“Some of us wait for a “Plan B.” Artenicia experienced a “Plan B” life becoming an unanticipated pioneer and an unexpected 85-year-old movie star.
In 1851, Artenicia Riddle was happily settled in Springfield, Illinois, married to John Chapman, boasting a 1-year-old son when her husband suddenly died—5 days before her parents were leaving for Oregon! As a 21-year-old widow with a baby, she had few choices so scrambled to gather provisions and join them in the journey across the Oregon Trail. Her father William Riddle settled what we know as Riddle, Oregon.
In 1854, Artenicia married widower William Merriman, a blacksmith, wagon maker, and agriculturalist. Those skills were much in demand in Southern Oregon and the couple moved to the Rogue Valley in 1857, settling 2 miles north of Jacksonville, where they raised 15 more children.
When the Medford Commercial Club learned that the Jackson County Exhibit at San Francisco’s 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition was considered “bland,” they commissioned a film to showcase the virtues of Southern Oregon. The story, highlighting the social and cultural life of the valley, starred Broadway actress, Grace Fiero, wife of wealthy local orchardist Conrad Fiero (owner of Mon Desir). In the film, Grace visited some of the Valley’s pioneers. Artenicia was one of them, and she bought a new bonnet for the occasion.
The film, the first feature film made in Oregon, had a brief run in Medford before being shown at the Exposition to wild acclaim!
Artenicia died 2 years later having experienced gas cook stoves, electric lights, and automobiles—far cries from the dutch ovens, tallow candles, and wagons of the pioneer times she talked about in Grace’s “moving picture.”