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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1934)
LA GRANDE EVEXING OBSERVER, LA GRANDE, OREGON Tape Fourteen Her Homestead Now La Grande I n, , V, . . .. . : 7 .p P:i-; daytime and by private convey ance. It la doubtful If another road or equal length In America passes through, so delightful a variety of mountain scenery-" f i. ! I. A if r Mrs. I.ydlu firniuly, pictured above, has wntrtied modern La (irnnde grow from nothing to a modern clly. Herore the raltrtnl brought the business section from the li ill to the flut, t he Onunly homes! uud was ttie only liahltatlon ltere. The old Cinindy home stood at Aduuift und J-'oiirth, mid was rti.uiivcd tvltliin the lust decade to make room Tor the build ing of the La Grande hotel. MILLING OF FLOUR THE OLDEST INDUSTRY HERE The oldest Industry In Union county, and ,one that .was started 21 years before tho coming of the railroad, Is that of milling of flour. The first flour mill of which there -was any record, was built In La Grande by John Wil kinson in the year 1803. It wns a one-run stone mill, using steam to supply the power, and, was lo cated in Mill Creek, canyon above La Grande, This mill could grind out about 10 barrels of Hour a day. The mill later was sold, to Mr. Crandall, of Old Town, who operated It for several years, John Caviness sold tho first crop of wheat he raised In this valley to the Wilkinson mill, Teoetving i,50 a bushel. In 1864 the father of the late W. T. Wright built another small b tone burr mill at Union, which he operated, for several years, but finally .it was destroyed by fire. About this time James Rinehart also built "water-power stone burr mill at Sumnervllle, which was operated until about the time the railroad came, when it was re modeled and converted into a rol ler process will. Not long lifter .the JVnehart mill was built Run! and Martin erected another atone mill at Sunwirrvllle, later disposing of It to George and Robert Ruck man, who remodeled It Into a roller mill. About 1866, Olds Ttnd Hnr ker built n svUl water-power mill at Oro Dell, which later they sold to Snodgrass and Minor. It was operated under this manage ment Cor -several years until it was caught by a flood of the Grande Konde river and washed out. The first mill at Core was built In 1870 by Henry -and French and later sold to Jaycox. The next year, 1871, John Cavi ness and Sterling built a water power mill at Island City on the same site that the present mill, the Pioneering Flouring Mill now stands. In 1896 the Island City Mcrcantlle and Milling company sold out to the Pioneer Flour Mill Co., -with Ed Kiddle as presi dent and manager, W. O. Hunter as vice president, and C. H. Bid- well as secretary. This was -the parent company from which rthe present system, of Kiddle mills and warehouses in the Grande Ronde valley was established. RIDE OVER BLUE HIT. IN '82 TOOK DAY ORO DELL A FINE TOWN IN YEAR '82 Oro Dell, once a thriving village a mile west of La Grande, faded away following the coming of the railroad to Eastern Oregon half a century ago. But In 1882, two years previous to the arrival of the- first passenger train, it was a thriving little village with one store, a flouring mill and sawmill, a blacksmith shop, eating house and a saloon. The mills and store and the largest number of the houses belonged to W. J. Snod grass. Back In 1882 It was predicted that when the railroad was com pleted, it would give Oro Dell a new start, 'which will doubtless result In its becoming the chief town In the county." JACOB NIBLER ONE OF THE FIRST SHOP WORKMEN HERE "I was up on that hill logging with an ox team when that first train came through here," said Jacob Nlbler, who later became ono of the first men employed In the shops after they were located in La Grande. "I went to work in the shops on August first, 1885 and was retired in 1928," Mr. Nlb ler related. Mr. Nlbler also stated that he and H. N. Webber, the first shop foreman, worked In the first shops, and he (Mr. Nlbler) hung all the machinery in the shops which was used in the beginning of its operation here. His first Job was that of "wiper" and he held vArlous positions until fi nally he became foreman. In speaking of the hardships and harrowing experiences of the early railroaders, he stated that from actual account which he kept of his work, during Janu ary of IKS Me slept in his own bed Jum exacti six hours of the entire month. The remainder of the time was spent on wrecking trains going out after wrecks, picking them up, repairing the wreckage, (etc. He stated tbiat wrecks were not only the usual occurrence, but were expected al most every day, and the unusual thing was not to have a wreck during a single day at some point at or near La Grande. At the tune of his retirement in 1928, Mr. Nlbler wns foreman of the shops, which position ho had held for several years. He now makes his home on East Ad ams where he has lived since his retirement. IVOiEKINCr ON WATER SYSTEM Work on the new water system In La Grande is progressing rath er slowly, owing chiefly to the non-ar'- ?al of the remainder of the pipe. At the reservoir all Is now ready for the water. La Orande Gazette, Sept. 23, 1892. Back In 1682, two years before the U. P. railroad come Into rtbe Grande Ronde valley, It was sin all night stage ride to cross over the Blue mountains from Pendle ton to La Grande. "A dark and lonesome trip" as I. H. Stearns recalls It in a booklet published that year, "In the middle of :the night we changed horses at I4eacham's' or Lee's Encamp ment, as it is sometimes called. The station Is probably the old est building now inhabited in all of Eastern Oregon. It is built of great pine logs, hewn square, and has some 30 rooms, all par titioned with great walls of hewn logs. Two tmimense chimneys flank the gables after the Virginia fashion. Stearns rode across the moun tains In a stage driven by George Carroll .described by Stearns as "one . of the real overland sort, ready to amuse his passenger with anecdote of fact and fiction." Describing his ride, he said: "Later, I had the pleasure of crossing these mountains in the We cordially extend an invitation ;to one and all to attend the Semi-Centennial CELEBRATION JULY 19-20-21 LA GRANDE BOOK 8 STATIONERY STORE Continuously, and Oomnetently serving our -patrons witfc school -and, of! toe supplies- since 1899 "We-Grow With La Orande". We Were Not Here In the Old Days-- But we would have enjoyed being here in those happy days following the coming of the railroad. In our opinion, those must have been great times and we envy all those who were here and con gratulate them upon the real service they per formed in building "this fine city. We're Trying To Do Our Part Now 'In "the past eight years since establishing our busi ness here we believe we may modestly say that we have contributed in some measure toward the better dvelopment of La Grande and surrounding territory. Our firm, though not early established in this particular community, has for the past 25 years participated in and seen much of the great .growth of this part of the country. With Recent Improvements at Our Yards and our large buying facilities, this company has a most complete service for builders and one of the largest stocks this side of Portland. . All grades of LUMBER, MILLWORK, SASH & DOORS, SHINGLES, BRICK, LIME, CEMENT. Etc. In addition we stock adequate supplies of BUILD ERS HARDWARE, PAINTS and VARNISHES, and are in position to give attractive quotations on every line. KEMMERER COAL VAN PETTEN LBR. CO. Acrosslhe Tracks on Greenwood Ave. " ' ' "
