During production of the first season of Twin Peaks in late 1989, a second-unit crew returned to Snoqualmie Valley to capture additional establishing shots seen throughout the series. These shots were peppered throughout the show including one scene found in episode 1.006. Leo Johnson is seen running from the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department after eliminating Waldo the Myna bird through the window. Part of this scene was captured outside Dirtfish Rally School in Snoqualmie, Washington
WHERE DID LEO JOHNSON SHOOT WALDO THE MYNA BIRD?
Part of the scene where Leo Johnson shoots Waldo was filmed outside the Dirtfish Rally School located at 7001 396th Dr SE, Snoqualmie, Washington. Specifically, you will want to visit these approximate coordinates 47°32’17.1″N 121°48’41.3″W, which is the side of the building closest to the road where you enter the property.
The interior scenes with Waldo in his cage where shot on a set constructed at City Studios (now Occidental Studios) located in Van Nuys, California.
But let’s return to the Pacific Northwest to take a closer look at this brief moment from the penultimate episode of the first season.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FORMER SAWMILL OFFICES TURNED DIRTFISH HEADQUARTERS
Following two years of planning, construction on the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company Mill began in 1916. According to an article by Snoqualmie Valley historian Dave Battey, the plan was for this mill to serve as “the second ‘all electric’ mill in the nation with the first such mill being an upgrade of Weyerhaeuser’s Everett Mill B, completed in 1916.” At the time, this was a revolutionary concept as the town of Snoqualmie “did not have electricity until 1912 and outlying Valley farms were without electricity until the late 1920’s and early 1930’s.” On November 25, 1917, the final piece of power generating equipment was installed and the mill became fully operational.
The town of Snoqualmie Falls grew around the lumber mill site. At its peak, the mill town included 250 homes, a hotel, community center, 50-bed hospital, barber shop, grade school, boarding house for single men and eight bunkhouses built for Japanese workers. The mill office, seen in the foreground of an image from The Salesmen’s Log in 1922, served as the headquarters for operations. This long-rectangular building resembled a home, with slanted roof and plenty of windows.
Outside the mill office stood a stone monument with a sundial honoring the memory of the mill’s first manager, W.W. Warren. He ran operations from 1917 until his untimely passing in 1924. Warren was a beloved and respected manager who cared deeply for his employees, encouraging the lumber company owners to construct a hospital on site in case of accidents. The sawmill employees paid for this stone monument in 1921 as a tribute to “the man who made Snoqualmie possible.”
In 1948, Weyerhaeuser acquired the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company and operated the mill as the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company. Based on my research on the excellent Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum, it appears a new mill office was constructed around 1947-1948. The building is the same one that is seen today on the property and was used extensively in the pilot episode and Twin Peaks The Return as the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department.
Al Smith is seen standing by the Warren Sundial outside the front of the mill office building. Look carefully behind Smith to see familiar steps and square windows seen in Twin Peaks. Sadly the monument was removed in the late 2000s and no one knows where it is located today.
With the knowledge that the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department building was constructed in the late 1940s, let’s return to episode 1.006 to explore this brief scene.
WALDO THE MYNA BIRD AT THE TWIN PEAKS SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
Episode 1.006 was written by Harley Peyton with a first draft completed by Nov. 3, 1989. Additional revisions were made on Nov. 8 and presented on “blue pages.” These different colored pages helped cast and crew know when the script was revised.
The first part of this scene was captured at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department set in Van Nuys, California.
While Special Agent Dale Cooper, Big Ed Hurley and Deputy Hawk are in an interrogation room preparing for their trip to One-Eyed Jacks, the camera pans up from a stack of doughnuts to Waldo, the Myna bird in his cage. The script doesn’t mention this establishing shot.
It also doesn’t mention the insert shot of Special Agent Dale Cooper’s tape recorder automatically turning on when Waldo begins speaking. We hear the words “Laura, Laura” as the cassette begins capturing Waldo’s mimicry.
The camera slowly pans toward a framed image of a man standing next to a giant cut log. For years, I’ve searched for the original image without much luck.
