Out of the Past: State ends bounties on predators

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, March 22, 2023

100 YEARS AGO

March 22, 1923

Among the laws passed by the Legislature is one of interest to Wallowa County, repealing the old system of state bounties on predatory animals. After March 30, when the new law become effective, no more bounties will be paid on coyotes, wild cats or other animals, unless the county wishes to take the matter up and that seems unlikely. The new law provides a means to fight the destructive animals, by employing predatory animal hunters to be paid by the state and county. On petition of 100 taxpayers of any county, the state can devote a portion of state funds to employment of such a hunter in the county.

A law licensing all beekeepers and requiring the registration with the county clerk of every bee colony was introduced by the Umatilla delegation, and was passed. On before the first of March of each year every person owning one or more colonies of bees shall register the same with the county clerk, and shall obtain a license to hold and “run” them. If a colony swarms to a new location, the owner must hurry to the courthouse and make a new application for the new location and pay an additional fee. The fees shall be put into a separate fund known as the bee fund.

A committee from the local Rod and Gun club and the Branch Line club met with the Joseph Commercial Club at a very enthusiastic meeting Tuesday evening. The matter of sending an exhibit of fish, game wild animal life, scenic views and mineral specimens to the Spokane National Tourist and Sportsman’s Fair and Mining Congress was discussed freely and it was unanimously agreed that an exhibit would be sent. Other towns of the valley will be invited to participate in preparing the exhibit. The exhibit will consist of fish frozen in blocks of ice, mounted specimens of game birds and animal, fur, deer heads, horns and so forth, as well as photographs of Wallowa County scenery.

75 YEARS AGO

March 18, 1948

Joseph Blackeagle, a descendant of Chief Joseph, told a tribal committee at the Lapwai Nez Perce Indian reservation her today that the old warrior’s bones should be allowed to rest in peace in the land of his exile, but that a memorial should be raised in his homeland, on the shores of Oregon’s Wallowa Lake. Blackeagle, secretary of the Nez Perce tribal committee, told the group “it isn’t necessary to disturb Joseph’s grave; the important thing rather is to erect a suitable monument of Wallowa lakeshore so that all tribes and all Americans may visit this shrine marking the heroic struggle of Joseph to protect his people and his homeland from conquest.” A longtime controversy between Joseph residents and the Indian agency at the Nespelem reservation, over whether Chief Joseph’s bones should be moved to Wallowa County, flared again recently when C.L. Graves, superintendent of the Nespelem agency, declared the body should remain in its burial ground near Coulee Dam.

Late filings last week added the names of four more candidates to the list of entries in the May primary election. Guy A. (Sig) McCubbin filed for county assessor; Harris B. (Judy) Hombel filed for the Republican nomination to the office of county clerk; Gibert Cox will vie with incumbent A. B. Miller for the Democratic nomination to the office of sheriff, and Gayle Stockdale will seek the Republican nomination for this office. There are now two candidates for county clerk, three for county judge, five for assessor; four for county commissioner, three for sheriff, one for coroner. No candidates filed for state representative from Wallowa County. This county is the only county in the state without a candidate for this office.

Alfred Zollman was in town Tuesday collecting bounty on four large cougars killed on Horse Creek between the Imnaha and the Snake rivers Saturday and Sunday. Largest of the marauders measured approximately 9 feet from tip to tip. This animal was an old tomcat carrying the scars of many vicious battles. It is very unusual for four full-grown cougars to be taken on one hunt. Bounty collected on the four cats totaled $240.

50 YEARS AGO

March 22, 1973

Hurricane Creek Grange will celebrate its 50 anniversary in April. There will be several members receiving their 50 year pins. A special night is planned for the occasion. Booster night will also be held then. The date for these festivities is Saturday, April 14th. A potluck dinner, beginning at 6:30 p.m., will start things off. The public is cordially invited.

25 YEARS AGO

March 26, 1998

With the annual Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wallowa County elk count two-thirds completed for 1998, results do not look good. Local game biologist Vic Coggins says that some units have “exceptionally low cow/calf ratios.” The number of cow tags as well as possible bull tags to be sold for the fall seasons, to be determined by the Game Commission in June, could be reduced from the number of tags issued in 1997.

Not surprisingly, Wallowa Lake is the most widely visited attraction in Wallowa County, drawing 86 percent of visitors to the county, according to a tourist survey conducted here last summer. Local art shops rated second on the attraction list with 52 percent; special events, 35 percent; and Hells Canyon, 24 percent.