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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2017)
COFFEE BREAK Saturday, November 25, 2017 East Oregonian Page 5C OUT OF THE VAULT Body found in Columbia defies identification T wo Eastern Oregon men stopping at the Columbia River near Wallula in November 1923 to refill the radiator of their car discovered a skeleton with a fractured skull in the river, weighted down with rocks. Clarence A. Gibbs and John Fehlen found the skeleton Nov. 4, 1923, in a back eddy about 15 miles east of Umatilla, between a rock and an old log that was partially buried in the sand. Rocks were piled on the body, and the action of the water had worn away most of the flesh. Even the clothing was mostly gone. A fracture on the left side of the skull, a broken jaw and several missing teeth pointed to death by violent means. Umatilla County Sheriff Zoeth Houser and county coroner J.T. Brown recovered the remains and what was left of the clothing. The body had been dressed in men’s outer clothing, including a mackinaw, blue vest and overalls, but the undergarments found led them to believe the deceased was a woman. The coroner determined the body had been in the water at least six months, and possibly as many as 10. The Umatilla County district attorney received information that a man and a woman appeared in May 1923 at a house near where the body was found and asked for food. A hobo camp had existed a short distance up the river from the crime scene at the time the couple was seen in the area. A Baker-area couple, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Rogers, heard about the discovery and thought maybe it was their daughter, Edna Pitman, whom they had not heard from in months. Edna and her husband, Elgin Pitman, had lived near Echo for a time before disappearing. The Rogerses gave the coroner some identifying characteristics to look for on the skeleton, including curved finger and toe bones, a nicked tooth and a scar on the shin bone from an accident with an axe, all of which were confirmed by the coroner upon examination of the skeletal remains. Edna’s parents said they did not like their son-in-law, and rumors were that he bragged about reuniting with her after a short separation so that he could kill her. Law enforcement immediately began a search for Elgin Pitman. Meanwhile, on Nov. 19, the sheriff’s office received information about another possible identity for the body: Josephine Covak, who had gone missing April 6 from her home in Portland. An O.-W. R & N. railroad employee identified Covak from a photo as the woman he saw in the company of a man along the railroad tracks near the crime scene in April or May of that year. The man was later seen alone along the same stretch of tracks, and was warned off by railroad employees. On December 10, Umatilla County deputy sheriff T.B. Buffington received information that Edna Pitman had been found alive and well in Los Angeles. Photos of Edna and Elgin Pitman were sent to the sheriff’s office, and former neighbors of the Pitmans in Echo positively identified the couple. The Pitmans had moved from Echo to Burley, Idaho, and from there to Flagstaff, Arizona, before settling in Los Angeles, and were the parents of a baby girl. The photos of the Pitmans were mailed to Edna’s parents as proof their daughter was still alive. The remains, still unidentified, were ordered interred by the coroner. ■ Renee Struthers is the Community Records Editor for the East Oregonian. See the complete collection of Out of the Vault columns at eovault.blogspot.com DEAR ABBY Opposing parenting styles are cause of family fracture Dear Abby: My husband’s It would be like me sending her sister “Cassie” and I got along a grass-fed steak and a wheel of well until we had kids. Our Brie. How should I respond? — children are months apart in Different Medical Beliefs age, and parenting has brought Dear D.M.B.: Don’t over- out the differences in our beliefs react. Write Cassie a sweet in a way that has made it hard note thanking her for her for us to get along. “thoughtfulness” and give the unwanted gift to someone who I’m a proponent of Western Jeanne medicine. My kids are vacci- Phillips might use it or toss it. Do NOT let this degenerate into another nated. We take them to the Advice argument. And let’s hope that doctor, give them antibiotics her children continue to enjoy when their doctor prescribes good health. them and emphasize a balanced diet. Dear Abby: I am mature for being Cassie is a proponent of alternative medicine. She doesn’t vaccinate her 16. However, I have a few quirks that I kids, keeps a vegan house and uses prefer not to tell anyone about because homeopathic remedies and meditation when I do, most of the feedback I get is to combat illness. This difference has negative. First, I don’t like watching PG-13 resulted in heated arguments about what’s best for kids, and we have not movies, so my favorite TV shows and movies are for kids. My mom and sister been able to “agree to disagree.” Recently she sent me a large, and keep telling me how dumb and stupid probably expensive, set of herbal reme- it is and that they’re surprised I don’t dies as