Walter S. Bowman, 76, native of Pendleton, was fatally injured and his wife suffered concussion of the brain as well as lacerations in an automobile accident on the Old Oregon Trail yesterday [November 27, 1938] at 3:15 p.m. when the car, driven by Mr. Bowman, skidded on the icy highway and plunged over an embankment at a point some 10 miles east of here.
Mr. Bowman’s neck was broken and he died on the way to the hospital, where he and Mrs. Bowman were brought by passing motorists. Mrs. Bowman’s condition is very favorable, said a report from the hospital this morning.
A pioneer photographer who retired from active work some years ago, Mr. Bowman is credited with taking some of the best pictures of the Round Up. Fearless in the area, he risked injury to secure many remarkably fine action shots, including the spectacular one of Bonnie McCarroll, thrown head first from “Silver,” because of a broken hobble stirrup.
Besides his talent as a photographer, Mr. Bowman was a real craftsman in other lines; he built, with his own hands, the Bowman building on Main Street and was a skilled electrician and painter. He was an enthusiastic sportsman, fond of hunting and fishing.
Besides his widow, he is survived by his brother, Will Bowman of Pendleton. Folsom’s have charge of funeral arrangements, which have not yet been made. [Burial Olney Cemetery]
Contributed by: Shelli Steedman