By Bill Kombol
This 1920s postcard photo #3519 of the Green River Gorge auto park comes courtesy of White River Museum in Auburn. The photographer was J. Boyd Ellis whose images were sometimes featured in the Seattle Times. The Green River Gorge has a storied history, not all of which is well documented. A hotel was known to exist as early as 1911, when Frank Farrow’s Green River Hotel was destroyed by fire. Other entrepreneurs such as John Rudge built a resort called Rudge’s Green River Gorge, which featured a hotel, service station, cabins, dancing auditorium, and reception rooms. For several years in the early 1920s, Felix, a sourdough from Alaska, operated a facility for vehicles to park and gain access to enjoy the beauty and wonders of the gorge. Ernie Moore, whose autobiography, “The Coal Miner who Came West” documented the life of an African-American in the nearby town of Franklin, earned a dollar a day putting parking tickets on vehicles in the lot. Felix, who was also called ‘sourdough’ built a small museum close to the bridge which he operated during the summer months. There he sold trinkets, bear skins, and relics to the many visitors and tourists who came to admire the steep canyon walls and the iconic bridge, which stands 150 feet above the rushing waters of the Green River.