Three Months to Preserve 100 Years: Caryn Tilton Captures St. John in the Woods History

By Marie Kennedy, The Mountain Times

Caryn Tilton knew the timeline was ambitious.

She had just three months to preserve a century of history.

She had no idea how many doors would open along the way.

What began as a request to create a commemorative booklet for the 100th anniversary of St. John in the Woods Catholic Church quickly grew into something much larger. One discovery led to another as Tilton searched the archives, gathered old photographs and family stories, and listened to memories from people connected to the Welches parish.

The result was "A Century of Faith: The Church of Saint John in the Woods, 1926-2026," a 130-page hardbound book documenting the history of the parish and the people who shaped it.

Created as Tilton's contribution to the church that has been part of her life since childhood, the book preserves not only the history of St. John in the Woods but also the stories of the people whose lives have been intertwined with it for a century.

Although she grew up in Portland, Tilton's family owned a cabin in Government Camp, where she spent winter weekends and summer vacations on Mount Hood. During those years, Tilton and her family attended Mass at St. John, beginning a connection with the mountain church that would continue throughout her life.

As the oldest of four children, Tilton and her sister were sometimes allowed to sit in the organ loft if they promised to be especially well behaved, giving them a child's-eye view of the historic Steiner Log Church.

In that loft, she remembered seeing someone's name carved on one of the log benches: "Jerry Van H."

At the time, it was simply a name that caught a child's attention. Decades later, that inscription would become one of the many threads connecting Tilton's own memories to the history she was working to preserve.

From the outset, Tilton faced challenges that could have stalled the project. She chose to see them differently.

"To me, roadblocks are just an invitation to get more creative," she said.

Tilton credits the project's success on such a compressed timeline to persistence and what she believes was divine intervention. It reflected a lesson her children heard often while growing up: "God helps those who help themselves."

When Tilton was told gaining access to historical records maintained by the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon would likely be impossible, she began searching online. Her research led her to Joseph Schiwek, Archivist and Records Manager for the Archdiocese.

Tilton emailed Schiwek and explained the project. Rather than turning her away, Schiwek welcomed her to spend time in the archives and shared additional records and resources that became fundamental to her research.

It was one of many doors that opened as the project unfolded.

When a photograph was missing, Tilton searched for one. When a story needed more detail, she looked for someone who remembered it. When a piece of information seemed impossible to locate, she prayed.

Tilton began with a simple outline of the steps she believed would be needed to complete the book. It quickly proved inadequate. Before long, photographs, records, and notes covered four tables in her home, and each new discovery sent the project in another direction.

The book traces the history of St. John in the Woods from its beginnings in 1926 through three church buildings, including the Steiner Log Church designed and built by Henry Steiner and his family in 1937. Along the way, it reflects both the parish's religious heritage and the resourcefulness of the people who built and sustained it.

But as the project expanded, Tilton realized it was about more than buildings.

She collected family photographs, parish memories, and stories from longtime members and local historians Gary Randall and Paul Keller. She also created sections honoring legacy builders, volunteers and the 22 priests who served the parish over the years.

Some discoveries brought Tilton back to memories she had carried since childhood.

When she moved to Welches in 1975, she learned that one of her new neighbors was Jerry Van Hoomissen, a retired Alaska judge who had grown up in the area.

He was also the "Jerry Van H." whose name she remembered seeing carved into the church bench. The inscribed bench remains in the church today.

Other surprises emerged from photographs.

While researching the history of the Steiner Log Church, she contacted Mike Gudge, whose efforts to move and restore the former church became an important chapter in the building's history.

After several weeks of searching, Gudge found a box of slides documenting the move and selected 10 images for the book.

As Tilton converted the slides into digital images and viewed them on a larger screen, something in one photograph caught her attention.

"That looks like the car I used to own," she remembered thinking.

She used a magnifying glass to examine the image more closely. It was her car. The young woman standing beside it, holding a baby, was Tilton herself.

"Of all the slides Mike could have sent for this project, and very much by sheer coincidence, I happened to be in one of them as a spectator of the monumental move," she said.

At the time, Tilton was a young mother watching a piece of Mount Hood history unfold. Decades later, she had become the person preserving that history. The baby in the photograph was her son, who is now 51.

Gudge's slides and recollections document the complicated move of the Steiner Log Church from its former location near Highway 26 and Salmon River Road in Zigzag, along Lolo Pass Road and onto what is now Barlow Trail Road. The difficult move and the restoration that followed are among the stories included in the book.

Another unexpected connection returned a piece of the original church to the mountain.

Tilton had recently reconnected with a childhood friend she had not seen in 50 years after overhearing his name during an unrelated conversation. His family had also owned a cabin in the Welches area, and they attended Mass at St. John during his childhood.

Over dinner, Tilton told him she was writing a history of the church. He told her he believed the original oil lamps were stored in his basement. His father had purchased them at an auction years earlier.

Tilton told him about Gudge's 46-year effort to restore the Steiner Log Church and asked whether he might be willing to sell the lamps.

Instead, he offered to give them to Gudge.

Through another unexpected connection, the original oil lamps found their way back to the man who has spent decades restoring the historic Steiner Log Church.

Looking back, Tilton found every door that opened led to another story. She had set out to document the history of a church. In the process, she also documented the history of a community.

The book reflects on 100 years of baptisms, weddings, first communions, and confirmations while honoring the volunteers and generations of families whose lives intersected at St. John in the Woods.

Copies of "A Century of Faith: The Church of Saint John in the Woods, 1926-2026" will be available through the church. For information, call (503) 668-4446.