The Very Picture Of A Western Town -- In Toppenish, Bright Murals Put History In Artful Perspective

TOPPENISH, Yakima County - When locals call Toppenish "The City Where The West Still Lives," they mean the Old West.

Not so old that gunslingers stride down dusty streets with itchy trigger fingers. Just old enough that cowboys and Indians still are the town's mainstay population, and a Fourth of July rodeo is the best-loved annual event.

Rodeo "bulldogging" originated here, locals say, when Alex McCoy jumped off his cow pony to wrestle a steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and twisting its neck. It looked like such a lot of fun that other cowboys began doing it, too.

Toppenish is fast gaining another claim to fame - as the City of Murals.

In recent years, a dozen big, bright murals have been painted on the sides of downtown buildings.

The dramatic, bigger-than-life scenes are painted in bold, vivid color. They depict Toppenish history: a pioneer clearing the land, an early blacksmith shop, federal troops retreating under cover of night from a force of Yakima braves in the 1855 battle locals call Haller's Defeat.

Noted Western artist Fred Oldfield, who was a Toppenish cowboy, spent a month working with three assistants to paint the dramatic 108-foot long "Haller's Defeat" mural.

Three of the murals appeared with the speed of spring mushrooms, as part of the town's annual "Mural-in-a-Day" program. The project was kicked off June 3, 1989, when a dozen Western artists - veterans, no doubt, of "quick draw" art competitions - collaborated to paint the 42-foot long mural "Clearing the Land" on the side of the Western Auto Building. They finished it in eight hours.

Phil Kooser designed the pictures, supervised the mixing of paints, and directed the artists who painted the three works done so far in the Mural-in-a-Day program.

This year, Newman Myrah is the designing artist for the June 6 Mural-in-a-Day. On that day, a dozen artists will gather at 8:30 a.m. to paint "The Chuck Wagon Painting" on the wall of the Bowling Alley at Second Street and Highway 97. Bleachers will be set up for spectators to watch the action. As usual, the event will include a food fair and an arts-and-crafts show.

"We began the program to give Toppenish back part of its pride," says Bill Davison, who heads the town's Mural Society. "People were letting their yards go, and rusting cars were on the street."

Since the murals have been up, Davison says, "people began to paint their houses and clean up their yards. The graffiti that used to be around is just gone."

In addition to the June 6 effort, three more murals are to go up this year.

Bob Morgan is to paint a scene of traders and Indians on the front of Kraff's Clothing Store.

This month, Idaho artist Robert Thomas is painting a gigantic mural on the Pow Wow Emporium Building in the center of town. Three stories high and 120 feet long, the mural will be a montage of the transportation history of Toppenish - everything from stagecoaches and paddlewheelers to hay carried by train.

Oregon artist Roger Cook is to paint an 1855 scene of Governor Isaac Stevens signing a peace treaty with representatives of 14 Indian tribes. Cook's mural will be on the side of a building that houses a flea market, on South First Street.

The Mural-in-a-Day project has won for Toppenish the state tourism office's "Georgia" award, given for best new tourism idea. Davison says visitors from Denmark, Holland and every state in the Union have signed the town's guest book.

Community fund-raisers support the projects, which are sponsored by the Mural Society, a citizens' committee trying to preserve the town's history and heritage. They hope eventually to commission about three dozen murals.

Building owners pay to prepare their walls for the mural, and the Mural Society pays the artists' fees. "There's no government money involved," Davison says.

(Toppenish also is the site June 4-7 for the annual treaty-days celebration and rodeo.)

IF YOU GO: Toppenish is in the Yakima Valley, 156 miles east of Seattle, and three miles south of I-82. Information: Toppenish Chamber of Commerce, 1-509-865-3262 and Toppenish Mural Society office, 1-509-865-6516.