Siletz news /, August 01, 2002, Page 6, Image 6

TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Congratulations, Sister Francella Griggs, on 60 Years
Portland Area, Siletz Tribal Elder Francella Mary Griggs
by Shirley Walker
Sister Francella celebrated 60
years of religious profession on
June 15, 2002.
It was an honor and a privilege to
attend the service with Sister Francella
at Chapel of the Holy Names in
Marylhurst, Ore.
Kay Steele and I met Sister and
other Jubilarians at their home in
Portland. We had the privilege of riding
in their limousine to Marylhurst to
attend the services.
They repeated their vows: “In the
name of the most Blessed Trinity, in the
presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ, of the
Immaculate Viikin Mary, Mother of God
of Marie-Rose Dorocher, our foundress,
and of chastity, poverty, and obedience,
according to the Constitutions of the
Sister of the Holy Names of Jesus and
Mary. So help me God.”
Another Year
of Wisdom
Happy Birthday!
Bert Bartow, 8/16
Delbert Bell, 8/25
Juanita Bostrom, 8/4
Rosalie Bremner, 8/27
Joyce Britton, 8/11
Ronald Butler, 8/21
Geri Calaba, 8/19
Charles Depoe, 8/14
Peter Depoe Sr., 8/21
Duane Endres, 8/2
Consuelo Fernandez, 8/1
Richard Fernandez, 8/30
Stephen Flores, 8/17
Kathleen Forster, 8/15
Mary Grabert, 8/28
Robert Jordan, 8/19
Joseph Lane Jr., 8/24
Lois Lanier, 8/13
Martha Lockhart, 8/12
Wanda Melton, 8/17
Charlotte Noble, 8/9
Maxine Rilatos, 8/7
Marie Spratt, 8/4
Betty Stahr, 8/13
Mary Viles, 8/11
Shirley Walker, 8/1
Joan Washington, 8/7
6
□
Siletz News
□
The message of the service was,
“This is what Yahweh asks of you, only
this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to
walk humbly with our God. Micah VP’
Sister Francella, Kay Steele, and
Shirley Walker join others for the trip
to the Chapel of the Holy Names
in Marylhurst.
Walt’s Words of Wit and Wisdom
by Walt Klamath
Well, the chittum peeling season is
about over, but some of the memories
are there. Years ago, this was a source
of revenue for many Siletz residents.
My grandpa bought several acres
of timberland on Sam’s Creek. He
wasn’t interested in the timber, it wasn’t
worth too much then. He sold the
timberland to Wineberg Timber
Holdings in Corvallis at the time, with
a clause that he had chittum rights.
There was a lot of chittum on that land.
Eddie Bensel, Alvin Nephew, and
I peeled a lot of bark on that land. I don’t
know where that parcel of land is now.
After the logging, I can’t find it. The
chittum was pretty much demolished,
but it comes back multifold.
As a youngster, I used to walk a
long way. There was a canyon a ways
from where I lived called the Street
Matter Place. It was four or five miles.
My mom used to peel up there, but she
used a horse to pack the bark out. I
used my back. It was a wonderful
place, though. I in my little mind
figured that it would be there forever,
but it was logged.
There was another canyon called
Pot Water Canyon. It wasn’t quite as
far to start but did get to be a long way,
especially with a couple of sacks of
chittum. As steep and rugged as it was,
I figured that wheels would never go
there. Wrong again. There was a big peak
at the end of that canyon and curiosity
did get the best of me. I had to see what
August 2002
could be seen from that peak. Hah, more
peaks. I did come down another canyon
called Simmons Canyon.
Now, after all the logging
operations that have gone on there, I
have absolutely no idea of how I did it.
While the timber was there, I guess
there were landmarks. Eddie Bensel
picked fem in that area and he always
made trails. The deer would follow his
trails so there were good markings.
While peeling some of the places, I
would carve my initials and the date in
the alder trees for future generations to
see. Shucks, the trees have been logged
and probably no one paid any attention
to them.
One time, I took two others peeling,
Don Sheppard and Frank Strome. We
went to a good area with some very big
trees. We crossed Rock Creek at the
falls, then headed to the Henry place
way over on Sam’s Creek.
We crossed Sam’s Creek at the
Elliot place, but for some reason this
great leader took the wrong fork. After
what seemed like hours, I realized that
I was lost, in a way. I didn’t know where
we were, but I did know where we came
from, so we hit Sam’s Creek and
followed it backward until we came to
the Elliot place, then started over.
This time, we found the orchard
and a lot of good chittum peeling, in
fact too good. Those sacks were heavy
and it’s about five miles or more cross
country to get home. I believe it was
getting a little dark by the time we got
to Rock Creek.
There still may be some big trees in
that area. Years later, I peeled there when
I could drive to the orchard, then dried
and sacked it there. My uncle told me to
fall the trees because then they would
grow again. I don’t know if this is true,
but today where the logging was done,
the chittum trees are growing very well.
Where the logging was done in the
late ‘40s and early ‘50s, there are some
very large chittum trees. There’s some
inclination to peel them, but then I have
another thought that’s much better: Let
someone else do it. The price per pound
now is something like five times as
much, though. I think it was something
like 12 cents a pound, dry. Old D.B.
McMullen in Siletz bought most of it.
In Logsden, Denzel Goddard bought it,
but he was very fussy. It seems that
someone sold him some alder bark.
In the early morning, I would head
for the hills with an axe, chittum spud,
pack board, and a sandwich. Water was
at any spring and I didn’t have to worry
about beaver fever or anything.
Sometimes, I had a rifle. Bears like
to frequent the chittum patches too. I
didn’t really care to meet with them, so
I would fire a few rounds to let them
know that they had a visitor coming.
Most of the time, they would take the
hint and move somewhere else. My
uncle said that the bear was not far away
though, and probably was watching.
Those were the good old days? I
don’t think so.