing, as noted below:
Item 16: VHS video - "Skiing Cascade Wilderness" (missing)
Item 17: VHS video - "North Cascade National Park"
Item 18: Beta video - "Lyman Lake Skiing"
Item 19: Audio cassette - "Lyman Lake Skiing"
Item 20: VHS video - "Glacier Peak Holiday"
Item 21: VHS video - "From East to West in Pasayten Wilderness and NCNP"
Item 22: VHS video - "North Cascades National Park and 8mm old" (missing)
16mm Short Films
These films are in cans, generally on 7-inch reels. Unless noted below, Lowell Skoog projected each of these films (once) in October 2009, dictating observations into a digital tape recorder. A CD-ROM of these recordings has been stored with the films. If there wasn't much to say about a film, the recording was discarded.
Item | Description | Format | Length | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
101 | Ski pictures, pre-war, Lowman | 16mm, silent, color | 400ft | Title on film: "Skiing Gold Hill." Note in can says, "Ken: Some sprocket hole trouble here. The film kept losing its loop in my projector. Be careful. Chas." Some long scratches early in the film--this improves. Skiing at Gold Hill, Crystal Mtn, Silver Basin. Mostly powder skiing. Some excellent lighting. (Viewed through lupe only. "Lowman" may be Gene Lowman.) |
102 | Ski pictures #2 | 16mm, silent, color | 200ft | More Gold Hill skiing. Several scenes in middle of film are marred by a sliver near the top of the frame. (Viewed through lupe only.) |
103 | 1947-48 ski pictures | 16mm, silent | 8min | Skiing at Gold Hill and Crystal Mtn. There is a short scene of the Gold Hill rope tow. Pictures are often scratched or dirty. Film includes a mix of color and B&W footage. B&W footage looks like it may be from the 1930s. |
104 | Hogback, etc. | 16mm, silent, color | 11min | Film is in good shape. Hand-written note in can says: "Hogback, Holden (O. Ross, Sullivan), Storm at Hart Lake, Goats American Ridge." Good scenes of Marion Hessey touring and skiing on Hogback Mtn (c1953). Scenes of White Pass ski area in 1950s, poma-lift (foggy). Party of six skiers leaves Holden and skis toward Hart Lake in storm. Short scene of goats in summer. |
105 | "Crystal Mountain and You" (part 1) | 16mm, silent, color | 15min | Reel 1 of 2. Film is in good shape. Fine scenes of the Crystal Mountain ski area before development (c1959), including the original road and the Miner's Basin cabin. Film includes sub-titles describing the areas shown, including: "Black Rock," "Powder Pass," "Round Mountain," "Under Crystal's Summit," The script for this film is in the Hessey papers. Very historic film! |
106 | "Crystal Mountain and You" (part 2) | 16mm, silent, color | 5min | Reel 2 of 2. Film is in good shape. More scenes of skiing at Crystal Mtn. A few scenes of an established ski area with chairlifts, probably White Pass. Film ends with the message, "See you at Crystal," signed by Chuck and Marion Hessey. |
107 | Nile elk and local skiing | 16mm, silent, color | 13min | Film generally in good shape, but some light leakage on ski scenes. At the beginning and end of the film are scenes of powder skiing above the Naches River valley either on Cleman Mtn or more likely on Bethel Ridge (north facing). There is also a short segment of skiing on Hogback Mtn on a clear, windy day. Most of the film is devoted to Elk grazing in the Naches Valley, either foraging or eating hay unloaded from a truck. Also, there is a short scene showing a map of Lucerne (Lake Chelan), and people playing cards. |
108 | Sourdough, etc. | 16mm, silent, color | 7min | Note in film can says, "Fog City skiing, Gold Hill, Crystal. This film used to beef up TV of Crystal." Film is in good shape. Some fine scenes of powder skiing with good light. Some scenes have not-so-good light. |
109 | Chelan #1, 1939 | 16mm, silent, color | 7min | Film is in good shape, but some scenes rather dark. Film opens with young men diving into Lake Chelan. Boat cruises up the lake. Scenes of boys and young men (teenagers) fishing, hiking, swimming in river, glissading. Several scenes near Park Creek Pass. Probably a Scout trip. |
110 | Chelan #2, 1939 | 16mm, silent, color | 5min | Film is in good shape, some nice color scenes. Note in can says, "Dolly Varden (Gene and fish); McGregor lookout; En route to Horseshoe Basin; Sahale; Cowell, Paul, Meg; Troop at Bridge Creek; pitching horseshoes." That's a good summary of what's on the film. |
111 | Chelan #3, 1939 | 16mm, silent, B&W | 8min | Film has a magenta cast. If it was ever in color, it's not anymore. Some portions pretty well scratched. The film has sub-titles. Features Agnes Creek, driving down Stehekin River road, Rainbow Falls, Stehekin dock, cruising down Lake Chelan, crossing Columbia River on Entiat Ferry, construction of Grand Coulee Dam (very interesting), Dry Falls. |
112 | Chelan #4, 1939 | 16mm, silent, B&W | 14min | If this film was ever in color, it's not anymore. Some scenes have magenta cast, but most don't. The film has sub-titles. Features Cascade Pass, swimming hole at Bridge Creek, making pies, lots of fishing (nice shots), camping near Park Creek Pass, porcupine at Skagit Queen mine cabin. |
