100 years ago

June 23, 1921

Driving from Portland to La Grande in a day, Dr. and Mrs. W.R. Bilyeu believe they made a record between the two points. They left Portland early in the morning and arrived in La Grande just past 11 o’clock that same evening. A new highway grade has been built up Cabbage hill over which the car sped at 25 miles an hour.

There are various plans being made for the celebration of the Fourth of July in the county. At Wallowa Lake park a three days’ program will be provided with bucking contests as a special feature. There will also be speakers, music, bowling, dancing and boating every day. Free camp ground is offered to everybody.

In a contest conducted by the O.A.C., the Record Chieftain was judged to be one of the three best newspapers of the state among the 80 county weeklies, in point of farm and rural news service. The Hood River Glacier and the Hood River News took first and second places.

75 years ago

June 27, 1946

The last of the Red Cross sewing has been finished and shipped out, and there will be no more sewing until next fall. However there is always knitting, and plenty of yarn is on hand for sweaters which are badly needed at the veterans’ hospitals.

During the terrific electrical storm Thursday night, lightning hit the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mitchell in Joseph. The lightning followed an electric wire into the house. The smoke was discovered immediately and with the aid of neighbors the fire was out before the fire department arrived.

Word arrived today that a Coast-to-Coast store will soon be opened in Enterprise. The owner and operator of the local store will be Loyd Hoover.

50 years ago

June 24, 1971

The McCulloch Chain Saw manufacturers stamped the serial number on chain saw number 3,000,000 and silver plated it before boxing it up and randomly sending to a distributor and subsequently to a dealer. As luck would have it, it ended up in Enterprise at Bud Rayburn’s Rayburn Sales & Service Dealership.

One in six people in Wallowa County, or 17.8% of the total population, receives social security benefits each month.

John Hillock, Rick Danielson and Ken Nash made up the Enterprise FFA livestock judging team that placed second, behind the Canby Chapter, at the Junior Livestock Show in The Dalles. All three showed animals at the fair as well as competing on the judging team.

25 years ago

June 20, 1996

A fast burning fire that demolished a vacant 2-story house in Wallowa is being investigated as arson. The house belongs to Nora Stevens of Colorado.

A dozen or so colorful hot air balloons will form the core of the 9th Annual Wallowa Mountain High balloon festival in Enterprise this weekend. A parade, antique show, art in the park, merchant’s mini-golf tourney, steak feed, cowboy poetry, beer garden, barbecue, fun run and live band dance will all be part of the celebration.

Josie Brennan of Enterprise took the all-around showman award at last week’s invitational dog show. Twenty five individuals competed in the show that was organized by Kathy Temple of Wallowa and Holly Vernam of Lostine.

The only remaining log school house in Wallowa County, built on Kuhn Ridge north of Enterprise in 1913, may be around for another 100 years, thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers who recently spent two weeks stabilizing the structure under the direction of Bruce Womack and Tony Anton.