100 Years Ago

Sept. 16, 1915

Construction work on the new Record Chieftain building started this week. Changes have been made in the plans, and the building will be of native stone, much the same as in the courthouse, Litch building, and others of the best buildings in the town. It will have a front of 50 feet and a depth of 80 feet, with basement under part, and heavy concrete floor under the other half.

The assessment roll for the lateral sewer system was filed last Saturday with City Recorder Savage. It was prepared by City Engineer E. M. Billings, as commissioner, and passed on by C. E. Funk and S. L. Burnaugh Jr., as viewers. Mr. Savage and Attorney T. M. Dill prepared, from the roll, notices to all property owners, showing the assessment of each, and notifying them that the council will meet Wednesday evening, Sept. 22, as a board of equalization to hear any protests and correct any errors. Marshal Clark served these notices to resident property owners, and nonresidents were served through the mail. The city further notified all interested through the columns of this paper in this issue.

With thousands of acres of hill land northeast of Enterprise raising grain for the first time, and yielding immense crops at that, the problem of threshing it has become very serious. One can ride for miles past fields where the grain stands thick in the shock, and no threshing machine is near. The farmers, many homesteaders, have put their year’s work and money into their crops, and it is of vital importance to them to save it and get it so it can be marketed.

70 Years Ago

Sept. 13, 1945

Last Thursday was a happy one for the J. Dee Walker family, for on that day they learned of the release from a Japanese prison camp of their son, Keith. The first word came early in the morning from their daughter-in-law, Keith’s wife, who called up from La Grande to say that A. K. Parker had called and told her of the article appearing in the Oregonian that day: “Yokahama, Sept. 5 (AP) Two more Oregonians held prisoner by the Japanese have been liberated here. They are Chief Radioman J. R. Young, Cottage Grove, and Albert K. Walker, Enterprise.”

Fire from a flue which was burning out destroyed the bungalow home on the Fred Wagner farm on Swamp creek Saturday about noon. The house with all its contents, and two smaller outbuildings went up in smoke. It was occupied by Mr. Wagner’s brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Green, and four small boys. Mrs. Green was alone at the time. After seeing that her little family was safe she managed to get out some household articles, but they were placed too close to the burning building and a strong wind carried the flames to the furniture Mrs. Green had worked so hard to save.

50 Years Ago

Sept. 16, 1965

The final scheduled outing at Camp Wallowa Boy Scout camp for the season ended in tragedy Sunday morning only hours before the planned closing of the camp for the summer. Early Sunday morning the dining hall at the Scout camp burned to the ground claiming the lives of two of the occupants of the building. Claimed in the fire were Verne Harvey, troop committeeman, 1407 Perkins, Richland, Washington and Steven Willi, 14-year-old Eagle Scout, 82 Park street, Richland, Washington.

Wallowa county industry took a big step ahead this week with the announcement by Wes Cruikshank and Bruce Douglas that the vast deposit of peat humus which was discovered on the Cruikshank farm south of Enterprise will be developed into a commercial concern. The announcement came as the conclusion to several weeks of testing of the deposit and refining procedures.

Enterprise and Wallowa county will be honored by a visit this weekend from Admiral John (Chick) Hayward, commander of the Pacific anti-submarine patrol. The visit to this area is something which the Admiral has looked forward to since 1962 when the city of Enterprise presented the nuclear aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, with two wall murals depicting scenes of this area. The pictures given to the carrier were painted by Gene Hayes and sent with the compliments of the city of Enterprise under the administration of S. J. Farris.

25 Years Ago

Sept. 13, 1990

Last week a Marion Circuit Court Judge turned down a motion by Wallowa County District Attorney William Reynolds to have himself declared winner of the May primary election for Wallowa County District Attorney.

A professional forester who spends a good portion of his free time improving his property to timber, wildlife and other values is Wallowa County Small Woodlands Association’s “Tree Farmer of the Year.” Larry Aschenbrenner, 43, who is employed as a Forest Service logging/transportation planner and who owns a 120-acre tree farm near Ferguson Ridge, has been singled out by his peers for good land stewardship over the past nine years.

Family and friends of Katie Bothum, the 14-year-old seriously injured at Mule Days Sunday, have set up a fund in her name to accept donations for trauma care equipment/training at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. The fund has been established in gratitude for the expertise of Dr. Scott Siebe and the WMH emergency staff, credited with saving Katie’s life. In lieu of flowers, those who wish to help are asked to send donations to the Katie Bothum Hospital Fund, c/o Bank of Wallowa County, Joseph.