Moving the Church
& My work with John Steiner
Mike Gudge - July 4, 2005
JOHN STEINER, and the Saint John's Roman Catholic Church, where do I start? My life and times with two icons of Mount Hood? I don't want to portray the man as something he is not, but I hope to give you some insight as to what my thirty year association with John has been like. He is what he is and he's his own man. I'll give you a look, too, at what this church project has been for me and how John and the church have affected my life on the Mountain.
The Buy, The Move!
My first meeting with John was about 1976 when I was entertaining thoughts of purchasing the St. John's Catholic Church, which was located in Welches, OR at the time. This old log structure intrigued me, and I had done some research and homework on the building when I heard it might be for sale. I looked up John at his home in Sleepy Hollow and asked him to help me inspect the building structurally to see what work it might need and to get an idea of how "movable it was". He came up, he looked, he commented and he left. As I recall, he was pretty much all business, not sentimental or particularly excited regarding my monumental acquisition, moving, and restoration of the church, just another job! For whatever reason, I don't recall the sequence of events now, I asked John to come up again for an inspection. He did so but, in John Steiner fashion, he let me know that he had been up twice now and he had other work to do, so I had better get moving on this project if I wanted his help!
Rumor had it that a local theatre group, the Mount Hood Players, who owned the church and had moved it to it's present location about two miles from the original site, could not realistically continue with their plan to refurbish the church to use for their theatrical events and for functions of the Women's Club. Costs of refurbishing, meeting building codes, etc. were apparently just too overwhelming. The church was never really put on the market, but word got around that it could be bought. I heard that someone wanted to buy it and "log" it out for the timber value, another party wanted to dismantle it and move it to California, rebuild it and turn it into a restaurant. I approached the Mount Hood Players and ended up buying it for what they had invested. It may have been a reasonable price, but I didn't realize that as often as not, buildings which have to be moved can be had for little or even nothing, in that the moving costs can be a bit overwhelming! The moving costs, the anxieties, the damage to the church…overwhelming is not the word! If I were to do this moving project again, I would mark the logs, dismantle the building and move it on a flatbed truck, then restore the logs and reassemble it in place. That's hindsight!
The move was a nightmare. The movers had the church up on steel beams and rubber-tired dollies ready to roll at 9:30 AM on the morning of the move. The county permit would not allow us to move across highway 26 from beside the Zig Zag Inn and begin the journey up Lolo Pass until school bus traffic had passed. There were power crews ahead of and behind the church to disconnect and reconnect power, same for the phone and cable utilities. The peak of the church was 34 feet, well above utility lines. We "crawled" up Lolo Pass and onto the bridge over the Zig Zag River. The bridge is "crowned" in the center, higher in the center than at either end. The church is 75 feet in length, the dollies somewhat shorter, but the length was great enough and the clearance from the roadway to the underside of the church low enough, that the church "high centered" on the bridge. Not much but this was just the "beginning"!
In time the high center problem was resolved and we crawled up to the next obstacle, a torii type gate that stuck into the road right of way and obstructed the passage of the church. The church is 55 feet wide plus the eves, the building extended into the yard where the torii gate was, the county determined that we had the right to cut the end of the torri gate off. The property owner wasn't particularly happy!
Not far now to the first turn but at a snail's pace we didn't arrive until almost 5:00 PM, quitting time! The county permit stated that we were to be off the road by 5:30 PM. I had a choice to make, possibly pull the church off the side of the road in an area that looked wide enough, bearing in mind, as the PGE foreman pointed out, that this was private property and we might want to get permission. And, there was a possibility that the 200,000 pound estimated weight might "sink" into the ground! The other choice, pay the overtime and keep on truckin'! We continued on our journey. Another clearance problem after we crossed the bridge where Barlow Trail Road takes off from Lolo Pass Road, this time a telephone pole and a tree, not quite enough room between them for the church to pass. Next, not far along the route, a downward slope in the road. I had gone back to Zig Zag for sandwiches and came back to find the church sitting at the bottom of the downgrade, resting up against a pole and everyone out of vehicles and seemingly assessing the situation. I noted huge skid marks going down the downgrade. It seems that the normal way to "tow" a huge, heavy load down a grade like this is to have a weighted truck tied to the rear of the building/steel/weight to act as a "brake" in case the building wants to "push" the tow vehicle. There was no "brake" vehicle and the church pushed the tow vehicle, brakes on and swerving out of control, down the hill, almost dumping the church in the river!
