OUTDOORS B1
LOCAL A2
SPORTS A6
Snow hanging on at
higher elevations
Bull thistle widespread
invasive weed
Three Bulldogs named
to all-state team
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • SPORTS • OUTDOORS
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to Herald
subscriber Ross Fritz of North
Powder.
BRIEFING
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Nominees sought for
Baker County Fair Family
Baker County Friends of the
Fairgrounds are seeking nomi-
nees for the 2022 Fair Family of
the Year. Nominations are due
by July 10. Nomination letters
can be emailed to bakercity-
friendsofthefair@gmail.com.
Entries sought for
Miners Jubilee parade
There’s still time to enter
a fl oat in the Miners Jubilee
parade, which happens Saturday,
July 16.
The theme is “Honoring Our
Heritage.” The entry fee is $25.
Find a registration form at miners-
jubilee.com.
Floats must check in by 9
a.m. at Baker Middle School. The
parade starts at 11 a.m.
For more information, call the
Baker County Chamber at 541-
523-5855.
SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2022 • $1.50
Metro West will honor FireMed memberships
Subscribers won’t have to pay ambulance bill
even if they’re transported by Metro West
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Local residents who have
a FireMed membership that
pays for ground ambulance
transports will be covered
whether they’re taken by a
Baker City Fire Department
ambulance or one operated
by Metro West.
That issue had been un-
certain over the past month
or so, since Metro West of
Hillsboro started running
an ambulance in Baker
City.
Baker County commission-
ers voted June 8 to hire Metro
West to replace the city fire
department, which will end
its ambulance service Sept.
30, 2022.
Although the city continues
to staff ambulances, Metro
West has been the first ambu-
lance to be dispatched since
early June.
The city ambulance is
called out when Metro West
is already out on a call.
Between June 16 and July
5, Metro West transported 52
patients to Saint Alphonsus
Medical Center-Baker City,
while a city ambulance trans-
ported 13.
The city fire department
is part of the FireMed net-
work, a subscription pro-
gram that covers the cost of
ground ambulance trans-
ports for members.
(Residents can also buy
coverage for aerial ambulance
transport through Life Flight;
that service isn’t affected by
the transition from the city
fire department to Metro
West.)
Metro West, though, is not
part of the FireMed network.
See Ambulance / A3
An Oregon Trail
pilgrimage
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Bob Bennett turned 99 on June
27, 2022, and on July 2 he was
treated to an airplane flight over
his home of Pondosa, northeast
of Baker City.
CORRECTIONS
—————
• An item in the News of
Record in the July 7 issue of the
Baker City Herald contained an
error due to a criminal suspect
giving police a false name when
he was cited and released for sec-
ond-degree theft and possession
of a controlled substance on July
5 in Baker City. Silas Dean Kelty,
36, of Baker City was not involved
in the incident in any way.
• A story in the July 7 issue
about the Baker Food Co-op con-
tained an error. The annual fee is
$10, not $25.
Bob Bennett’s
high-flying
99th birthday
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Don “Dundee” Martin of Prineville pushes his wagon along Pocahontas Road on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
Prineville’s Don Martin is walking the Oregon Trail,
hoping to preserve its culture and history
WEATHER
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Today
84/48
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
cfranke@bakercityherald.com
Sunny
H
undreds of thousands
of people traveled the
Oregon Trail in the 19th
century, and Don “Dundee”
Martin is honoring their jour-
ney.
Like his pioneer counter-
parts, Martin travels with a
wagon and an ox.
He eats Oregon Trail foods
— steel cut oats, rice, nuts and
dried meats and fruits.
He wears traditional pio-
neer white canvas pants with
suspenders, camps in thunder-
storms and carries enough wa-
ter to last him a week.
But unlike those of his fore-
bears, Martin’s wagon is a sin-
gle-wheeled cart — aesthetically
similar to a pioneer wagon,
covered in canvas supported by
curved oak beams.
