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December 30, 2021
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THURSDAY EDITION
Cross the ‘Divide’
A birthday
party to
remember
Divide Camp morphs
into new organization as
new owners take over
Two women over 100
celebrate birthdays
at same party
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
J
OSEPH — The new year brings
more than a change of the cal-
endar to Divide Camp, as it
undergoes a transition into
Cross the Divide, a reincor-
poration of the 501(c)(3) nonprofi t into a
clearly faith-based organization.
Retired Navy Chaplain Emile “Mo”
Moured will take the reins as execu-
tive director Friday, Dec. 31, taking over
from longtime director Julie Wheeler, on
whose family land the camp was founded
and has operated since 2011.
Moured, who lives with wife, Rhonda,
and their 14-year-old daughter in Poulsbo,
Washington, said that he hopes to con-
tinue and expand on the work Wheeler’s
done.
“I’m excited for lot of diff erent rea-
sons,” he said. “Thinking back to what’s
gone before me, Julie’s done a tremen-
dous job as executive director. Her godly
prayers and hard work. It’s a tremendous
honor. It’s something that’s been nurtured
in my heart for about 40 years.”
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Two gen-
erous women who have slowed
the sands of time to a trickle were
embraced by their families and
friends on Tuesday, Dec. 28, at
Wildfl ower Lodge.
The event was a tale of two
centenarians, a party celebrating
the 105th birthday of Mildred
McMurphy and the 104th birthday
of Lodema Asper, both resi-
dents of Wildfl ower Lodge in La
Grande.
“I’ve never seen anything like
this and I may never again,” a
man at Wildfl ower said of seeing
two centenarians celebrating a
birthday together.
It is doubtful that many people
anywhere will outsmart Father
Time as gracefully as McMurphy
and Asper have, for they have the
vitality of people many years their
junior.
McMurphy and Asper were
both in good humor Dec. 28.
McMurphy put her wit on display
after she received a card with $105
in cash saluting her age.
“Now they probably will raise
my rent,” she said, expressing
mock disappointment in the gifts.
Asper also displayed quick
wit, announcing amid the deluge
of attention that “I charge for
autographs.”
Asper, whose actual birthday
was Monday, Dec. 27, grew up in
Union before moving east after
graduating from Union High
School, according to her niece,
Wanda Ballard, of Baker City. She
worked as a secretary throughout
her career.
“She always told me, ‘If you
can type you can fi nd a job any-
where,’” Ballard said.
Asper returned permanently to
Union County about 50 years ago.
Ballard said her aunt is the
type of person who always is con-
cerned about others, recalling
Asper recently asking her niece
to check on her 71-year-old son in
Georgia because she was worried
about his condition now that he is
getting older.
Asper worries about the health
of others but doesn’t discuss her
ailments.
“A lot of people talk about
their aches and pains, but she has
See, Birthday/Page A5
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Divide Camp, in the mountains outside Joseph, in 2022 will become Cross the Divide. The reincorporated
nonprofi t will continue to off er battle-weary veterans a place to reboot by connecting with nature.
CROSS THE DIVIDE
Where: Wallowa County
Who: Emile “Mo” Moured, executive director
Phone: 978-835-3939
Email: emile.moured@gmail.com or after Jan. 1
mo@crossthedivide.us
To donate: Cross the Divide, P.O. Box 98, Wallowa
97885
port system in volunteerism and donors
has been incredible.”
Cross the Divide
Time for a change
The 40-acre site on family land east
of Joseph started as Divide Camp when
Wheeler got what she believes was a mes-
sage from the Lord.
“When I got here, even though it was
all rat-infested and falling apart, I sat on
that front porch and I just felt the Lord
speak to me that this is a perfect place for
healing vets,” she said. “The initial vision
for this camp in 2011 was healing through
nature.”
It was her vision to reach out to post-
9/11 veterans. She knows some locals
consider the camp discriminatory against
pre-9/11 veterans but, as she explained it,
veterans from earlier wars have had time
to come to grips with their war-induced
trauma and develop support systems. It’s
newer to the post-9/11 vets.
“That was just the vision God gave me
for the camp,” Wheeler said. “That was
not Mo’s vision. ‘Cross the Divide’ will
be serving all veterans.”
But for Wheeler, it’s time to step down.
