8
The Good Ol ’ Days
in other words
october16
2014
By Tobie Finzel
Fish Tales
Even with the near-record dry summer, the
brief rains in mid-September brought the salmon back
to Rock Creek to spawn just in time for Vernonia’s
Salmon Festival. Thanks to Maggie Peyton, Director
of the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council, Claudia
Chinook, the walk-through salmon, also paid a call.
Maggie recently came upon an article about early-day
fishing and the need for clear streams that she shared
with Council members, one of whom gave me a copy
of the fascinating story. This writer doesn’t know
when it was written or the author’s maiden name; if
any reader can supply additional information to the
museum on the source of this article or the author, it
would be appreciated.
Dora Marlin (presumably her married name)
was born in 1916 and at eight years of age moved with
her parents and four sisters to a 160 acre farm on Deer
Creek and Little Deer Creek near Natal. She attended
Mist School and later Vernonia High School. Her
father was a dairy farmer, and the 160 acres of virgin
fir and cedar only had forty partially cleared acres on
which they grew crops to feed the family, their cattle
and other farm animals. As was true for many, fishing
and hunting provided most of the family’s protein as
their only cash income was from the cream they sold to
the Raven Dairy in Portland.
Dora was the only one of her sisters who loved
to fish, and so she was allowed to get out of her regular
farm chores save one when the salmon runs began.
Before first light, she took a lantern to the barn and
chopped up carrots, turnips and other root crops to put
in wooden buckets for each cow. She then got hay from
the hay-mow and grain and molasses from wooden
buckets in the barn. A rich diet for the cows meant
high butterfat-content cream which brought a higher
price. This required chore complete, Dora went off to
fish with a pole crafted by her father from strong maple
wood. She had to be careful with her fishing line and
hooks as these had to be purchased with the family’s
scarce cash.
Dora happily fished along the many miles of
streams near their farm. She caught trout, steelhead,
and several species of salmon: Silvers, Jack, Chinook
and a hook-nosed variety. She once even caught a
sturgeon. It was not unusual to catch 35 or more fish a
day, the runs were so bountiful then. Her mother taught
the girls to preserve the fish in a variety of ways. With
no electricity for refrigeration or freezing, fish were
smoked, canned in jars or pickled. A Finnish woman
from the neighboring farm taught Dora’s mother how to
pickle the fish for storage in wooden barrels. Crawfish
were caught with a piece of meat on a string and then
eaten fresh as were the bright red salmon eggs that her
mother cooked in a cream sauce.
The family had a large smokehouse and used
wild cherry and vine maple wood to produce the
smoke. In addition to the fish, they cured pork, beef,
lamb, elk, deer, and bear. Their land also provided
root crops, apples, filberts, and seasonal vegetables
while the forest gave them wild fruits: blackcaps,
huckleberries, evergreen blackberries, elderberries for
jelly, salmonberries, thimbleberries, and wild hazelnuts.
As Dora stated, they had plenty to eat, just not a lot of
money.
The biggest fish that Dora ever caught was
a 54 pound Chinook the year she was twelve. Her
story goes into great detail about her long battle with
that salmon, and in later years, her own husband and
sons thought it was just another one of her fish stories.
Once, when her sons were ten and twelve, the family
went up to the old homestead during a salmon run.
The remaining resident in the area was the son of their
Finnish neighbors, the Kauppis, who still lived on his
parents’ farm. Dora led her family to Little Deer Creek
where she showed them how she used to catch fish with
her bare hands. She stood still in rubber boots with her
feet apart until a salmon swum between her legs. She
grabbed it by the tail and flipped it onto the bank. Her
family was amazed as she did this several times. They
finally realized that her fish tales were indeed true.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm in the Upper
Nehalem Valley between Natal and Pittsburg. Each
year from 1906 until 1955, he kept a regular diary of
his activities. By the 1920s his entries were shorter
and not as frequent, but he continued to document
the weather and his activities regarding farm and paid
work, fishing, hunting, and leisure activities.
Friday, September 29,1922: Picked evergreen berries
and made some wine. Cloudy most of day.
