Klamath Falls, Oregon,
Great Museum Destination

If you find yourself anywhere near Klamath Falls, Oregon, just across the California border, we recommend you allow two to three hours to visit a couple of the museums located there.

The Klamath Falls Historical Museum, located in a building that was first an armory and later an auditorium, has a most interesting variety of objects on display.

The museum uses the one big room - that reminds any of us of a certain age of auditoriums/basketball courts we have known - plus the stage at one end and a balcony that one only views from the floor. The displays all center around people, events and the natural history of the area.

This country was home to the Modoc Indians and they are well represented here, with pictures and a thorough telling of their famous battle, led by their Captain Jack, with the United States Army. I was especially interested to learn that much of the unrest by the Modocs originated because of conflict with another tribe of the area, the Klamaths.

Next on the list of items in the museum might be the old washing machines. I venture to guess that it might be the world’s largest. One entire side of the balcony is filled with them, and a few representatives grace the main floor.

Carl Barks was an illustrator for the Disney Studios and also a comic book creator. Among the characters he “invented” for Disney was Scrooge McDuck. Barks lived for much of his childhood in this part of southern Oregon and returned to the area in later life. A showcase in the museum is devoted to his life.

Have you heard of the Japanese balloon bombs of World War II? That is one of the most interesting of the displays in this museum. In the final months of the war, the Japanese launched over 9,000 balloons with bombs attached, and set them adrift over the Pacific. The goal was to set the West Coast on fire. There were two types, one made of rubberized silk and the other of paper. They were about 33 feet in diameter. Many of these balloons did reach land, but only one caused casualties.

The six people killed, the only people to be killed by the Japanese within the 48 United States, were a Klamath minister’s wife and five teenagers who were out on a Sunday picnic. The bomb exploded when the minister’s wife found it and picked it up.
So - by now you should be getting the idea that this is a museum with a lot of different things.

There’s a collection of pelicans, which are the mascot of the area; there’s a 1967 Mustang car; there’s an early slot machine; there are baskets made by the Modoc and Klamath tribes; there’s a very fine display of the natural history and animals of the area; and more.

All of this in one big auditorium room. There are some additional displays outside the building.

A few blocks down the street is the Favell Museum of Western Art and Indian Artifacts- also well worth a visit.

The art is not confined to paintings. There are two rooms full of arrowheads, for instance, along with several other types of Native American effigies.

There are fine examples of Native American baskets and beadwork. There are bronzes and decorative rifles. And there are a lot of fine paintings - all based on the theme of the American West.

The museum’s centerpiece, and also its symbol, is a fire opal arrowhead. It was found in Nevada in 1912, and is in a special display case located within a vaulted room in the center of the museum.

Also housed in this center room is the painting “The Scout,” by Charles Russell. This painting had been in the home of the family for whom he painted it in 1891. Russell had been a ranch hand for this family, and the husband commissioned it for his wife as a birthday present. Russell was paid $15 for the painting, and it continued in the family’s possession until Gene Favell, founder of the Favell Museum, purchased it from them in 1978.

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The only problem with museums for collectors is that their contents are only for looking at, and not for buying. Therefore, fulfill that urge to add to your own household “museum,” and do some shopping at Keepers Corner Antique Mall while you’re in Klamath Falls. It is located, as are the two museums, in downtown Klamath Falls.

Donna Miller

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