After everyone caught their breath, we inched on. By the time we arrived at the next obstacle, another pole/tree width clearance problem, it was dark. The situation was assessed; the property owner where the tree obstructed the path came out with a shotgun declaring that his tree was not to be cut, the eves of the church were removed with a chain saw to clear between the pole and the tree and we were on the way again. Oh yes, we had to make an agreement with this same property owner to take down his fence and put it up again next day to resolve another clearance problem. Not far now, they pulled up to my driveway, which I had cleared to the required 55 foot width, and pulled the church, iron beams and dollies just off the county road and headed for home, it was midnight!
I left for my job in Alaska the next day, and the movers came up and cribbed up the church on the steel and took their dollies. We headed for litigation, the movers had not done the necessary planning or made sure of the clearances along the route, the building was significantly damaged and the remainder of the moving contract to move the church into the final site location was "open ended". As I recall, it took several months to settle things and get the church in place but it did get done, the church was cribbed up again, a foundation built under it, the church lowered, the steel beams removed and there it sits!
John Steiner…The Man, The Legacy!
Reflecting on all the years John and I worked together, side by side, hand in hand, on the church and on many more projects, I'm overwhelmed at what we have accomplished. The legacy he has left, and the unforgettable memories I will cherish forever, of a truly great friend and a truly good person. I have the utmost respect and admiration and love for this truly unforgettable person, John Steiner.
Over the next many years, John and I tackled the log restoration of the church, when I was available and John wasn't on another job. We started with the rotten log replacement, splicing in the better part of two corners at the rear of the church and then replacing the two 50 foot logs down each of the long sides of the congregation area---at the bottom of the walls. John showed me how to build a church from the top, down! We literally lifted the walls and measured, scribed, notched, and fit the logs into place. Imagine taking Lincoln logs apart from the bottom and at the corners to replace those logs! With his "A-frame," hand operated winch, his log cart, "swede hook", chainsaw, handsaws, slick and numerous other log working tools, John could pretty much handle the log work we did alone, it was just fortunate for me that I was able to work and learn with this master craftsman. We spliced in new eves where they had been cut in the move, and built a replica of the original front porch only a little bigger and still quite fitting for the esthetics of the church. The original porch was pretty much gone and the church now sat 3 or 4 feet up on the foundation, so we built half log steps and log hand rails for the porch. Originally the church was built right down close to the ground, which caused part of the rot problem. We built a good sized covered back porch onto the church; I don't think it originally had much or any porch or even a roof over the rear door. We replaced the gable end log work, front and back, including the spindle "fan" design in the front, as original. We built half log steps, and railings for both side entrances. We put in one partition wall for the bathroom, which the original church did not have. We re-framed two doors and built one new one in the Steiner style, half logs both sides with the infamous Steiner "Christmas Tree" trunk door handle and the clever "lever latch". I think those two touches are in every Steiner building. Luckily the original front, double doors of the church remain intact and in perfect working order. This was another Steiner "mark". They are framed out of a tree trunk that has grown in to a "Y". That "Y" trunk was sawn in half and each of the doors is framed with the sawn half. The two inside stairways with unique log railings are also still original and intact. Another Steiner trademark. The alter was the handiwork of John himself back in 1937. He mentioned this to me offhandedly many years back. It is made of log, of course, with half of the bark shaved of so that it is smooth but with no bare wood showing, just the inner bark surface. Quite unique!
All of this work was done over the period of many years and in the interim, I installed plumbing, wiring, leveled and supported the floor, replaced windows, worked on chinking, re-framed the roof and re-roofed and made the back end, the rectory of the church as heatable and livable as possible. I lived in that rectory for 22 years. Wood heat only, drained the pipes in the bathroom at night during the coldest weather to keep them from freezing, never had a kitchen sink, just a dishpan! It was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything, but I wouldn't want to do it again. I was saving a legacy and living that legacy at the same time.
During this time of church restoration and for many years after, John and I teamed up to build a 30 x 40 foot, two-story wood shed, a 64 x 90 foot shop, a carport and lastly a very special gazebo with a skylight. I worked every step of the way with John on all of these projects, he taught me, he scowled at me, he drank beer with me and once in a while he praised my work. John is a task master, he doesn't say much unless you ask questions, then he is very patient and will explain the answers but when he says something, you'd better listen, he's not much into repeating himself. John grew up in hard times, the 20's and 30's on the Mountain, the depression, following the logging camps, WWII, and then eking out a living to provide for and raise his family. He's an old world craftsman who has perfected his craft over the years with the mind of a mathematician and the inventiveness of a genius. He's a stubborn German, he growls and snaps, traits he picked up in the school of hard knocks in trying to survive in a not always friendly world, but I can attest to this as fact, John has a heart of gold and if he's your friend, he's your friend forever, and I wouldn't trade him for the world.
I'll try to give you a little insight to the "man", happenings that I will recall and treasure forever. This is John as I remember our years together and as I see and treasure him.
