100 YEARS AGOApril 2, 1908

L. Couch of the firm of Couch and McDonald of Wallowa was in Enterprise Monday and Tuesday. He reports the sale of 40 acres of what was formerly the H. Cole place at Lostine to James Haun for $112.50 per acre. This is the highest price per acre ever brought for farmland in the history of the county.

TROY – Owing to high waters, the mail was unable to cross the river until last Thursday. During the high waters there were all kinds of drift that came down the river. Among floating timbers, beer bottles, etc., was the O.R.& N. bridge, or part of it at least. Glen and Forest Wilson captured a part of it at the whirlpools.

ARKO – School is somewhat slim this week as some of the larger boys have stopped to go farming, and then sickness plays a factor, too.

Mrs. Helena Zurcher announces that she will hold her spring opening of the latest styles in millinery on Friday and Saturday, April 10 and 11. A cordial invitation is extended to all ladies to call and view the new spring styles.

70 YEARS AGOMarch 31,1938

In depth of snow and its water content, the covering over the high mountains is the greatest in the 10 years that observations have been taken. The snow is 144.2 inches deep, or more than 12 feet, and the water content is 47.3 inches at Aneroid Lake. All the cabins were completely covered by the snow, except the two-story house at Silver Tip’s camp.

A city jail will be built in Enterprise in the near future, and bids are asked by Recorder L.E. Jordan. The jail will be 16 x 24 feet and built of solid concrete on the lot east of and across the street from the swimming pool.

E.C. Parkinson of the state health board and G.H. Heryford of the federal health service are here continuing the study of the plague, which has killed a multitude of squirrels in the last six years. They are tracing the spread of the disease and hope to stamp it out to prevent infection of human beings.

PARADISE – Spring still appears to be far in the future, as it is still very cold and some snow has fallen of late. All dirt roads are very soft and the Enterprise-Paradise stage is having more or less trouble getting to Paradise after leaving the gravel road.

50 YEARS AGOApril 3, 1958

License application for a 670-foot high Mountain Sheep dam on the middle Snake River was filed this week with the Federal Power Commission by the Pacific Northwest Power Company. It would be located a few hundred feet from the confluence of the Snake and Salmon rivers 50 miles south of Lewiston.

A very large crowded attended the first of three Queen Dances at Joseph Civic Center Saturday night, when six candidates for 1958 Chief Joseph Days queen were announced. They are Carolyn Bacon, Flora; Janice Dougherty, Wallowa; Shirley Brown, Lostine; Berl Manes, Enterprise; Judy Begley, Joseph; and Judy Stockdale, Lewiston.

Mike Brennan broke his left leg about three inches below the hip Saturday when he was thrown from a horse at his ranch on Lightning Creek. Mrs. Brennan brought him to town in the station wagon. He will be confined to the hospital for at least a month.

Ned Moon, advisor of the Joseph FFA chapter, presented the following awards at the annual banquet last Friday: Star Farmer, Ken Evans, rural electrification, Dave Turner; farm mechanics, Dale Zollman; dairy foundation, Gayle Briggs; swine, Doug Marks; beef, Dave Turner; and sheep, Dave Gibson.

25 YEARS AGOMarch 31, 1983

Over 100 Joseph students in grades 1 through 7, who participated in the month-long March of Dimes Reading Olympics, released M of D balloons at the elementary schoolyard Monday. They read over 1,000 books and raised over $400 for March of Dimes.

The Little River Inn is filling a void in the community of Troy these days. The inn is the accomplishment of Chris and Becky Lardner, and the results of an idea spawned last winter, in the wake of the destruction of the Troy Resort by fire in April 1981.

Unemployment in Wallowa County during February stood at 14.4 percent, down from 15.4 percent in February last year. Last month’s rate reflects 560 persons without jobs, out of a total work force of 3,900.

Members of the Enterprise Fire Department decided to take on a new project – collecting old toys – in honor of the late Willard Johnson, a long-time member of the department.