Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
O UT OF THE V AULT
Historic mining town incinerated for third time
By Renee Struthers
EO Media Group
With the cry of “Fire!” at
7:30 p.m. on April 19, 1937,
the historic business district of
Canyon City in Grant County
burned for the third time since
its founding in 1861.
Buster Cresop, who lived in
the old Elkhorn Hotel, looked
out his window and saw smoke
billowing up from the attic of
the old wooden frame building
and sounded the alarm. Some 25
guests were evacuated from the
hotel, which was soon reduced
to ruins. The lames, pushed by
a stiff south breeze, rushed north-
ward and soon most of the wood-
framed buildings in downtown
Canyon City were ablaze. The
ire burned through the night, and
when the smoke cleared, 15 busi-
nesses and an apartment building
had been destroyed. Cause of the
ire was reported a carelessly dis-
carded cigarette in the Elkhorn
Hotel. Damages were estimated
at around $150,000.
The town of 350 was left with
its homes, a service station, a Pas-
time house (bar and card room),
the post ofice, a relief station, the
theater and a barber shop. Neigh-
boring John Day sent emergency
food supplies to hungry Canyon
City residents, and other area cit-
ies, including Pendleton, sent re-
lief supplies or cash donations to
help the town get back on its feet.
One boy almost lost his life
Contributed photo/Grant County Historical Museum
Remains of the Blue Mountain Eagle office
(foreground) and Masonic hall across the street
after the 1937 Canyon City fire.
when he attempted to plunge into
a burning building in search of his
mother. A guard restrained him,
and he was later reunited with his
equally distraught parent. Two
John Day volunteer ireighters
were temporarily overcome by
smoke, but recovered. And a
woman fainted after being evac-
uated from her home. Otherwise,
the townspeople emerged from
the ire unscathed.
The tinderbox-dry buildings
threw lames so high that they
could be seen 25 miles away in
Seneca, and within a few hours
more than a thousand people had
gathered around the ire zone; the
city promptly put the gawkers to
work in a bucket brigade. In all,
more than 500 volunteers pitched
in to ight the blaze. In addition
to the Canyon City iremen, John
Day, Prairie City, Mt. Vernon and
U.S. Forest Service crews laid
extra hoses to keep the lames
from historic buildings like
the former home of poet Joa-
quin Miller and the Episcopal
Church, which had survived
two earlier ires as well.
Last to leave the downtown
inferno was Mrs. Hilda Valade,
a telephone operator who stood
by the switchboard to call for
help through the Mt. Vernon
exchange, 10 miles away. She
escaped through a rear exit only
after the telephone ofices had
started to collapse.
At the Blue Mountain Eagle
ofices in John Day, editor Clint
Haight busily put out a special
edition of the paper, but his Can-
yon City building burned as well,
destroying all the newspaper’s
iles and archives. The Eagle
(then the Grant County News)
U P CLOSE WITH NEWBORN FARM CRITTERS
had been the only downtown sur-
vivor of the 1898 Canyon City
ire that started, mysteriously, in
the room of a traveling perform-
er about an hour after he sang
“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the
Old Town Tonight” in the town’s
New York Theatre. He was ar-
rested and put on trial, but acquit-
ted for lack of evidence. An 1898
East Oregonian story reported an
oil lamp exploded in the room of
a “morphine iend.”
Canyon City irst burned to
the ground in August of 1870,
when the town was a much larg-
er, bustling gold mining town.
Because the town was built in
a narrow valley, and the main
street was originally so narrow,
no insurance companies would
insure the businesses, and in the
irst and second ires the town
was a total loss.
Renee Struthers is a commu-
nity records editor for EO Media
Group. See the complete collec-
tion of Out of the Vault columns
at eovault.blogspot.com.
A9
Mushroom picking
this spring? Read this
Blue Mountain Eagle
The U.S. Forest Service
offers guidelines for lo-
cal mushroom hunters this
spring.
Permits are not required to
harvest, possess or transport
less than a gallon in Oregon
or less than ive gallons in
Washington. That amount is
intended for personal con-
sumption and not to be sold,
bartered or given away.
A commercial permit is
required for those 18 years
and older who want to harvest
mushrooms to sell, or who
plan to harvest, possess or
transport more than the pre-
viously mentioned amounts.
Commercial picking is pro-
hibited in wilderness areas.
Commercial permit rates
are:
• Consecutive day: $2
per day for a minimum of 10
days.
