Stage Curtain

Constructed in 1898-1899 for the newly chartered Valton Camp #6190, this building conformed to plans purchased from the M.W.A. M.W.A. “camps” were built to the same specs: rectangular – length 64’ x width 32’ x height 24’ – on a north/south axis with three windows on each side. The door, always on the southeast corner, led into a small entry room which then opened to the main room with a stage. The stage curtain was traditionally painted, usually with a series of advertisements for local businesses or sometimes with a landscape scene.

Ernest Hüpeden, a German immigrant and itinerant artist, heard about the new hall and came to Valton to offer his services. Hüpeden was not unknown in the area. He had previously painted the interior of a firehouse in La Crosse, WI. Like most artists at the time, he was itinerant, working in exchange for room and board (and sometimes whiskey). Hüpeden was given the job and was put up in the local hotel.

While it was most customary to promote the local businesses (and likely M.W.A. members on the stage curtain, Hüpeden chose to paint the ads on the window shades while choosing a grand scene from the world stage for his stage curtain. He depicts a stage with trompe l’oeil curtains tied back, revealing the USS Olympia defeating the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898. The sinking of the entire Spanish fleet in the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War was one of the most decisive battles in naval history. Hüpeden signed and dated the curtain 12/20/1899.

Hüpeden’s impressive scene resonated with the Valton camp members since many American soldiers in the Spanish-American War were members of the M.W.A. After the opening of the building, Hüpeden was invited to stay on and continue to paint. Over the next two years he painted the entire interior of the building in a series of murals that illustrate the initiation rituals of the Modern Woodmen and their ideals of caring for their neighbors.