Camp Adair Sentry •
Thursday, October 15,1942.
Sentry Interviews Local Farmers
Whose Home Is Still Standing Here
Ry Cpt. Henry Beckett
This must be God’s country.
Otherwise the former residents of
the camp urea, the farm people
who have had to make way for us
soldiers, would not be taking it
so hard.
To learn what it was like around
here in the old days, the good old
days of peace, I called on Mr. and
Mrs. E. A. Blake. Now they reside
at 408 North Seventh St.. Corval­
lis, but until recently they were
farmers living in a house across
the highway from a military hos­
pital now rambling all over the
landscape at the southwest corner
of the camp.
Then the present camp area was
a quiet plain with two or three
roads meandering past farm houses
and a hamlet where life was tran­
quil and without much change from
year to year. Today one of the na­
tion’s largest cantonments is being
developed here, with thousands of
men living together in long rows of
barracks, and meeting in chapels,
stores, warehouses and theatres of
their own.
My call on the Blakes was a case
of one old timer interviewing other
This old locust tree in back
of Blake farmhouse grew
j from a switch planted by
Mr. Blake's njother in 1851.
old timers. Mr. Blake grew up in a
pioneer house on the camp site and
I’m not only a veteran of the other
war but also, at 53, am one of the
“New York pioneers’’ who pitched
tents and were the first settlers in
them, as this camp began.
At first I feared that Mr. and
Mrs. Blake might be resentful.
Surely it was bad enough for the
soldiers to take their land away
front them, without having a sol­
dier from the effete East drop in
to ask them how they liked it. That,
I suspected, would be the way they
felt. My coming would add insult
to injury. But I was wrong about
that, for they welcomed me with
HI
ASK FOR—
dkireen Ville
BUTTER and
ICE CREAM
(Biggest Variety
of Frozen Bars)
Distrib­
utors for
Green Valley
Creamery
Corvallis
3rd &. Adams. Phone 363
the courtesy that is usual in this
region and seemed glad to talk of
old times on the old place. Mr.
Blake was one of the "boys of ’76.”
True, it was only 1876, but out
here that year seems to be as
early, in history, as 1776 was in
Philadelphia on the first Independ-
i enee Day. The house where he was
born was built in 1854 and was a
real pioneer house and is the only
one of the kind left in these parts.
“It was a box house,” he said,
“all hand-planed and built of lum­
ber sawed at a mill not far away. I
What’s left of that house is only
20 feet by 16 feet and we used it as
a garage. The big locust tree in
the back yard grew from a switch
that my mother stuck into the
This box house, built in 1854 of hand-planed lumber sawed at nearby mill, was birthplace or
Mr. Blake, whose former farmhouse is now ¿cross highway from Camp Adair station hospital.
ground. That was in 1851. My par­
In later years this house, last pioneer house in area, was used by the Blakes as a garage,
ents came from Indiana, only five
years after Aunt Polly arrived, in shop for the making of arrows. white cones into the sky. Behind*--------------------------------------
1
1845.
There the Indians brought their the house and all about were the
Easley Expects V/ar
“Aunt Polly was really Mrs. Mary obsidian—v olcan i c glass— and hills that I had hunted over as a
boy. Right “below, on your camp To Revivify America
Stuart. Corvallis was first named shaped it.
"The early white settlers in this grounds. I h.ul played ball and
Marysville, after her. and later the
name was changed to Corvallis, 1 section were sometimes wilder than gone to school. The old trees about
(Continued From Page 1)
made up of Latin words meaning the Indians. On the road to Sulphur the house were our friends and both down as a war-monger and as a
“heart of the valley,” because the i Springs, east of your camp, there houses, the old and the new, were jingo who wished to see the youth
of the land slaughtered in battle.
mail for the Oregon town got mixed was a stage station in the Fifties, full of things to remember.”
Mrs. Blake remarked that their
“Also the people were fat, pros­
up witli the mail for Marysville, i a tavern where horse races and
| foot races and fighting were all pioneer Aunt Polly often used to perous and lazy and did not want
California.
“Aunt Polly was the first white common, especially fighting. Two call. Once when Mrs. Blake apolo­ to fight, particularly because Mace­
woman in the county. Mary's Peak, men, Jim Wheeler and Henry gized, as women do, about the donia seemed so far away. A like
the highest peak in the coastal Flickinger, fought with bare fists dinner- -even when they are secret­ situation prevailed in Rome when
range, was named for her, too. She one time and almost killed one ly proud of it—Aunt Polly spoke the citizens failed to meet with
up and said:
equal vigor the advance of the bar­
crossed the plains with an ox-team another.
barians from the north. They put
and I think she walked a good part
their trust in money, relying on
of the way.
hired fighters rather than on the
“There wasn’t any jail at the
fighting spiri t that the citizens
time, so the first murderer around
should have inherited and should
here was put in her keeping. He
have exemplified.
killed a man for jumping his claim.