Emile “Mo” Moured/Contributed Photo
Navy Chaplain Emile “Mo” Moured retired as a
captain earlier this year. On Friday, Dec. 31, 2021,
he takes over as executive director of Cross the
Divide, formerly known as Divide Camp.
“I need to retire,” she said. “This was
my 10th year in a project that I really
thought would change hands about fi ve
years ago. I’ve been in much prayer. It’s
an emotional transition because Divide
Camp has been my life for 10 years. I
don’t know what God is going to have me
do with the rest of my life.”
In her decade at the helm of Divide
Camp, she’s seen much community sup-
port and feels she’s accomplished most of
her goals.
“God has been so good to the Divide
Camp organization,” she said. “Our sup-
Moured, too, had what may have been
a vision from God.
“I’ll never forget the moment many
of our lives changed forever. My wife,
Rhonda, and I were driving from where
I was stationed as a Navy chaplain just a
couple hours east of New York, heading
out on an anniversary vacation,” he
said. “I said something to her I never
said before and have never said since, ‘I
just have the weirdest feeling that we’re
going to get all the way up to our cabin
and something really bad is going to
happen back here.’ Call it intuition, call
it the Holy Spirit or call it bad pizza, but
I remember that moment clearly from
Sept 10, 2001.
“That next morning forced all our
lives in various transitions. But minutes
after the fi rst planes hit the Twin Towers,
I had an overwhelming sense that God
was inviting me to follow Him into the
wake of the tragedy. Immediately after
See, Divide/Page A5
A litt le fairer world
Umatilla Tribal Judge
William Johnson earned
President’s Special
Award of Appreciation
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
MISSION — Twenty-fi ve
years ago, Umatilla Tribal Judge
William Johnson was troubled
that judgments made in tribal
courts weren’t always upheld off
reservation.
If a tribal judge in one of
the nine federally recognized
Indian tribes in Oregon granted a
restraining order, required child
support or suspended someone’s
driver’s license, the defendant
could escape the order by simply
moving off the reservation into
another jurisdiction. To be pro-
tected, domestic violence victims
needed to stay on the reservation
or get another restraining order in
a state circuit court.
Johnson, now in his fourth
10-year term as chief justice for
the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
spent a quarter century trying to
change this. His eff orts came to
fruition this year when Oregon
legislators passed Senate Bill
183, which extends full faith and
credit to judgments, decrees and
orders to all federally recognized
Indian tribes.
Johnson, appearing remotely
from his offi ce, testifi ed to the
Senate’s judiciary committee
in March. The judge, who said
“Good morning,” in Cayuse and
introduced himself as Grey Wolf,
explained the situation.
“The reality is that tribal geo-
graphic jurisdiction is often very
small and it is easy for a person
to simply move and never return
in order to avoid enforcement of
a tribal court order,” Johnson told
the senators. “The lack of full
faith and credit of tribal court
orders undermines tribal sover-
eignty by stripping tribes of the
real-world ability to enforce many
court orders. This needs to be
remedied.”
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ..............B1
Classified ............B2
Comics .................B5
Crossword ..........B2
Dear Abby ..........B6
Horoscope ..........B3
Lottery ................ A2
Obituaries .......... A3
SATURDAY
Opinion .............. A4
Spiritual Life ..... A6
Sports ................. A8
Sudoku ................B5
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Judge David Gallaher, left, swears in Judge William Johnson during a ceremony
on Dec. 4, 2019, at the Nixyaawii Governance Center in Mission.
All senators present voted
“aye” and House judiciary com-
mittee members later followed
suit. In June, Gov. Kate Brown
signed the bill that becomes law
on Jan. 1.
The moment was a sweet one
for Johnson. The world had just
gotten a little more fair.
The law’s passage attracted the
notice of Oregon State Bar Pres-
ident David Wade, who unex-
pectedly telephoned Johnson one
afternoon. Johnson picked up the
phone with trepidation.
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“I thought I was in trouble
with the Oregon State Bar,”
Johnson recalled.
Wade quickly allayed his
fears. He told Johnson that he
had decided to bestow on him
“The President’s Special Award
of Appreciation,” a discretionary
award not presented every year.
“I said I’d be glad to accept,
but it wasn’t just me,” said
Johnson.
During the online award
See, Judge/Page A5
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Issue 153
3 sections, 36 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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