Ten of bomber’s crew perish

Published 10:48 am Monday, February 23, 2015

100 YEARS AGO

Feb. 25, 1915

Seldon E. Carnahan, who came to Enterprise on Monday to take the position of bookkeeper with the E. M. & M. Co., died suddenly yesterday noon after taking a powerful poison. A card was found in his pocket on which, in Mr. Carnahan’s handwriting were these words: “Am a nervous wreck and going insane, so have poisoned myself. Seldon E. Carnahan. Notify Mr. Hyatt at Enterprise M. & M.” No other explanation of the man’s act has been forthcoming. He had been in poor health, his wife said, but there was no intimation of a condition serious or threatening enough to prompt suicide.

Several bills affecting Wallowa county were passed by the legislature which adjourned Sunday morning. That which has aroused the greatest interest is the bill giving Wallowa county its own Circuit court and judge. This was passed in the closing hours of the legislative session.

Testimony was taken last week before Miss Edith Odle in the suit brought by the D. & M. Sheep and Land company to prevent the collection of special school taxes levied by districts 15 and 71. The plaintiff seeks to restrain the two school districts, the county treasurer and the sheriff from proceeding with the tax collection. … The efforts of the plaintiff, … were directed to seeking to show that legal notice of the meetings when the taxes were voted had not been duly posted, also that all who voted were not legally qualified to do so.

70 YEARS AGO

Feb. 22, 1945

The B-24 bomber from the Walla Walla base which was reported down somewhere in the Troy area on Monday of last week, Feb. 12, was found Saturday about noon by Lundy Wood of Eden. Ten bodies were recovered from the wreckage. Two other members of the crew, Cpl. Walter R. Burnside, Bordon. NSW, Australia, and First Lt. Richard D. Fies, parachuted to safety and were unhurt. The wrecked plane was found near the head of Elbow creek canyon about three or three and a half miles southwest of the Long Meadow guard station, approximately 15 miles west of Troy. … It has not been established here just what happened to the plane to cause the crash.

(Delayed military announcement): As a member of the famed 11th heavy bombardment group of the 7th AAF Sgt. Dan A. DeBoie, Joseph, has been commended by Major Gen. Robert W. Douglass Jr., commanding the 7th AAF, for his part “in the campaigns which have taken a large section of the Pacific from the enemy’s hands.” Based where its B-24 Liberators bomb, strafe and harass the enemy at points within 600 miles of the Japanese mainland, the 11th group has participated in almost every major move of the great offensive that has rolled the Japanese back more than 3,000 miles to their front yard.

50 YEARS AGO

Feb. 25, 1965

Wallowa county roads suffered damage amounting to approximately $150,000 in the December and January floods, according to estimates made by Verne Russell, county engineer. Applications have been made for $28,937 in federal flood disaster road money, and it is expected that this money will be received. However, the county will not have the funds to proceed at once with a complete road reconstruction program, Russell states. Most of the damage was in the Troy area.

Kerry Searles, Enterprise FFA Chapter member, was announced this week as a recipient of the State Farmer degree. This is the highest degree obtainable at the state level and is available to not more than two percent of the FFA members in the state.

Ron Pierce, Enterprise high school sophomore, was promoted to the rank of Eagle Scout at the court of honor held in Joseph on Wednesday, February 17. He is the second Scout of the Enterprise troop to receive this award in recent weeks. Also awarded to Pierce at the ceremony were merit badges in scholarship, pets and cycling.

25 YEARS AGO

Feb. 22, 1990

With the idea that excellence in education benefits everyone, a county-wide group calling itself Citizens for Quality Education is launching a public information campaign to promote the passage of an Education Service District (ESD) equalization levy of $296,044 for fiscal 1990-91. The measure will be decided by the March 27 mail-in ballot, which is due to be sent out to all registered county voters from the county clerk’s office March 9.

A management plan that will govern all activity on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest through the 1990s will be in place sometime in April, according to Bruce McMillan, Forest Service staff planning officer. “The only thing holding us up is we have not received Gov. Goldschmidt’s alternative for the Wallowa-Whitman,” said McMillan, who for the past 10 years has been in charge of developing the forest plan. The Forest Service has prepared 11 alternative management plans that range from those which emphasize timber harvesting to others which encourage preservation of valued amenities such as fish, wildlife and recreation.

PHOTO CAPTION: Over 100 residents of Wallowa County gathered at Riverside Park in Yuma, Arizona Jan. 27 for the 14th annual Wallowa County picnic. A large contingent of local area residents spend their winters in sunny Arizona and look forward to this event.