4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL AUGUST 9, 2017
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History: Martial law for three saloons
All Oregonians owe former Gov. Oswald West a debt of gratitude
for saving Oregon’s beaches from being locked away in private
ownership.
But the progressive “father-knows-best” impulses that inspired
West to take that action didn’t always lead in such positive direc-
tions. There were other events during West’s governorship when he
came out looking positively fascistic — perfectly willing to disre-
gard the rule of law when it confl icted with his own opinion of what
was morally right.
And that is how progressive hero Os West came to be the only
governor in state history (so far as I have been able to learn) to
actually issue an Andrew Jackson-style command to the Oregon
National Guard ignore a legally issued court order.
Here’s how this happened:
In the fi rst few years of the 20th century, the Baker County town
of Copperfi eld was platted, near Baker City. It was originally a small
copper-mining town; but by 1907 or so, Copperfi eld was more or
less a construction camp: a pair of very long tunnels were under
construction nearby, one by the predecessor of the Idaho Power
Company and the other by a local railroad.
The town quickly developed a reputation for lawlessness. At its
peak, it boasted 11 saloons, 11 brothels, two hotels, three stores,
and a four-cell jailhouse/drunk tank with a dance hall on the second
fl oor.
But then, starting early in 1910, the construction workers started
leaving. The railroad tunnel was fi nished; the power plant soon was
too. By late 1913 the town had dwindled from 1,000 or so residents
to just 100 or so. But this left the town’s saloons and bordellos all
gasping for business.
The majority of them quietly closed their doors. But the owners
of the others — three saloons, and possibly some of the brothels as
well — quickly realized that they
could turn Copperfi eld’s reputa-
tion to their advantage, drawing
visitors from nearby Baker City
for a good time, the way Los Ve-
gas does with Los Angeles. And
this is where things started to go
badly for them.
It turned out that, out of the
100-odd residents of the town,
at least half did not approve of
the saloon and bordello own-
ers’ new “sin tourism” business
model. Their complaints to Bak-
er County Sheriff Ed Rand hav-
ing gone unheeded, they sent a
petition to Governor West with
fi fty signatures on it. They com-
plained that the saloons were
selling booze on Sundays and
hosting illegal gambling. (They
didn’t mention the prostitution
in the petition.)
West, a committed Prohibi-
tionist who was at that very moment working to get booze outlawed
in Oregon, was very sympathetic. He promptly issued an order to
Rand to close the saloons by Dec. 26.
Rand, as an elected offi cial, did not answer to the governor, so
the order had no legal weight; but he tried to be diplomatic about
it. What law should he invoke, he asked the governor? None of the
residents were willing to be witnesses against the saloons in court,
so he couldn’t get a court order to close anyone. Without a court
order, he couldn’t legally close any business.
“That,” writes historian Gary Diehlman dryly, “was not the an-
swer that West wanted to hear.”
So West announced his intention to send his secretary, Fern
Hobbs, to impose martial law on the town.
Now, Fern Hobbs was 30 years old in 1913, but she looked about
22. She was a slender, petite woman, bespectacled, 5 feet 3 inches
tall, with a classically beautiful, girlish face. She would have looked
rather like a cute young schoolteacher or librarian — if it weren’t
for those steady, steely eyes. The fact was, she was no ordinary sec-
retary. As most historians have over the years neglected to mention,
she was a licensed and practicing attorney (Willamette University,
Class of ’13). She was also, incidentally, the highest-paid woman in
public service in the United States.
Overall, Fern Hobbs, J.D., was the ultimate stealth package.
When she stepped off the train car in Copperfi eld, the local busi-
nessmen had no idea what was about to hit them.
In what must have been intended as an attempt to charm the “sec-
retary,” the locals had decorated the town with copious amounts of
bunting and pink and blue ribbons, and a small welcoming commit-
tee of city councilmen stood by to greet her, each holding a bouquet
of fl owers, as she stepped onto the platform.
Their fi rst nasty shock must have been the fi ve armed and grim-
faced Oregon National Guard offi cers who stepped off the train af-
ter her.
Hobbs declined the proffered bouquets, but handed each City
Council member a letter of resignation to sign. (Remember, these
were elected offi cials, not gubernatorial appointees.) They all, of
course refused to step down.
