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Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925
Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925
In 1907, Dr. Emil O. Deere had completed his Master's Thesis for Bethany College titled, ...Geology of Study in the Area of the Smoky Valley Buttes.
The Smoky Valley Historical Association aka SVHA celebrated its 100th founding year in 2019!
The Smoky Valley Historical Association aka SVHA celebrated its 100th founding year in 2019!
Their Lindsborg Historical Society, 1919
~ their photographs, the Coronado Heights' naming
Their 1920s Coronado Heights Photographs
and their
Smoky Valley Historical Association
(SVHA)
~ their photographs, the Coronado Heights' naming
Their 1920s Coronado Heights Photographs
and their
Smoky Valley Historical Association
(SVHA)
Today, the hard work and dedication of the Smoky Valley Historical Association (SVHA) that continues from the time of 1919 must never be underestimated. As the number one historical organization in the area located in Lindsborg, it carries an increasing load of responsibilities concerning the historical collections and preservation of local history as well as current "ongoing projects" which began 100 years ago, regarding the preservation and maintenance of the Coronado Heights which are located several miles northwest of Lindsborg.
In the early years, the Coronado Heights were referred to as the "Spanish Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Buttes," the "Smoky Hill Bluffs," the "Smoky Valley Bluffs," and perhaps other names as well. For this piece of writing, they shall be referred to as the Smoky Valley Bluffs.
Found in the Emil O. Deere Estate were photographs and negatives taken by Lydia Sohlberg Deere in the early 1920s concerning the very beginning of the work on the Smoky Valley Bluffs. Also, most all of the following information comes from the late Lindsborg historian and researcher Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg, former SVHA secretary, from her book, "Talk About Lindsborg," the chapter on page 47 titled "Coronado's Lookout."
She writes that professors from Bethany College were involved and that Emil was a "charter member" of the organization which was in charge of the Bluffs. The 1966 Bethany College Bethanian recalled him as "the founder" of the Lindsborg Historical Society in their remembrance of him and his accomplishments. Yet he was one of several Bethany College professors who initially organized the "Lindsborg Historical Society" on September 25, 1919.
Caring for the Bluffs was the Society's principal mission, and while doing so the organization's name would change in 1926 as the "Smoky Valley Historical Society," and in 1963 renamed again, as the "Smoky Valley Historical Association" (SVHA), which continues as its name.
Of the Smoky Valley Bluffs' projects involved, the main project of the Society of 1919 was to create a road to the top of the Bluffs. This assignment rested with Emil O. Deere, Birger Sandzén, G.N. Malm, William Ahlstrom, C.A. Nelson and R. Johnson, all of whom staked out the road from the valley floor to the summit on May 20, 1920. Deere, Nelson and Malm were also to see that a bridge was built over the draw located on the southwest Bluffs as well as to see that a temporary shelter was built near the top of the Bluffs which would be given the name of "Fernebo Lodge."
No doubt, Emil was keenly interested in these projects due to his 1907 Bethany College Master's thesis on this area titled Geology of Study in the Area of the Smoky Valley Buttes.
The Lindsborg Historical Society would name the road "Swensson Drive" in honor of the dynamic Swedish Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, the founder of Bethany College and second pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church. Preceding the completed road, first there would be laid out a footpath from the valley floor to the top of the Bluffs which would be named the “Olsson Trail,” honoring Swedish pioneer Pastor Olof Olsson, who with his Värmland, Sweden emigration party would arrive in June to Lindsborg, which had only been named on February 20, 1869. Pastor Olsson would found Lindsborg's first church, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church on August 19, 1869.
The Smoky Valley Bluffs name would eventually changed to Coronado Heights as a result of one summer’s evening in 1919 when Emil O. Deere and William Hagstrom were sitting on an eastern slope of the Bluffs overlooking the Smoky Valley. As they were watching the reflection of the sunset on the fields of ripened wheat, it appeared “gold” in color bringing to Hagstrom’s mind “the gold” that Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was seeking when he discovered the Bluffs in July of 1541.
When the Society completed these projects, I am concluding without any actual facts before me, that Emil and his wife Lydia Sohlberg Deere decided to visually document the completed work with the series of photographs I found in the Estate.
In the early years, the Coronado Heights were referred to as the "Spanish Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Buttes," the "Smoky Hill Bluffs," the "Smoky Valley Bluffs," and perhaps other names as well. For this piece of writing, they shall be referred to as the Smoky Valley Bluffs.
Found in the Emil O. Deere Estate were photographs and negatives taken by Lydia Sohlberg Deere in the early 1920s concerning the very beginning of the work on the Smoky Valley Bluffs. Also, most all of the following information comes from the late Lindsborg historian and researcher Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg, former SVHA secretary, from her book, "Talk About Lindsborg," the chapter on page 47 titled "Coronado's Lookout."
