Historic Deepwood Estate

This 80-year-old drawing rendered in colored pencil came into my hands in an odd way. An 1884 book entitled "The Imperial Highway" was inscribed on Christmas day in 1889 Salem. About ten years ago, the 800-page book offering advice on Life was purchased at a Salem estate sale. When I later looked through the book, this drawing fell from between its pages. You can see a fold line above the signature "Nillah".

I put the drawing away and uncharacteristically, I lost track of it. I knew it was missing when I decided to include it in this publication because it was authentic, of local origin and related to the period Deepwood Estate was in its heyday. I had looked for the drawing numerous times and thought back more often than that, trying to divine where it might have gone. Two weeks ago I searched some likely files again and met with the same dismal result.

Then on Christmas Day 2001 I was sorting through some odds and ends and to my surprise and appreciation, the drawing re-surfaced. It turned up on the back of a neglected lower bookshelf sandwiched between some newspaper clippings from a 1921 Oregon Statesman, the Salem newspaper at the time. For your interest, here is the elusive artwork. I call it "1919 Fashionable Lady".

A fine Christmas gift indeed.

Jon Hazen 12/25/01