"In history war has been the nor­
The murderer was chained up in
ma! recourse of covetous nations
her back yard. But he wanted exer­
and it will continue so unless re­
cise. so Aunt Polly would unchain
straint by force prevents it, as
him and when he had enough he
the police prevent brawls and
would come back and she would
street fighting in civilian communi­
chain him up again. Aunt Polly
ties. In this country we arc espec­
wasn’t afraid. She had to fight In­
ially blessed, having so large II
dians to get this far." -
space of earth, the most fertile and
Speaking of Indians, it seems
most richly endowed land in nil
that renegade Indians, off the res­
the world. It is in the temperate
ervation, sometimes would steal
zone, conducive to human endeavor
from farm houses in this section.
at its best and what we have is due
One when Mr. Blake's mother was
to the courage and sacrifice of
-at the spring. neighbors came run­
those who have left us this heri­
ning to say that Indians were
tage.
prowling about the place.
“Therefore it seems a crime that
“When I was a boy,” said Mr.
we have ever been so weak-kneed
Blake, “all of the hills around the
as to give aggressor nations any
present camp were bare or at
advantage in preparedness and to
least not as much timbered as they
jeopardize our good fortune. Wc
are today. It was said that the
have not appreciate»! our happy
Moved, like other farmers in camp area, t-ff
old Ions
Indians had burned over the land
situation and have not understood
place” to make way for army. Mr. and Mrs. C,
Finite re-;
to make the hunting easier, al­
that other nations, having less,
live in Corvallis. They hated to leave
ci.’, home-lead.
though there was some old scrub
would grow dissatisfied and be
“The pack trail from Vancouver | “Never npol gize if you have
oak and hazelbrush. They used
willing to use force in order to ®e-
to California ran through the hills more than plain boiled wheat.”
cure what they wanted.
Coffin Butte, that hill east of the
behind our house and perhaps you
Aunt Polly had to live on nothing
camp where stone is now being
"Also we listened overmuch to
can still find traces of it. Also the except boiled wheat through one
taken out, as an observation point
false prophets of peace, because
first telegraph line through Oregon • hard winter and she had plowed and
and even now there may be the re­
they appealed to our wish bone
ran along there, but outlaws kept put that in herself.
mains of Indian fortifications on
rather than to our back bone.
cutting it down and it wasn't used
The Blake grain fields grew
the east side of Wrightstown Butte.
Such movements as that one be­
after the Sixties. The line was where the hospital spreads today
gun at Oxford, England, where
“The Indians always went along attached to oak trees and a few and altogether
her the camp may ab­
young men took an oath never to
the ridges, when they traveled, so iron staples still may be seen.’’
sorb alnio t all of his farm land.
fight for any cause, not even in
that they could see their enemies.
I
three farm
The old homestead of the Blakes Already it has taken
They had a burial ground on the ; was an early center for social af­ houses from him i and hundreds of defense of their country, could not
hanks of Soap Creek and just | fairs and on the piano in their Cor­ acres, and hr lad to dispose of have gained adherents as they did
unless a kind of moral blindness
north of our house was an Indian vallis home lay the violin that Mr. horses, cattle
d sheep.
had set in and confuse«! all con­
■n’t vet on packed
“Ami wi- h
Blake played for the racing of
cepts of right and wrong. In a
reels. They've been married 40 all that wo 1 light in from the
sense our university people I m - chiim '
1 Mrs. Blake. "We
years and for a long time they have farm lion e,
over-civiliwd, out <>f touch with
arranged,
lived in a white house that stands had the hoi
reality and the laws of human sur­
lerniced, too, and
lieside the old original house. That thoroughly
vival.
i-bts.
Ni
lurally we
was built in 1889. As a boy he there were
“Now the trend is the other way
In Harding School
ami so did many
walked four miles daily, to and . hat<<l to l<
and still it has not gone far enough.
Ages 4 to School Age
50
farm
i
that
are
others
on
t
cliool
that
stood
near
the
from a
There should la1 war courws in our
< amp area. In fact
present Post Headquarters, ami now pari of
Morning and Afternoon
colleges, course* to teach young
Blake
taught
school
at
!
itest
meetings,
but
there
were
later
Mrs.
