American Rodeo Rider, Newspaper Reporter, Rodeo Singer, "Larger then Life" personality, and the mistress of eccentric Pacific Northwest entrepreneur Sam Hill.
"Mona Bell" was born Edith "Mona" L. Bell, and was the oldest of three children. Her father worked as a water and grain tower builder. Due to his work, he traveled a great deal, but when home, he was often very abusive. So, while growing up, Mona found herself in the role of the protector for her sister and brother. This upbringing caused her to become a very tough and independent personality. Mona briefly attended the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks where she stood out for her basketball skills. She was both fine at bareback riding and fantastic with a pistol and rifle. By her own account, she performed with the famous William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show, although her biographer was unable to verify this. In any event, it is verifiable that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a newspaper reporter. In her 20's and 30's she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle's famed swimming of the English Channel that same year. In 1910 she met Samuel Hill, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. In the 1920's Mona moved to Portland, Oregon to be near him. In 1928 he bought her 35 acres on the Columbia River (40 miles east of Portland) and built her a 22-room hilltop mansion, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son, Sam B. Hill. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, to be raised as legitimate. A short time later in 1931, Samuel passed away at the age of 73. Then in 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Mona's land for the Bonneville Dam project. The house and the surrounding land was commandeered by the US Army, and she was offered the mere pittance of $25,000 in compensation. She battled the government in federal court with two of Sam's longtime friends at her side. The former Oregon governor (13th, 1910-1911) Jay Bowerman as her attorney and the current governor (20th, 1931-1935), Julius L. Meier, as a witness. Fifteen months later, in 1935, she received a settlement of $78,661 dollars, which included interest (equal to $1.767 million in 2023 money). Sadly, the beautiful hilltop house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam and the widening of Highway 84, and thus was torn down in the late 1950's. After a two year round-the-world voyage in 1935-36, including six months in Africa, she moved back to Minnesota where she raised her son. Finally moving to Riverside, California in 1953, she continued to be known for her elaborate gardens, as with all her homes. Samuel Hill had other lovers besides Mona and, indeed, fathered two other children besides Sam B., outside his marriage (each by different paramours). Although she too had two other brief marriages (one to a dentist and one other to a doctor), Samuel Hill was clearly the love of her life. Mona never outgrew the pain of losing both; the man she loved, and the wonderful home he had built for her.
Bio by: Jay Lance
"Mona Bell" was born Edith "Mona" L. Bell, and was the oldest of three children. Her father worked as a water and grain tower builder. Due to his work, he traveled a great deal, but when home, he was often very abusive. So, while growing up, Mona found herself in the role of the protector for her sister and brother. This upbringing caused her to become a very tough and independent personality. Mona briefly attended the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks where she stood out for her basketball skills. She was both fine at bareback riding and fantastic with a pistol and rifle. By her own account, she performed with the famous William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show, although her biographer was unable to verify this. In any event, it is verifiable that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a newspaper reporter. In her 20's and 30's she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle's famed swimming of the English Channel that same year. In 1910 she met Samuel Hill, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. In the 1920's Mona moved to Portland, Oregon to be near him. In 1928 he bought her 35 acres on the Columbia River (40 miles east of Portland) and built her a 22-room hilltop mansion, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son, Sam B. Hill. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, to be raised as legitimate. A short time later in 1931, Samuel passed away at the age of 73. Then in 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Mona's land for the Bonneville Dam project. The house and the surrounding land was commandeered by the US Army, and she was offered the mere pittance of $25,000 in compensation. She battled the government in federal court with two of Sam's longtime friends at her side. The former Oregon governor (13th, 1910-1911) Jay Bowerman as her attorney and the current governor (20th, 1931-1935), Julius L. Meier, as a witness. Fifteen months later, in 1935, she received a settlement of $78,661 dollars, which included interest (equal to $1.767 million in 2023 money). Sadly, the beautiful hilltop house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam and the widening of Highway 84, and thus was torn down in the late 1950's. After a two year round-the-world voyage in 1935-36, including six months in Africa, she moved back to Minnesota where she raised her son. Finally moving to Riverside, California in 1953, she continued to be known for her elaborate gardens, as with all her homes. Samuel Hill had other lovers besides Mona and, indeed, fathered two other children besides Sam B., outside his marriage (each by different paramours). Although she too had two other brief marriages (one to a dentist and one other to a doctor), Samuel Hill was clearly the love of her life. Mona never outgrew the pain of losing both; the man she loved, and the wonderful home he had built for her.
Bio by: Jay Lance
American Rodeo Rider, Newspaper Reporter, Rodeo Singer, "Larger then Life" personality, and the mistress of eccentric Pacific Northwest entrepreneur Sam Hill.
