ENTERPRISE — Matt McDowell has been in Wallowa County since 1990 and lived along Hurricane Creek Road south of Enterprise for about 15 years.

“We had a packing business at the lake for about 20 years,” he said.

Now he trains reining horses.

“We travel around the country and show horses,” he said.

His wife, Amber, and their four kids all show horses.

As might be expected, McDowell’s favorite thing about Wallowa County is the outdoors.

“We outfitted for 20 years and I love the hunting, the fishing, the small community to raise my family,” he said, “and the old-time way of life and the morals.”

As summer winds down, McDowell still has a few things he wants to do before fall.

“My kids like to archery hunt … so we’re going to do that in August and September into deer season and do a little more fishing on the Snake River,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get a few more Snake River trips in before summer’s over.”

McDowell was as shocked as anyone when the Aug. 11 hailstorm hit Wallowa.

“That was devastating for the town of Wallowa,” he said. “It’s something we don’t see up in this part of the country very often. … I tried to help out as much as we could. I think the whole county came together to help out.”

As the Oregon Department of Forestry has increased restrictions because of fire season, he has his concerns.

“Of course, you have to protect the county,” McDowell said, “but a lot of people coming to the county for tourism and the hunting season, it brings a lot of income to the county. It hurts the county when they shut down the forests.”

He has mixed feelings when it comes to advising those thinking of moving here.

“You know, you want it to stay small — it’s an unbelievable place to live and raise a family,” he said. “Making a living is the hardest thing, with the long winters, but I can’t say not to because it’s been great for my family when we moved here in the 1990s.”

— Bill Bradshaw,

Wallowa County Chieftain