Duffield/Sisson Postcards No. 53

The Pillars of Hercules, on the O. R. & N.

From the back of the postcard:

The Pillars of Hercules, on the O. R. & N.

The storm God of the mountains fashioned these stately 

pillars, and made them the gateway to scenes beyond 

of unspeakable beauty and grandeur. About these 

pinnacles there dwelt the guardian angels of the God 

Coyote.

The Pillars of Hercules pictured here are not in the Straits of Gibraltar but on the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon. The train tracks no longer run through the columns, and the tree on top is gone, but they can still be seen today. The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, O. R. & N., provided travelers a gateway to the Pacific Northwest.

This postcard was part of the Gifford Series, published by Benj. A. Gifford, The Dalles, Oregon.
Copyright 1908, card No. 240.

            Postmarked November 4, 1911 at The Dalles, Oregon.

Addressed to:

Mrs Edith Sisson

Ottawa

Illinois

Marcy. St.

Dear Sister Edith-

We are on our way to California at Dalles to day. 

Will leave here for Portland Sun morning we are O.K. 

hope you are all well I will write you again

Lovingly

Sister Mae.

Marie Louise "Mae" Duffield and her husband, Herbert Bragg, moved from Ottawa, Illinois to Long Beach, California between the years 1910 and 1920 according to the Federal Census records. This trip may have been the actual "move" or perhaps was just a pleasure trip that put the thought into their heads. Mae was two years older than Edith, and from her notes seems to have been a practical and to the point type of woman. 

Edith (Duffield) Sisson saved many postcards and letters. I am honored to be the current caretaker of this wonderful collection and keep them in the family.