FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 11
Local & Entertainment
Bebe’s word search
Huntington celebrates
125th birthday
BY EILEEN DRIVER
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
2016 is an important year
for the City of Huntington.
Huntington is celebrating it
125th birthday and looking
forward to a future as ex-
citing as its past has been.
Before it became Hun-
tington, Oregon on Febru-
ary 18, 1891, Huntington
was a gathering place for
Indian tribes such as the
Shoshone, Paiute, Bannock
and Umatilla.
A historic marker records
that the expedition of
Wilson Price Hunt, Captain
B.E.L. Bonneville, Natha-
nial Wyeth, and Captain
John C. Freemont stopped
there as did virtually all
the Oregon Trail Wagons,
including Whitman and
Spaulding.
Huntington was the place
where wagon trains left the
Snake River; the tragic site
of the Van Ornan Massacre
of 1860.
Here, two railroads
would drive a spike to
form a transcontinental
railroad in 1884. It was as-
sociated with steamboating
on the Snake.
It was in Huntington that
the emerging Union Pacifi c
had its roundhouse, and
maintained booster engines
to match the steep grade up
Burnt River—and a
shortline that moved
northward for ore from the
mines.
Henry Miller, a German
immigrant settled at Hun-
tington in 1862 and built
a stage station, which was
reputed to be large enough
to accommodate 20 people
at the hotel.
The Utah, Idaho and
Oregon Stage line stopped
at Huntington on its route
from Ogden to The Dalles.
Miller sold the land to
a Mr. Harlan, who in turn
sold it to brothers, James
M. and John B.
Huntington for $2,700,
who settled there in 1882
and plotted the town site.
Huntington grew.
By 1885, it had two gen-
eral stores, a blacksmith
shop, a hotel and several
boarding houses restau-
rants and several saloons to
serve train crews and mail
handlers and others.
Huntington became
quite lawless at the turn
of the century until fi nally
Governor West ordered
gambling stopped, brothels
closed, slot machines re-
moved, and saloons closed
on Sundays.
On June 2, 1935, a $20
ransom bill was tendered
in payment of a railway
ticket from Huntington,
Oregon, to Salt Lake City,
Utah. Investigation by FBI
agents determined the pur-
chaser to be Harmon Metz
Waley, the kidnapper of the
Weyerhaeuser’s son. This
led to his arrest.
Huntington has a his-
tory of importance to this
region and plans to remain
so for the next 125 years at
least. Huntington is mark-
ing this celebration with
several events throughout
the year.
First is a birthday dance
being held at Howell’s
Cafe and Streamliner
Lounge on February 18th
with music provided by
Big Blue Johnson. The
building housing Howell’s
Cafe and Streamliner
Lounge is Huntington’s
only building on the
National Historic Register
and has survived all the
changes Huntington has
gone through.
Second is a birthday cake
competition being held
on Saturday, June 11th at
the VFW Hall. Those who
would like to enter should
please contact City Hall for
entry forms.
The third celebration
planned so far is a birthday
BBQ potluck to be held
in Lion’s Park on Satur-
day, September 10th and
will include food, fun and
lawn games for the whole
family.
The Littles’ crossword puzzle
OTEC delivers $8,400 check
This week Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative vis-
ited La Grande’s historic
Liberty Theatre and pre-
sented an $8,400 lighting
rebate check to the Liberty
Theatre Foundation.
“Approximately three
years ago, in ongoing sup-
port of the Liberty Theatre
Foundation’s efforts to
restore our iconic Lib-
erty sign, OTEC and the
Foundation began work-
ing together,” said Dale
Mammen, president of the
Liberty Theatre Founda-
tion Board of Directors.
“We worked closely with
OTEC Energy Program
Representative, Nancy
Van Sickle, and we were
The
hopeful the newly con-
structed sign would qualify
under the energy effi ciency
program.”
“There are a few differ-
ent categories that lighting
projects can fall into under
OTEC’s energy effi ciency
rebate program,” said Van
Sickle. “Once we had
determined the sign was
going to be an exterior new
construction, it was one of
the simplest rebate calcula-
tions I’ve ever done.”
Carlson Sign of Bend
was contracted to recon-
struct the Liberty sign
which had originally been
affi xed to the building in
October 1930. Three days
before Thanksgiving, the
20-foot sign was trucked
from Bend to La Grande
and installed.
The sign boasts an
American bald eagle at the
top with a wing span of
nine feet, as well as, 414
1.4 watt LED bulbs esti-
mated to save the theatre
approximately $2,871.00
annually.
“It is always a great thing
when OTEC has the oc-
casion to partner with our
community and commu-
nity members to work on
lighting effi ciency proj-
ects,” said Lara Petitclerc-
Stokes, OTEC’s Manager
of Communications and
Government Affairs.
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Across
Down
1- Hickory-nut;
6- Spelunking site;
10- He ran from Iran;
14- Fragrant resin;
15- French friends;
16- Domesticated;
17- Gerontology;
19- Battle song;
20- Flu symptom;
21- Mrs. Chaplin;
22- Anesthetized;
23- Part of RSVP;
24- Resembling a tree
in size;
26- Familiar with;
28- Tiny;
29- Flight segment;
30- Obi-Wan por-
trayer;
33- Myopic;
38- Capable of;
39- Walt Disney’s
middle name;
42- Virginal;
47- Finishes;
48- Giddy;
52- Terre Haute sch.;
53- Spring sign;
54- Airline to Israel;
55- ___’acte;
56- German river;
57- Fairy tale meanie;
59- Bald eagle’s rela-
tive;
60- Actress Heche;
61- Cubic meter;
62- Spent, as batter-
ies;
63- Scottish refusals;
64- Like some seals;
1- Winged horse;
2- Sad poet;
3- Azure;
4- Friendly femme;
5- Actress Vardalos;
6- Chocolate substi-
tute;
7- ___ acid;
8- Cleric;
9- Slalom curve;
10- Golf fundamental;
11- To set, like con-
crete;
12- French cathedral
city;
13- Robust;
18- Mower brand;
22- Wear and tear;
24- Gillette brand;
25- ____ - a -Sketch;
27- Numbered cube;
30- Snake;
31- On;
32- Self-image;
34- Sorry sort;
35- Minister to;
36- Olden times, in
olden times;
37- Exhume;
40- Forbidding;
41- Egged on;
42- Went after;
43- Capital of Zimba-
bwe;
44- Richards of “Ju-
rassic Park”;
45- Hit the roof;
46- Atlanta-based
cable channel;
47- Slippery fi sh;
49- Big name in insur-
ance;
50- Actress Graff;
51- Scruffs;
55- This, in Tijuana;
57- ___ Clemente;
58- British verb end-
ing;