COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • AUGUST 1, 2018 •
A
9
Off beat Oregon: History No. 506
Teen girl ended brewing family feud with a shotgun
By Finn J.D. John
For the Cottage Grove Sentinel
upstairs, returning with a heavy coat
One such village was called
draped over his arm.
Manhattan, and it was probably
Meanwhile, Minnie, the 22-year-
rom around 1875 to about 1915, the a mile or two downstream from
old whom Gunderson had proposed
riverfront part of Clatsop County (out- Clift on. And it was, in 1887, the
to two days earlier, went to the table
side Astoria) was more populated than site of a shooting that was unusu-
to try to calm him down. But in-
it is today. Th e gillnet fi shing fl eet plied the big al in that it was done by a 14-year-
stead, once Udbye had reappeared,
waters of the river, hauling in tons of salmon, old girl.
he gave him what appeared to be a
Here’s the story — as much of it
and the blue-water sailing ships of the grain
prearranged signal. Th e arm with the
fl eet daily poured in and out of Astoria’s ports. as we know:
overcoat came up, spat fi re. Th e bul-
Th e Henry and Bertha Fr-
Many of the locals who worked as fi shermen
let, intended for Henry Frishkorn,
and net menders preferred to live away from ishkorn family had rented a
missed. Meanwhile Gunderson was
Astoria proper — at the time the town had a large house in Manhattan. With
charging straight at Minnie with the
reputation, which it sometimes well deserved, them lived their two daughters,
knife.
14-year-old Emma and 22-year-
as a nest of shanghaiers.
Th en a shotgun roared, deafening
So, the net menders and fi shermen and sail- old Minnie; and two boarders,
everyone. Pellets spattered the wall
makers and chandlers who didn’t absolutely Norwegian net menders Peter
near Udbye’s head, and the concus-
have to be in Astoria to ply their trades would Gunderson, 32, and Julius Udbye,
sion blew out all the lights in the
row or sail up the great lake-like expanse of 43.
house except for one bulls-eye lan-
According to the Daily Asto-
the Columbia a few miles, and make their
tern.
homes in one of the little villages on the riv- rian, the fi ve of them seemed to
Th e shotgun roared a second time,
erbank — villages with no roads, whose only have worked out an arrangement
and the top of Gunderson’s head fl ew
connection with the outside world was the by which Gunderson and Udbye
paid the rent, and the Frishkorn The newspaper coverage in the Jan. 16, 1887, edition of the off and he collapsed, literally dead
river.
Most of these villages are long gone now, all family supplied all the meals. Daily Astorian after the shooting in Manhattan several days before he hit the fl oor. Th e bulls-eye
lantern went out, plunging the house
traces having decayed in the relentless damp- Th is apparently worked OK, un- earlier. (Image: Daily Astorian)
into darkness. It turned out that while
ness. Many of them exist today only as names til Gunderson and Udbye started
all the adults had been shouting and
Matters came to a head-on Jan. 11, when
mentioned in the Daily Astorian; you won’t courting Emma and Minnie. Both
even fi nd some of them in Oregon Geograph- of them — but Gunderson most especial- Gunderson got Minnie alone and asked her threatening each other, 14-year-old Emma
had slipped into the closet where the shotgun
ic Names, the three-inch-thick reference ly — seemed to have gotten the idea that the to marry him. She turned him down.
“He asked her why,” the Daily Astorian re- was kept, and quietly loaded it. When Udbye
tome published by the Oregon Historical girls’ hands in marriage were part of the deal:
Society. We don’t even know, today, exactly We pay the rent, and you supply meals — oh counted, several days later. “She said she had fi red at her father, she shot at him, but missed
yeah, and wives.
been told he was cruel, and that he already because her mother was standing nearby and
where they were.
had a wife and children. He denied it, and she didn’t want to pepper the old woman with
asked her who said so; was it her father? She stray pellets. Th en, Gunderson having gotten
fi nally told him it was her mother that had dangerously close to Minnie with that knife
and clearly intending to use it when he got to
warned her.”
Gunderson went to bed angry, and the next her, she let him have the other barrel.
Th e shot gunning, and the subsequent
morning, “he was very abusive to the old
darkness, put an immediate damper on the
folks.”
Two days later, the girls were invited to a growing riot. All parties to the confl ict sepa-
dance at a neighbor’s house — the neighbors, rated for the night. Emma, pale and shaking,
a family called Th ompson, lived on one of the had already fl ed to the boat, and she and the
islands in the river — and both of them left rest of her family retreated to the Th ompsons’
the house and paddled off to the Th ompsons’ house.
Th e next day, everyone came to Astoria on
house.
the
sternwheeler Favorite, and the sheriff ’s
As
soon
as
they
were
gone,
Gunderson
and
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
DRAIN:
Delight Valley
Udbye turned on the Frishkorns and basically investigation was held. Emma, not surpris-
and St. Philip Benizi
HOPE U.M.C.
Church of Christ
Catholic Churches
131 W “A” St. Drain, OR
33087 Saginaw Rd. East
drove them from the house. Th ey fl ed to the ingly, was held to have acted in self-defense;
1025 N. 19th St.
541-315-1617
541-942-7711
541-942-3420
river, climbed into their boat, and rowed to but Udbye drew a one-year prison sentence
Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen
Pastor: Bob Friend
Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen
Fellowship & Song: 11:30am
Two Services:
for assault with a dangerous weapon.
the Th ompsons’ house for help.
