BROOKINGS—HARBOR P I L O T
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1957
PIONEER LIVES HERE
Bill B esser, 80 year old pion dirt on your fingers.
e e r, has come to Brookings to
B esser’s early years w e r t
make his home. He is a one-time
spent as a sailor, knocking a-
Medfordite who has spent much
round the world. He was hos
of his life In Alaska.
He returned to Medium, .itnai- pitalized in San Francisco when
the 1906 earthquake struck there
decided that It would be tte r
and he got out of bed to help re
to live by th*' sea.
He said that he picked out a b’ •< scue a number of children tra p
p’d in an nmhanage. He later
spot on the m ap--H arbor—end
worked as a laborer chipping
then moved over. H< currently
Is caring for some of the Stout
m ortar from bricks knocked
property, which takes care o f
down by the quake.
his Ridging.
After his stay in southern O re
B esser, whose 80th birthday
gon, he went to Alaska, working
if not far away, still feels sturdy
for the Alaska Engineering com
and active, although perhaps not
mission, which started the Alaska
juite so spry as in the days he
Railroad. He bought a homesite
cleared by hand nine acres of
in what then was a tent city near
land on the Kenai Peninsula in
Anchorage, and lived on the same
location until his most recen t
Alaska, hauling topsoil for his
trip "outside"
g a r d e n on a yoke on his
"The winters in Alaska arc toe
shoulders.
long", he said. He added that
HONEST DIRT
nights in Alaska are already coLd
The Anchorage paper quoted
•and that "I feel b etter already*
him as saying, ’’Don’t be- afraid
lince arriving in Oregon.
of blisters and getting honest_
He was born along, the Pilco-
mavo river in Argentina, the sor
of a Swiss mother and a Germai
father, who him self had beenborr
in Montreal, Canada. "My family
traveled much", he explained,
"and maybe that’s way I have a
wander lust, to o ."
In addition, he had the home
stead on the peninsula, and for
w ith
S U R P R IS E
112 years he reached it oy rowing
across the swift waters of " tre
acherous Tun again Arm, and
down the twisted ebb and flow of
Cook in let," according to the
Alaska paper.
I He also was a fisherman for
p tim e, and recalls one day when
36,000 salmon were caught in a
handtrap.
ENGINEER VISITS
Paul Corak, engineer from the
Soil Conservation Service area
bffice in Grants Pass spent July
31 working with D o n a ld C.
Greeves of the local office in
Gold Beach. A number of drain
age and irrigation projects intht
Wedderburn, Langlois and Floras
Creek areas were checked dur
ing this visit.
■at, «kA.«
THE
club.
******************
B esser lived in Medford for
ibout two or three years, s ta r t
ing about 1910. He helped clear
land for fruit ranches during the
time of the arrival of "colonists
and later heloed build some oi
the first s*d«-walks in Medford.
ROWS TO HOMESTEAD
OLYM PIA
♦ “I T S
MCKENZIE WORKS OVER
LIBRARY I AWN
Tom McKenzie, local sand and
gravel man, and a member of the
Brookings Library board work
ed over the Library lawn this
Sunday, to prepare it for aland-
scaping job that the Azalea G ar
den club will arrange
in th e
near future as a project of the
Besser has been called >u.
"Alaska pioneer" by the Anchor
age Daily Times, which record
ed his advantures since arriving
in Alaska in 1914 when he left
there recently.
BORN IN ARGENTINA
W ATER
THAT
MAKEb
it
II
so
r e f r e s h in g
CARLES
Boon will take basic at Ft. Ord
Calif, and then will return home
on leave before reporting to his
next station for a course in con
struction equipment operation.
Halves--Wh«le or Shank
COME ON IN — AND L E T ’S GET ACQUAINTED!
Pork
S te a k s
39<
Milan J . Boon, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Howard Boon, box 98,
Brookings, has enlisted in the
U.S. Army Engineers under the
'»Reserved for You" program for
high school graduates, accord
ing to SFC Richard L. Johnson
of the Coos Bay Army R ecruit
ing Station.
pen in g
AT
GROUND BEEF
ENLISTS IN ARMY
WE ’RE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF A
NEW MEAT MARKET AND LOCKER PLANT HERE!
RANP
PURE
Hap Lewis was really surprisec
when a group of friends, and his
woods crew held a surprise b irth
day party in his honor Saturday
night at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Ernie Barnes.
About 26 were in attendance at
the party-, and Hap was presented
a custom made bow, quiver, and
a dozen arrow s.
*****************
59
OD AMS
63*
LB.
WE STRESS
PLENTY OF
LOCKERS AVAILABLE
In the near future
CARLE'S Quality Market & Lockers
hours
9:00 A.M.
to
8:00 P.M .
NORTH BROOKINGS