DeMOSS CONCERT ENTERTAINERS, The
Homebase: Forest Grove, OR.
Stats: 1872-1926
Misc Notes: The Rev. James M. DeMoss and his wife Elizabeth were musical missionaries who settled in Oregon's Grande Ronde Valley in 1862. DeMoss built a sawmill at Forest Grove. In time five children -- Henry, George, Lizzie, Minnie, and May – came along and as they grew up their individual musical talents emerged – it was said that these all “learned to sing as they learned to talk” – the family “enjoyed performing at home for friends who came regularly each Sunday from miles around.” By the time they were all teenagers each could play several instruments.
In the spring of 1872 a Rev. H.K. Hines asked James if he would organize the family band and give some concerts – and Hines had an organ they could use. The family proceeded to develop a stage show that featured lots of spirited singing and the playing of “forty-one different instruments in various arrangements of duets, trios, quartets, and quintets.” That summer they loaded up a wagon with the organ and tall their other instruments and headed out.
George DeMoss later wrote: “Ascending the Blue Mountains we made camp in beautiful Summit Meadows. We placed our little organ under a huge evergreen tree, and Father said, ‘We will build a big bonfire and will go through out entire program just as we shall in our concert.’ There was a large Indian camp across the meadow and when we started the music, the Indians came sauntering over with their blankets wrapped around them., and squatted on the ground before us. Thus, our first concert was given to the wild men of the mountains.”
"The Roseburg Review" Roseburg, Oregon, August 30, 1884
From there they went to Forest Grove where the DeMoss Concert Entertainers played their first paid show. In time word of their talents spread from the Northwest’s farming hamlets and mountain-side mining camps from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Boise. With the coming of the trains, the group could then expand their touring, and every now played just about every whistle-stop in the West. They performed at churches, county fairs, and even at the 1905 World’s Fair in Portland. This led to greater notoriety and they eventually traveled all the way back east and in 1926 flew to Europe where they appeared before royalty in England and France.
The DeMoss family are perhaps best remembered for their sheet music “hits” that became regional favorites: “Washington Evergreen State,” and “Sweet Oregon.”
“I’m thinking of a beautiful land, Oregon-Oregon!
With rivers and valleys and mountain grand, Oregon – Sweet Oregon
From the mountain high peaks all covered with snow,
A sweet, limpid streamlet doth flow Past the home of my youth,
which I ever adore, O Oregon, my home.”