FROM PAGE ONE
Thursday, december 2, 2021
The ObserVer — A5
HISTORY
Continued from Page A1
“This shows that the old
West was alive and well at
Hot Lake in 1883,” Roth
said.
The shooting incident
was described as taking
place at what turned out to
be a “dance of death” and
was reportedly sparked by
an argument over a bottle
of whiskey. The man who
allegedly fired the deadly
shots escaped the dance hall
but was captured the next
day between Hot Lake and
North Powder. The mur-
derer was tracked down by
two men named Thomas
Johnson and and Nick Beli
who walked through snow
2-3 feet deep, according to
the account in the Albany
newspaper.
A guest to remember
Thirty-six years later a
man preaching the impor-
tance of God’s love was a
guest at Hot Lake, famed
evangelist Billy Sunday,
according to a story in the
July 13, 1919, edition of
Portland’s Oregon Daily
Journal. Sunday, a well-
known American evange-
list at the time, stayed at
Hot Lake after delivering
a patriotic address in La
Grande on Friday, July 4,
1919.
Several influential people
made a point of greeting
Sunday at Hot Lake.
“He was the most cel-
ebrated and influential
American evangelist in the
first two decades of the 20th
century,” Roth said.
Sunday, who was from
the Midwest, may have
been returning from Hood
River since he owned an
apple orchard there.
Complaints and praise
The clippings in Roth’s
collection indicate that
102 years ago people had
many of the same , MBA
con-
cerns then that they do
today. For example, a story
in the April 26, 1919, edi-
tion of the Oregon Daily
Journal is headlined “Trains
dick mason/The Observer
capital Press, File
Hot Lake’s main building has served many functions during its long history, including the years it served
as a health care facility in the first part of the 20th century.
Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University are ex-
panding their joint range-related programs.
Will Muffle Noises at Hot
Lake.” The article states the
Oregon Railroad & Naviga-
tion Company officials have
agreed to keep the noise of
trains passing through Hot
Lake to a minimum.
“Considerable discom-
fort had been caused the
patients at the Hot Lake
sanitarium due to the
noise of train whistles and
switching operations,” the
article stated.
The story said that in the
future only sounds essential
to the operation of trains
would be permitted. This
article appeared a century
before the city of La Grande
became a whistle free zone,
where trains are no longer
allowed to sound their horns
due to years of complaints
from residents and visitors.
Roth’s collection also
includes a five-part series
about Hot Lake by Fred
Lockley in the Oregon
Daily Journal of Portland
in March of 1919. Lockley
wrote that Hot Lake, which
then was a hospital, had a
bright future as a medical
facility.
“The time is approaching
when the fame of Hot Lake
will be as well known to
those in the West who need
surgical attention as Roch-
ester, Minnesota, is today
through the work done
SCHOOLS
by the Mayo brothers,”
Lockley wrote.
A collection decades in
the making
Michael Rysavy said the
items donated by Roth will
be used to help with the cre-
ation of a museum focusing
on Holt Lake’s history that
he and his wife plan to begin
creating in the near future.
He said information from the
collection will guide them in
the process of assembling the
exhibits.
Roth’s collection includes
articles written through
1990. They cover the many
roles Hot Lake has had, for
it has served as a hospital, a
hotel and an agricultural pro-
duction site, among other
capacities.
Roth gathered many of his
clippings from the Oregon
Digital Newspaper Pro-
gram, the Library of Con-
gress Chronicling America
Program and microfilm reels
from the University of Ore-
gon’s Knight Library.
“I’ve been collecting them
since I was in junior high,”
he said.
He donated his collec-
tion to Michael and Tamarah
Rysavy because he wanted
to help preserve the history
of the region and knew the
Rysavys would value the
artifacts.
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“I did not want them to
disappear from the Grande
Ronde Valley,” Roth said.
The museum the Rysavys
will be creating will display a
number of articles and photos
from Roth’s collection. The
museum is one of a number
of features the Rysavys will
be adding at The Lodge at
Hot Lake. Also in the works
is a restaurant, pubs and a
60-seat movie viewing room.
Hot Lake’s present ameni-
ties include overnight lodging
and five soaking pools, which
allow people to enjoy some of
the site’s geothermally heated
water. The soaking pools are
available only to overnight
guests now but later will be
open to day visitors.
Roth said he is impressed
with the work the Rysavys
are doing at Hot Lake.
“They are interested in
factual history and are dedi-
cated,” he said.
He said it is unfortunate
that myths about Hot Lake
have arisen over the years.
These include stories of
ghosts and tales of the facility
being used for purposes such
as a tuberculosis hospital,
which isn’t true.
Roth said Hot Lake’s story
does not have to be fabri-
cated or embellished to be
captivating.
“Truth is often more inter-
esting than fiction,” he said.
Continued from Page A1
“There have been a lot
of conversations about,
how do we join forces
more, share faculty more,
use the facilities in a
better way for faculty and
student research?” said
Diebel.
One piece of the expan-
sion includes hiring
new faculty and staff.
According to Diebel,
OSU is putting together
job descriptions for two
new positions that will
soon be posted: an asso-
ciate director of the Union
Experiment Station and
a rangeland scientist who
will have research and
teaching responsibilities.
The scientist will work
both at the Union station
and on EOU’s campus.
On the curriculum side,
one goal of the upcoming
expansion is to strengthen
the rangeland sciences
degree offered in Corvallis
and La Grande.
On the research side,
the goal is to broaden field
research opportunities for
students and faculty.
Bryan Endress, OSU
associate professor of
rangeland ecology and
management in the pro-
gram, said the hands-on
nature of the program will
“help prepare students for
the real world,” whether
that means working on a
family ranch, for a land
management agency or
elsewhere.
“Graduates from our
program will be better
prepared to enter the
workforce, which will ben-
efit the agricultural and
natural resource commu-
nity across the board,” said
Endress.
Diebel, the director,
said she thinks making
the Union station a more
active research base will
both benefit Eastern
Oregon students and pro-
vide opportunities for Cor-
vallis-based OSU students
to do short-term research
projects and field work.
Since much of the
research will relate to
forage, cattle and dairy
systems, Diebel said
she expects many of the
research findings from
the expansion will benefit
ranchers.
“There will also be
ways for (farmers) to be
involved,” said Diebel,
who said faculty plan
to use both public prop-
erty for research and rely
on private stakeholders,
including area ranchers.