One-story house with a white fence

Twin Peaks Prop – GET ME GORDON COLE’S MURAL

Gordon Cole standing at his desk in front of a mural

“GET ME SPECIAL AGENT CHESTER DESMOND IN FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA!”

It’s a classic line spoken by then Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole early in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. For the longest time, I wondered about the image Cole was standing in front of at his FBI Field Office in Portland, Oregon. Good news – I found it. Even better news, you can get one for your home.

GET ME GORDON COLE’S MURAL

Shortly after seeing Teresa Banks’ body, wrapped in plastic, floating down the river, we cut to FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole asking a secretary to get Agent Chester Desmond on the phone. As the assistant walks away, we get a fantastic shot of Gordon standing behind his desk.

Gordon Cole in Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Once Cole has Agent Desmond on the phone, we see a close up of the mural. Say it with me – OR-E-GON!!

So how did I identify this prop?

FINDING GORDON COLE’S MURAL

Gordon Cole removed
Gordon is gone!

The latest version of Adobe Photoshop has an incredible tool called “Content Aware Fill.” Basically, you can remove any unwanted details from a photo. Poof – Gordon Cole is gone!

Google Search
Google Search

Using Google’s Image Search, I quickly located a match from the edited photo. By this point, I’m freaking out as I can’t believe I found it.

eBay.com page selling the mural
eBay.com

I clicked on the first eBay link and WOW, GORDON, WOW – it’s the mural.

Lake in the Woods
Lake in the Woods

Here’s a better look at the mural image titled “Lake in the Woods.”

Murals Your Way
MuralsYourWay

Digging a little deeper, I found Murals Your Way listed that the artwork was created by Environmental Graphics, Inc.

Sportsman's Guide Image
Sportsman’s Guide

Yet, I don’t believe the image is exclusive to Murals Your Way as I found a similar image on Sportsman’s Guide of artwork that’s no longer available.

My gut tells me that this is some kind of commissioned piece made many years ago. Sadly, I’ve been unable to locate any additional details about the artist.

GORDON COLE’S MURAL IN THE WILD

Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Additionally, there are multiple sellers who have this image for sale including Lowe’s (though it’s no longer available), Wal-Mart in Canada, and Amazon.com.

Lorena Holland
Lorena Holland
Redfin
Redfin

The Google Image search also found examples of people who have installed the mural, including the late Lorena Holland from Arkansa and a home that was previously for sale via Redfin in Spokane, Washington.

ORIGIN OF THE IMAGE

The next question is where was the image taken? The answer is shaping up to be just like one of Cole’s Blue Rose Cases.

Google Maps
Google Maps

As far as I can tell, I believe the image was originally taken by a lake in Canada – possibly Rainy Lake in Kenora, Ontario. The Google Maps image above shows a potential match for the terrain and tree line. See these coordinates – 48.688098, -93.196247 – on Google Maps.

Google Maps
Google Maps

Here’s a similar shot from the summertime.

Minkai
Minkai

I found this image using Google on a site that appears to be no longer working. It was labeled Minkai, which is an unincorporated area and community in Unorganized Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada.

Remax-Thunderbay
Remax – Thunderbay

A Re/Max site in Canada had this image of land for sale in Middle Lake, Kenora. Again, the tree line appears to be similar to the mural.

Without the ability to visit this spot, I’m unable to confirm. Yet the landscape feels similar to Cole’s image.

CANADIAN IMAGES IN TWIN PEAKS

This wouldn’t be the first time that an image from Canada appears in Twin Peaks.

Double R Diner Menu
Double R Diner Menu

I recently shared details about the image used on the Double R Diner Menu cover which came from the Asulkan Valley, Glacier National Park in British Columbia, Canada.

Asulkan Valley Postcard
Asulkan Valley Postcard

Here is a Canadian postcard that inspired the menu design.

As for Cole’s mural, I somehow need to convince my wife that it would be the perfect thing for our home. Any ideas?

Author

  • Steven Miller at Twede's Cafe enjoying cherry pie and coffee

    A "Twin Peaks" fan since October 1993, Steven Miller launched Twin Peaks Blog in February 2018 to document his decades-long fascination with David Lynch and Mark Frost's wonderful and strange show. With his Canon camera in hand, he's visited numerous film locations, attended Twin Peaks events and conducted extensive historical research about this groundbreaking series. Along with fellow Bookhouse Boys, he dreams of creating a complete Twin Peaks Archive of the series and feature film. Steven currently resides in Central Florida.

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