A9
WEDNESDAY
June 26, 2019
Steve Tool/Chieftain
RUN TO DAYLIGHT — Wallowa High School graduate, Gus Ramsden, leaves West-side players eating his dust on a 50-yard run during the opening series of play during the East-West
Eight-Man All-Star football game played at Eastern Oregon University on Saturday, June 22. The East won the game 48-44.
East shows west how character, winning is done
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Jim Morrison and the Doors
may have thought the west is the
best, but that statement doesn’t
ring true for the 1A eight-man
all-star football game, where the
East team prevailed in a 48-44
heart-stopper of a victory. The
battle played out on the artifi -
cial turf of the Eastern Oregon
University football fi eld in La
Grande.
West-side fans and players
marred what should have been
a friendly rivalry between the
two squads. The West players
received at least two penalties for
unsportsmanlike conduct while
their fans also received two sim-
ilar penalties at a crucial point in
the game, which may have cost
the squad a victory.
The East won the opening coin
toss and elected to kick. An onside
kick netted a West-side fumble
that the East recovered. Quarter-
back Gus Ramsden of Wallowa
High School scored on two con-
secutive quarterback keepers.
The West roared right back
with a score of their own although
the East returned the favor
moments later. The fi rst quar-
ter ended with the West up by a
24-20 score due to its successful
two-point conversions. The sec- the offi cials. This resulted in a
Ramsden went on to win the
ond quarter saw less explosive crowd penalty that did not stop Most Valuable Player award
play and no scoring.
West-side fans. They continued overall while Brockamp took
The second half opened with their behavior and were assessed away the Most Valuable Defen-
the East side scoring twice, con- another penalty that resulted in a sive Player award for his squad.
verting one PAT opportunity. The 4th down and 52 yards to go after
Ramsden completed 17 of 33
quarter ended with the East-side all was said and done. The West- passes for 212 yards and rushed
up 34-24.
side offense went down with- for 200 more. The offense racked
The fourth quarter opened out so much as a whimper while up 583 total yards. Defensively,
with another East-side score with the East took control of the ball the squad recovered a fumble
a touchdown but no PAT, for their and the victory in the remaining and intercepted one pass.
biggest lead of the game, 40-24. seconds.
While the east-side played
However, the West scored twice
East-side coach Matt Brock- heads-up football and comported
as the East-side offense momen- amp, also the Wallowa High themselves in a dignifi ed man-
tarily sputtered, though they School coach, said he was proud ner, the squad received at least
returned for a fi nal score and the of the way his team played and a half-dozen offensive off-sides
PAT conversion with only min- noted that each of his four Wal- penalties that stalled a drive on
utes remaining.
more than one occa-
The West-side
sion. Nonetheless,
got back on their
the team comported
‘IT WAS REALLY ONE OF THE MOST
horse for another
themselves
well,
FUN FOOTBALL GAMES I’VE EVER
score although the
particularly in the
East intercepted the
face of the lack of
BEEN PART OF. IT WAS A BLAST.’
attempted PAT. With
sportsmanship dis-
Coach Matt Brockamp
less than two min-
played by the West-
utes remaining, the
side and their fans.
East had a chance
Coach
Matt
to run out the clock but ended up lowa County players put in stel- Brockamp enjoyed the contest.
giving the ball back to the West- lar efforts. Gus Ramsden of WHS
“It was really one of the most
side. It was at this juncture that played quarterback while his fun football games I’ve ever
West-team fans decided to join WHS teammates, Austin Brock- been part of,” he said. “It was a
their players in less-than-exem- amp and Michael Diggins spar- blast.” He added that the team
plary conduct.
kled on defense and at center, had only fi ve days to practice
After an intentional ground- respectively. Cory Aschenbren- together before the battle.
ing call against their quarterback, ner of Enterprise High School
Noting the behavior of the
the West crowd resorted to jeer- played key roles on both offense West-side fans, Brockamp said,
ing and personal remarks about and defense.
“They come from a little dif-
ferent world, I guess. We talk
about character every day when
I coach, and I was proud of our
kids. They played with some
poise and did a good job. I’m
proud of them.” He noted the
play of his Wallowa County
players.
Austin Brockamp, his son:
“I was proud of him for getting
selected Defensive Player of the
Game. He played physical foot-
ball and made a couple of really
strong tackles.”
Michael Diggins: “He played
center the entire game, and he
was so solid. I think there was
only one snap that he was a lit-
tle off.”
Coy Aschenbrenner: “He
played a really good football
game too. He was the fi rst Enter-
prise player to play in this all-
star game. He made good plays
on both offense and defense.”
Gus Ramsden. “He played a
great football game. He had 14
carries for more than 200 yards
rushing. He threw for three
touchdowns and ran for a couple
of others.”
When told that his play-
ers looked like they’d played
together all their lives, Coach
Brockamp said. “We had some
really good athletes. It’s called
the all-star game for a reason.”
Nespelem Rodeo recalls Jackson Sundown
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregon Historical Society
Jackson Sundown, full blood
Nez Perce Indian, winner World’s
Champion Cowboy, The Round-Up,
Pendleton, Ore.
2011
BUICK
Walama Notes: Nespelem
Rodeo recalls Jackson Sundown’s
legacy.
In Wallowa County, we have
Chief Joseph Days, the best rodeo
in the West, the last full weekend
in July. The descendants of Chief
Joseph put on their rodeo two
weeks earlier. The Wallowa Band
Nez Perce, or walama, was exiled
to Nespelem Washington after the
confl ict of 1877. Now they hold
their annual rodeo, the Nespelem
Celebration Rodeo, on the sec-
ond weekend of July, with time
2011
FORD
to travel to their homeland in time
for the Tamkaliks celebration and
Chief Joseph Days.
Some events at the Nespelem
Celebration on July 13 and 14 are
traditional rodeo action: saddle
bronc, bareback, calf roping, bull
riding, and barrel racing. Others,
including the wild colt race, mane
hold race, and horse race, are more
traditionally Indian rodeo events.
Some of rodeo’s greatest names
belong to the Wallowa Band
Nez Perce. The legendary Jack-
son Sundown was the fi rst Native
American to win the World Sad-
dle Bronc Championship at the
1916 Pendleton Roundup. What
2012
FORD
is less known about Sundown is
that he was a member of Chief
Joseph’s band, named Waaya-To-
nah-Toesits-Kahn (Blanket of the
Sun), and is thought to have been
Chief Joseph’s nephew. He was 14
years old when the confl ict of 1877
broke out. During the long trek
from Wallowa County to capture
at Bear Paw Meadow, Sundown
attended to and herded the band’s
horses. He was badly burned at
the Battle of Big Hole when the
U.S. Army set his family’s teepee
afi re. At Bear Paw Meadow, where
Joseph and the walama were cap-
tured, Sundown sustained rifl e
wounds, but fl ed to Sitting Bull’s
2015
NISSA
camp in Canada where he recov-
ered. He eventually returned to
Nespelem, and ultimately moved
to Montana where he raised and
trained horses. To make extra
income, Sundown turned to riding
broncs at rodeos. He wore woolen
chaps and brightly colored shirts,
and when riding, tied his braids
under his chin. It’s said that some
rodeo contestants, concerned that
they would not win the ride, would
withdraw their entry if Jackson
Sundown was riding.
So the Nespelem Celebration
in part honors a rodeo great whose
heritage belongs to the walama,
Chief Joseph’s band of Nez Perce.
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