Portland, Ore.celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Rose Festival   this past weekend. The idea of a Rose Festival or "carnival," as it was initially called, came from the Chamber of Commerce.  Later records reveal the extent to which the Chamber of Commerce went to promote the city of Portland. In the Second Annual Rose Festival Pamphlet from1908, the Chamber provided a litany of facts to persuade the visitor that Portland was the best place to live. It sums up this idea by stating:

"The approaching Rose Festival will .. convince tens of thousands of visitors that Portland and vicinity rests on beds of flowers... "

After the first Rose Festival in 1907, the event became extensive. Advertisers played off the event, and the Oregonian  included at least two cartoons hailing the event. One cartoon conveys the idea that the Portland Rose Festival was a signature event with "Old Man Portland" blowing away the competition. Another cartoon shows Western cities "joining hands" to celebrate Portland’s Festival. The Rose Festival received delegations from several cities, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, Oakland, Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma. Naval vessels dropped anchor at Portland’s waterfront: the USS Stethem and others docked this year. 

Wells Fargo participated early on. As the Rose Festival got popular, the Company provided the Concord Coach from San Francisco  for the 1913 parade, and the “modern” Wells Fargo delivery wagon followed behind the stagecoach. It was as important, in1913, for Wells Fargo to showcase people from its history. The Oregonian described the esteemed personage riding in Wells Fargo’s contingent:

The Wells-Fargo stage coach filled with veterans of the stage coach days. On the front seat sat C. M. Kellogg, who drove a Wells-Fargo stage out of Salt Lake City in 1864 and 1865. . . Thomas H. Reynolds, who has been in the employ of Wells, Fargo & Co. for 40 years, acted as “shotgun messenger.” He rode on top of the coach, with a shotgun leveled across his knees. The regulation strong box stood beside him...

From an historical viewpoint, what is intriguing about Portland’s Rose Festival is how an idea took off, a “Rose Festival” culture developed, then gradually changed over time. After 1910, Portland’s economic status as the hub of the Pacific Northwest faced challenges from other cities—Tacoma, Spokane, and, most notably, Seattle. Was the creation of a Rose Festival one way for the city’s leaders to retain Portland’s economic hegemony in the Pacific Northwest?