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Wednesday, June 26, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The Bunkhouse
Chronicle
Craig Rullman
Columnist
No justice for
Holden Dick
Last week, while some
Oregon legislators were
resisting the cyanide pill of
a <climate bill= 4 whose
only certain result will be the
destruction of of good jobs
for mostly rural Oregonians
4 I bombed south through
the desert to pick up a new
horse for training. A two-
year-old chestnut with brains
and breeding, I9m honored to
get this filly started for her
owners.
I loaded her early the next
morning, serenaded by eager
meadowlarks in the sage-
brush and sprinklers ticking
in the alfalfa. As we pulled
out of the ranch there was a
fine herd of pronghorn graz-
ing their way into a field of
rye. Farther down the road
a family of Mennonite men
were working feverishly on
some project in a wheat field.
The Mennonites bought
their ranch from a fam-
ily who arrived a few years
before. That family was new
to the desert, refugees from
the sprawling disaster south
of the I-80, full of world-sav-
ing ideas, and their first act
of salvation was to dry lot a
herd of bison in a weed patch
and sell the meat as <grass-
fed, free-range= bison. They
were dirt patch bison fed
from round bales, to be cer-
tain, but the episode is a use-
ful reminder that marketing
meat as <free range= and
<grass fed= ranks right up
there with the genius of the
<light-beer= fraud.
The Mennonites planted
wheat under a pivot and
turned the desert green.
The bison follies remind
me of a guy I knew in the
Black Rock who lit range
fires because he dreamed
of bringing the bison back.
Bison have been gone for
10,000 years from that part
of the world, but he was ada-
mant. Joe lived on a mining
claim in the Calico Range,
and was often seen wander-
ing around the desert naked
with a plastic jug full of
water. He had some other
ideas that stretched plau-
sibility, but it was a bigger
country then, and that sort
of eccentricity was generally
left alone to solve itself.
At any rate, some summer
mornings are so bright and
easy and vibrant with life one
can almost forget about the
looming and mostly ignored
cataclysm of our national
debt, crazy Ayatollahs, or
the endless parade of home-
grown blatherskites who
show up in our news feeds
twisted into bizarre political
contortions.
Pandering requires endur-
ance, it turns out, and today9s
politicians can hold those
poses, with a pearly white
smile, just as long as it takes
to con you into voting for
them.
But high-balling through
the desert with a horse serves
as a fine antidote. While
mesmerized by the swirl of
birds following a swather
through a field, dive-bomb-
ing for gophers, mice, and
snakes, I could almost dis-
miss the weird new prom-
ise of reparation payments
for people who were never
slaves, by people who never
owned them.
And I could almost for-
get the strange notion of
laws that require virtually no
sacrifice on the part of the
people who write them, but
demand severe concessions
from everyone else.
Reparations will no doubt
remain under consideration
for as long as it takes to
conduct yet another end-
lessly disputed election,
which will no doubt result in
dozens of disputed investiga-
tions, followed by the requi-
site round of investigations
into the investigations.
And no one should be
surprised when the evidence
from the bait-ball of inves-
tigations gets sealed by ner-
vous judges until the year
2150 4 when we will all
be dead and the world, if it9s
still here, will no doubt have
been drum-circled and 5G9d
into perfect Homo-Sapien
harmony.
Blasting north through
the Madeline Plains, my
mind kept running to the
sad legacy of Holden Dick,
a Modoc Indian who was
prised from a Lassen County
jail cell in the winter of
1886 by an angry mob and
lynched, along with his cell-
mate, in the woodshed next
to the courthouse. No one
was ever arrested or charged
for the lynching, and no one
ever found the stash of gold
Dick had been living on after
robbing a freight wagon
rolling out of the Warner
Mountains.
One suspects the lynching
wasn9t really rough justice
for a murdered teamster, but
instead a concentrated effort
to torture Dick into reveal-
ing the whereabouts of the
stolen gold. Human nature
A N N O U N C E M E N T S
Especially for kids and families!
OUTDOOR FUN
Rhythm & Song in the Park
Last year’s event was amazing! Kids
danced and swirled in circles. People of
all ages played drums and shakers. Plus
there was lots of food. Join musician
and music therapist Jodi Winnwalker
of Earthtones Northwest for a special
Sisters event. Free. BBQ included. Bring
your own lawn chairs. Wednesday, July
17 in Village Green Park. 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Contact and info: citizens4community.
com.
Bike Decorating & Mini Parade
Celebrate Bike Day with Sisters Farmers
Market on Sunday, July 21! Start off at
Eurosports at 11 a.m. to decorate your
bike and get your free raffl e ticket. Th en
parade through town and over to Fir
Street Park for a full day of market fun.
Bring your swimsuit and towel for the
splash pad, too. Details to come at
sistersfarmersmarket.com. Free. All are
welcome.
Starshine Kids Performance
Kids will perform original shows on the
Songbird Stage at Fir Street Park. Ages
4-8 take the stage on Friday, July 26 at
11 a.m. and ages 8-13 perform on Friday,
August 2 at 3 p.m. Th e shows will feature
plays based on the theme of summer
adventure written by the kids during
their week-long Starshine Th eater camp
through SPRD. Free. All are welcome.