Sessions
men skills of use in this war and
mplained, although
Wellsdale. a ghost town since the I we have too
courses
to clarify their thinking,
Mrs, Armstrong
when I tried to go
camp area was established.
I I was nnno
in the light of history and of hu­
Phone 1731-14
k our cherries and
“It Was the first school district I out there t<
man nature as it remains today.”
r the place la-cauac
Or Call Harding School
in the county,” she remembered, couldn’t get
* * * •
I
didn
’
t
hav
a
pa
“The school was in that small
General Easley is in charge of
maple grove by the railroad tracks
rifle training in his division and
and the community consisted of
expects accurate shooting to play
the church, school, dry goods
an important part in this war de­
store. blacksmith shop, artisans’
spite some military opinion that
hall anil several houses, About 40
the rifle does not count for so
persons lived there.”
much nowadays. For 30 years he
attended
Mr. and Mrs. Blake
has been in rifle competition and
Oregon State College at Corvallis
• ahs on the Infantry Rifle Train of
4
Sgts,
3
CpIs,
16
Pfc's
and sold their milk to th«’ college
the Regular Army, being on four
ery where many of us sol­
winning teams »nd captain of
Included tn Big Shift
now buy the world's best ice
of them. In 1909 he joined
cream and milk shakes at such
Texas National Guard a*
low prices that we feci like objects
imsnd- vatc. He has risen steadily
By
’, four years since, serving with
of charity.
er, <
16 pri- Army infantry in Texas, Mirhi-
Ten »f Mrs. Blake’s near rela- Me
nt to O.S.C. and Mr Blake
g»n, .Manila. California and else­
f the college land-us
where, as well as a member of the
General Staff of the War Depart­
ment.
Corvallis
Kindergarten
Wholesale Transfer ol
Personnel Io M.P. Co.
Administration
Plans Revamped
turned
m pathetic
t ak e yeui
(Continued From Page 1)
cal Division is subdivided into three
»’ranches: Medical Service, Sanita­
tion and Hospitalisation and Evac­
uation.
Assognmenta to key positions
DIVISION 1- Executive Of-
Col. George C. Ferch; As
isfant Executive Officer, Capt
if ari F Foreman; Control, Maj.
< ulliW 1>,
A, s —t-L-
it.-.
1942 FRIGIDAIRE
We will have for sale this week only a limited
number of Frigidaire refrigerators, ranges and
water heaters.
E. W. Heckart
Appliance Company
21!» S. 2nd St
Solve Your
CHRISTMAS
PROBLEM
Give a PHOTOGRAPH of yourself to each of your
loved ones. Nothing will Lie more appreciated in
days to come. Good photographs cost no more.
Promote 2 Chaplains
In Timbervrolf Div.
(Continued From Page 1)
himself as Captain Jenks of the
horse marines ami goes on to say—
although nobody asked him—that
he feeds his horse on corn and
beans.
Major Jenks has no horse, but
has a substantial record as a chap­
lain. Although identified with the
Church of the Disciples of Christ,
he attended Coe College, s Pres­
byterian school, at Cedar Renids,
Iowa, did post graduate work at f
the University of Iowa, and studied
for th«' ministry at Drake univer­
sity. He has been pastor of the
Lake Harriett Christian Church of
Minneapolis and of other churches
in Minnesota and Iowa.
Major Jenks was in the final
class of the chaplains’ school at Ft.
Benjamin Harrison, before the
school moved to Harvard Univer-
Beavers were very weak in this
the Infantry as a reserve officer.
He was in the chaplains' reserve
corps, in the Infantry Replacement
Center at Camp Croft. S. C., and
then entered the Regular Army
and was post orientation officer at
Camp Horne, where he made much
use of enlisted men for lecturing.
GRIFFIN, Ga. - Mr. and Mrs.
C. T. Elliott nrc puzzled as to
exactly where their marine son,
Clarence, is stationed. A letter
from him described a dance "given
the marinos by the natives.” Imag­
ine our surprise,” he wrote, “when
the girls showed up barefooted.
But that didn’t stump us. We took
off our shoes, too, and enjoyed the
dance.”
CLASSIFIED
ADVERTISING
Ten centfi per line per inurrtlon.
Count 5 words to line. (’a»h must ac-
mmpany aopjr with order.
NOTICE: Soldiers placing
classified ads in this column
which require answer to your
location, must have answers
go through Camp Public Rela­
tions office. No outfit designa­
tions may lie printed in these
columns. Public Relations of­
fice will forward answers to
your address.
llome for Officer or Non-Com and
Wife.
