John Harrison presents the biography of Mona Bell, A Woman Alone

Writer and author John Harrison presents the biography of Mona Bell – a rodeo performer who was a crack shot. She was eccentric, aggressive, frugal but friendly to a point. She battled the federal government in Oregon after the Army commandeered her hilltop mansion and waterfront on prime acreage in the Columbia River Gorge to build Bonneville Dam. Her lover was the flamboyant entrepreneur Sam Hill, whose lasting works include Maryhill Museum and the Columbia River Highway. Mona enlisted the help of a former Oregon governor as her attorney and a current governor as a key witness to argue her case with the feds when Sam Hill died. She shared a son with Hill but raised him alone. With her new wealth she traveled extensively, and she cultivated flowers – mainly lilies. Her daughter-in-law said, “She was just not cut out to be a mother. She was a woman alone and she was OK with it.”   (Book $19.95) Visitor Center, 2 PM