a “gift.” If it were from someone watch things “more my age.” I don’t else, I’d thank her and give the set to call their shows stupid. I hate telling someone who would use it. But in light people my favorite TV shows because of our ongoing “debates,” this feels like of the kind of reaction I get from the a passive-aggressive dig at my values. people close to me. Second, I LOVE stuffed animals. Last time I counted, I had around 60. All of them have value to me and make me happy. Is there something wrong with having that many? One of my sister’s famous quotes is, “How come you have them if you don’t use them?” Occasionally she has tried to take stuff from me because of her “philosophy.” Is there something wrong with me? Or should I ignore the nasty comments? — Kid At Heart In The Midwest Dear Kid At Heart: There is no accounting for taste. Many adults still read the funnies. I know this for certain because I am one of them. We ALL have our quirks, and that includes your mother and your sister. Yours harm no one, and if they bring you pleasure, I see no reason not to indulge yourself. Your mom and sister may be teasing you, so stop rising to the bait. P.S. Your sister may think your stuffed animal collection is juvenile, but she shouldn’t be taking them without your permission because that’s stealing, and stealing IS a serious problem. DAYS GONE BY 100 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Nov. 25-26, 1917 As a result of new instructions received from the department of the interior relative to the leasing of Indian lands on the Umatilla reservation, there is a noticeable agitation among some of the white renters and a petition of protest is being circulated in an effort to change the new rulings. Under the instructions received last week by Supt. Swarzlander, hereafter all Indian lands up for lease will be advertised and sealed bids will be received. The man who holds the old lease will be given the privilege of meeting the high bid if he desires to retain the land. The new ruling is believed to have resulted directly from the recent investigations conducted here by H.G. Wilson of the Indian bureau and M.L. Dorr, inspector for the department of the interior. Dorr in particular made a sweeping investi- gation and is said to have hinted that he would recommend a change in the ruling so that it would be impossible for some farmers to get superior land for half as much rental as other farmers pay for land of less value, a condition said to prevail now. Also it is said that he ascertained that a number of farmers are holding more land on the reservation than the regulations permit. 50 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Nov. 25-26, 1967 The Bureau of Land Management sold 22 of its 26 tracts of raw, sagebrush land in a public auction in Boardman Friday that grossed nearly half a million dollars. The sale drew widespread interest in the Pacific Northwest because of the irrigation potential from the Columbia River. More than 500 persons jammed into the Grange Hall to witness the selling of the tracts that ranged from 120 to 654 acres. The sale brought an average of approximately $48 per acre. Most spirited bidding was on a section with an appraised value of $31,600, that went for $40,200 to Oscar Peterson, Morrow County rancher and former county judge. There was no evidence of large corporation farmers, or combines of irrigation-minded spec- ulators at the sale. 25 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Nov. 25-26, 1992 In her senior season, University of Washington guard Laura Moore is determined to do more to help her team — and her own image. She misses the days when opponents were in awe of playing the Huskies, a feeling that was missing last year when Washington slumped to a 9-9 Pac-10 record. She also continues to disdain the label of being “only a shooter.” “I haven’t been the player I’ve wanted to be since I’ve been here,” the 5-foot-9-inch Pendleton product said at a media gathering recently to launch the Husky women’s season. “It hasn’t been the coach, it hasn’t been the team. It’s been me pretty much holding myself back. I’m going to change that this year.” ODDS & ENDS Newborn, mother, grandmother all share same birthday PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey family won’t have trouble remem- bering three generations of birthdays. A newborn, his mother and grandmother were all born on Nov. 19. Grandmother Clara Gregory said she had a feeling her grandson was going to be born on Nov. 19, even though the baby wasn’t due until Christmas. Theresa Dunn gave birth to Micah Lee Dunn at a Princeton hospital Sunday afternoon. Dunn, of Lawrence, was admitted to the hospital Thursday night and doctors attempted to induce labor. Dunn said her husband kept saying the baby would be born on her and her moth- er’s birthday. “I finally came to the realization Saturday night that he could really be born on our birthday,” she told NJ.com . Dunn said she was previously diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure in pregnant women. She said doctors were hoping to get closer to her expected due date before inducing labor. Micah is several weeks early but is “doing amazing,” Dunn said. Dunn turned 31 on Sunday and her mother celebrated her 67th birthday. B I N G O $ 1,000 WILL GO! 60 63 59 15 47 67 71 56 SATURDAY EVENING $ 5.00 BUY-IN (6 ON - 5 UP) DOUBLE PAY PACKS www.bingoblvd.com 6222 W. John Day • Kennewick, WA 99336 509-783-2416 • 1-800-890-6485 “Caution: Participation in gambling activity may result in pathological gambling behavior causing emotional and fi nancial harm.” For help, call 1-800-547-6133 29 44 39 20 17 41 16 32 d r a v e l u Bo 7 4 1 8 Mon & Thurs: 10:30 & 12:30 Fri.