Corvallis Home will make room for
military couple. Must lie non-
smokers. Address Sentry, Box
347, Corvallis (E.C.)
FOR SALE
ACREAGE, farms, lairgc seloc-
lion. Robinson Realty, Independ­
ence.
pmo.
WASHING and ironing. 428 E. 5th
Ht., Albany. Ore.
■M UM
Pioneers Build Farm
Now Included in Camp
2nd Lt. George II. Godfrey. DINI-
SION 2.—Director Lt. Col. Lee K.
Woods; Adjutant, Maj. Victor N.
Miller; Judge Advocate. Capt. John
F. O’Shea: Fiscal, l.t. Col. Lee R.
Wood». DIVISION 3. Director and
Military and Civilian Personnel,
Capt. Thomas B. Carson; Special
Service, Capt. Alex F. Ruth; Chap­
lain, Capt. Lloyd V. Harmon.
DIVISION 4.—Director and Oper­
ations, 1st. Lt. T. R. Westfall;
Training. 2nd Lt. Edwin S. McAl-
luster. DIVISION 5.— Director, Col.
T. A. Baumeister; Procurement,
Storage and Issue, Capt. Fisher J.
Smith; Transportation, 1st Lt. Col­
lins L. Carter; Maintenance, Capt.
Tony C. Frank; Post Exchange,
Maj. Rudolph Ayers; DIVISION 6.
—Director, Capt. Ernest A. Shafer;
Utilities, 1st Lt. Joseph O. Craig:
Maintenance and Repair. Capt.
Carleton L. Burgess; Engineering
and Reni Estate. Capt. Otto H.
Meyer. DIVISION 7.—Director and
Intelligence. Maj. Ralph E. Rior­
dan; Internal Security. 2nd Lt.
George H. Godfrey; Provost Mar­
shall, Capt. Julius Huie. DIVISION
8.—Director and Medical Service,
Col. William B. Lewis; Sanitation,
1st Lt. Joseph K. Ellsworth; Ho®-
pitalization and Evacuation, Maj.
Charles II. Manlove. Jr.
“Your Buddies Will Tell You’’
I
HOWELLS STUDIO
Corvallis
455 Madison
j
tmwrwnii.
K»
I K
a
RESTAURANT
HELP
WANTED
Salem Restaurants need Experienced Help
full-time and part-time work!
for
Waitresses
Sandwich-Salad Girls
Cooks' Helpers
Apply at any Member restaurant
Salem Restaurant Association
The Cheerio Inn
Court St. Dairy Lunch
Schneider’s Coffee Simp
La Dou’s Fountain
Coon’s Top Hat
Carleson’s Cafe
Dew Drop Inn
The Golden Pheasant
Keeno Lunch
The Quelle Cafe
Mickey’s Sandwich Shop
The Blue Bird Restaurant
You can
spot it every time
OUTH, In everything It does, goes for
the pcoplr and thing* that are “right’ .
That’» why youth gor* for ice-cold
Ciwu-CoU. It 1* “right” ... In quality
...in talla...and in refreshment.
. It’» the drink th»t belong* to youth's
’| ritual of refreshment.
Y
And there’* reason for thia. Ice-cold
Coca-Cola ha* what it take*... a
clean, fresh taste , . . unmistak­
able refreshment. A special
blend of Äavor-esoences merge*
all the
wholesome ingre­
dient* of Coca>Cnla
into an original taste
of it* own. No one can
duplícate it.
Just ask for Coca-Cola or, to use
it* friendly abbreviation, Coke,
and you’re in for something
special in delicious refreshment.
•
*
«
!»’• natural for popular rumo fr»acquire (rirml*
ly tsMrrrvmticm«. I hat*» why you linar < • »4 It
IlcJlssfcc. C< mu 4.*»U and Colm mean ihetamc
•g... the rggf {xgg.. • "coming from a single
rea, arñTwcn known to th« c
As we den’l h»»e to resell four pol­
icy every yes r—ss It to renewed Sy
med—it 1« not neceeoory the I our
rate* include • yearly retile eoet.
Thet’l why ■ FArmen continuing
form* automobile policy (i««s the
finest pro’eetion (of l»m.
EARL HITE
Dint. Mgr., Phone H44
221 W . I»t. Albany. Or.
rhe belt it elfeyi the better buy!
lOtlllO UHMI AUtsollt» Ol TH»
COCACOIA COMPANY »V
COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY OF SALEM