A larger version of this photo appears in episode 1.007 in the Packard Sawmill office. Pete Martell is seen walking by it while discussing Catherine’s predicament. I once heard David Lynch may have provided the image as it was his father. Yet, I’ve been unable to verify the statement and I would be surprised if it was true.
A shot shatters the picture frame which catches the law enforcement’s attention.
… Hawk makes an adjustment, when suddenly … A SHOT RINGS OUT NEARBY. Cooper, Hawk and Ed rush out of the room.
LEO JOHNSON SHOOTS WALDO
The scene cuts to the exterior of the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department at night. A squad car is conveniently parked to block light and a door. In the distance, you can see a tree with yellow leaves and a softly lit area behind the building. This is the road you take to enter and exit the proprerty.
This is a similar shot from a visit to Dirtfish Rally School on August 20, 2024. Notice how the trees are still quite green as fall had not descended on Snoqualmie Valley.
Harley Peyton’s script described the action.
EXT. REAR OF POLICE STATION – NIGHT
Footsteps race through the night. CAMERA reveals Leo Johnson as he runs to his truck, already running, hurls his rifle into the cab, follows it inside. Leo roars off into the night.
On screen, there is a person running from behind the building in the pouring Washington state rain. But it’s a distant shot, not a close up of Leo (Eric DeRe).
Since Dirtfish is closed at night, I’ve been unable to recreate the exact shot. This image is from February 26, 2023. The trees are also still green. I point this out because I believe the image of Leo running from the Sheriff’s Department was captured in the fall during that second unit shoot.
I’ve been unable to track down the exact dates the crew returned to Washington, but I know there was additional establishing shots captured in late 1989. The exterior of the Double R Diner is the best example. Notice the fir tree in the foreground that partially covers the Mar-T Cafe sign. The tree branch is covering the spot where the neon “RR” sign was installed. The second unit crew didn’t have that sign at the time of filming so they improvised.
The crew captured establishing shots using different vehicles. This squad car could very well be the same one seen at night when Leo is running from Sheriff’s Department.
You can also see the top of Mount Si was covered in snow. When I visited Snoqualmie Valley in October 2019, the leaves had already began showing their fall colors.
Most likely, this establishing shot of the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department at night was captured on the same night as Leo running. It’s raining and the trees behind the building are illuminated. It would have been easy to either capture this shot first then relocate to the side or vice versa.
One could assume that if this episode’s script was completed in early November 1989, the second unit crew could have visited Washington state during that month. This could account for the snow-capped mountain paired with the fall leaves seen at the mill site. I’d like to check Snoqualmie Valley Record for any report about the film crew returning to the area. Unfortunately, their online archive only goes back to the 2000s. I’m hoping to verify what I can in the local library during my next visit.
The action on screen continues with a close-up of Leo Johnson in the rain holding a rifle as he looks back at the building.
He gets into his truck and closes the door just like the script described.
The truck appears to be the 1978 Ford F-Series Regular Cab Custom we saw earlier in the show when Leo scopes out his own home. My gut says these close up shots were captured outside City Studios in Van Nuys using a rain effect to simulate the Pacific Northwest storm. It’s highly doubtful the crew drove this car and transported Eric DeRe to Washington for a three-second close up.
The action returns inside to the set where Waldo’s blood drips on the stacks of doughnuts. Director Caleb Deschanel said this iconic image was his contribution to the show in audio commentary he recorded for the now out-of-print Twin Peaks DVD set from Artisan Home Entertainment.
“Now, this is something. I mean, this is what is one of my contributions to the show is, you know, was to take advantage of the theme of doughnuts, which were always in the in the sheriff’s office and combine them with the murder of the, the bird,” explained Deschanel. “I loved in my mind, thinking of this image of the bird being killed and it’s blood dripping on the doughnuts. I mean, that was just to me, that was just like a great thrill to to take one of the sort of key archetypal elements of this show and then, you know, use it in a way that, I mean, it’s both, it’s both very funny and very horrific at the same time, which was really sort of the essence of this show.
Poor Waldo.