-Sun. 10:30, 12:30, 6:30, 9:30 12:30 & 6:30 SESSIONS Pull-Tabs and Snackbar Minimum 10 years old with parent or guardian. THIS DAY IN HISTORY Today is the 329th day of 2017. There are 36 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 25, 2016, Fidel Castro, who led his rebels to victorious revolution in 1959, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half-century of rule in Cuba, died at age 90. On this date: In 1783, the British evac- uated New York during the Revolutionary War. In 1864, during the Civil War, Confederate agents set a series of arson fires in New York; the blazes were quickly extinguished. In 1915, a new version of the Ku Klux Klan, targeting blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants, was founded by William Joseph Simmons. In 1920, radio station WTAW of College Station, Texas, broadcast the first play-by-play description of a football game, between Texas University and the Agricul- tural and Mechanical College of Texas. (Texas won, 7-3.) In 1947, movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the “Hollywood Ten” who’d been cited for contempt of Congress the day before. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke. In 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery; his widow, Jacqueline, lighted an “eternal flame” at the gravesite. In 1974, former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant died in New York at age 65. In 1987, Harold Wash- ington, the first black mayor of Chicago, died in office at age 65. In 1992, the movie “The Bodyguard,” starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, was released by Warner Bros. In 1999, Elian Gonzalez, a 5-year-old Cuban boy, was rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida, setting off an inter- national custody battle. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head. In 2007: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile to an ecstatic welcome from thousands of supporters and immediately stepped up the pressure on U.S.- backed military ruler Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule. Kevin Dubrow, lead singer for the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead in his Las Vegas home; he was 52. Actor Neil Hope died in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada at age 35. In 2012: YouTube announced that “Gangnam Style” by South Korean rapper PSY had become the site’s most viewed video to that time, with more than 805 million viewings. Today’s Birthdays: Play- wright Murray Schisgal is 91. Actress Kathryn Crosby is 84. Actor Christopher Riordan is 80. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is 77. Singer Bob Lind is 75. Author, actor and economist Ben Stein is 73. Actor John Larroquette is 70. Actor Tracey Walter is 70. Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 70. Author Char- laine Harris is 66. Retired MLB All-Star Bucky Dent is 66. Dance judge Bruno Tonioli (TV: “Dancing with the Stars”) is 62. Singer Amy Grant is 57. Former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar is 54. Rock musician Eric Grossman (K’s Choice) is 53. Rock singer Mark Lanegan is 53. Rock singer-musician Tim Armstrong is 52. Actor Steve Harris is 52. Actor Billy Burke is 51. Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 51. Rock musician Rodney Sheppard (Sugar Ray) is 51. Rapper-producer Erick Sermon is 49. Actress Jill Hennessy is 48. Actress Christina Applegate is 46. Actor Eddie Steeples is 44. Actress Kristian Nairn is 42. Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb is 41. Actress Jill Flint is 40. Actor Jerry Ferrara is 38. Actor Joel Kinnaman is 38. Actress Valerie Azlynn is 37. Former first daughter Barbara Pierce Bush is 36. Former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager is 36. Actress Katie Cassidy is 31. Neo-soul musician Ben Griner (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 27. Contemporary Christian singer Jamie Grace is 26. Thought for Today: “Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.” — Henry van Dyke, American clergyman (1852-1933). • Homes • Farms • Commercial • Build to Suit For listings, visit www.universalrealtyhermiston.com Serving the world of Real Estate since 1964 541-567-8303 • 1-800-282-9075 universalrealty@eotnet.net 985 N. First St., Hermiston, OR 97838 Exceptional Singlewide located in Umatilla with a view of the Columbia River 14 x 70, 1991 Marlette has an approximate 400 sq. ft. addition, large covered carport & front covered patio. A great buy at $25,000 . Located in Park with space rent presently $315. Buyer must qualify for Park. Contact C. Holt Quality Homes, 541-567-8249 for your personal showing.