At that, Hobbs declared the town under martial law, ordered Na-
tional Guard Col. B.K. Lawson to impose it, and took the 4 o’clock
train to Baker City — where she checked into the Geiser Grand
hotel and rebuffed all attempts to contact her.
Lawson and his troops then proceeded to padlock all the saloons
and confi scate all the liquor, weapons and gambling supplies in
Copperfi eld.
Saloon owners Henry Stewart and William Wiegand (the town’s
mayor and one of its city councilors, respectively) promptly fi led a
suit to stop the confi scations. A circuit court judge fi led an injunc-
tion to stop the process while its legality could be probed.
That’s when Oswald West issued his infamous order to Lawson
to ignore the court and carry on.
Lawson, worried about getting arrested by Sheriff Rand for con-
tempt of court, requested and got reinforcements. They stayed in
Copperfi eld, enforcing martial law, for several weeks.
In Baker City, there was a distinct note of fear in the coverage
of this unfolding affair. “MARTIAL LAW FOR BAKER NEXT,”
screamed a two-inch-tall headline on the front page of the Baker
City Morning Democrat shortly after the raid.
“If the power and authority of our civil courts is to be thus treat-
ed,” wrote the editor of the Morning Democrat, “then we certainly
have a czar in the gubernatorial chair in Salem whose word and
command is law, and we had just as well abolish our courts and turn
over all affairs of state to the executive.”
Newspapers in the Willamette Valley, though, were much more
sanguine about the whole affair.
Meanwhile, having been told that Sheriff Rand was assembling a
posse to enforce the court order, West tried to temporarily remove
him from offi ce. Nothing came of this, or of the rumored posse
either. It seems rather unlikely such a posse was ever seriously con-
sidered. As Rand would have well known, the only way it could
have enforced the order would have been to risk a fi refi ght with the
National Guard.
The whole affair fi nally made its way to court in Baker, where the
judge ruled that courts could not forbid a governor from declaring
martial law, but that the saloon owners could fi le a civil lawsuit
and collect damages afterward if a governor did so inappropriately.
Whether they pursued this or not, I have been unable to learn.
The saloons never reopened; in 1914, the voters of Oregon ap-
proved Prohibition, so there wouldn’t have been much point. And
the next year, a fi re of suspicious origin swept through the business
district, dealing the fi nal coup de grace to the town of Copperfi eld.
Today the old town site is a park operated by Idaho Power.
Dr. Fuhrman: Plant protein and diabetes
A
recent study published in the British Jour-
nal of Nutrition reported that higher plant
protein intake is associated with a reduced risk of
type 2 diabetes. In their analysis, they estimated
that replacing one percent of calories from animal
protein with calories from plant protein would de-
crease the risk of type 2 diabetes by 18 percent.1
At fi rst glance, it may seem like the dietary ef-
fects on diabetes would be only relevant to car-
bohydrate-containing foods. The more low-car-
bohydrate, high-protein foods in your diet, the
better; those foods don’t directly raise blood glu-
cose. However, that is a too simplistic view of the
development of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is
not only driven by elevated glu-
cose levels, but also by chronic
infl ammation, oxidative stress,
and alterations in circulating lip-
ids (fats).2-5
There has been considerable
amount of evidence that red and
processed meats are linked to a
greater risk of type 2 diabetes,
and many studies have compared
plant and animal protein intake
with respect to diabetes risk. A
larger study published in 2016
found an increase in type 2 dia-
Administration
betes risk in those with the high-
James Rand, Regional Publisher
est animal protein intake. They
Gary Manly, General Manager ................................................. Ext. 207
also performed a meta-analysis
gmanly@cgsentinel.com
of 11 previous studies, which
Aaron Ames, Marketing Specialist ........................................... Ext. 216
detected a 19 percent increase in
aames@cgsentinel.com
risk with the highest animal pro-
Tammy Sayre, Marketing Specialist ......................................... Ext. 213
tein intake.6
tsayre@cgsentinel.com
A 2010 meta-analysis of 12
prospective
cohort studies con-
Editorial
cluded that high total meat intake
Caitlyn May, Editor. ................................................................. Ext. 212
increased type 2 diabetes risk 17
cmay@cgsentinel.com
percent above low intake, high
Zach Silva, Sport Editor ............................................................ Ext. 204
red meat intake by 21 percent,
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
and high processed meat intake
Customer Service
by 41 percent.7 Since these foods
Carla Williams, Offi ce Manager .............................................. Ext. 200
don’t directly cause an increase
Legals, Classifi eds .......................................... Ext. 200
in blood glucose, how might they
cwilliams@cgsentinel.com
raise diabetes risk?