Sunday, October 1, 1922: Was around home all day.
Ed & Edna here. Very good day.
Tuesday, October 3, 1922: Put connecting rod in drag
saw. Sawed wood P.M. Pretty good day.
Saturday, October 7, 1922: Hauled some wood to
East Fork Camp. Bright fine day.
Wednesday, October 18, 1922: Finished plowing out
potatoes Elliott place. Very good day.
Saturday, October 21, 1922: Hunting forenoon.
Took Lewey Nelson to Birkenfeld P.M. Very fine day.
Sunday, October 22, 1922: Picked apples A.M.
Took ride above Vernonia 1 mile P.M. Dinner party in
pasture. Very fine day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is located at E. 511
Bridge Street and is open from 1 to 4 pm on Saturdays
and Sundays (excluding holidays) all year. From
June through mid-September, the museum is also open
on Fridays from 1 – 4 pm. There is no charge for
admission but donations are always welcome. Become
a member of the museum for an annual $5 fee to receive
the periodic newsletter, and if you are a Facebook user,
check out the Vernonia Pioneer Museum page created
by Bill Langmaid. The museum volunteers are always
pleased to enlist additional volunteers to help hold the
museum open and assist in other ways. Please stop by
and let one of the volunteers know of your interest in
helping out.
Invitation: Health Center’s Grand Opening October 25
The Vernonia Health Center’s
new Carolyn Keasey Memorial Building
is open for business at 1005 Cougar
Street. It’s the result of a multiple year
effort by the Vernonia Health Center
Board (VHCB) to develop a plan and
raise money to build a new facility out
of the floodplain so that Vernonia and
the Upper Nehalem Valley region can
continue to have local access to medical
care. Designed to incorporate a team/
multiple provider-model, the goal is to
create a true medical home in Vernonia.
Primary care is provided in partnership
with the Public Health Foundation
of Columbia County and Pacific
University. The Vernonia Health Center
Board will bring additional services to
the new facility to improve health care
in Vernonia, so stay tuned for updates.
Designed by Scott Edwards
Architects, the project was managed
by Joan Jasper, and built by Five Star
Builders overseen by Clint Jackson and
Al Jenkins. It’s situated on land owned
by the City of Vernonia for which the
Vernonia Health Center Board has a
fifty-year lease.
The facility is completely paid
for, there was no direct cost to the
community, and the VHCB is completely
debt free. Private foundations provided
the bulk of the money. FEMA buyout
money and funding from Providence
via the donation campaign they held
after the 2007 flood provided the rest
of the funding. With deep gratitude
we acknowledge the assistance of the
following:
Meyer Memorial Trust
$300,000
The Ford Family Foundation
$250,000
The Collins Foundation
$100,000
Oregon Community Foundation
$35,000
Providence donation campaign
Terry’s
Gym
Thank
You
JOIN
THE TEAM!
“It‛s another thank you card from Meyer‛s Auto Body”
503-901-1705
16720 Noakes Rd. Vernonia
Meyer’s Auto Body•493 Bridge St•VERNONIA
503-429-0248
$191,000
Samuel S. Johnson Foundation
$5,000 (which Senator Betsy Johnson
herself brought to the Groundbreaking
Ceremony)
FEMA Buyout
$171,000
(A Big Thank you to the Community
Action Team group for their work on
this.)
Your Vernonia Health Center
Board, a completely volunteer entity,
worked long and hard to keep costs
down while building a modern flexible
facility. The VCHB and local volunteers
through the Master Gardener program,
locally spearheaded by Heather Lewis,
Jim and Marie Krahn, Dr. Thiringer, and
many others provided the native, low
maintenance landscaping. Volunteers
from the board, community, the
Public Health Foundation, and Pacific
University students did the move from
the old to the new facility.
Special guests will be attending
the official Grand Opening celebration
on October 25 th from 11:00 to 3:00.
Tours will be available. The Vernonia
Health Center Board encourages the
community to come and celebrate
another step forward in the rebuilding of
Vernonia.