"Mona Bell" was born Edith "Mona" L. Bell, and was the oldest of three children. Her father worked as a water and grain tower builder. Due to his work, he traveled a great deal, but when home, he was often very abusive. So, while growing up, Mona found herself in the role of the protector for her sister and brother. This upbringing caused her to become a very tough and independent personality. Mona briefly attended the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks where she stood out for her basketball skills. She was both fine at bareback riding and fantastic with a pistol and rifle. By her own account, she performed with the famous William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show, although her biographer was unable to verify this. In any event, it is verifiable that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a newspaper reporter. In her 20's and 30's she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle's famed swimming of the English Channel that same year. In 1910 she met Samuel Hill, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. In the 1920's Mona moved to Portland, Oregon to be near him. In 1928 he bought her 35 acres on the Columbia River (40 miles east of Portland) and built her a 22-room hilltop mansion, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son, Sam B. Hill. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, to be raised as legitimate. A short time later in 1931, Samuel passed away at the age of 73. Then in 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Mona's land for the Bonneville Dam project. The house and the surrounding land was commandeered by the US Army, and she was offered the mere pittance of $25,000 in compensation. She battled the government in federal court with two of Sam's longtime friends at her side. The former Oregon governor (13th, 1910-1911) Jay Bowerman as her attorney and the current governor (20th, 1931-1935), Julius L. Meier, as a witness. Fifteen months later, in 1935, she received a settlement of $78,661 dollars, which included interest (equal to $1.767 million in 2023 money). Sadly, the beautiful hilltop house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam and the widening of Highway 84, and thus was torn down in the late 1950's. After a two year round-the-world voyage in 1935-36, including six months in Africa, she moved back to Minnesota where she raised her son. Finally moving to Riverside, California in 1953, she continued to be known for her elaborate gardens, as with all her homes. Samuel Hill had other lovers besides Mona and, indeed, fathered two other children besides Sam B., outside his marriage (each by different paramours). Although she too had two other brief marriages (one to a dentist and one other to a doctor), Samuel Hill was clearly the love of her life. Mona never outgrew the pain of losing both; the man she loved, and the wonderful home he had built for her.
Bio by: Jay Lance
"Mona Bell" was born Edith "Mona" L. Bell, and was the oldest of three children. Her father worked as a water and grain tower builder. Due to his work, he traveled a great deal, but when home, he was often very abusive. So, while growing up, Mona found herself in the role of the protector for her sister and brother. This upbringing caused her to become a very tough and independent personality. Mona briefly attended the University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks where she stood out for her basketball skills. She was both fine at bareback riding and fantastic with a pistol and rifle. By her own account, she performed with the famous William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show, although her biographer was unable to verify this. In any event, it is verifiable that she was both a rodeo rider (in male disguise) and later a newspaper reporter. In her 20's and 30's she had a career as a reporter for various newspapers around the United States, including becoming, in San Francisco, the first female crime reporter in the country. Some time before 1926 she swam the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an achievement possibly exceeding Gertrude Ederle's famed swimming of the English Channel that same year. In 1910 she met Samuel Hill, a prominent entrepreneur 33 years her senior, who was by then almost entirely estranged from his wife, although they never divorced. In the 1920's Mona moved to Portland, Oregon to be near him. In 1928 he bought her 35 acres on the Columbia River (40 miles east of Portland) and built her a 22-room hilltop mansion, to which she added an elaborate garden. That same year, she bore him a son, Sam B. Hill. An arranged marriage to Hill's cousin Edgar Hill allowed the son, to be raised as legitimate. A short time later in 1931, Samuel passed away at the age of 73. Then in 1933, the U.S. government decided to obtain Mona's land for the Bonneville Dam project. The house and the surrounding land was commandeered by the US Army, and she was offered the mere pittance of $25,000 in compensation. She battled the government in federal court with two of Sam's longtime friends at her side. The former Oregon governor (13th, 1910-1911) Jay Bowerman as her attorney and the current governor (20th, 1931-1935), Julius L. Meier, as a witness. Fifteen months later, in 1935, she received a settlement of $78,661 dollars, which included interest (equal to $1.767 million in 2023 money). Sadly, the beautiful hilltop house was eventually lost to the construction of the Bonneville Dam and the widening of Highway 84, and thus was torn down in the late 1950's. After a two year round-the-world voyage in 1935-36, including six months in Africa, she moved back to Minnesota where she raised her son. Finally moving to Riverside, California in 1953, she continued to be known for her elaborate gardens, as with all her homes. Samuel Hill had other lovers besides Mona and, indeed, fathered two other children besides Sam B., outside his marriage (each by different paramours). Although she too had two other brief marriages (one to a dentist and one other to a doctor), Samuel Hill was clearly the love of her life. Mona never outgrew the pain of losing both; the man she loved, and the wonderful home he had built for her.
Bio by: Jay Lance
Inscription
FEARLESS ADVENTURER, RODEO RIDER,
ASTONISHING FLOWER GARDNER.
REMEMBERED FOR HER TENACITY,
COURAGE, AND UNBENDABLE WILL
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