NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, June 2, 2022
Oregon Trail exhibit opens at Baker Heritage Museum
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Kim Orr
picked up the magnet labeled “pick-
les,” hesitates, then sat it back in
the basket.
Instead, she chose the one
labeled “rice.”
“You don’t like rice, but we need
it,” she said, securing it onto the
display board.
Then she chose another magnet.
“Piano! Yes!”
“You don’t even play the piano,”
said Randy Yawn, sorting through
the remaining magnets.
These two, who live in the
Willamette Valley and spent
Memorial Day weekend in Baker
County, pretended to “pack the
wagon” while exploring the new
Oregon Trail exhibit at the Baker
Heritage Museum, 2480 Grove St.,
Baker City.
The display was created by the
Bureau of Land Management’s
National Historic Oregon Trail
Interpretive Center, which is leas-
ing space inside the museum while
the center, about 5 miles east of
Baker city, is closed for renova-
tions for the next two years or so to
improve its energy efficiency.
The Interpretive Center exhibit
is in the Heritage Museum’s Leo
Adler Room, and a full-size wagon
is in the second-floor ballroom.
“The main priority is to stay
relevant in the community while
we’re closed,” said Sarah Sherman,
NHOTIC project manager.
A grand opening of the new
exhibits is set for Friday, June 3,
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Visitors on Saturday, May 29, 2022, explore the new Oregon Trail exhibit at the Baker Heritage Museum, Baker City.
About the renovation
NHOTIC is planning special
programs and performances this
summer at Geiser-Pollman Park,
just west of the museum across
Grove Street.
The $6.5 million renovation of
the Interpretive Center includes
new cement board siding, insula-
tion, roofing, windows and doors,
along with a new heating and cool-
ing system.
Although the main road to the
top of the hill is closed during the
renovation, the Oregon Trail Ruts
Access on Highway 86 will remain
open to the public.
For more information and to
learn more about the Oregon Trail,
visit oregontrail.blm.gov or call
541-523-1843.
from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. as part of First
Friday activities, with free admis-
sion, costumed interpreters and
light refreshments.
“We appreciate the county’s
willingness to provide a venue for
us to continue to tell the story of
the Oregon Trail, the settlement of
Eastern Oregon, and the history of
the Bureau of Land Management
while we update the center for the
next 30 years,” Wayne Monger,
Vale District manager, said in a
BLM press release.
In addition to the display,
Explore the trail
The exhibit begins with an intro-
duction to the Oregon Trail, includ-
ing the chance to pack a wagon
with supplies for two adults and
two children during the journey. A
basket is full of magnets marked
with items and the corresponding
weight, and visitors can choose up
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Partly sunny;
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8.66"
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6.90"
through 3 p.m. yest.
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Pendleton 70/46
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The story then winds through
trail preservation efforts by the
Bureau of Land Management,
including the building of the Inter-
pretive Center, which opened
May 23, 1992.
Other information in the exhibit
details the Baker County Culture
and Heritage Passport, which
encourages everyone to visit partic-
ipating locations in Baker County
and obtain a special stamp in the
provided passports.
Locations are the Baker Heritage
Museum, Adler House Museum,
Crossroads Carnegie Art Center,
Sumpter Valley Railroad, Sumpter
Valley Dredge, Sumpter Municipal
Museum, Eastern Oregon Museum
in Haines, Huntington Historical
Museum and Pine Valley Museum
in Halfway.
Baker Heritage Museum is open
Mondays through Saturdays from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from
noon to 4 p.m.
30s
snow
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ice
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E AST O REGONIAN
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90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
Former gamer aims to shake
up John Day as city manager
good enough at games such
as Overwatch and Team
Fortress that he helped form
JOHN DAY — Corum an e-sports team.
