History And Photos - The McMinnville Case - From David Rudiak

Comments below by David Rudiak:

1. Trent with his camera and banker Ralph Wortman who urged Trent to go public, on front page of Portland Oregon Journal, June 10, 1950.

2. This is the wide-angle shot taken about 100 yards west of the Trent place where there was an open field across the road. This was the best I could do to capture the type of view Trent had in 1950 showing the field, hills, and structures in the distance. The yellow house in the distance shows up in the Trent photos and helped establish the photometric scale used by Hartmann in Condon to estimate distance. The greenish barn to the right of it is in about the same place as the 1950 barn, also used by Hartmann in his photometric analysis. Both house and barn are on Highway 18 (Salmon River Highway) and are marked on an area diagram by Hartmann in Condon. However, from my position I was about 25-30% closer to these structures than Trent. This panorama I think also gives a good feel for the openess of the landscape and lack of people. It is sparcely populated farming country. The photos were taken April 30 around noon, just a dozen days before Trent took his on May 11. This panorma also gives a good feel for the greenness of the fields and hills at this time of year. The day was hazy with a lot of smoke from forest fires. [the image above seems to be roughly in the correct position relative to the panorama, though the viewpoint locations are different, MSC]

Below is a closeup of the yellow house and barn.