113 | Fall-Winter, Downey Ck, Goats | 16mm, silent, color | 9min | Film is in good shape. Note in can says, "Good winter shots, Keeling crossing Leroy Ck, Downey Ck, WR Lakes." Autumn scenes by a river, goats in the high country, winter scenes by a river, fording a creek in summer, White Rock Lakes scenes (probably outtakes). |
114 | Winter | 16mm, silent, color | 14min | No label on film can, note inside says, "Winter." This film contains a variety of winter scenes from the Naches Valley and vicinity. Includes scenes of ice on the river, snow falling, sweeping snow off car windows, cutting a Christmas tree, pruning fruit trees, a snow survey crew, fishing, putting chains on a VW bug, snowmobile races (old yellow Ski-Doos), ski race at White Pass in 1959, local skiing above the Naches Valley, skiing on Hogback Mtn, lots of elk scenes. All footage is in good shape. |
115 | Springtime #1 | 16mm, silent, color | 15min | Film is in good shape. Chinook Pass road cut through deep snow, melting and rushing rivers, Nevarre Peak on skis and snowshoes, Cashmere Mtn hike, pruning/grafting trees, flowers, horses, Indians fishing along a river with nets on long poles, fishery workers, kayakers on a lake; elk, deer and other animals. |
116 | Springtime #2 | 16mm, silent, color | 13min | Some goats, a coyote, a thumping grouse, a few other animals, and lots of footage of deer. Film is in good shape. |
117 | Cascade Pass area | 16mm, silent, color | 3min | Film is in good shape, unlabeled can. Peaks around Cascade Pass, Horseshoe Basin, Stehekin River, spring and summer. |
118 | Rappelling, etc. | 16mm, silent, color | 5min | Film is in good shape. Note in can says, "Ice axe arrest (Sullivan) here, Park Creek rappelling." Several young men in upper Park Creek set an anchor and rappel over a slabby cliff. Rappel is made with a carabiner clipped to a diaper sling and the rope running over one shoulder. A chest sling is attached to safety prusik. Short scene of hiker on snowfield falling and performing ice axe arrest. Camp scenes. Some wildlife. |
119 | 1948-49 Gold Hill Ski Club #1 | 16mm, silent, color | 11min | Film can label: "1948-49 No. 2, Enchantment Lakes." The film opens with a title: "The Gold Hill Ski Club Presents: Activities of the Membership, 1948-49 Season." Each segment begins with a sub-title. Chuck Hessey demonstrates proper ski technique from snowplow through short-swing. Lots of scenes of skiing Crown Point and Gold Hill area. Last part of the film shows skiing in the upper Enchantment Lakes. Film is somewhat dirty (specks) but not too badly scratched. |
120 | 1948-49 Gold Hill Ski Club #2 | 16mm, silent, color | 9min | Film can label: "1948-49 No. 1, Stuart Climb, Interglacier." Film contains three segments: Crown Point skiing, Mt Stuart climb, Interglacier skiing. Film is somewhat dirty (specks) but not too badly scratched. All segments are quite good. |
121 | Harts Pass north #1 | 16mm, silent, color | 7min | Very nice footage. Scenes along the Devils Loop trail and other locations in the western Pasayten wilderness. My guess is that this was candidate footage for "East to West." |
122 | Harts Pass north #2 | 16mm, silent, color | 4min | Very nice footage. Note in can says, "Harts Pass to Canadian Border." Film starts at Harts Pass and visits Three Forks cabin, Rock Creek Pass, and the U.S./Canada Boundary. My guess is that this was candidate footage for the Crest Trail film. |
123 | Going into Gold Hill, etc | 16mm, silent, color | 10min | Film is in good shape, includes Boulder Creek, Emmons Glacier telephoto, old helicopters taking off. Best segment shows Marion Hessey and Tom Lyon leaving a car on the Chinook Pass highway (big snow banks!) and skiing to the Gold Hill cabin which is deeply buried in snow. Tom digs a tunnel down to the door. Film closes with a brief shot of Marion skiing local slopes above the Naches Valley. |
124 | Chelan boat breakdown, American Ridge goats | 16mm, silent, color | 11min | Chelan boat breaks down in 1950s. Marion Hessey, Bruce Gilbert and others build a fire on the shore to keep warm. Lady of the Lake comes by to pick them up. Rest of film shows goats on American Ridge. The best goat footage is hand-held and rather shaky. |
125 | Bridge Creek area | 16mm, silent, color | 8min | Film is in good shape. Some scenes a bit dark. Note in can says, "Bridge Creek, Newcomer, Troop One." Hiking and scenery around Bridge Creek above Stehekin, boys fishing and swimming. |
126 | Scouts and Glacier Peak | 16mm, silent, color | 10min | Film tends toward scratchiness, some dark scenes. Scouts in Bridge Creek and Park Creek area. A very lively snowball fight. Horseshoe Basin. Scouts climb Glacier Peak via Chocolate and Cool Glaciers. |
127 | Boys and mountains, c1959 | 16mm, silent, color | 12min | Film is in good shape, good but not great color. Boys fishing in the Stehekin Valley. One scene shows how to make a fire pit. Hikers ascend North Fork Bridge Creek to Douglas Glacier on Mt Logan. Silent Lakes hiking and swimming. Self arrest practice. Bears in meadows, hikers near Park Creek Pass, snowball baseball above the pass. |