NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, November 4, 2021
The towns that drowned
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Bob Reinhardt’s
master’s thesis is growing into a full-fledged
endeavor that he said will take years to
complete.
Probably until he retires.
“It’s a long-term project,” he said.
It’s also a project that involves a Baker
County village that disappeared.
Reinhardt’s work started 15 years ago
at the University of Oregon when he began
researching the old town of Detroit, along the
North Santiam River in the Cascade foothills
east of Salem.
Detroit disappeared beneath its namesake
reservoir after a dam was built in the early
1950s.
While studying the history of Detroit,
Reinhardt discovered more towns that had
the same fate — including Robinette, at the
eastern edge of Baker County.
“I had advisors who said there are dozens
of these places in the American West,” he said.
Reinhardt learned more about the topic
during a stint as executive director at the
Willamette Heritage Center in Salem.
“It gave me the opportunity to return to the
topic,” he said.
He’s now in his fifth year at Boise State
University, where he is an associate professor
in the department of history. He has named
his project “The Atlas of Drowned Towns.”
In 2020, he received a “digital project for
public” discovery grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities to help
“recover and interpret the history of these
towns that were displaced or disappeared,”
he said.
The list includes Robinette, which was on
the banks of the Snake River east of Richland.
Robinette, named for James Robinette,
who settled in the area in 1887, had its post
Diane Carrithers, right, and her mother, who
ran the post office and store at Robinette.
office established in 1909.
The town, which had a population of 25 to
30 for much of its history, was abandoned in
1957 as construction neared completion on
Brownlee Dam on the Snake.
Brownlee Reservoir inundated the site of
Robinette in 1958.
Reinhardt is coming to Baker City on
Tuesday, Nov. 9, to talk about his project and
collect stories about Robinette from local resi-
dents.
The event is part of a new lecture series
that will be held on the second Tuesday of
each month at the Baker Heritage Museum,
2480 Grove St.
His talk starts at 6 p.m. in the upstairs ball-
room.
“I’m hoping a lot of people show up who
want to share memories,” he said.
He’ll also have a question-and-answer
session to see what local residents would like
to see in this project.
Drowned towns
Although some instances of drowned towns
date back to the 1920s, Reinhardt said most
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Showers this
morning
Cloudy, a shower
in the p.m.
A couple of
showers
Partly sunny,
breezy and cool
Cool with some
sun
60° 42°
54° 42°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
57° 35°
Photos by Pete Basche/Baker County Library Historic Photo Collection
A view of Robinette looking south up the Snake River. The town at the eastern edge of Baker
County was inundated by Brownlee Reservoir in 1958.
occurred during 1950s, ’60s and ’70s when
many dams were built across the Northwest.
Some, like Detroit, were moved to higher
ground nearby.
But others, like Robinette, just disap-
peared.
Well, almost.
Some of the buildings from Robinette were
moved to Richland or Halfway, and still stand.
Reinhardt’s goal is to preserve the oral
histories of these towns.
“To capture the stories of people who lived
in these places,” he said.
He plans to hold a “history jamboree” in the
future to collect stories and document artifacts
tied to the drowned towns. He said graduate
students will help with this field work.
During his research, Reinhardt said he’s
Elgin man facing charges
in killing dog, assaulting
Union County deputies
52° 45°
51° 36°
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
61° 39°
57° 39°
60° 36°
50° 43°
56° 34°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
57/47
54/37
57/35
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
59/42
Lewiston
56/48
63/41
Astoria
57/46
Pullman
Yakima 57/40
56/45
60/41
Portland
Hermiston
59/49
The Dalles 61/39
Salem
Corvallis
56/45
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
58/40
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
57/46
51/42
56/39
Ontario
64/38
Caldwell
Burns
51°
46°
57°
35°
72° (1945) 0° (1935)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
55/46
Trace
0.06"
0.10"
3.98"
2.29"
6.57"
WINDS (in mph)
64/39
57/30
0.00"
0.05"
0.13"
6.08"
9.83"
10.45"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 56/35
58/48
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
60/42
58/41
46°
42°
56°
36°
76° (1975) 10° (1935)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
58/45
Aberdeen
53/37
52/38
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
58/48
Today
Fri.
Boardman
SW 12-25
Pendleton WSW 12-25
Medford
58/41
SW 6-12
WSW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
51/30
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:39 a.m.
5:37 p.m.
7:16 a.m.
5:44 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
Nov 4
Nov 11
Nov 19
Nov 27
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 93° in San Bernardino, Calif. Low 10° in Heart Butte Dam, N.D.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
been surprised at “how little vocal resistance
there was” to the building of dams and subse-
quent reservoirs.
“It’s a really traumatic event — the abso-
lute destruction of a place they’ve come to
call home,” he said. “It’s a really interesting
and sad puzzle — how did people come to
accept that?”
Right now he’s working on an inventory
of drowned towns, starting with the Snake
River.
“It’s been a real process of discovery and
enlightenment for me,” he said.
