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THE STORY OF THE STUMPS IS MAINLY A TALE OF MYSTERY | OUTDOORS & REC, B1
March 26, 2022
WEEKEND EDITION
Oregon Trail
interpretive
site keeps
history alive
$1.50
‘Hidden treasure’
Eastern Oregon University, local advocates secure
funding to restore historic Grand Staircase
Site near Hot Lake
receives noteworthy
additions
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Four years
ago, Dale Counsell and his son,
Scott, found an unforgettable link,
not to an internet website but to an
era when digital technology was
still the stuff of science fi ction.
The Counsells were in Ladd
Canyon on their family’s ranching
land when Scott Counsell spotted
a metal chain link sticking up
from the ground and told his
father. Curious, the Counsells
began digging. What they found
was not precious metal but some-
thing to treasure, a horse-drawn
logging sled Dale Counsell said
was used by a family who had
owned the land as homesteaders in
the late 1800s.
Nobody knows how long the
sled had been buried but it was
obvious the time underground had
taken its toll.
“It was in terrible shape,” Dale
Counsell said.
A skilled craftsman who loves
history, Dale Counsell then refur-
bished the sled by replacing its
wood while retaining its metal ele-
ments. Today, the sled is on public
display as one of the latest addi-
tions to an Oregon Trail interpre-
tive site on Hot Lake Lane, 2 miles
west of the Lodge at Hot Lake
Springs. The sled is loaded with
logs from tree species common
to Union County — white fi r,
lodgepole pine and tamarack, also
known as western larch.
“The job Dale did restoring that
sled is incredible,” said Ronnie
Allen, of La Grande, who with
Dale Counsell created the Lower
Ladd Canyon Oregon Trail site
fi ve years ago.
The interpretive site is about a
mile from the base of Lower Ladd
Canyon Hill. Allen said Oregon
Trail pioneers came off the hill
directly to where the interpretive
site is located.
In the mid-1800s, Oregon Trail
pioneers made overnight stops at
the location, he said. Allen esti-
mates that from 1843 through the
early 1860s, between one and fi ve
wagons were at the site continu-
ously during the summer months.
The sled now at the site was
likely used not only to transport
trees but also hay, supplies and
people, Counsell said.
The logging sled is one of sev-
eral signifi cant additions made to
the Oregon Trail site over the past
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
The view from the top of Eastern Oregon University’s Grand Staircase on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, shows how
the structure once restored will again connect the campus with the community of La Grande.
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — A trea-
sured architecture fea-
ture in La Grande will
be preserved for generations
to come.
A $100 million rural infra-
structure package passed by
the Oregon Legislature in
March granted $4 million to
save Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity’s Grand Staircase, high-
lighting years of advocacy by
the university, local individ-
uals and regional organiza-
tions. Upon deteriorating into
an unusable relic of the past,
plans are now underway to
renovate and protect the stair-
case as a critical element to
Eastern’s campus.
“We’ve worked at a lot
of diff erent angles trying to
fi nd funding for it,” said Tim
Seydel, Eastern’s vice pres-
ident of university advance-
ment. “It’s an incredibly beau-
tiful piece of architecture that
is one of a kind. We just kept
working at it.”
Cause worth fi ghting for
The Eastern Oregon
Normal School, a college for
aspiring teachers at the time,
Bob Bull photo collection
Eastern Oregon Normal School students congregate on the Grand Staircase for the 1936 rendition of Evensong,
a commencement ceremony for graduating students. The Oregon Legislature in 2022 granted the La Grande
school, now Eastern Oregon University, $4 million to restore the historic staircase, after the university and local
advocates worked for years on end to secure the funding.
opened its doors in 1929 after
the construction of a campus
in La Grande. The large
staircase structure was cre-
ated to provide pedestrian
access from downtown to the
campus, as well as a place for
gatherings and events.
Architect John V. Bennes,
who also headed the Hot Lake
Hotel and Geiser Grand Hotel
projects, designed the stair-
case in an Italian Renaissance
Revival style, constructing
the structure with 178 steps,
418 stone balusters and 17,470
square feet of concrete over
fi ve tiers. In 1980, the site was
listed on the National Register
See, Staircase/Page A6
See, Trail/Page A6
Report: Oregon suicides dropped slightly in 2020
State has 18th highest
suicide rate in the nation,
an improvement from
2019 and 2018
By JIM REDDEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon had the
nation’s 13th highest suicide rate
across all ages in 2020, a slight
improvement over the year before
when the state was ninth in sui-
ARE YOU IN CRISIS?
Additional mental health resources include:
• 24/7 Suicide Prevention National Lifeline number: 1-800-273-8255
• 24/7 Spanish Lifeline: 1-888-628-9454
•24/7 Crisis Text Line: Text “OREGON” to 741741
• 24/7 Crisis Line for Veterans: 1-800-273-8255 and Press “1” or text 838255
• Senior Loneliness Line: 503-200-1633
• YouthLine for teen-to-teen crisis help. A phone line and a texting support line are off ered
through Lines for Life. Trained teens respond from 4-10 p.m. (PDT) Monday through Friday.
Adults are also available 24/7. Call 1-877-968-8491 or text teen2teen to 839863.
cide deaths, according to suicide
mortality data recently published
by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
TUESDAY
Horoscope ....B2
Local...............A2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Outdoors ......B1
Sports ............A8
Sudoku ..........B5
Part of the decline was a reduc-
tion in suicides by young people,
the Oregon Health Authority
said on Tuesday, March 22.
Full forecast on the back of B section
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Sunday
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The decrease placed Oregon
18th highest in the nation — an
improvement from 2019 and 2018,
when Oregon ranked 11th highest
in the nation for youth suicides.
“While we are encouraged by
2020’s downward trend that shows
our work with partners to address
youth suicide is helping in some
counties, we still have a long way
to go to improve outcomes among
all Oregon communities,” said
Oregon Health Authority Behav-
ioral Health Director Steve Allen.
See, Suicides/Page A6
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 37
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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