On Friday, May 18, 2018, the Fillmore Historical Museum received the gift of a painting representing the arrival in Bardsdale of Orson J. Goodenough and his family from Iowa in 1875.

The painting was commissioned by Russ Goodenough, Fillmore High School Class of 1958. Russ is also an author whose book about his experience in Vietnam, “Why Johnny Came Marching Home”, published in 2017.

Russ commissioned western artist, Robert L. “Bob” Rickards of Thousand Oaks, to paint an original oil painting of the arrival in Ventura County of the Goodenough family. Mr. Rickards is a renowned artist whose works have hung in the Reagan Library and Hearst Castle, and who spent over 23 years capturing the historic two-year-plus journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to the West Coast in a monumental series of 84 paintings. Mr. Rickards has also been featured on the History Channel.

The painting depicts the Goodenough family and their small wagon train standing in a field on the south side of the Santa Clara River with the river and the Sespe mountains in the background. The family members are Orson J. Goodenough, his wife, Zedora Tietsort Goodenough, and their children, Edgar age 7, Maud age 4, and sleeping in the wagon, Glen age 1.

Orson J. Goodenough purchased property on the Sespe in 1883 and farmed there until his death in 1895. He also was a carpenter who built the original Bardsdale Schoolhouse in 1889 and the original Presbyterian Church which was located on the corner of Sespe and Clay St.

The Fillmore Museum is pleased to accept this wonderful painting which is representative of the early families who came to our area in the late 19th century. It will be displayed in the museum office. We hope that the many members of our community who are interested in our local history will take the opportunity to stop by and admire the painting and hear more about the Goodenough family.