AGEs are substances that
Production
cause oxidative stress and in-
Ron Annis, Production Supervisor ............................................. Ext.215
fl ammation, damage body pro-
graphics@cgsentinel.com
teins and fats, and contribute to
(USP 133880)
heart disease, type 2 diabetes,
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AGE production in the body is increased by el-
evated blood glucose.8-12 Food is also a source
of AGEs, in particular, fried foods, broiled meats,
high-fat animal foods, and dry cooked starchy
foods (cookies, muffi ns, cold cereals, fried po-
tatoes).13-15 Compared to meats, plant protein
sources like beans and raw nuts and seeds afford
lower exposure to AGEs.
Too much iron increases the risk for type 2 dia-
betes. Heme iron, found only in animal products,
is highly absorbable compared to nonheme iron
in plant foods. A diet high in animal products over
time results in excess body stores of iron. A major
connection between high heme iron intake and di-
abetes is that iron in excess has pro-oxidant prop-
erties; this can contribute to oxidative damage to
pancreatic beta cells and insulin resistance. High
dietary heme iron and high body stores of iron are
associated with increased risk of type 2 diabe-
tes.16 Nonheme iron (from plant foods) does not
carry the same risk of excess because of its lower
absorbability.
The types of fats we eat also affect insulin sig-
naling and therefore diabetes risk. Clinical trials
have shown that altering dietary fatty acids can al-
ter insulin sensitivity. In these trials, saturated fats
decreased insulin sensitivity, and monounsaturat-
ed fats and omega-3 fats either improved or did
not affect insulin sensitivity.17-21 Animal protein
and plant protein are indicators of animal foods
and plant foods. Some will be lower or higher in
fat, but animal foods generally have a greater ra-
tio of saturated to unsaturated fats, suggesting that
high animal food intake could negatively affect
insulin sensitivity.
There are many negatives to animal foods when
it comes to diabetes risk. However, it’s not simply
an issue of avoiding meat; which plant foods you
eat matters. A large analysis of the Nurses’ Health
Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study
(including over 200,000 participants) scored the
participants’ diets based on a “healthful plant-
based diet index,” in which foods like vegetables,
legumes, fruits, nuts, and whole grains increased
the score and foods like fruit juices, sweetened
beverages, refi ned grains, potatoes, sweets, and
animal foods decreased the score.
They also constructed an unhealthful plant-
based diet index (uPDI), in which unhealthful
plant foods increased the score, and healthful
plant foods and animal foods decreased the score.
The hPDI was strongly negatively associated with
type 2 diabetes, meaning the healthful plant-based
dieters had a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes.
The uPDI was positively associated with type 2
diabetes, meaning that a diet with a lot of fruit
juices, sweetened beverages, refi ned grains, pota-
toes, and sweets – even if low in animal foods –
increased risk.22
High fi ber, micronutrient, and phytochemical
intake helps prevent or reverse type 2 diabe-
tes. A healthy diet must be composed mostly of
whole, fi ber-rich, high-nutrient plant foods. It’s
not enough to eat a vegan diet or eat only a small
amount of animal products. My decades of ex-
perience caring for people with type 2 diabetes
has enabled over 90 percent of them to become
non-diabetic; this has been documented in medi-
cal publications. In a study of patients with type
2 diabetes following a NDPR (Nutritarian) diet,
after one year 90 percent of participants were able
to eliminate all of their diabetes medications, and
the average HbA1c was lowered into the normal
(non-diabetic) range.23
Every physician caring for patients with dia-
betes and pre-diabetes, as well as patients them-
selves must be informed about this life-saving
approach, as described in my book The End of
Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is reversible in the vast
majority of cases, and those with type 1 diabe-
tes can improve their life expectancy, health and
quality of life.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York Times best-sell-
ing author and a board certifi ed family physician
specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medi-
cine. The Eat To Live Cookbook offers over 200
unique disease-fi ghting delicious recipes Visit his
informative website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit
your questions and comments about this column
directly to newsquestions@drfuhrman.com.
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