Ketchum graduated from his
“We never really made
master’s program and less any money,” he said. “I’d say
than a year later runs a city.
we earned pizza money. If we
The John Day City Coun- placed low on a tournament,
cil appointed Ketchum as an we’d get paid like 100 bucks
interim city manager May 10. as a team, and then I’d divvy
The appointment is on a trial that six ways. We’d get like,
basis: Should Ketchum and 10, 15 bucks.”
the council remain satisfied
As Ketchum wrapped up
with the arrangement, he’ll be his master’s degree in 2021,
made the permanent CEO in University of Oregon was
six months.
looking to start its
Ketchum manages
own official e-sports
a 14-person staff in a
team and for some-
town of about 1,600
one to manage it.
people.
He didn’t get the job
For a 29-year-old
after applying, but
who once consid-
a university admin-
ered a career as a pro
istrator encouraged
gamer, the sudden
Ketchum
him to think bigger.
upsw i ng i n h is
It was around this
career wasn’t expected. But time Ketchum read a John
Ketchum said he’s ready for Day investment plan that
the job.
was focused on a project to
He attended the Univer- build a water reclamation
sity of Oregon as an under- facility that would repurpose
graduate so he could become the city’s wastewater for other
a public planner. His career uses, including agriculture.
outlook changed after he
John Day was looking for
joined Americorps’ Rural a community development
Assistance for Rural Envi- director and Ketchum felt like
ronments program. He spent it was a good match for him
two years in Veneta, a town of based on his work in Veneta.
5,000 people west of Eugene,
“It seemed like a really
working with the city admin- natural fit for my skill set and
istrator on economic develop- who I really am, and more or
ment projects.
less a calling for me to come
Ketchum learned to enjoy out here and fill that gap,” he
working in a smaller commu- said.
nity, where trying to get
Ketchum grew up in
things done wasn’t as difficult Eugene but he has family ties
as it was in larger and more to Grant County. His grandfa-
“calcified” cities.
ther was a ranger for the U.S.
“The bureaucracy is Forest Service and worked in
always much thicker, where the Prairie City district.
if you spend time in a rural
During that time, his
community, you get to meet grandmother taught at Grant
the couple dozen people Union High School and his
who are really excited about father learned to swim at the
investing in their place,” he pool in John Day. His grand-
father eventually transferred
said.
He returned to the Univer- to a different district, but
sity of Oregon to get his Ketchum said he still has
master’s in public admin- family in Eastern Oregon.
In March, Ketchum
istration with the intent of
seeking a leadership role, but started work under City
another passion almost took Manager Nick Green, who
him down another path.
built a reputation on introduc-
Ketchum grew up play- ing novel ideas to John Day,
ing video games and was such as building 3-D printed
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
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houses and the water recla-
mation project.
Ketchum wanted to absorb
as much knowledge from
Green as possible because
Green was planning his
exit. Ketchum had only been
working for the city a few
months when Green told him
the city could spend thou-
sands of dollars on a search
firm, but he had a feeling they
wouldn’t find a better candi-
date than Ketchum. The city
council agreed and gave
Ketchum the top job.
As the city manager,
Ketchum said he wants to
continue Green’s initiatives,
while also offering more
“short-term wins” for John
Day, including more commu-
nity events, downtown
investments and outdoor
trails.
Housing also is a concern
for Ketchum. Although Grant
County was the only county
in the state to lose population
in the 2020 Census, Ketchum
said John Day has a less than
1% vacancy rate in its hous-
ing market.
Anticipating growth
fueled by Boise to the
east and Bend to the west,
Ketchum said the city is
working toward making more
of its land developable for
future housing. After decades
of stagnancy, Ketchum said
40 houses will be built this
summer and another 70 in
the fall.
Ketchum only brought a
few years of experience to
the job by the time he became
city manager, and he’s now
a part of a profession where
most of his peers are 40 and
over. But Ketchum said his
youth is a good match for the
town.
“I think my youth is a real
asset,” he said. “My demo-
graphic is the exact kind of
person that we want to be
seeing more of out here in
John Day. People my age
going into their 40s, the prime
earners, the people that have
families, the people that start
businesses and are really in the
rocket years as professionals.”
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“Do your math carefully,” the
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The display continues with
“Across the Wide Prairie,” which
details why emigrants came west,
as well as who embarked on the
trail.
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tures and obstacles the pioneers
encountered, the displacement of
Native Americans, and early pres-
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