• Annual permit: $100 for
the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
• Buyer’s permit: $600
plus administrative costs.
An industrial camping
permit is required if harvest-
ers and buyers plan to camp
overnight on national forest
system lands.
People are reminded that
some road and area closures
may still be in effect from
last year’s wildires.
Those harvesting mush-
rooms on the Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman national
forests are required to dis-
play a recreation pass in their
vehicle when using a desig-
nated fee trailhead. Passes
are $5 per day or $30 for an
annual pass.
Mushroom hunters are
cautioned that many forest
mushroom varieties are poi-
sonous and cautioned to use
ield guides for proper iden-
tiication.
P ick ou t a goo d
on e for
M o m
( a hanging
basket, that is )
10 % O ff
On Mother’s Day
Trees • Roses • Shrubs • Hanging Baskets
• Bedding Plants • Veg Starts • Perennials
Better Blooms
& Gardens
Between Prairie City & John Day
Open Sun-Fri 9-5:30 • Closed Sat
Members of Colleen Robertson’s Vet Science 4-H club and Jan Bauer’s Rocky Top
Riders 4-H horse club met at Neil and Jan Bauer’s home near Mt. Vernon on April
10 to see two new foals and twin calves. From left, Neil Bauer, Kaytlyn Wells, Riley
Robertson, Kaitlyn Hughes, Dalli Girvin, McKeely Miller and Jan Bauer.
Kids can apply for aerospace camp
Blue Mountain Eagle
ONTARIO — Registra-
tions are now being accepted
for an aerospace technology
camp for youth to be held
Aug. 1-12 at Treasure Valley
Community College’s Ontar-
io campus.
The two-week camp is
open to middle- and high-
school students who will
experience hands-on learn-
ing in the aerospace tech-
nology field. Topics to be
covered include: GPS and
GPS satellites, robotics,
drones, aerodynamics and
the physics of wing struc-
tures, computer-aided de-
sign, pre-flight planning,
photography,
advanced
aerospace welding and ca-
reers and more.
The main goal of the camp
is to prepare youth to train
for jobs readily available in
the community. Preference is
given to students in Malheur,
Baker, Grant and Harney
counties, and spots are limit-
ed.
A grant, provided by the
Oregon Department of Edu-
cation, will fund the camp for
two years.
For more information, vis-
it http://www.tvcc.cc/academ-
ics/cte/aerospacecamp.cfm.
Angus junior member is from Long Creek
Blue Mountain Eagle
The American Angus
Association has named Evan-
geline Schultz of Long Creek
as a new junior member of
the group.
Junior members of the as-
sociation are eligible to reg-
ister cattle in the association,
Greenhouse
opens just
in time for
Mother’s Day
participate in programs con-
ducted by the National Junior
Angus Association and take
part in association-sponsored
shows and other national and
regional events.
The American Angus
Association is the largest
beef breed association in the
world, with more than 25,000
active adult and junior mem-
bers.
Cowboy Chapel H our
KJDY, Sunday, 7a.m.
“Motherhood is
a partnership
with God.”
E
3 3
3
Grant County Treasurer
af
.
J OIN US O PENING N IGHT
F RIDAY , M AY 13 - 7:00 PM
“A NTICHRIST P ROPHECIES ”
With guest speaker Steve Wohlberg
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — People
can grab a great gift for mom
while supporting Grant Union
High School with a Mother’s
Day sale Friday and Saturday,
May 6 and 7, at the school’s
greenhouse located in back of
the school at the north end.
The greenhouse will be
open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
both days. Regular hours are
8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mon-
day to Thursday.
This is the 18th year for the
sale.
• 36 years bookkeeping and office management
• 5.5 years County Budget
• Leadership Council for Oregon Community
Foundation
• Leadership in The Ford Family Foundation
• Leadership to create community unity during
the fires this summer
• Honest, hard working and motivated to help
Grant County
3 333 M a r y W e a v e r r333333
3 333
Paid for by the committee to elect Mary Weaver
S ATURDAY , M AY 14, 2:00-3:30 , A MERICA ’ S R OLE IN P ROPHECY
S ATURDAY , M AY 14, 4:00-5:30 , A MERICA AND THE M ARK OF THE B EAST
A LIVE
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WILL FOLLOW
THE FINAL PRESENTATION
EVENT LOCATION : John Day Senior Center
142 NE Dayton • John Day, OR 97845
Pre-register online at relevantseminars.org/johnday or call 855-219-7923