Holy Mass:
Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm
9am - Classic in the Chapel
Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm
As with so many stories of this kind, there
Worship: 12:30pm
Th e next evening, with a group of neighbors
10:30am - Contemporary in the
Sun: 10:30am
Auditorium
are
some unanswered questions here. Chief
to
protect
them,
the
elder
Frishkorns
returned
Confession: After daily mass,
COTTAGE GROVE:
Sat.
4-5pm
or
by
appointment
6th & Gibbs Church of Christ
First Baptist Church
to the house to retrieve their things. One of among those is, why did the Frishkorns come
St. Philip Benizi, Creswell
195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822
301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242
the neighbors rowed ahead to try to smooth to retrieve their personal eff ects in the dark of
552 Holbrock Lane
Pastor: Aaron Earlywine
Interim Pastor: Reed Webster
541-895-8686,
Sunday:
8:30am
Summer Service: 9:30 am
Sunday School 9:30am
the way, telling Gunderson that the “old folks” night rather than waiting for morning? And
Christian Education:
Worship Service 11:00am
would be there soon, and just wanted to col- the text of Henry Frishkorn’s initial telegram
St. Andrews Episcopal Church
Pre-K through 5th
Youth Wednesday 6:30pm
1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050
www.6thandgibbs.com
cgfi rstbaptist.com
lect their clothes and personal belongings and to the sheriff in Astoria has a distinctly disin-
Rev. Lawrence Crumb
leave. Gunderson said that would be fi ne, and genuous sound to it. “Two men laid in wait
“Church with the fl ags.”
Calvary Baptist Church
First Presbyterian Church
Worship: Sunday 10:30am
77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290
3rd and Adams St
for us in our house,” he telegraphed from the
that there would be no trouble.
All Welcome
Pastor: Riley Hendricks
541-942-4479
nearby town of Clift on. “We shot one, and the
When
the
party
arrived,
Udbye
was
sitting
Sunday School: 9:45am
Pastor: Karen Hill
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Worship: 11:00am
Worship: 10:00am
in a corner playing an accordion and Gun- other got away.”
820 South 10th Street
The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm
Sunday School: 10:00am
“Laid in wait” ... playing an accordion?
derson was standing by the windows watch-
541-942-5213
Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm www.cgpresbynews.com
Pastor: Kevin Miller
Th e real story is probably that this was an
ing them approach. When they entered the
Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am
Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove
Hope In The Grove
old-fashioned
group fi stfi ght that got out of
house,
he
shouted,
“Who
brought
all
these
Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40
1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza)
700 E. Gibbs • 401-855-5668
Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00
541-942-6842
Pastor: Wayne Husk
hand — that the Frishkorns, reinforced with a
sons of bitches here?”
Pastor: Jeff Smith
Sunday services:
large posse of supportive neighbors and per-
“Th
ese
men
will
stay
here
until
I
get
my
Trinity Lutheran Church
Two Services on Sun:
Worship: 9am
6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373
9am & 10:45am
Coffee Fellowship: 10:15am
haps braced with a drink or two, came that
clothes,” Bertha Frishkorn told him.
Pastor: James L. Markus
Youth Group Bible Study
Bible Study: 10:30am
night to avenge the insults of Gunderson and
“Where
is
my
whore?”
Gunderson
shouted
Sunday School & Adult Education
Child Care 10:45am Service Only
9:15am
www.cgcalvary.org
Hope Fellowship
back — meaning, presumably, Minnie. “I am Udbye with an old-fashioned thrashing. But
Sunday Worship 10:30 am
United Pentecostal Church
the boss here and will show you. Get out from regardless of that, no one — especially aft er
Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur
Center for Spiritual Living
100 S. Gateway Blvd.
5:00pm TLC Groups
700 Gibbs Ave. (Community Center) 541-942-2061
Gunderson pulled the knife and Udbye start-
here!”
tlccg.com
Rev. Bobby Lee
Pastor: Dave Bragg
ed shooting — could blame the frightened
He
then
picked
up
a
big
knife
off
the
table
Meets Sunday 3:00 p.m.
Worship: 11:00am Sunday
United Methodist Church
cslcottagegrove@gmail.com
Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday
and raised it, yelling for everyone to get out. 14-year-old girl hiding in the closet for put-
334 Washington • 541-942-3033
www.hopefellowshipupc.com
Udbye put his accordion down and slipped ting an end to it the way she did.
Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen
Church of Christ
“FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE”
F
Worship
Directory
420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565
Sunday Service: 10:30am
Cottage Grove Bible Church
1200 East Quincy Avenue
541-942-4771
Pastor:Bob Singer
Worship 11am
Sunday School:9:45am
AWANA age 3-8th Grade,
Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm
www.cgbible.org
Cottage Grove Faith Center
33761 Row River Rd.
541-942-4851
Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett
www.cg4.tv
Full Childrenʼs Ministry available
Service: 10:00am
Non-Denominational
Church of Christ
1041 Pennoyer Ave
541-942-8928
Preacher: Tony Martin
Sunday Bible Study:10:00am
Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm
www.pennoyeravecoc.com
Old Time Gospel Fellowship
103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999
Pastor: Jim Edwards
Sunday Service: 10:00am
Join in Traditional Christian Worship
Worship: 10:30am
Comm. Dinner (Adults $5,
Kids Free)
1st & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm
umcgrove.org
“VICTORY” Country Church
913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913
Pastor: Barbara Dockery
Worship Service: 10:00am
Message: “WE BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES”
Th e News &
So Much More
CRESWELL:
Creswell Presbyterian Church
75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419
Rev. Seth Wheeler
Adult Sunday School 9:15am
Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am
website www.creswellpres.org
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