And instead of pulling the
cart, his ox is a stuffed toy that
rides on top of the wagon.
Martin passed through Baker
City on Wednesday, July 6 as he
attempts to walk the entire his-
toric Oregon Trail.
He stayed overnight at the
home of friends Carla and
Wayne Inman, and then took a
rest day on Thursday.
Besides his cart and his
stuffed ox, Martin — who lives
in Prineville — has different
motivations than the 19th cen-
tury travelers bent on settling in
a new land.
Martin said he’s walking the
trail as a cultural and historical
pilgrimage.
“A pilgrimage is an oppor-
tunity to get away from your
day to day life, do something
physically demanding that you
Sunday
80/48
Sunny
Sunday
84/49
Sunny
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Don Martin’s wagon is designed to look like a miniature version of an
Oregon Trail prairie schooner, albeit with modern touches such as a GPS
unit.
would not otherwise be doing,
share experiences with fellow
travelers, get a different sense
of perspective and do some self
reflection,” Martin said. “There’s
a lot of good things that come
out of it.”’
On Wednesday Martin
strode west on the shoulder of
Pocahontas Road, facing the
Elkhorns, gripping the leath-
er-wrapped handlebars of his
cart with fingerless gloves.
His outfit was a mix of 19th
century farmer, long distance
hiker and deer hunter — those
traditional white pants, with
an orange long-sleeve shirt and
floppy orange hat, for visibility.
His pants were tucked into
wool socks inside hiking sneak-
ers, the foam heel squashed, the
tread deeply worn.
Martin is on his third pair
of shoes out of the four he
brought. Now 2,075 miles and
81 days into the trip, he hopes
the fourth pair will get him
through the final 400 miles to
Oregon City.
A modern accessory
Attached to the front of the
cart is a device that Oregon
Trail pioneers could scarcely
have imagined — a Garmin
GPS unit, which tracks his
mileage and provides a location
tracker where people can follow
along online.
Martin’s wagon — nick-
named “Ollie,” as in “ollie, ollie
oxen free” — like 19th century
prairie schooners contains ev-
erything he needs to live for
weeks on remote parts of the
trail.
Unfortunately, though, the
wagon, he said, has “zero capa-
bility in mud.”
“There’s still Kansas mud in
that thing,” Martin said.
He also carries camping gear.
He usually can find public land
to camp on, but if he can’t, he’ll
See Pilgrimage / A3
On the eve of his airplane
flight above Baker County,
Bob Bennett pondered an-
other type of aerial stunt.
“He said last night ‘I think
I’d like to jump out of an air-
plane,’ ” Lori Brock, Bob’s
daughter, recounted as she
waited at Baker Aircraft beside
her father.
Her answer wasn’t no.
“Next year for your 100th
birthday,” she said with a
smile.
Bennett, who turned 99 on
June 27, isn’t totally sold on
the idea yet.
“I’m kind of iffy on it,” he
said, a smile stretching across
his face.
Then Bennett, a camera
slung around his neck and
a World War II veteran hat
perched on his head, walked
to the plane that would give
him a bird’s eye view of his
home.
See Bennett / A3
Senior
Center gets
an office
expansion
Project adding
six private offices
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Community Connection
workers in Baker City are
engaged in an ongoing game
of musical offices.
It’s not as fun as it sounds.
Community Connection’s
Baker Senior Center, 2810
Cedar St., is undergoing an
office expansion.
Manager Joe Hayes said
the nearly $400,000 proj-
ect will add six private of-
fices.
See Expansion / A3
TODAY
Issue 25
12 pages
Classified ....................B2-B4
Comics ..............................B5
Community News.............A2
Crossword ...............B2 & B4
Dear Abby .........................B6
Horoscope ..............B3 & B4
Jayson Jacoby ..................A4
Lottery Results .................A2
News of Record ................A2
Opinion .............................A4
Outdoors ..........B1, B2 & B6
Senior Menus ...................A2
Sports ...............................A6
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B6