He has a map posted on the website
drownedtowns.com.
The website also has a place where
people can send a note with information
about a drowned town.
ELGIN — An Elgin man
facing charges for killing his
dog and assaulting Union
County sheriff’s deputies is
back in jail.
Deputies picked up Paul
Kevin Sanders, 53, on Satur-
day, Oct. 30, on a warrant
for missing his arraign-
ment on Oct. 26. The arrest
went down without inci-
dent, according to the decla-
rations sheriff’s Cpl. Luke
Stonebreaker and reserve
deputy Brad Bell filed
in Union County Circuit
Court, which was an about
face from when the sheriff’s
office arrested Sanders on
Sept. 14 following a grue-
some finding.
Sheriff Cody Bowen
said Sanders had killed his
dog and set fire to the dead
animal.
Sheriff ’s Sgt. Travis
Schaad documented the
arrest in a probable cause
declaration he filed with the
circuit court on Sept. 15.
According to the decla-
ration, Schaad, two days
earlier, responded to Sand-
ers’ home on the 300 block
of North 15th Street, Elgin.
Sanders was suffering
mental health issues, and
the sheriff’s office received
a report he killed his dog.
Schaad reported a state
trooper also responded to
the home and saw some-
one dash into bushes, but
a search did not turn up
Sanders. But according to
the document, Shadd and
others did smell “what I
believed to be burning hair
and f lesh.” And a relative
of Sanders stated he called
her and said he had slit his
dog’s throat and burned the
animal as a sacrifice.
Law enforcement also
heard from an adjacent prop-
erty owner, who reported
that at about 4:30 p.m.
that day he heard a dog in
distress and realized the
sounds came from Sanders’
property.
Schaad on Sept. 14
heard Sanders was driving
around in his pickup, so he
waited for Sanders at his
home. There, the sergeant
detained Sanders, accord-
ing to the declaration, and
Sanders “admitted to killing
and burning his dog because
Abraham told him to sacri-
fice it instead of his son.”
Sanders gave Schaad
permission to enter the
backyard and examine the
remains of what appeared to
be the dog.
From there, Schaad took
Sanders for a psychiatric
evaluation. He admitted to
using marijuana and meth-
amphetamine within the
past 24 hours, according to
the document, so the Center
for Human Development,
which provides mental
health care in Union County,
would not hold Sanders.
Schaad took Sanders to the
county jail for aggravated
animal abuse.
At the jail, Sanders
refused to enter a cell,
the document stated, and
claimed he was unlawfully
arrested.
“I told him again why
he had been arrested and
escorted him to the detox
cell,” Schaad reported.
But Sanders shoved his
way out of the cell, per the
declaration, and str uck
deputy Mary Tambini in
the upper lip and nose,
and deputy Kevin Bull-
ock received a superficial
scratch on his arm. State
records show Tambini
graduated from the Oregon
Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training in
June, and the sheriff’s office
hired Bullock on Aug. 1.
Schaad also reported
Sanders went after him,
g rabbi ng h is gen it als
through his trousers and
causing temporary pain.
Sanders stayed in the jail
only about a day. He signed
a jail release agreement on
Sept. 15 stating he would
show up for court. Sand-
ers also was to “remain
engaged” with mental health
services with the Center for
Human Development and he
was not allowed to possess
or care for animals.
The district attorney’s
office in court filings stated
Sanders failed to live up to
the deal because he was not
engaged with CHD. The
court on Oct. 26 issued an
arrest warrant for Sand-
ers. And deputy Bell in his
declaration noted Sanders
had a dog in his vehicle at
the time of his arrest Oct. 30
and said it was his.
The cour t appointed
Rick Dall as Sanders’ public
defender. Dall said because
the case was pending, he
was not able to discuss
the case or his client but is
working to resolve it “fairly
quickly.”
The district attorney’s
office arraigned Sanders on
Nov. 1 on charges of first-de-
gree aggravated animal
abuse, assaulting a public
safety officer and attempted
assault of a public safety
officer. The third charge is a
misdemeanor, but others are
Class C felonies. The court
set Nov. 22 as the date for
Sanders to enter a plea.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals
postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely
regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
ADVERTISING
Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group:
• Karrine Brogoitti
541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
80s
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Multimedia Consultants:
541-564-4531
Local home
delivery
Savings
(cover price)
$10.75/month
50 percent
541-966-0827 mbarnes@eastoregonina.com
52 weeks
$135
42 percent
• Audra Workman
26 weeks
$71
39 percent
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
$37
36 percent
Business Office
EZPay
13 weeks
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
• Melissa Barnes
• Dayle Stinson
541-966-0824 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
Classified & Legal Advertising
Classified advertising: 541-564-4538
Legal advertising: 541-966-0824
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Rachael Plunkett
at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rplunkett@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips,
email sports@eastoregonian.com.
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Commercial Print Manager: Holly Rouska
541-617-7839 • hrouska@eomediagroup.com