Carey, Charles Henry.  "History of Oregon." Vol. 3. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer
Historical Pub. Co., 1922.  pp. 146-7.

CHARLES ALONZO BELL

Every commercial traveler of the west knows "Charley" Bell, the genial
proprietor of the Mount Hood hotel at Hood River and tourists from all over the
country have a kindly remembrance of the hospitality received and the interest
taken in their trips around the Hood River valley and to the snowy slopes of
Mount Hood, while the people of Hood River recognize in Mr. Bell the creator of
the Mount Hood hotel, which has added prestige to their town and given it a
reputation abroad. It is a recognized certainty that when any enterprise is
planned to further the interests of the city a list of its supporters will
contain the signature of Charles A. Bell, for at all times he is most
progressive and his example will bring to any movement of public worth a large
following.
Mr. Bell was born in New Brunswick in 1860, his parents being Henry and Jane
(Norman) Bell, who were pioneer residents of Canada, in which country the son
obtained his education. In early life he turned his attention to the timber and
lumber business and after coming to the Pacific coast was associated with the
Oregon Lumber Company for many years in Washington and in Oregon. In 1893 he
removed to Hood River and purchased a block of land opposite the depot of the
Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company and built the Mount Hood hotel. Though he
erected a large three-story structure it soon became inadequate to the needs of
the traveling public and in 1913 he built a three-story brick annex extending
through to Oak street, the business thoroughfare, the annex being one hundred by
one hundred feet in dimensions. The hotel now contains one hundred and fifty
rooms and is thoroughly modern in every department, giving to the public the
highest standards of hotel service.

In 1889 Mr. Bell was married in Pendleton, Oregon, to Miss Rosanna E. Young,
also a native of New Brunswick. She passed away in 1896, leaving a son,
Frederick, who is now assisting his father in the conduct and management of the
hotel. The son is a veteran of the World war, having enlisted early in the
struggle. In September, 1917, he was sent for training to Boise, Idaho, becoming
a member of the Twenty-second Infantry. Later he was sent to Camp Greene, where
he was assigned to the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Regiment of the Sixty-sixth
Field Artillery Brigade, and in December of the same year went to France,
serving in that country and in Belgium until the armistice was signed. He then
went into Germany with the army of occupation and returning to America in July,
1919, was demobilized. Mr. Bell was again married in 1907, when Miss Ola M.
Stryker, a native daughter of Oregon, became his wife. Her father, Dr. D. S.
Stryker, had crossed the plains with an ox cart in pioneer times long prior to
the building of railroads. He was for many years a practicing physician of
Portland and had been a California pioneer before he went to the east and
married. The Stryker family has been represented on American soil from 1620,
when Herman Von Stryker came to the new world from Holland and settled at New
Amsterdam, New York. Later representatives of the family "moved up state" and
established the town of Strykersville, New York. Various representatives of the
family served with the American forces in the Revolutionary war and in the War
of 1812. Dr. George Stryker of Everett, Washington; Dr. S. W. Stryker of
Portland; Dr. Rey S. Stryker, who was graduated at Northwestern University at
Evanston, Illinois; and Guy O. Stryker of Hubbard, Oregon, are brothers of Mrs.
Bell. Mrs. George Wissinger resides in Milwaukie, Oregon, and is in educational
work. The family were all undergraduates of Willamette University at Salem,
Oregon. Mrs. Bell possesses the same spirit of courage that served her father in
his trips across the plains. She was for many years the manager of the Y. W. C.
A. tea room in Portland and is largely responsible for the splendid culinary
arrangement of the present Y. W. C. A. tea and lunch rooms in that city.

Mr. Bell has always been recognized as one of the most progressive residents of
Hood River. He built the first wooden sidewalk in the town and promoted and held
the franchise of a street railway for the city. He also served as a member of
the city council for twelve years and is a leader in every sense of the term,
standing at all times for those interests and activities which have constituted
vital forces in the upbuilding and development of the community. He belongs to
the Hood River Commercial Club and has thus been active in furthering the public
welfare and fraternally he is well known as an exemplary representative of the
Masons and the Elks.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in November 2006 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.