Sandy post., June 22, 1978, Page 13, Image 13

Thur«., June 22. 197« (S«c 2) SANDY (Or«.) POST—3
DeShazers return to Zig Zag family homestead
to San Francisco. From there they came to Portland by
boat. Robert bought 240 acres on the Clackamas River
and hired 40 Chinese laborers to clear the land which
he subsequently farmed.
In 1888 Robert moved with his fam ily to the Dover
d istrict where he bought the Jones place, and two years
later, puchased John Strowbridge's land in nearby
Firwood. Robert gave his son, James, 80 acres of the
Firwood property and at the same time bought 40 acres
more of timbered government land.
When James DeShazer married M yrtle Howlett
(whose father had come over the Barlow Road in 1952
and settled near Eagle Creek), he brought his bride to
live in Firwood. He had big plans for the land
James and M yrtle had eight children ; Grant was the
only boy. His seven sisters, Viola, Lula, Gertrude,
Mildred, Ruth, Alta and Florence, all helped out on the
farm , but it was Grant’s place as the only son to help
clear the land for the dairy farm.
During the years that James was active as a dairy
farm er, he also served as a board member of the
Firwood Grade School and Sandy Union High School
and the Sandy Creamery. He helped establish the first
local telephone system and supervised the building of
Firwood Road.
As the fam ily grew James added a kitchen, living
room and more bedrooms onto the original house,
which was built of foot-wide rough hewn planks The
large barn which accommodated 25 head of cattle has
been gone now for many years and the house was torn
down recently.
Though Grant remembers playing in the five-acre
orchard where cherries, apples and pears grew, there
was much work to be done. He fed the cattle and turned
them out for water while his father drove the horses
and the mowing machine. Later he and his father put in
ten acres of corn, and he also helped his mother with
the vegetable garden. His sisters took care of the
chickens and the large hen house and the eggs were
brought into Meinig’s Store in Sandy. All of the
children had assigned duties.
Grant also remembers walking a mile to the Firwood
School. In 1914 the upper two rooms of the four-room
Sandy Grade School were converted into a high school,
which he also attended. He recalls hitching “ B ird ,” his
horse, to the buggy and driving the four miles to school
on a plank road that turned to mud when it rained.
Meinig’s Store was moved around 1920 from its
original location to the present Thriftw ay lot. After the
farm chores were done, Grant has fond memories of
playing basketball in the upstairs of the store, which
Meinig generously donated for that purpose. Like most
early Sandy-area residents, he best remembers the
Fourth of July Picnics in Meinig’s Grove.
“ We’d leave as early in the morning as possible,” he
says with a smile. “ Everybody would dress up in their
best clothes.”
He recalled that after the speeches, fireworks,
candy, ice cream and sumptuous picnic lunch on quilts
spread on the ground, there were horse races. Highway
26 then was a d irt road with a white ra il fence along it.
The reacing was a much-anticipated event, and people
bet on their favorite horses. The children would line the
fence and cheer as the horses came running from the
west, kicking up clouds of dust. And after the race
by Linda Lesowski
“ I consider myself to be a native Oregonian,” says
Grant DeShazer.
And well he should. Though they lived for 34 years in
'Washington D C., and their two sons were horn and
raised in the East, Grant and Velma have returned to
the Sandy area, more specifically to ZigZag, to live on
the land first owned by Velma’s father.
The large house with gracefully sloping roof built in
1909 by Harry Morton stands like a sentinel in the
forest clearing not far from Lolo Pass. Nearby is the
DeShazer’s modern home. A stream runs through the
carefully landscaped grounds and bear and deer often
come to visit.
DeShazer feels that he’s come home. He lives not too
many miles from the land once owned by his father,
and his father before him, where the fa m ily’s 145-acre
dairy farm in Firwood was operated. This is where
Grant was raised, and this is what he remembers best
about his youth.
His grandfather, Robert DeShazer, was born in
Kansas and ran a store in Golden, Colorado during gold
rush days, hauling supplies up Cripple Creek to the
miners. In 1870, with his wife and three-year-old son
James. Robert came west on the railroad from Omah
Jam es Grant DeShazer and his wife Myrtle Mae
DeShazer on their wedding day on June 30,1805.
Aerial view of the DeShazer family homestead located
near Zig Zag.
Mechanical Engineering) and both of their sons earned
doctorate degrees The DeShazers w ill celebrate their
50th wedding anniversary next year.
Though he decided at an early age that dairy far
ming would not be his life ’s work, and though he lived
much of his life away from Oregon, Grant DeShazer s
home is still in the Sandy area.
there would be a baseball game.
Grant DeShazer met Velma Morton when she came
to Sandy to attend school. On their first date they went
to the “ Hiss Show,” a patent medicine show at the Odd
Fellows Hall where target shooting was part of the
entertainment. Both of them went on to receive college
degrees (hers in Home Economics and his in
Oregon grass under study
A seven-member team
from Japan is in Oregon the
week of June 18 to observe
the state’s grass seed in­
dustry and its present
m u ltip lic a tio n
program
under contract to Japan.
The team is composed of
representatives
of
the
Forage
Crop
Seed
Association, the Japanese
M in is try of Food and
A g ric u ltu re and of that
country’s seed trade.
The team, hosted by the
Oregon
Seed
Trade
Association, m et Monday
morning with State Director
of A g ric u ltu re Leonard
Kunzman in his office and at
11:30 a.m. w ill visit Gov. Bob
Straub.
Oregon has entered into
contracts for production of
forage grass seeds to be used
for forage for Japan’s beef
and dairy industries. These
contracts presently cover in
excess of 1,000 acres.
n Trail’s
Gresham
• i
Kiwanis
14th Annual
Auction
ee an 1883 uncirculated Morgan silver dollar with your deposit of $5,000 00 or more,
” c In “ n head penny 10, depositing as little as $25 00 or more at Oregon Tr.,1.
Saturday, June 24th
12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Gresham Fred Meyer
ler Green Stamps, receive certihcates worth up to 4800 Green Stamps, depending
ol deposit Limit: One premium per customer per account
Highest interest allowed by law
~
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f iv e
Shopping C enter
2497 East Burnside
. » a o e e r f* n a e C B A A ir C A U IU n C
INSURED PAVINGS CERTIFICATES^
__ Annual Hate W A n Ç n i H
d i Êffl
Y ie ld
8-YEAR CERTIFICATE 8 00 %
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I
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Annual Hate
90-D A Y N O T IC E
f
90
5 .7 5 %
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1 t»e< live
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6 00%
compound»«) d p * and oa-d|
1
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1000 s of Values to Choose From,
Come v ie w the item s e a rlie r.
Benefits the Kiwanis Mt. Hood Handicapped Children s Camp
Sponsored by the Gresham Kiwanis Club
2 1 6 -YR. C E R T IF IC A T E
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Reçu«* pa**©oo* account aa»n* a * gr
ta» o* datxn ’ ’o
day of • i»*,'T t * a l
* a * " $ * *o* «0* • 'nptoyad
lowed by t»w f St C A F»d»» a' Govptnmpm aqerx y
SANDY, Ore • 17390 Smith Ave. • 668-4185
Eleven locations to serve you
TABLE SALES
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last a ll day
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