Guy Webster Talbot and his family used this property as a summer estate. The falls itself was located on the property of Guy W. Talbot of Portland, who, in 1929, donated 220 acres (0.89 km2) of property to the State of Oregon.
Guy Talbot
In 1903, Talbot married Geraldine Wallace, of Kingman, Kansas, and they were the parents of three children: Sara Jane, who was the wife of Charles G. Dimon, of New York; Prudence; and Guy W., Jr. Dimon was the sole heir to the Smith & Dimon Shipbuilder empire in New York. Smith and Dimon were the builders of the Sea Witch, whose record-breaking run from China to New York was great news of that day.
In 1906 Talbot came to Portland as vice president and general manager of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad and the Corvallis & Eastern Railroad, and was later made vice president and general manager of the Oregon Electric Railway, which he completed, holding that position until the road was sold, when he went to the American Power & Light Company of New York, which bought the Portland Gas & Coke Company, of which Talbot was made president, still holding that position.
In 1910, he was also made president of the Pacific Power & Light Company. In 1915 the American Power & Light Company purchased the control of the Northwestern Electric Company and at that time he was also elected to the presidency of that Company. He was also president of the Walla Walla Valley Railroad, which was sold to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, but he still remained as vice president and director. He was president of the Deschutes Power & Light Company, a director of the Electric Products Corporation and a director of the Pacific Properties Company. A man of alert mentality, progressive ideas and intensely practical in his methods, he has shown marked ability in the management of the important interests of which he was the head, and earned the respect of all who knew him. His great-grandson David Talbot Dimon still resides in Oregon. Dimon and his wife continue to be benefactors of the park.