As a rule, John worked eight hours a day with me, then as years went on and he edged into retirement, it was seven hours, then six. These were good full work hours, maybe a short break to eat an apple and a pretty strict 30 minutes for lunch, then at the end of the day, he'd lay down his tools, we'd have a beer and he was gone. It always seemed though that he would leave me with 3 or 4 hours of cleanup or preparation for the next day. My days were longer than John's and I guess I was intimidated enough to make every effort to get these things done, "for John". It was my project, I was paying him, but in my mind I feel I “had” all this work to do after John left for the day. I most always got the work done, although I never got much noticeable recognition the next morning, unless I "didn't" get it done. Then all I got was a "growl", but that was enough that it didn't happen very often! I remember peeling logs for the shop. We brought in two 85 foot "mule train" log truck loads for the shop. This looked like fun for me, wow, let's peel a log and stand it up. Not the case, "all" the logs had to be peeled first so we could pick and choose what we wanted and where. Now, I tend to work for a couple of hours, then stand back and admire my work for at least an hour before getting back into the project. I wanted to start stacking logs! I don't think I have ever worked so hard in my life as when we peeled all those logs. It didn't matter if you had rain gear on or not, you sweat so much you were wet inside and out. Pitch and slivers in your face, on your arms, in your pants, it was miserable, and back breaking! At some point, John took pity on me and "built" me a draw knife out of a planer blade. He built handles and all, ended up building one for himself too. These were much heavier than the standard drawknives and saved your back and arms and cut through knots a lot easier. He knew what he was doing! I recall lying in bed when the alarm would go off in the mornings and praying that he would have a cold or the flu and not show up! He ran a tight ship, and he was never sick! Any time spent admiring our work was done by me, "after" John had left for the day. This was just another log job for John!
I'm pretty meticulous with my work and had never really worked with log building before so when I would comment to John about "plumb" and "square" with relation to how our work was fitting together, he'd bark back at me that we would use shingles for shims and to fill gaps. We were using chain saws to make our cuts and you could only get so close with a chainsaw. He was moving the job along, saving me time and getting the job done. No one would ever see a shingle shim or wedge here and there, so let's move on. He knew what he was doing, in spite of my concerns! In the end, I look back at the work we did, he was right! He could have dragged the job out and made a lot more money but he wanted to keep moving, he had other jobs to get to! It wasn't very often he would join me and step back to admire the work we had done, he just kept "doin"!
I remember approaching John when I wanted to build the shop. I had spent many, many months planning, sketching, measuring just exactly what I wanted in a shop. It was pretty good size, and when I approached John and said, "It's pretty good size, John". I had thought it might be a bit more than he wanted to tackle, it wasn't just a garage. I said, "It's 64 x 64 feet ". Says John, "Oh, that's not so big"! Come to find out, John was used to building structures and sheds for Vanport Mill in Boring, OR that would be 100 or 150 feet in length or width and two stories tall or more. As it turned out, John made only one structural roof change and away we went!
When I wanted a wood shed, again I was afraid he wouldn't want or wouldn't think I would need such a large structure. I used the size of his own extra deep, three car storage/wood shed for a comparison and cautiously put the 30 x 40 measurements to him. As soon as he had absorbed that, I hit him with the raised peak so it became essentially two stories. He agreed, but I was cautious in my proposal.
Then, what was undoubtedly his last log structure of any size, was the gazebo. I presented my plan, which was for an eight-sided structure, 20 feet in diameter and without a center post. He balked at not having a center post, "Too much trouble to build it that way!" I told him I couldn't accept a center post and we just dropped the subject for the time being. I was disappointed and wondering what to do next. The next day John came up and showed me how we could build it without a center post. Obviously he had dwelled on the project the previous night, wanted to build the gazebo and came up with a plan. I might add that, without admitting it, John might have realized he wasn't going to be doing much more log work and he really took some special steps, took some extra effort with special joints and cuts and implemented his "post less" design to make this a "special" gazebo. It is special!
I asked John once why he didn't build a log home for himself in that I knew he had built his own home. His only comment was that "It's too much trouble!"
Well, it wouldn't have been much of a task for John, but it is a challenge to try and cut, plumb, and square with chainsaw cuts on tapered logs, different diameters on either end. How do you "plumb" an upright log that is 14 inches at the bottom and 12 inches at the top? It can be done, and John can show you how! I may not have seen or learned them all, but I worked with the master who had all the skills and tricks of the trade to put together many a monument, many a legacy, works of art for the viewing and living pleasure of so many for what will hopefully be an eternity. What a guy, what a friend, without a doubt the most influential and unforgettable person in my life!
Mike Gudge