She writes that professors from Bethany College were involved and that Emil was a "charter member" of the organization which was in charge of the Bluffs. The 1966 Bethany College Bethanian recalled him as "the founder" of the Lindsborg Historical Society in their remembrance of him and his accomplishments. Yet he was one of several Bethany College professors who initially organized the "Lindsborg Historical Society" on September 25, 1919.
Caring for the Bluffs was the Society's principal mission, and while doing so the organization's name would change in 1926 as the "Smoky Valley Historical Society," and in 1963 renamed again, as the "Smoky Valley Historical Association" (SVHA), which continues as its name.
Of the Smoky Valley Bluffs' projects involved, the main project of the Society of 1919 was to create a road to the top of the Bluffs. This assignment rested with Emil O. Deere, Birger Sandzén, G.N. Malm, William Ahlstrom, C.A. Nelson and R. Johnson, all of whom staked out the road from the valley floor to the summit on May 20, 1920. Deere, Nelson and Malm were also to see that a bridge was built over the draw located on the southwest Bluffs as well as to see that a temporary shelter was built near the top of the Bluffs which would be given the name of "Fernebo Lodge."
No doubt, Emil was keenly interested in these projects due to his 1907 Bethany College Master's thesis on this area titled Geology of Study in the Area of the Smoky Valley Buttes.
The Lindsborg Historical Society would name the road "Swensson Drive" in honor of the dynamic Swedish Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, the founder of Bethany College and second pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church. Preceding the completed road, first there would be laid out a footpath from the valley floor to the top of the Bluffs which would be named the “Olsson Trail,” honoring Swedish pioneer Pastor Olof Olsson, who with his Värmland, Sweden emigration party would arrive in June to Lindsborg, which had only been named on February 20, 1869. Pastor Olsson would found Lindsborg's first church, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church on August 19, 1869.
The Smoky Valley Bluffs name would eventually changed to Coronado Heights as a result of one summer’s evening in 1919 when Emil O. Deere and William Hagstrom were sitting on an eastern slope of the Bluffs overlooking the Smoky Valley. As they were watching the reflection of the sunset on the fields of ripened wheat, it appeared “gold” in color bringing to Hagstrom’s mind “the gold” that Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was seeking when he discovered the Bluffs in July of 1541.
When the Society completed these projects, I am concluding without any actual facts before me, that Emil and his wife Lydia Sohlberg Deere decided to visually document the completed work with the series of photographs I found in the Estate.
- A photograph recreating the day of the name change to Coronado Heights in 1919 -
- Name changed by Hagstrom and witnessed by Deere -
After much study and thought, I have concluded that Emil or Lydia might have wanted to recreate a photograph of that day when the name changed from the Smoky Valley Bluffs to Coronado Heights in 1919. This photograph may have "captured that same time of day on the slope that Deere and Hagstrom experienced, of "seeing the wheat fields of gold” which led to the name change.
- Lydia Surveying the Smoky Valley Bluffs with Emil -
- The bridge over the draw was organized by Emil O. Deere, C. A. Nelson and G. N. Malm -
- Close-up of the bridge over the draw -
(Emil's & Lydia's car in background)
- Near the summit was a temporary shelter called "Fernebo Lodge."
The establishment of this was also the responsibility of Emil O. Deere, C. A. Nelson and G. N. Malm.
- Another way to look at the photographs -
- These additional photographs were given to me by the granddaughter of photographer Bror G. Gröndal's. -
(The first two of Deere with group on top of Coronado Heights. The third is of Seth Sohlberg with cows shown left on the valley floor.)
(The first two of Deere with group on top of Coronado Heights. The third is of Seth Sohlberg with cows shown left on the valley floor.)
2011 Photographs
- Coronado Heights Castle -
The Coronado Heights Castle that we see today and the nearby picnic facilities were erected in 1936 and called "Coronado Park." This project was part of the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Work Progress Administration," (1933-1945).
- 1988 Lindsborg artist John Whitfield's stone monument -
- Note the symbols to honoring the Christian God and the Spanish explorer Coronado -
(This Is located just off of Swensson Drive.)
- Note the symbols to honoring the Christian God and the Spanish explorer Coronado -
(This Is located just off of Swensson Drive.)
"A Place to Share"
(Whitfield has carved this on the reverse side of the monument with its commanding view of the Smoky Valley.)
2006 Photograph
- Taken from Coronado Heights' Swensson Drive of the Kansas Smoky Valley Lindsborg -
(The official Swedes: TheWayTheyWere photograph.)
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- Spanish Explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and His Men 1541 -
(C1920 sketch by Lydia Sohlberg Deere)
This sketch became a colorful oil painting which sold at the Deere House auction in 1981.
To learn more on the
-- Smoky Valley Historical Association (SVHA) and to see early photographs, go HERE
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Sources: Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg: 1965 Lindsborg on Record and 1967 Living in Lindsborg
Dr. Leon Lungstrom's 1990 History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas
Dr. Leon Lungstrom's 1990 History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