Details: 541-645-0688 or starshine-
theater.com.
GUIDED HIKES
LIBRARY KIDS’ EVENTS
Walk with a Ranger on Whychus
Overlook Trail
Join Discover Your Forest and the Sisters
Ranger District in an informative hike
along Whychus Overlook Trail. Forest
Service rangers will be stationed along
the trail to provide information about
current topics and answer questions.
Th ursday, June 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. Th is
is a one-mile accessible trail. Free to the
public, all ages. For more info www.
discoveryourforest.org.
Kids’ Butterfl y Walk,
Metolius Preserve
Bring your family to the Metolius
Preserve for a kids’ butterfl y walk led
by butterfl y guru Amanda Egertson
and her kids, Lucy (12) and Eli (10). Th is
Deschutes Land Trust hike is perfect
for kids ages 6-11 with a grown-up in
tow. Th ursday, July 11 from 10 a.m. to
noon. Online registration is required at
deschuteslandtrust.org/hikes. Info: 541-
330-0017.
Fox Walk + Owl Eyes
Susan Prince will lead a nature walk just
for kids at the Metolius Preserve on
Saturday, July 13 from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Learn how to enter into wild lands like
the animals do. Practice observation
skills and group mapmaking. Th is
Deschutes Land Trust hike is perfect
for kids ages 8-14 with a grown-up in
tow. Online registration is required at
deschuteslandtrust.org/hikes. Info: 541-
330-0017.
Family Fun Story Time
Family Fun Story Time for kids of all
ages takes place at the Sisters Library on
Th ursdays, June 27, and July 11, 18, and
25 from 10:30 to 11 a.m., with songs,
rhymes and crafts, all designed to grow
young readers. Caregivers must attend.
Info: 541-617-7078.
Universe of Crafts
All ages are welcome to join this journey
around the world and into space
through stories and crafts at 2 p.m. on
Saturdays, June 29 and July 20 at Sisters
Library. No registration required. Call
541-617-7078 for more information.
Mission to Mars
Explore life on Mars, get to know the
rovers, and play with Mars mud with
other kids ages 6-11. Wednesday, July
10 at 10:30 a.m. at Sisters Library. No
registration required. Call 541-617-7078
for info.
Pajama Storytime
Stories and activities aimed at the early
learning needs of birth to 5-year-olds.
Pajamas optional! Sisters Library on
Tuesday, July 16 at 6 p.m. No registration
required. Info: 541-617-7078.
To the Moon!
Discover the moon’s phases and make
moon dust with other kids ages 6-11.
Space Camp is Wednesday, July 24 at
10:30 at Sisters Library. No registration
required. Info: 541-617-7078.
being what it is, that story
seems more likely, and it was
out there, in the long, brushy
reaches of the Madeline
Plains, that Sheriff CC
Rachford rode Dick down
and slapped him in irons.
Forgive my suspicious
nature, but <climate= bills
carry the same stink as
Dick9s lynching. From at
least one angle they look a
lot more like socialist redis-
tribution than a legitimate
plan to <save= our planet, our
bluish orb that has somehow
managed to survive the last
4.5 billion years without the
feel-good fantasy of <carbon
credits=.
It9s likely that the best
vaccine against climate
change is to stop stacking
so many mouths in the same
feed trough, but that idea
never seems to get much
traction.
Out on the desert, I kept
the hammer down through
Lakeview and Paisley, think-
ing over my plans for that
beautiful filly riding in the
back, and remembering a
rumor 3 not without evi-
dence4that Holden Dick
had a map leading to his bur-
ied loot. Word is, he gave
that map to his defense attor-
neys shortly before meet-
ing his sad destiny in the
woodshed.
The lawyers, naturally,
denied it.
See ad
Announ ditional
ce
on page ments
10.
Stuff ed Animal Sleepover
Wear your pajamas, bring your stuff ed
friend, and listen to a story, then leave
your stuff ed friend for an overnight
sleepover. Saturday, July 27 at 10:30
a.m. at Sisters Library for ages 0-11.
On Tuesday morning, pick up your
friend and a photo memory book. No
registration required. Info: 541-617-7078.
TEEN EVENTS
Outlaw Gamer Group
A new, non-religious youth group is
meeting at the Episcopal Church of the
Transfi guration on Saturdays from 4 to
6 p.m. Adult volunteers hang out with
Outlaw Gamer Group (OGG), providing
an environment where teens in grades
8-12 can socialize and get creative, as
long as they’re willing to avoid electronic
devices. To get involved, email Stephen
King at skmyth.king@gmail.com, call
Michelle at 541-549-7087, or show up on
a Saturday.
Mixed Media Workshop
Blast off with this space-themed mixed
media workshop with paper-cut artist
Carly Garzon Vargas. Saturday, June 29 at
10:30 a.m. at the Sisters Library for ages
12-17. Call 541-617-7078 for info.
Galaxy Slime
Learn all about polymers as you make &
take your own DIY galactic slime, Mars
mud and moon dough at Sisters Library
on Tuesday, July 30 at 3 p.m. Supplies
provided, no registration required. Ages
10 to 17. Info: 541-617-7078.