How does a remote bluff above the Columbia River become home to one of the most unexpected art museums in the American West? The answer begins with one man: Sam Hill, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur with a restless passion for travel and a deep fondness for the arts.
Captivated by the undulating hills, dramatic cliffs, and rushing river of Washington state’s Columbia River Gorge, Hill purchased more than 5,000 acres of land along its banks in 1907. There, he set about creating a large agricultural settlement, which he called the Maryhill Land Company after his daughter Mary.
