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. " ' ' "